Barnacle Historic State Park

Our friend, O, took us to Barnacle Historic State Park. It was a lovely little oasis in the middle of bustling Coconut Grove. There is even a little mangrove clump along the bay.

Cuban Food

Cuban food is pretty meat-centric but we were still able to find a lot to eat. From the Guayaba (like a very sweet guava) to the many desserts, we were very well fed.

Shark Valley, Everglade National Park

Still haven't updated tons of stuff but I did want to post these photos at the year's end. Simian and I saw tons of birds at the Everglades Shark Valley that made it to our Life list - Abhingas, Great and Little Blue Herons, Back Vultures, Limpkins and Great Egrets. We didn't see any Gators because it was the wrong season for them but it was a gorgeous visit nonetheless. I expected the Everglades to be much more marshy but it turned out to be very flat land. Apparently the water level rises a lot more but it was fairly dry when we went. A gorgeous trip.

Wynwood Walls

Photos from inside the Wynwood Walls.

More Murals

Wyndood

It's been a while since I posted because things have just been kind of busy! I was reading about Art Basel in Miami though and wanted to post these. Our friends told us to check out the Wynwood District - they said it was still a little rough, but we felt it was pretty okay (despite the sneakers on power lines :)). These were some of the gorgeous murals we saw.

Dinner at O and P's

O and P were amazing hosts who let us stay for a whole week. P cooked for us several times - making Lentil Stew and cooking up whole meals in minutes. He made us Pizza and a great Frittata. I contributed Banana cake.

Cuban Food at La Carreta

O took us to La Carreta to try Cuban Food though he warned us it was very heavy on the meat. We ate a whole bunch of sides and they were awesome. I've never had Plantans in so many different ways - some were familiar (like goreng pisang but without the batter), but Fried Green Plantans were unusual - savory and delicious. Plantan chips were amazing. We also had Yucca and in texture, it tasted like a savory Thai dessert and Mamey Milkshake which tasted almost like Chiku - delicious. We finished with a traditional Tres Leches dessert - O told us every single Cuban restaurant makes it differently.

Mango Jam

I made scones and we had them with Mango Jam. Yum.

Skyline

Interestingly we saw a lot of construction going on in Miami as well.

Tiong Bahru

Doesn't this look like Tiong Bahru? This is a pretty posh area around South Beach.

Buildings near the beach

South Beach

 

The famous South Beach - miles and miles of beach. We spent about two minutes on the beach.

Miami Ink

The Miami Ink Store - I did a double take and went back to take a photo.

Versailles

 

Simian and I just spent a week in Miami and our friend, O, took us to Versailles - which touts itself as the most famous Cuban Restaurant in the world. O assured us the bakery next door was very old-school and authentic and it was great! He told us to avoid the restaurant (also because Cuban food isn't very vegetarian friendly). Versailles had Empanadas of all shapes and sizes, plus they had pastries with guava and guava with cheese. All delicious and reasonable. Almost everyone speaks entirely Spanish so be prepared to point and use your few words of Spanish, por favor :)