February arrives this weekend
Welcoming February this Sunday seems absolutely crazy but we do indeed only have two days left in January. We’re also welcoming more cold weather here and honestly, I’m fine with that.
After sending out this blog last Friday and getting some work done, I decided to take a stroll through North Bayshore William Lehman Park in North Miami where I enjoyed the stunning view of both the water and wildlife (see the cute bird in the picture above). On the way home I stopped in at The CAMP Gallery to see their current exhibition since I missed the opening reception for it last weekend. I was warmly greeted by the staff and took in the work of artist Pablo Power in the show “Vision/Version” and coming up this Saturday night they’re hosting a screening of one of his films.
Then in the evening, I enjoyed a really fun dinner with the girls, my friends Janet, Madelyn and Betty at Janet’s house where she cooked us a delicious Mediterranean meal and affogato for dessert. I’m so fortunate to have so many wonderful groups of girlfriends,I treasure their friendship.
Saturday began with beautiful afternoon celebrating the life of my late Aunt Titi who was 99 years old and would’ve been 100 on Jan. 27, with family at her parish at St. Cecilia in Hialeah. I loved seeing my cousins, their kids, my aunt and her husband and so many others there.
Dinner at Ichabod’s Bar & Grille
Afterwards, Nick and I went home to change and pack up the car for our drive up to Merritt Island. That night, Elizabeth drove over from Orlando and we all enjoyed a fun dinner at Ichabod’s Bar & Grille in Melbourne. And because they didn’t serve fries there (I was shocked but the server told us they don’t have a fryer), we went to a nearby Sonic so Nick could get fries and Elizabeth and I each got ice cream. It was a cool way to end the night LOL.
Sunday, my niece Nicole and her son Mazen joined us at Sunday mass at Divine Mercy Catholic Church and then we went right next door for breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts. I think that’s becoming our thing and I love it! That afternoon, Elizabeth went to the very desolate Merritt Square Mall, the place is truly a ghost town, but where we found a great sale at Rack Room and I picked up a couple of pairs of sneakers and she also found a couple of nice jeans, which she needed, at Aeropostale. We grabbed a yummy pretzel too. On the way home, we stopped at Bobalicious for a cold drink. Elizabeth had never been and she loved it and it was no nice to be recognized by the cashier there, who handed me a punch card since I’m a regular there now!
After saying our goodbyes and watching Elizabeth drive off, we spent the rest of the day watching football. Congrats Seahawks and Patriots for making it into the Superbowl, and had a fantastic barbecue dinner thanks to Vance’s skills at the grill.
Monday, Nick and I visited Vance at work where we chatted with his co-workers, particularly Joyce who Vance used to work with at Carnival Cruise Lines back in the day. I’m so glad they’re reunited and know they’re going to accomplish great things at the Canaveral Port Authority.
View from Boardwalk at Kelly Park West
It wouldn’t be a complete weekend if I didn’t visit a park so while Nick was shooting hoops at Kelly Park West on Banana River Dr. just minutes from our townhouse and Port Authority, I took a nice brisk walk around the perimeter of the park and down a couple of their boardwalks.
Obligatory stop at Cracker Barrel with my best travel buddy.
And it also wouldn’t be complete if Nick and I hadn’t made a stop at Cracker Barrel while we were on the road, so they we are making a stop at the one in Fort Pierce on the way home Tuesday.
Fun night at trivia with Old Tom’s regulars Tony and David. Missing from the picture are regulars Armando and Sean. Together we won second place!
Then fast forward to Wednesday when Nick and I went to trivia at the very crowded Old Tom’s in Miami Springs. Luckily though, the guys at the reserved booth up front invited us to sit with them once again and it was great fun not only because they kept us entertained all night but because, we got second place!
Also, on Wednesday morning, I attended a Zoom program hosted by Emerging Arts Leaders of Miami on the importance of Arts and Medicine and how research shows and continues to expand on the healing properties of the arts. It’s a subject I’ve written about for Artburst Miami and one very near and dear to my heart. I plan to delve deeper into the subject on my own.
Tomorrow Vance and I will be meeting our friends Kevin and Michelle for the Third Annual Bird Road Culinary Tour in Westchester. I mean stops at La Carreta and Arbetter’s Hot Dogs and Frankie’s Pizza, plus several other spots, sounds great to me! It’s old school Miami and I love it. I might have to pop into Dos Croquetas if they’re not on the tour, and bring some goodies home.
Now I leave you with the weekly Calendar of Things to Do this weekend…
The Key Biscayne Film Festival
Grand Opening of Chewy Bark Park at The Underline
Family Fun Festival at Frost Science
Free music around town in the Miami Design District, North Miami, Miami Beach and North Miami Beach.
And some parting shots of my niece Tiffany and her daughter Kate (her other daughter Hailey was filming) celebrating her birthday on Jan. 25th at Benihana in Coral Gables, happy birthday and sorry I couldn’t be there. And a picture of my brother Mario and his granddaughter Rosemary being goofy.
Hope you have a great weekend and let me know if you check out any of those events and I’ll see you back here next Friday.
