Miami Moment

When El Hombre and I took the Bus Tour two weeks ago, one of the stops was in Little Havana. We walked down the street a bit, more than most of the other people, and I saw this guy:


I thought it was cool to sit and watch him in the beginnings of what I hope is a mural.

I get around....... Miami

Before I moved to this city, I visited several times. As a tourist, I hit up the main spots, meaning South Beach, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, but it wasn't until I moved here that I found some of my favorite places, like Old Cutler Road, The non-Coco Walk part of the grove and some others. You know this because these are many of the places I go with the intention of blogging about them, showing them to people who are visiting Miami, or who have lived here but never seen this side of our city.

This past Saturday, I got to be a tourist in my own city again. El Hombre and I took a tour of Miami with The Miami Tour Company. We took the city tour, which leaves from the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, and takes you on a three hour tour of Miami and South Beach. This was a narrated bus tour (closed buses, with AC.. thank God because it was warm outside) that runs on GPS.

I know what you may say, three hours is a long time to be on a bus. But the tour takes you from South Beach to Coconut Grove, down Old Cutler, through Coral Gables and Little Havana, and ending in Bay Side, where you can continue onto the Everglades, Boat Tour or head back to the beach. Also, as El Hombre pointed out, you got alot of information about Miami in a small amount of time (and there is a bit of dry humor here and there.) Plus it stopped in the grove for lunch, at the Biltmore (once again, my favorite hotel in Miami) and in Little Havana, so you could snap pictures, stretch your legs and chat with the tour guide.

It was nice having El Hombre along because he is a Miami native, and I could verify information with him. We both learned a few new things, for example, I would never have thought we had the third biggest skyline, nor would I have realized the cemetery in the Bahamian Village was the backdrop for Thriller (you better believe I YouTubed that as soon as I got home.) I also had never been in the Bahamian Village, so that was kinda cool.

Overall, I think my favorite thing was hearing people's reaction to Vizcaya and the backroads of the Grove. So many people come here and never see anything other than the beach, and the view from the interstate on the way to the keys. This tour is cool because it lets you see a more "local view" of Miami. I don't have pictures because my camera sort of hates life, but I felt like I was reading back through my blog and adding some history behind my posts.

Juan de Alba

So the boy, his friend and I went out to eat in a little tapas restaurant in Little Havana about a week and a half ago, and as we were walking in, there was a guy who was dressed in what appeared to be a pirate costume. Of course, in my subtle manner, I stared at him in amazement as I walked past because I love pirates, I think they are fantastic. El boy hissed in my ear, "look sweety! a pirate! did you see the pirate?" once we were past.

After we sat down and discussed the pirate, he stepped on stage and started singing and dancing flamenco, and ripping on his sexual orientation in Spanish. He was awesome.




His name is Juan de Alba and is a regular flamenco performer in the community. Days later, el boy told me that apparently the pirate is famous in Miami and has been around for awhile. He was pretty funny, from what I understood, so I googled him. He has no website but he is on YouTube. So I present to you, Juan de Alba:



He doesn't really dance in this one like he did on his little stage. Nor is is pointing at people in the crowd like he did at el boy and el amigo. but he does get pretty into it.

The Cock Series - Part 1

The elusive fireman cock in Brickell. All over Miami, you can find statues of the rooster (aka the cock), especially in Little Havana. You can also find real live versions in backyards, along US-1, Lincoln Road, Key West, Hobie Beach (if they ran away and aren't the guest of honor in a santeria extravaganza)...basically all over the place.