Blog No. 19 of 2025

IT

IS

SO

HOT!!!!

Summer may not have “officially” begun but those sort of cool mornings and early evenings and minimal daytime humidity we were loving here in Miami have pretty much disappeared. From one day to the next, Miami became… MIAMI again. Phew!

Alright, enough about the weather, let’s get to it.

Last Saturday, during the daytime downpour, Vance and trekked all the way to West Miami to pick up a great desk I found on FB Marketplace. It’s solid wood and really nice. After that, since we were already in SW Miami we decided to grab a bite at Dos Croquetas on Bird Road. We love that place. Vance got their two egg breakfast which comes with two croquetas and I got a flight of three croquetas, each one different. I think I’ve tried each variety on the menu and love them all. The spinach and street corn ones are my favorite though.

Later that afternoon, we went to the Marlins game and Nick went of course and he even caught a foul ball! Just as exciting as that was the ninth inning walk on full bases homer by the Marlins to win the game!

Sunday Monica and I went to see a collection of short plays by my friend, playwright Ricky J. Martinez entitled UNTOLD: the IMMIGRATION plays. The three one-act plays all tackled the very tough and relevant subject of immigration, a hot topic in Miami. The writing and acting were equally superb and the intimacy of the blackbox Main Street Players theater in the heart of Main Street Miami Lakes made the experience that much more compelling.

After the play, Monica and I had lunch at 107 Taste, a cute little Asian spot on Main Street with fantastic food. We ordered way too much but when we eat out together we love to share a bunch of appetizers. We had… the vegetable spring rolls, garlic edamame, chicken gyoza dumplings (steamed), honey garlic wings and pork belly buns. Yes, we were hungry!

This week, I had every intention of going to the Coconut Grove Theatre Festival but didn’t make it and although they’ve got some plays this weekend, they may already be sold out. I have to say, although it makes me sad I’ll miss out I’m happy they’re doing so well. I stand behind what they are trying to do which is present works by local playwrights, many of which I know personally, and bring theater back to Coconut Grove, something that’s sorely missed in that neighborhood.

Yesterday I snuck off to the beach in the late afternoon and braved the seaweed to take a quick refreshing dip. Then I took a nice long walk along the sandy bike/walk path before heading home. I really needed it after working on a very long article for Biscayne Times.

Tomorrow I’m excited to go to PrintFest ‘25 at The Wolfsonian, one of my favorite museums in Miami. I can’t wait to see my buddy Tom Virgin from Extra Virgin Press who I know will be making prints onsite. Also there will be the folks from O, Miami and Exile Books along with so many others.

And for Mother’s Day, my plan is to spend it with Vance and the kids, Elizabeth is driving down today, in Downtown Miami, meandering around the Frost Science, PAMM, Bayfront and Maurice Ferre Parks and enjoying one of my favorite parts of Miami.

Lastly, I’ll share a link to my latest article for Artburst Miami, a recap of the Serving the Arts Awards at Actors’ Playhouse in late April, a wonderful event that celebrated Miami’s arts and culture leaders. It was exciting to watch the announcement of the first ever Miami-Dade Arts Hall of Fame and see them all sitting on the Actors’ Playhouse stage. Click here to read my article and click here to see the list of well-deserving inductees.

That’s all for this week!