After this, there’s only one more month left in 2026 but I’m welcoming November with open arms. There are so many great things to look forward to this month.
But before I get to that, let’s run through this past week. Starting with…
A great date night last Friday at Yard House in Shops at Merrick Park in Coral Gables. While Nick was at his annual Halloween party, we went and sat at the bar at Yard House and split the chicken lettuce wraps and shiitake garlic noodles. We were seated next to a really nice couple who are regulars there and I was eyeing their chicken nachos and pizza that they split and those looked really good too. Yard House has great food and a great selection of brews on tap. I had a Fat Tire draft with my dinner. When we returned to pick up Nick at his party, he was still on the dance floor having a blast. It was a great night overall.
Even with the rainy weather, we were all smiles. That’s Andrea, Food Rescue’s volunteer coordinator and my neighbors Matt and Carlos behind her.
Saturday, after my board meeting which was very quick, I was able to book it over to Village Freedge and help out with our Food Rescue Farmer’s Market. My neighbors Matt and Carlos were already there working hard and although we all got soaked, it was a productive morning, providing fresh food to the community in need.
View at Legion Park. It felt nice to sit by the bay and reflect on the view after all the rain we had that morning.
Stone crabs and mustard sauce plus, smoked fish dip and crackers from Blue Runner Seafood.
Even though my shoes and socks were soaked after volunteering, I still made a few stops before heading home, first at the Legion Park Farmer’s Market where I picked up plenty of goodies and enjoyed time by the water. Then I had to make a stop at Blue Runner Seafood, the food truck that’s always parked on NE 110 St. and Biscayne Blvd. and always has the freshest stuff. I picked up a few stone crabs, shrimp that I cooked for dinner and smoked fish dip.
And because it was Halloween night, Vance and I decided to take a stroll through Biscayne Park and check out all the house decorations. We were joined by our neighbors Ericka and Ray who were out for their evening walk.
Sunday, after a horribly, rainy, ugly day and just hanging at home all day, I attended a lovely thank you party that evening hosted by Nourish Miami’s John Barber and his wife Barbara at their home in Normandy Shores. It was nice to bond and chat with fellow volunteers outside of our regular shifts during the week. It’s why I love volunteering because I get to meet wonderful like-minded people with a unified mission — to help the less fortunate.
These are posters for the exhibitions currently on display at ICA Miami.
Wednesday I spent the morning at ICA Miami Institute of Contemporary Art in the Design District where after taking several photos at the gift shop for an article I’m working on, I took a stroll through the exhibitions on display. The pieces you see above were some of my favorites from each show.
Today, I’m headed to my brother Mario’s house in Bradenton, where we’re going to watch his son Chris coach his football team in their playoff game. Go Falcons!
Once I’m back in Miami on Saturday afternoon, I plan to attend the North Miami Greek Food & Wine Festival on Sunday and on Monday, I’ll be attending a special arts community gathering to discuss how to survive what will most likely be more budget cuts to the arts due to the recent passing of Amendment 3. Let’s hope we can devise some creative solutions to survive next year and beyond.
And just a few last thoughts/mentions…
Give Miami Day is happening on Nov. 19th, it’s an annual fundraising day put on by The Miami Foundation, in an effort to help non-profit organizations throughout Miami-Dade County. This year, I’m an ambassador for Nourish Miami and BOOM! Ensemble. I hope you’ll take a look and consider supporting one or both of these groups.
Aside from those two organizations, you know, from reading this blog, the ones that I’m incredibly passionate about and they are arts organizations, literary groups, theater groups and of course Best Buddies and Special Olympics.
Then last but certainly not least, I want to give a special shoutout to my nephew Danny for coming through for me and creating a template on the fly for the monthly Oldsmobile Car Club newsletter I edit. They did away with the program I was using and he came to the rescue and it’s much appreciated.
And… a happy birthday wish to my nephew Manoli!
I leave you this week with a photo of a cute Ibis I saw when I was on my walk through the park on Thursday morning and as always, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back again next Friday.
Until then…
