Miami on the Quick

The title refers to both my (last) weekend trip there and the fact that I have to rush this entry. I never seem to have time to do anything any more. Where did all my time go? Tutoring Spanish students I think. Well that will soon be over. May 7 is the last day of tutoring and May 9 is my final. Next semester I'm taking TWO Spanish classes. One is Spanish for native speakers and is conducted entirely in Spanish. That will be scary for me as a non-native speaker.

However, when I was in Miami for two days (I flew down on a Saturday and back on Monday morning) I found that I understood everything that was said to me, though there wasn't much call for me to speak Spanish since everyone but our maid seemed to also speak English.

The beach was not as kind this trip as when we went two years ago. It was overcast on Sunday and I only had half a day on Saturday. A friend of mine who had a later flight out on Monday said it was cold and he didn't stay on the beach more than a few minutes.

The food, however, remained awesome. We had Haitian food at a place call Tap Tap (Everything we did was in South Beach, by the way. That's where we stayed and we didn't have a car.) We had a shrimp dish that came in the most amazing sauce. I was putting that sauce on everything - rich, plantains, bread, everything! We also had conch fritters, which were also good.

The photo is of some black beans that I also put on everything. These were some of the best black beans I've every had (and no, that is not the alcohol talking!). This was at a Cuban diner called Puerto Sagua. I also had the Cubano sandwich, which was excellent. And someone at the table had shredded meat (I think it was beef). Also tasty!

We stayed at the Park Central, which is one of the top five Art Deco hotels in the city. It was really nice. The hallways were sort of drab and, like everything in Miami, mildewy, but nice. We drank a lot of fruity beverages containing any number of alcohols We went back to the Purdy Lounge, which a certain member of our party did not care for. But we had fun dancing to 80's and dance music.

All in all a good trip, but one that ended way to soon. The good news is that on Wednesday I'm leaving for Wilmington, NC, which will afford me the opportunity to cram in more beach time...though of a more laid back variety.