One Of Those Banner Days

IF you're lucky or blessed by the Big Man, which I have been both, every once in awhile you get a truly banner day. Yesterday was one of those.

Wifey, D2, and I braved the traffic to South Beach, for a day of scouting wedding venues for D2 and Jonathan. First stop was the Betsy.

The Betsy used to be the Betsy Ross, a campy looking hotel that had colonial style columns and a red, white, and blue motif. It was built in the 40s, and back in its day, Meyer Lansky ran a bookmaking operation out of a store room. Well, like all of the Art Deco places, it fell into disrepair, to be renovated in the mid 80s.

I asked Wifey to marry me by the ocean in front of the hotel, and for our 10th anniversary, we stayed there for the weekend. That was 22 years ago.

Yesterday was the first time I had returned since then. Jonathan met us by Uber, and as we waited for Nicole, the event planner, a nice, balding fellow came up to us and introduced himself as Jonathan Plutzik, the owner. We dug him immediately. He led the tour of the place, which he bought in '04 and put TONS of money into. He also bought the hotel behind it, and had a now famous orb built to connect the two places. His wife curates the art and music. They have a writers in residence program -- Jonathan's father Hayam, who died when Jonathan was very young, was a Pulitzer nominated poet.

The place was stunning -- the ceremony would be on the rooftop pool, with gorgeous views of the ocean. The cocktails would be in a courtyard, and the party in the gallery, a newly constructed hall that supports the pool deck. The place is filled with libraries, and nooks for reading, and world class restaurants. Jonathan and I were ready to cancel the rest of the day's appointments.

It turned out that the owner had made a fortune as a principal of Credit Suisse, and followed his dream to become a nice, charming version of Basil Fawlty. I wanted to become his friend.

But the wedding planners had other places to see, so we walked to the 1800 block of Collins and saw the Nautilus, the Shelbourne, and the Delano. They each had nice spaces, but we had all already fallen for the first place.

After the Delano, which was THE place in the 80s, when Madonna hung there, we walked back to the Betsy for lunch. Sure enough, we saw Jonathan on his scooter, turning up Collins. I went over and told him that it appeared we would indeed be hosting our event there. He smiled and I could tell he knew he had us at hello.

Lunch was delicious, and as we were leaving, Jonathan spotted one of his favorite personalities at the bar. It was Dan LeBatard, the sportscaster who has a show from the Clevelander, a few blocks south. Jonathan was reluctant to meet him, but I insisted, and Dan was gracious -- posed for a FB photo that left Jonathan the envy of his fellow LeBatard loving fans, and Dan wished the young couple well.

There was one more venue to see -- in Wynwood. We drove over, and it was indeed pretty cool -- a warehouse space that hosts concerts and high level art events. We dug it, but it seems much less practical than a hotel where everything is in one place .

From there we drove to D1 and Joey's, and were electronically let in by D1, who was driving back from her consulting day at Ocean Reef. I poured myself some of their Tito's, and we relaxed and talked about the day. Joey and D1 came home, and we lit the shabbos candles before leaving for dinner, at a funky new place called Vista.

We laughed when we arrived  -- it is literally one block south of Miami Jewish Home, the final home for my mom and Wifey's Dad. The area is rapidly gentrifying, and Vista is a complex of funky stores and the big Italian restaurant, which was packed. Jonathan's father David joined us, as his wife Lizbeth was in California.

We all toasted the upcoming wedding. Jonathan's family adores D2.

I drove Wifey and D2 home, one ecstatic and blessed Daddy in the USA.  Choices like where to have a wedding are the best choices to have in life -- there are only great alternatives.

Later today, D2 and Jonathan are meeting at D1 and Joey's -- a Spring Break kind of day before D1 and Joey leave to see Elton John up at the hockey arena in Sunrise.

Wifey and I are seeing Bob Seger there tomorrow night, with Norman and Deb, and then Monday evening D2 and Jonathan return to NYC.

But yesterday was a truly golden day. I hope I'm lucky enough to have more like them.