Happy Easter from Miami

One of our favorite places to lunch-and-shop is Merritt Park Mall in Coral Gables. As rarely as we shop, this one is close and Villagio is just about Rick's favorite restaurant in all of Miami. As you can see, the seasonal decorating took on a new twist: giant rabbits constructed from recycled plastic. Six artist from South America have created the bunnies, alligators (which adorned the Cuban Freedom Tower last month,) snails we find around town, and a colorful collection of frogs. You can start your own "lawn installation" for $125 and add to the sublime if you have deep pockets. A gallery (one of many) in the mall represents them, hence the local display. For us, it was charming to find bunnies among royal palm trees, and we spent a lazy afternoon over a pizza in gorgeous weather.

 

The weather has taken another cold turn here and everyone is seriously bundled up, griping as are we, that you can't leave the slip. We made a Miami Bucket List and we've been able to keep busy, waiting for the weather to get out on Biscayne Bay. Another holiday without family will be strange, but it looks like we might get to a beach that day if not out for a sail.

It appears our last two postings didn't make it to the web, we'll try to figure that one out!

A Rough Day on South Beach

 

The Nikki Bar

This is the logo for the City of Miami.

 

Newly constructed in Art Deco style, the main office
for the professional guards who man the Life Guard Stations
sits off Ocean Drive behind Lumus Park.



Just about sunset, the cruise ships get underway.

Art Everywhere

One night at dinner I asked the waitress the name of the Miami Art Museum or its location. Her reply was that Miami wasn't really an "artsy" town. We may not be home to van Gogh or Rembrandt, but Miami is so an artsy town! The art is everywhere, and on a larger than life scale. Just check out what we found on two miles of Brickle Avenue on the way downtown.

This is one of my favorite buildings.
The reflective design awes me everytime we drive by.





Framing the Rickenbacker Bridge. 



These sculptures can be found
at Bayside Park, home of many an art
and music festival,
and the Miami Boat Show.

 

Beach Shrines at Homestead Park

On Tuesday this past week we drove down to Key Largo to visit Jersey friends, Bill and Laurel, who vacation there each year. The winds are blowing a steady 15-25 these days, more like steady 25, so we opted not to sail down the Keys. We had a great day and chose not to mix activities, the day was about our friends. But Rick loves a road trip so the next day we ventured back to Homestead an hour south of us. Our goal was to explore the Biscayne National Park and check out snorkeling trips. This is a beautiful education center but there is no beach in the park. But, as you leave the Biscayne National Park you can turn left to enter the Homestead Park which does contain a tiny beach. It is actually an atoll, a pond of coral that fills with water from the bay and empties with each tide. We found the three lifeguard stations charming, complete with what is known as "beach shrines" built of action heroes and toys left in the sand.