Miami, Part 2

Spent another week in Miami with Mi Cariño and her family. It was a great visit indeed, and the time just FLEW. Which is nice, and then it isn't.

We flew in Tuesday night, in theory. By the time we were heading to the airport, thunder was crackling like crazy, which delayed us right off the bat - originally we were scheduled to depart at 9pm but that didn't happen until after midnight. Thankfully Mi Cariño's parents still picked us up and we arrived at the house somewhere close to 4am. But since we had nowhere to go the next day it was all good, and we just spent Wednesday lazying about and catching up on sleep.

Highlights from the trip: a visit to Coral Castle Museum.

This guy (25) is jilted by his 16 year old fiancee. After deciding he will never love anyone else, that no one else can love him, and being told by the "Sweet Sixteen" that she was saying no to him because he didn't have any money, he made it his life mission to build himself a castle. And he did so, by using Coral. It's essentially a sculpture garden, the guy's name is Edward (you look up his last name!) The amazing thing is that he built it all himself, and he did it at night so no one could see him. He "knew the secret of pyramids" apparently, and went about making reading chairs, thrones, bedrooms, a well, a confession room, a place to stargaze, and a place for children to play. It's actually kind of impressive. 

I mean, y'all, he made a heart table. Without modern tools. We're talking before 1951. Amazing. 

Another Highlight - Zoo Miami. Mi Cariño, two of my nieces, and my buddy O and his youngest son Caleb and I, had us a good time looking at animals and melting in the sun. We should've gotten a bike to ride through and minimize the walking and the child whining, but it was all good. Witness, cute picture of kid turned Jaguar!

We also visited the mall and had us some fun at Dave & Buster's and went crazy at the bookstore buying the kiddies books (and ourselves) and had us a 50% dinner at some chain looking restaurant thanks to the girls and their connections. Here, a pretty decent spaghetti bolognese. 

Which makes me say: let's talk about food! First there was Yucca with grilled chicken and maduros.

We ate that at Las Islas, where we ate at the last trip. The food was once again, uninspired. But the Abuela likes it, and so, we go. 

Then, we had pasta bolognese at some fancy outdoor restaurant by their "Lincoln Center." The area has a name. I do not remember it. It was very nice, like a loooong strip of stores and restaurants. Does it count as an outdoor mall? We ate there after watching "Sarah's Key," a movie that's just chock full of happy, happy, joy, joy. (Smell the sarcasm.) It was a nice movie, though. So was the pasta. 

A couple of days later we ate at some new trendy restaurant in the heart of Miami. Kill me because I don't have the desire to check for the name. I suck. We began with some cheese balls as appetizers

An I had me an extremely expensive Chicken Mofongo. It was worth it though, the stuff was delish. But don't tell Mi Cariño I said that.

On our last night there, we ate at The Cheesecake Factory, a first time for me. The food was good, I had meatloaf with mashed potatoes. I'm pretty sure I took a picture of that, but can't find it, so just imagine it. Mi Cariño sent me a picture of our dessert though:

The Cheesecake did not disappoint. Neither did this amazing week. I will leave you with an image from Matheson Hammock, a manmade area we visited (but did not swim in) that afforded us a great view of the Miami skyline. But don't worry, I did swim in Miami Beach. I even got a tiny tan! So, yay.

April 22nd

Back again in Universal! This time my walk through the parks was less leisurely, but not less fun. Although I have to say, Mi Cariño and her parents totally pooped me out y'all. We woke up at the butt crack of dawn to be at the Park as early as possible. The goal: Harry Potter Land! Well, it has another name but I don't care enough to look it up. I was there last year and loved it, and it was the turn of Mi Cariño and her parents to see it for the first time.

There were a great many highlights, that I will not renumerate. Cuz I'm lazy, and I don't remember the names of things. Y'all, these parks are fun, but I needed some of Mami's sustenance food to get me through that. By the end of the night I was ready to pass out in the car, and that was without packing and all the goodness that I had to do before Saturday morning when I was due to leave for Massachusetts. Let's just hope I passed Mi Cariño's "theme park test."

Universal


The picture's somewhere in my house:
Jonathan, Javier, Amanda, Junior, and I
riding the electrical walkway to the land
of movie fun. Children all, then, 
some of us slightly less. 
I sat on the moving belt
black shorts, white T,
wire rimmed glasses
dimple on display. Months before
turning eighteen. Months before
understanding what "slipped disk"
"pressed nerves" and "disability"
really meant. All I wanted was to visit
the Xena: Warrior Princess exhibit, 
to ride,
ride, 
ride,
but I had to get off the moving belt
sometime. 


