Back in the 305

And glad to be back in Miami. Although I enjoy the weekend getaways to Merritt Island, and last weekend was a great one, I still love living full time in Miami. I enjoy my quiet neighborhood, my yard, my house and the familiar places that I return to again and again (as you well know from reading this blog).

Elizabeth, Mazen and Nick at Long Doggers.

That being said, last weekend was a really fun and busy one in Merritt Island and the surrounding areas, starting with our Friday night dinner at Long Doggers in Cocoa Beach. It’s a favorite of my niece Nicole’s and her family and Vance and I have come to like this spot too for consistently good food and a fun atmosphere. Elizabeth joined us and we all had a great time enjoying good food, fun games, a little football watching, even though it was incredibly humid! I was impressed with my great nephew Mazen who was transfixed watching the NFL game, I had no idea he was into football and it was cool to experience that!

Sunrise on Cocoa Beach.

Nick never misses the chance at pool time when we’re at the townhouse.

Saturday morning we got an early start at Elizabeth’s request. She spent the night and had to be at work before noon so Vance and I joined her to watch the sunrise at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach. There were a few other people enjoying the sunrise too and plenty of adorable little sandpiper birds running along the shore. Afterwards we grabbed breakfast at Whisk & Grind just a few minutes away before returning to the townhouse for I’ll admit it, a much needed nap. Nick however, enjoyed some pool time at the townhouse with Vance.

Us with Raquel and Darryl outside The Village Tap in Cocoa Village.

That night, we met up with friends Raquel & Darryl who live in Orlando and were nice enough to drive over to Cocoa Village and meet us for dinner. We tried a new place The Vintage Vault and although the atmosphere was nice the food was a tad mediocre. But the company was still great and afterwards we went to have a beer at The Village Tap where we sat outside in a cute courtyard. We had to walk down a quaint alley with pretty vines to get there and I remembered discovering that little alley last year during one of our Cocoa Village outings. Click here to see a video of the alley that leads to The Village Tap and you’ll see what I mean.

Sunday we made a stop in Port St. Lucie on the drive home to visit our friends Michelle and Kevin at their new place. Vance and I stopped into Home Depot in Merritt Island that morning to pick up a nice orchid as a housewarming gift. As always, The Wutzlers served up some great food and we liked getting to see their new digs. On the drive back to Miami I saw a few places in their neighborhood that I want to check out the next time we visit them.

As for this week, let’s see. Not much to report until Wednesday night when we took second place in trivia where Vance was able to join us and on Thursday morning when during volunteer work with Nourish Miami, a BBC World film crew stopped by to record a segment of our work packing meals and prepping food to be distributed to Miami’s homeless and less fortunate.

Adam Ant opening up for Squeeze at Hard Rock Live last night.

And last night, Vance and I made an impromptu decision and went to a concert at Hard Rock Live. We had a great time watching Haircut 100 roll through their set of familiar and fun songs, Adam Ant who although wasn’t very mobile, sounded good and had an awesome band and main act Squeeze, who also had a great backup band a really cool stage set up, mimicking an old cocktail lounge complete with little red lamps.

No idea what we’ve got planned for this weekend but I think it’ll be a quiet one at home.

Now here are some recommendations for fun stuff to do this weekend and beyond:

• Visit The Underline on Saturday and participate in morning yoga then stick around and shop at the Farmer’s Market. Click here for info.

• Go to the Farmer’s Market, you can find them either Saturday or Sunday, and shop for locally sourced produce and other homemade goodies from local vendors. There are plenty in Miami and Broward. Click here to find one near you.

• Spend time at one of Miami’s loveliest boutique hotels The Betsy Hotel on Miami Beach where you can see great photography displayed throughout and listen to live music either day. Click here to find out who is performing this weekend.

And here’s a link to my latest article for Artburst Miami and I’m currently working on the profile of the Overtown Performing Arts Center that I’ll share when it’s published. I had a great time interviewing the individuals for that article and am looking forward to telling their story.

Now here are a few parting shots of my great nephew Jojo on his first day of daycare and of a cute cat that greeted me at my car one day this week.

I’ll see you right back here in your inbox next weekend when we bid goodbye to August! Yes, it’s almost Labor Day weekend, woohoo!!!!!