After nearly three weeks of social engagements in Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts, we headed down to Miami Beach for four days of quiet relaxation. It feels a lot like a vacation.

And there is no place better for a vacation than Miami Beach, one of my favorite places in the world. It’s a truly distinctive place, and I tend to feel especially happy whenever I am here. What’s so special about Miami Beach? It’s a combination of really good things — the weather, the colors, the energy.

The weather is often very moody here. It can be all sunshine and brightness one minute and then suddenly turn to a fierce tropical storm the next. But it’s all beautiful. I have lots of happy memories of leaving the beach for lunch, settling into a restaurant to dine and people watch, then suddenly seeing a wicked storm move in. No problem: have another mojito and watch the fun until the sun comes back for another round of afternoon beach time.

The weather produces some of those dramatic colors I like so much — the milky turquoise water, the deep blue sky that suddenly turns menacingly grey, the orange glow that lights up the ocean in the morning and the bay at night. But I also love the endless variety of pastels of the little art deco hotels that line Ocean Drive for miles and the ubiquitous white-on-white interiors. It all just feels so right together.

The energy is a combination of lots of things one could love or loathe. I certainly love the Latin pulse that permeates everything. I like hearing all the languages and accents of the international jet set that flocks here. I mostly enjoy the ever present trendy lounge music (when it is not too loud!). And heaven knows it’s fun to watch the constant parade of aspiring actors, models, touts, freaks, and all sort of other overly bronzed people. This places attracts many sorts of oddballs, and I hope many of them feel as happy here as I do.

Our six-day visit to Cambridge was really packed with fun visits with old friends. We quickly got scheduled up beyond capacity and didn’t even get to see everyone we wanted to see. We even had to divide up some of our visits to get more done, meaning Jim and I had separate lunches with dear old friends and then compared notes afterward.

We also got to catch up with the incredible Boston-based team of our company, NGP VAN. For me, this was cut a bit short for especially weird reasons. During the past 16 months we’ve traveled to some out of the way places and enjoyed lots of unusual foods and experiences. No matter what we eat, I’m the one who seems to have a stomach of steel and just never gets sick. But somehow, inexplicably, just as or NGP VAN Happy Hour was getting under way, I had a weird attack of something in my stomach and felt a desperate need of visiting the bathroom. After awkwardly excusing myself a couple times I discovered it was easier to just come right out and tell people what was going on: Now that I was here in Boston, my stomach just couldn’t take it any more, and sorry, but I need to spend lots of time in the bathroom. Eventually I had to excuse myself and head back to the hotel for my first dose of Cipro since starting this journey. Here of all the places. Weird, but thankfully Cipro is a miracle drug and wiped it away fast.

It was also a week for getting practical stuff done — visits to doctors and dentists, errands, shopping for necessities. And then it all ended on Sunday with one really special event. We rented a car and headed out to Concord for the wedding of our longtime friends Mark and Marcony. It was a really nice ceremony, a fun time with lots of friends, and a great way to end a really nice visit to a wonderful place where we lived for nearly 20 years.

We didn’t even manage to get pictures of everyone we visited with, but here is a sample.

From Minnesota we headed to Michigan, where my mom and dad were eager to play host for the long Labor Day weekend. As usual, their house in LaSalle was well stocked with great food — thick steaks, smoked pork chops, incredible salads, homemade steak tartare, smoked fish, and tons of wonderful summer garden vegetables. My dad also plays a pretty mean bartender — crafting the Manhattans by which we measure other Manhattans, usually poorly, around the world.

Fortunately, we had help offsetting all of this great eating with a bit of exercise. My brother Pat, sister-in-law Jenny, and nieces Lydia and Molly kept us busy with some really pleasant outdoor adventures. We hiked trails in Toledo’s Wildwood Preserve and Monroe’s Sterling State Park. We also spent an afternoon canoeing a long stretch of the River Raisin up in Dundee. Though I grew up around that river, I can’t think of a time when I ever really got so close to it. For most of our journey, the scenery was lush and green, and I felt like we could just as easily be paddling through Cambodia or someplace as exotic.

While our visits to LaSalle are always great in culinary terms, our timing was ideal this time as we hit the tail end of tomato season. Tomatoes from my dad’s garden are unlike any tomatoes I’ve ever had anywhere else in America – or most of the world. In the 25 years I lived on the east coast I never found tomatoes as meaty and sweet and deep red as those. They are one of the most delicious things in the world, and I think maybe only Michigan dirt can make them this way.