© Yazcaminante, 2011

April 21th

Road Trip! We head to Orlando, for a shorter stay than I had originally planned, but it's all good, the family is game. Mi Cariño, her mom, her dad and I eventually manage to leave the house to head to Orlando. It's over three hours away from Miami, and it's a trip the family has done before. (A lot.)

The drive wasn't bad though, it's nice to sit in the back seat and just fall asleep and not worry about directions and get to munch on great goodies. We were hungry by the time we arrived though, and so after dropping bags and things of the sort, we had a quick dinner at Pei Wei.

Pei Wei, I'm told, is the "fast" version of PF Changs, another of Mi Cariño's favorite. You order, they bring it to your table... good stuff. We shared all of this:

First some salty Edamame

Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls (these were only okay)

Mi Cariño's favorite, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, which were quite yummy.

Afterwards we made our way to what I think was Downtown Disney. I suck at names of things. We essentially spent a couple of hours walking through a Disney Store and seeing some Disney things before heading for "real" dinner. At the Store I purchased a whole lot of goodies: necklaces for Brichelle and Brianna, (and a little doll for Brianna, too); presents for myself and for Mi Cariño. The necklaces were super cute but I'm sorry to say very cheaply done. Brianna snapped hers off a couple of hours after she started wearing it... I assumed that it was because she's tiny and totally rough with things. But Brichelle's necklace also snapped, and Bricho certainly wasn't going around pulling on the necklace. Boo, Disney!

In Any case, to dinner. We went to a place called BJ's. Looked like a chain, but I've never heard of it, so maybe it's just a really big sports bar place. Food:

Stuffed Mushrooms.

Something fried. Probably crispy onions type deal. Don't remember. Can't say I really enjoyed them.

Angel hair pasta primavera with garlic toast and blackened chicken. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would've easily eaten the whole thing if allowed.

After dinner we made it to Mi Cariño's brother's place, since he and his wife were kindly putting us up. We relaxed, watched American Idol and chatted a bit before going to sleep. It was a good, if busy day. I think a lot can be said about traveling and what it says about people. As a "professional traveler" I definitely believe that the simple act of going from one place to another can sometimes bring out the worst in people... you're not in your usual space, you have to deal with circumstances you weren't expecting, you have to think quickly and there's a lot of pressure to get things right, right away. I'm not trying to be humble when I say I'm a good traveler - it really is what I DO. Everything with being okay with traffic to putting up with planes leaving late, to children screaming around you and to your "co-pilot" getting the directions wrong - I've dealt with it all. Bad weather is by far the worst, but the second is a person that does not know how to travel. In any case, this diatribe is to say that I put a lot of weight on traveling and how people interact when they do; it's when the real you comes out! So this was an important day for me.

Running


Testify 
circles
over


over
water
sleep


deeply
for you. 


© Yazcaminante, 2011

April 20th

This day was a very special day. This day, I was able to, finally, go to a Pita Pit.

You must understand, that Mi Cariño has talked about this place since our second date. I'm quite sure. If not then, then our third. This is a very much loved franchise.

We ate here late afternoon, the place practically empty. The look is very reminiscent of "healthy" fast food chains, ala Subway. I had a very healthy chicken pita with a very unhealthy sauce. I cannot remember the name of the Sauce. Y'all, I eat chicken in this sauce all this time, but can't remember it, because the thing happened over 17 days ago and I'm lucky to remember the lovely heat I experienced that day, so stop being so annoying about the details.

In any case, you essentially pick a protein and pack that pita up with all the healthy stuffing you'd like, like mushrooms and lettuce and tomatoes and peppers and onions and all that goodness. You can have all of that grilled if you'd like to. I had my fresh pita with some stale chips and a diet coke, because I'm trying to get myself used to not drinking regular soda. Boo.

My verdict: I made the wrong choice by choosing the sauce. Otherwise I felt that the Pita was delish and worth returning to. Why aren't there any Pita Pits in NYC? Maybe I should open a Franchise... how much are those? In any case, I'm glad it was good because I would've hated to have found that the place Mi Cariño had been talking about for so long sucked.

Measurements


Like flashes I remember
chopping vegetables for the locrio de vegetales:
carrots, celery, peppers and more
until finally the rice reached that deep 
brown orange color that can only be achieved with
salsa de tomate, ajo, sal, cebolla, un chin de aceite, 
and always, oregano. 


There were the days after school 
rushing to sprinkle brown sugar on hot oil
til it was the right brown
to coat the chicken with
to feed my brothers with
to leave the food on the pots so
Mami could serve me because


there's nothing so bad as cooking
and serving yourself. Like flashes I remember
slowly moving away from the kitchen
first by making desserts and then
by making


nothing at all. This is all to say
chopping ain't nothing if it means
having you around. 


