Wynwood Saturday

So Friday night Mike and Loni hosted a Cinco de Mayo party, and Wifey and I joined the fun.  They catered with, no kidding, Taco Bell -- individually wrapped tacos of undetermined filling...Mike manned the margarita machine, but I stuck to vodka -- I figured since it's a fake holiday anyway, at least one person ought to celebrate the murder of the Russian Trotsky in Mexico, and that person was me.  Of course, the vodka was Tito's, which is from Texas, but it all seemed to make sense.

We talked a lot of Canes game trips past, and whether we'd make an away game trip this year.  Mike advocated for the Arkansas State game -- we laughed.  That's not exactly the kind of historic college we want to visit -- like Nebraska or Notre Dame, but Mike insisted the campus is "only 4 hours from Memphis."  The UNC game is being played during the height of Fall leaf season -- maybe that will be our trip.

Saturday am I was drinking coffee with a spoiled Spaniel at my feet when Eric called.  He pointed out that the weather was gorgeous -- unseasonably cool -- and would we like to meet him and Dana in Wynwood.  Wifey arose to my room service coffee and said she would.  So we got into the little girlie Caddy and drove to the former warehouse area, now arguably the nation's art hub.

We met Dana and Eric at Panther Coffee, which clearly contains crack cocaine, as it is the best coffee anywhere.  I had told D1 we'd be in her 'hood, and she said she and Joey were having lunch at Enriquetta's, a local (her 'hood) Cuban place.  We decided to walk over to meet them -- a bit less than a mile.  As we arrived, I saw D1's text "it's a pretty far walk," but we had made it easily in the gorgeous Miami sunshine.

We sat at a large table in the back.  Dana and Eric had never met Joey.  They welcomed him to the family with warm hugs.  Dana is a Zumba lover, and that's Joey's company, so they instantly hit it off.  We ate well and cheaply, and then said adios to the young folks, and headed back to Wynwood.

The place is really something -- packed with locals and tourists, all taking non stop photos of the colorful murals and colorful people.  We headed to a craft brewery, and sampled their wares, and then to an even bigger one -- called Concrete Beach.  Wifey found a trivia card game, and peppered us with questions as we drank our beers.  We then took photos and laughed at the years.

Eric and I met in '79, and Dana came along in early '83.  I met Wifey 7 months later, but at the time it seemed Eric and Dana had been dating forever, given that 7 months to early 20 somethings is equal to years to older folks.  And now decades later, we are about to see our kids get married -- Jennifer's date is three weeks away, and D1's big fat Colombian wedding is in September.

After the brewery , we walked some more -- Wifey stepped into a Botero gallery, which turned out to only have one Botero, and we went to the Wynwood Walls -  an outside gallery of truly amazing art.  I took a photo of Eric, the cardiologist, standing in front of a painting of a guy with his heart outside of his chest.  It made for a nice FaceBook post...

Dana and Eric love coming to Wynwood.  We're among the older people there, but where they live, in Palm Beach County, they're typically the youngest, when they visit local attractions.  Miami really is no longer a city for old men, or women.  I guess that's why we love it here.

Today the weather remains gorgeous, but we have plans for a far sadder event.  We're going to fetch my suegra, and take her to visit my father in law's grave.  It'll be the first time she's been there since his funeral -- 16 months ago.  I'm planning for some tears.

Still, I savor days like yesterday.  I plan to have many more of them.