Little Havana…..Here we come

   The final day of our vacation to the Florida Keys was upon us, all too quickly it seemed. We left Lime Tree Bay Resort for the last time heading north toward Miami and a midnight flight home. We drove to a small town called Tavernier. We had learned of this earlier in the week. Henry Flagler was building his railroad from Miami to Key West and this was the first leg completed. The Irish railroad workers got paid one Friday, came into the settlement and asked, ” is there a tavern near?” Hence the name. I always love historical tidbits we pick up.

  We try to plan early and avoid long stays at airports by finding things to do in places where you have late flights or stay near the airport if you have an early flight the next morning. Darlene and I had a late flight so we planned to visit Little Havana and South Beach in Miami.

   We arrived in Miami about lunch time and had wanted to eat in Little Havana. We picked Versailles Restaurant (Spanish pronunciation Ver sigh lees.) They advertise they’re the most famous Cuban Restaurant in the world.

We went in and were seated immediately. The waiter brought us menus in Spanish.

We managed to figure out some it but the waiter took pity and asked if we would like English menus. We split an appetizer of Empanadas (one beef, one chicken, and one ham and spinach) and a pitcher of Mojitos. We both ordered the Cuban Sandwich. Everything we had was excellent.

   We left the restaurant and drove down Calle Ocho (8th Ave) and found a place to park. It is also known as the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame. The street is lined with famous Cuban personalities much like the Walk of Fame in Los Angles saluting movie stars.

We then went to Domino Park. This is a interesting and lively place on the corner of 9th Ave. It is a gathering place where the locals play very serious and spirited games of dominoes. There are 8 tables set up that were full and also had many patrons waiting for a table to open.

   We continued on, stopping in a couple of souvenir shops and of course a cigar shop. There are many cigar shops lining both sides of the street.

   We started back toward the car and decided to stop in a quaint little bar/grill/coffee shop. Both of us figured a strong Cuban coffee would be a good afternoon pick me up. This turned out to be an excellent choice! The coffee was delicious! There was lively Latin music playing and a man dressed to the nines singing. He was singing in Spanish, so we did not understand a word he said, but he had a good voice and played his part well. He was a comical looking little man with a “Hitler mustache.”

   We then paid our respects to the Bay of Pigs Memorial. It is in memory of the 2506 Cubans and Americans that lost their lives that day in 1961. This was both interesting and fascinating to me. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the first major news story I remember as a kid.

   We then left Little Havana and drove over to South Beach where the pretty (rich!) people play. We took a drive down Ocean Drive looking at all the expensive hotels, nice restaurants, and famous nightlife bars. We saw the palm tree lined streets. Darlene said we can tell everyone we stayed at Ritz Carlton in South Beach……..for about 2 minutes while stopped at a traffic light.

   We also liked the older buildings with their rounded corners and glass block windows.

As the day was coming to an end, we turned our rental in and headed to the airport. We know our “international airport” in Birmingham is basically international in name only. That fact becomes more evident when you really go to one, like Miami. It took us a van ride, 2 train rides, 3 moving sidewalks, and a mule hike just to get to the airport check in.

But we had a great time touring the Florida Keys and are thankful for safe travels. Darlene and I both suggest you put this trip on your vacation list. I hope the blog is entertaining and helpful.

   Thanks to those who follow our travels. We enjoy going and doing. We have a short and quick trip coming up in August.  Biloxi, Mississippi where we have been several times. It is listed on this blog in the past if you want to go back and read. I know we will eat at Mary Mahoney’s.  I will also start my third year of weekly college football talk and tips for anyone interested (strictly for entertainment purposes only). Until then, may God bless.