© Yazcaminante, 2011

April 19th

This had to possibly be my favorite day of the vacation - began with a slow morning, were we took our time getting ready. We breakfasted sometime around 11:30 (maybe much later) with some huevo frito con tostada cubana on my part (sorry, didn't take a picture of that lovely delicacy.) We made our way to North Beach somewhat slowly thanks to traffic, but the drive was worth it. Thanks to Mi Cariño's family, we had access to some private strip of the playa. View from above:

and also

and then the view from my chair

You can go ahead and be jealous at all that blue.

After a couple of hours enjoying the sun and the water, and failing to build a sand castle, we eventually made our way to Miami Beach, where eggplant pizza was purchased somewhere. I did not take a picture of the pizza, but it was very tasty.

Beach View


Through Palm Tree lined streets we drive, 
as you point to past apartments,
gyms, place of employment, 
the street you walked down to go to
the beach. 


I dreamed of two state living, where we chase the heat. 
I dreamed of two state living, where our kids had a yard,
my mother had a garden, 
I dreamed that I was able to say no and to say yes
when I wanted to


and then you turned the corner and point
to what could be a future. A room with a 
beach view. 
Baby, I know how to swim, 


but all this water really, 
really scares me. 


© Yazcaminante, 2011

April 18th

All Mondays should be like this one. Slow and sweet, with only a responsibility or two to keep things from getting too sluggish.

For lunch we stopped by Las Islas Canarias, where I had me some Pan con Bistec, which is supposed to be some quintessential Cuban meal. Never heard of it. It was quite tasty, but there were no surprises... it tastes just as you would imagine it does.

Before the Bistec, however, I had this croqueta-like thing. I cannot remember for the life of me what they were. Obviously, although pretty looking, not very memorable. Yucca something? Who knows. The sauce was the good thing about it.

El famoso Pan con Bistec, came with some chips.

And now, to some poetry.

Boo!


I like
that we talk during movies,
that our fingers fight 
over popcorn,
that you'll always lean over
to kiss me
when the movie starts.


It reminds me of a time
back when our dates went by
number, and popcorn spilled,
slushie given and kisses
were new, you
leaned in to kiss and I 


leaned in to kiss and I
forgot for a second
or two
my name and 
social security number and
my city and state, please, 


because your lips are
delicious enough to scare away
knowledge, thought, fear


every time. 


© Yazcaminante, 2011

April 16th

Ah yes. This day was a half a month ago! But I will keep my promise of posting a poem for every April day, and since I did eat out, I shall post a picture. It was my first full day in Miami with Mi Cariño, and we began by having some Tostada Cubana for breakfast, which is really just Cuban bread toasted with butter, and then went to Pride Salon to get our feetsies prettyfied.
Soon after we left for Miami Beach, where the Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade was going on, and we had us a good time watching the homogays prancing around the place and I tried my hardest to get me some beads for once in my life and now they're sitting in my room doing absolutely nothing, cuz really what do you do with plastic cheap beads? But they're purple, so yay.
After lots of friend searching, walking around and general gaying of the self, we had some food at some restaurant on Ocean Drive. I do not remember the name. I do remember the pizza.

We went total veggie with tomato basil and mozzarella. Kudos to Mi Cariño for eating tomatoes.

The day went on in spectacular awesome fashion, with us heading back to the Salon to get our hair did and ending with a great get-together with a bunch of people that were nice to me even though they didn't have to, cuz they're cool like that.

This House

There are pictures in this house
of you and your brother, 
your "sisters," "your mothers," 
are all over this house. 
There are memories in this house
of love and pain, learning, giving,
these memories are breathing
all over this house. 

There is laughter in this house
deep within its walls
jumping out as loud as the fights
over this house. 
You're all over this house
in a way I once used to be in mine
and as I can find the teenage you 
hidden in the folds of the couch
I wonder how I fit in 
this house,


if I fit in this house
does that mean I don't fit in mine?
and will I ever be able to provide you
with what you found in this 
house?


Pictures, memories, laughter, 
"sisters," and "mothers," love and pain, 
learning and giving, walls that are breathing
with history and history and tell me will you 
cast me aside if we can't recreate
this house?
© Yazcaminante, 2011

 

Memorials

This little memorial by the City Hall caught my eye. It's titled "be right back" and on top of the suitcase there's a half eaten donut, and a coffee. This visit has so far not been a lot of fun, mostly because we're here recording some serious/sad stuff. Plus, there just hasn't been the desire to do much. Let's see if we do something about that today.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5