Blog No. 48 of 2025
I was sure I was wrong when I typed the number 48 as the headline of this blog. Only four Fridays left in 2025!
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday with their family and friends. I for one am eternally grateful for my very blessed life, surrounded by so many loving family members and friends.
If you’ll recall, last Friday I mentioned I was going to the play “Here There Are Blueberries,” Miami New Drama’s latest production at the Colony Theater on Miami Beach. It was a heart wrenching show with stellar performances delivering an emotional and difficult story with heartfelt emotion and grit. It tells a story about the Holocaust and the ordinary, everyday lives led by the SS officers of the Third Reich led during that horrific period as seen in a scrapbook that is discovered many years later. I highly recommend seeing it, which you can do until Dec. 14. I shared a link to a review last week so check that out before you go.
Carl Hiaasen on the left and Dave Barry on the right, speaking to a packed room at the Chapman Conference Center at MDC Wolfson Campus during the Miami Book Fair. Photo by Vance G.
Sunset from the parking lot at the end of our day at the Miami Book Fair.
Saturday, after dropping Nick off at Yard House in Shops at Merrick Park, Vance and I went to the Miami Book Fair where we had a great time walking around the street fair checking out lots of cool books, listening to music at the Off the Shelf stage and capping the day off listening to columnists/authors Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry keep us all in stitches with their take on the Wild Wild West that is Miami and Florida! It was nice running into lots of friends too.
Sunday I went to Aventura Mall with Monica who I hadn’t’ seen in a very long time. We had lunch at CVI.CHE 105 where I enjoyed their chicken causa then we went to Eataly and bought some goodies at their upscale Italian market. IT was a positively lovely afternoon.
Tyler Herro in sunglasses and Bam Adebayo at Thanksgiving Farmer’s Market at Charles Hadley Park.
On Tuesday, after picking up a couple of boxes of canned goods, a last minute food rescue, I drove them over to Charles Hadley Park for the Thanksgiving Farmer’s Market hosted by Miami Heat players Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. The two superstar basketball players hosted the event on behalf of their respective foundations and were on hand, handing out groceries to people from the neighborhood. It was a beautiful event.
Vance at the line
Michael at the line
Nick at the line, where he made his free throw shot!
The Miami Heat in action against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Kaseya Center in Downtown.
Wednesday night Vance, Nick, Michael and I went to the Miami Heat game. Because it’s Thanksgiving week they had a great special, 2 for 1 tickets so we scored four tickets in the 400 section for $60! We had a great time watching the Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks in a nail biter of a game. Afterwards, Michael got the hook up through his friend who works security at the arena and we all got to walk down to the court. I opted out of trying to make a free throw but Vance, Michael and Nick did and Nick of course, made his shot in!
Rick Ross at the Winternational Parade in North Miami.
Elizabeth, Nick and Michael, all cozy in the back seat on the way to Thanksgiving dinner at my sister Susy’s house.
And yesterday we kicked off Thanksgiving Day by keeping our tradition and attending the North Miami Winternational Parade which this year celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary. Rapper/entertainment mogul/entrepreneur Rick Ross was the Parade Marshall. Elizabeth, who arrived in Miami late Wednesday night, came too, with her boyfriend David. Afterwards, we went back to the house, Michael and Elizabeth cooked up some delicious sides and we took them down to my sister Susy’s house, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with my sisters, nieces and their kids.
Before I sign off, I want to recommend buying tickets to the Miami City Ballet’s “Nutcracker,” if you like that sort of stuff. They’ve got a special running, $30 tickets through Dec. 1! Plus, I also encourage you to check out my Things to do in December in Miami that I wrote for South Florida on the Cheap. Then, while on the site, look around and find posts on tree lightings, holiday light displays, movie discounts and a lot more.
Now I leave with you with this parting shot of peacocks spotted on my walk with Vance earlier this week.
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and I’ll be back here next Friday with lots of fun stuff about Art Basel and Miami Art Week.
