When in Rome.....

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all. Today I am getting a head start on my blogging. As I write, we are on the road heading toward Miami. We have already gone by the traffic locked area called Daytona. Today is the running of the Daytona 500.I have never seen so many cars lined up for an event. Although have never driven the beltway before a Redskins game either. May be the same situation, I don’t know. Above the track there was the Good Year blimp and several small airplanes with advertising banners, kind of like at the beach. These looked like they might be circling the track over head. We are on a stretch of road that is pretty much pines, palms, and completely flat. No much in the way of cool stuff to look at. The weather is pleasant, sunny and everything here is green! We did see a “Mackerel sky” this morning. That term was used a lot by my parents. They had a lot of funny little sayings that Greg had never heard of. Noah Webster knew of them, as most all have checked out in the dictionary. I took a picture so you can see what I mean. The sky has a scale look to it, like you would see on the side of a fish.

Tonight I am writing from our room at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Miami Dade. The rest of the ride here went well. As we got closer to the area of West Palm Beach and further south, the ride got more interesting, so I put my computer away and enjoyed the scenery.

One thing happened that was funny, cause the same thing happened to me yesterday, Greg was driving and the gas light came on. We pulled off the next exit and gas was 2.85 a gal (cash) and 2.91 credit. Guess which one we use???

Tonight we decided to try something different for dinner. Neither of us had ever had dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory, so we thought we would try it. Well, let's just say when we got there, there was no question in my mind as to whether or not we would wait in line to eat there. After all, it wasn't my birthday. We decided to find somewhere else to eat. We found a place called the Havana Spice Cafe. We decided to eat local cuisine. It wasn't a fancy place, but homey. There were Cuban men for waiters. They were dressed in all black. I had no idea if the food would be spicy or not. I didn't even know if I would like it, but I had to try it. We had a very nice waiter. I think he could sense that we were not familiar with Cuban food. He was helpful and helped me chose my sides. After looking at he menu I settled on the Pollo al vino Bianco. It was fantastic, to say the least. It was a thin chicken breast sauteed in a white wine cream sauce with mushrooms. I had white rice and maduros (sweet plantains), for my sides. Greg chose Ropa Vieja. It was shredded beef in a creole sauce. He had the same sides. We started off with Cuban bread that was toasted in a press. Since we were both full from the delicious meal, we decided to forgo dessert, but had a Cuban coffee (super sweet espresso), instead. If ever in Miami, I highly recommend Havana Spice Cafe. They have a website, but I haven't been to it yet, but I will post it, hopefully it is "G" rated. You never know with the internet. You type in a simple common word and it takes you to a site that makes you blush. Anyways, here it is:

http://www.havanaspicecafe.com

Simply put, I had a very nice Valentine's Day, and I hope you did as well.