A Miamian went home to New Orleans

Last week, I went back to New Orleans for French Quarter Fest. It is by far better than Jazz Fest (which is overpriced and you get baked in the sun for a good 8 hours). I went back, saw old friends and ate really good food. Not that you can't find good food in Miami - but everywhere you go in New Orleans you are sure to find good food. I went to Cafe du Monde and had wonderful beingets and found a crawfish boil on the street which was delicious. Napoleon House is one of my favorite Quarter places to have lunch. The food and drinks there are fantastic. I didn't take any pictures from our late night adventures but took some when we were wandering around the Quarter during the day. Here they are:

People playin' music in Jackson Square

They caught the UM croc killers! Good. Scumbags.

On a more silly note, here is a picture of another rediculous rogue flamingo statue, this one is in the grove in Cocowalk:



Happy Halloween! I'm dressing up, watching trick-or-treaters and then finding fun times and crazy costumes tonight!

El Capitan is not. Why? because my collegue is out of the country.... jerk!

Wandering the Beach

Last night, I hit up the Beach and wandered to Lincoln, Washington and made a stop at the Shelborne for some karaoke delights. The surprise of the night was when Alonzo Mourning walked in and hung out in the back listening to the throngs of people sing along to I Want it that Way, Gold Digger and Wanted Dead or Alive. We first stopped at Hofbräu München Bierhall, that wacky restaurant/German bar up towards Lenox and then headed to Jazid on Washington which had an unusually high cover (booo) and then instead of paying, headed straight for karaoke entertainment. On the way there, in front of Cameo, there were two HUGE guys dressed in head to toe white suits and everyone was taking their picture but I couldn't get a good angle. Plus didn't know who they were nor did I really care. But all in all it was a fun night wandering the streets of the Beach on a balmy Saturday night. Here are a couple of pics:

At the German Beer Hall - they have liters of beer (see below) and "boots" of beer which are ENORMOUS:

Flamingo Watch - Washington Ave:

Scenes around the Gables

I love living in the gables. It's beautiful and there are so many neat little details you never notice unless you keep your eyes up.

For example, this wall is awesome:



And another flamingo! awesome!



This whole city loves giant, ridiculously painted birds....

Beachy Sundays

So I met one of my cohorts on Lincoln Road on Sunday for shopping, food and scoping the strangeness. Despite the occasional Monsoon-like weather it was relaxing, and I always love checking out the market, even if it's the off-season microversion.




We both admired the flowers that bloom on this tree. And also the air potatos (which are illegal to grow, plant and sell in Miami-Dade)

You find a mix of venders on Lincoln Road on Sunday:

Like people selling fruits and veggies. This particular vendor was not any better of a deal than the grocery. Boo to that, since I wanted to buy avocados.


But you can always find orchids!


The Chabad House has always had this booth, but it was abandoned because of the rain. It never fails to amaze me that Miami Beach is essentially a sin den, but there is a very strong, devout jewish population there. It's an interesting dichotomy.


My cohort made a new friend...


The rest of Miami has roosters, Miami Beach has flamingos. Go fig.