Leaving Town

Hello! I have left the 305 for the weekend and am heading up north. I'll be posting on our travel site since I have nothing South Florida related to write about (except that the Marlins are playing tonight - but not in South Florida) but will be back soon with some new 305 stories and photos!

:)

Out of office

So I just wanted to let all of you know that as of tomorrow, I will be going out of the country to Italy, so I won't be posting here for a few weeks. El Capitan will be taking over for a bit.

xoxo

Christina

Pinecrest Gardens

As you may have well figured out by now, I have lately been on a mission to find low-cost things to do here in Miami. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most important is that I am going to Italy in the next few days for two weeks and I am trying to save my money for that. So El Hombre, who sadly has to stay behind and find his own misadventures, and I have been taking advantage of all the free parks, gardens, fests, etc. On our way back from Fairchild one day, we passed by the Pinecrest Gardens and decided to put that on our list of things to do.

The Pinecrest Gardens, located on 57th Ave., is the former location of Parrot Jungle Island, or whatever they decide to call themselves this month. After PJ moved, The city of Pinecrest took it over, maintained and restored some areas, and made it free to the public.

As you walk in, you have a choice of windy paths through lushly landscaped plants. It's much less manicured looking than Fairchild, not to say that it's overgrown, because it's not. As it formerly had "jungle" in it's name, it's intended to look as such. You can still see remnants of it's former owners, in the signs, bowls and play areas for children. Which, as we were winding through the plants, and looking at the fish and turtles, we overheard some teenagers making out in a hidden bowl (ah.. young love.. because it was really hot to be all smooching up on someone) and the joyful shrieks of children playing in the "water park" area. We sat and watched the kids for a bit, me reminiscing about how great it was to run through sprinklers with my friends and family in the summer, how that was the ultimate awesomeness for any little kid.

Then as we winded around we found a lookout of the park, a concession stand, some swings (my fav), a playground and a petting zoo. The petting zoo had a few pigs and goats. And was kind of disappointing. But overall it's a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Miami Beach Beer Boots

The other night I was watching a baseball game at Finnegan's on Lincoln Road with a friend and we started to get hungry and wander Lincoln for a bite to eat. It was REALLY busy for a Sunday night and we walked up and down and finally came back and settled on the wonderful Hofbräu Beerhall. I think it's on the corner of Lincoln and Jefferson - not exactly sure. This is a great place to go and people watch. The food is really good if you're into sausages, potatoes and sauerkraut. And they have a good selection of beers. Some of them come on the small side (a half liter) while others are on the larger side (enourmous mugs of frosty ale and boots filled to the brim! Someone told me they were two gallon boots? I'm not sure but they're huge!). Everytime I've been here it's been on the quiet side, but this past weekend it was loud and fantastic.

The group at the table next to us, after they had finished their boots, started to try them on. It was hilarious, although the server did not think putting the glass boots on their feet was all that funny. They were all encouraging me to try a boot but I had to decline. It was getting late and work beckoned the next day. There was an Englishman drinking a boot alone. He was wearing a Decendents shirt, which drew my attention to him, since I rarely see them in Miami and used to listen to them all the time back in the early days. Most of my photos from the evening came out a bit dark but I managed to get a couple:

The English Descendents man with boot.

Our neighbor avec le boot (you can see the glass if you look really closely).

Looking through my mug and the lights of Lincoln Road.

Miami Sunsets

This was the scene yesterday from my abode. Beautiful!

Stumbled upon this...

There are many things I love about Miami, and one of my favorite things about this (or any other city for that matter) is stumbling upon little local spots off the beaten path. On our way to Fairchild, we passed this little market on 57th, and I pointed it out as a place to check out on our way home.

The little fruit market in question is the Pinecrest Wayside Market. It's across the street from the canal, and just down the street from the old Parrot Jungle, and it reminds me alot of Robert is Here, only much smaller. It's an open-air sort of market with fruits, veggies, sauces and shakes. But what struck me was not so much the produce, but the ambiance. There were several people there, just sitting out with each other, enjoying a shake or a mango or a sandwich, just relaxing. Taking in the whole scene, spending time with each other. You don't always find that in the City of Miami. That's more of a vibe you catch in the keys or South Dade. Even when people are sitting outside, or at a park, there's an underlying since of urgency that I didn't catch here.

I didn't try any of the shakes because after walking around in the heat all I wanted was water, but I intend to check them out next time.

In the meantime, here's some photos:

Marlins Fun!

Friday night I went to the Marlins/Cubs game. I had forgotten how much fun the games are - especially when the weather is tolerable and you are not sweating to death. Thankfully, in a few years, we won't have to face the wrath of the South Florida sun in order to enjoy our baseball games :) The Marlins played the Cubs which usually draws a big crowd. There was even an appearance by the dreaded goat to jinx the Cubs. I think there were only a few Marlin fans in the section I was sitting in. I was surrounded by Cubs fans who ended up being pretty cool. It was a fun night had by all, especially since the Marlins won! I am thinking about buying season tickets for next year (I say that every year but this time I am serious). I took a bunch of photos and have some hilarious ones of the Mermaids in awkward positions (check them out below) and a video of the hefty Manatees.

Friends and enemies.

Billy the Marlin and Lil' Billy.

The Mermaids.

The Mermaids part two - frozen in time.

This guy was awesome. He walked around all night with cotton candy on his head.

Hanley Ramirez - he didn't have the best of nights.

Dan Uggla.

Billy the Marlin with a birthday friend. See all the Cubs fans around me? They were everywhere!

I never get tired of seeing/hearing his name - Milton Bradley. His parents had to have known.

This guy was sitting in front of me. His shirt said "Relax - The Land of Fish and Chicks." Classy!

Cody Ross - crazy outfielder.

Jorge Cantu.

The Manatees. Oh my.

Loooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Yay - Marlins win!