March 10-11: Arrival in Miami, Cafe con Leche, and Coconut Grove
I should begin by explaining how this trip came about in the first place. I am a student again, and had spring break coming up. I was trying to figure out what to do with this week of “free” time, when I got a Travelocity alert that fares from Philadelphia to Miami were only $103 round trip! I have a former Philly roommate, Halle, in Miami, it’s warmer than Philly, and I’d never been there. I emailed her, and she said it was cool if I came down (even though she was moving to a new place right before my arrival). I booked the ticket (which of course had gone up since I’d last checked it), but it was still a good deal.
Arrival in Miami and First Cafe con Leche
I left Philly Monday night at 7:45 pm. Apparently, a Monday night in March is the best time to fly to Miami. Not only was I able to ask for and get an emergency exit row seat (it has much more legroom than a regular economy seat), I had THE WHOLE ROW to myself. Sweetness!
When I arrived in Miami it was nearly 11, so I took a cab ($20) from the airport to Halle’s house. After showing me the house, Halle suggested we go out and get coffee. Being old and having lived too long in places where either there’s nowhere to walk to (California) or it’s dangerous to walk at 11 p.m. at night (Philadelphia), it had never occurred to me to go out upon my arrival. But since it’s vacation and Miami is clearly safer to walk in, it seemed all right.
We walked down 27th Avenue. (Avenues and streets run perpendicular.) Halle pointed out a cafeteria (Spanish for “coffee shop/cafe’) she likes to go to which was already closed. I am using the term cafeteria because that is what the place was called, and because the cafeteria in Miami has Latin American coffee and food served by predominantly Spanish-speaking employees.
Instead, we went to a bright coral-colored building, a laundromat which also had a 24-hour cafeteria with a few tables outside to sit at. Halle wanted cafe con leche (“coffee with milk”), which she described as espresso mixed with milk. Since I didn’t want to be up all night, I instead ordered a smoothie. I was tempted to order a papa relleno (“stuffed potato”), a dish I had liked in Lima, but instead went adventurous and ordered a Cuban toast to find out what it was. It turns out “Cuban toast” is as simple as the name suggests–a long roll with butter, heated. Well, at least it was only 75 cents.
Halle suggested I try some of her cafe con leche. It turns out it is not made with ordinary milk, but with sweet cream. It’s like the hot Latin cousin of Thai iced coffee. I knew I’d have to get my own cup of it the next day.
March 11: Second Cafe con Leche
In the morning, I walked down 27th Avenue again to the first cafeteria and sat at the counter. I looked at the menu on the wall, and saw only coffee drinks and sandwiches. I ordered a cafe con leche and pan con lechon (“bread with pork”). It was good. As I sat at the counter, though, I heard the server say to a man, “Desayuno? (“Breakfast?”). I saw her bring out a plate of two fried eggs (yolks unbroken), and thick, meaty bacon. Ordering that went on my next day to-do list.
Coconut Grove
After eating, I kept walking down 27th Avenue until I saw signs for Coconut Grove. I followed them first to the harbor with its lovely yachts in the lovely water, then went to Grand Avenue, the main shopping street of Coconut Grove. I was impressed by the buildings with tilework or sculpture designs in the walls. There were also many art galleries with a wide range of art that was beautiful and expressive in many different ways. Too bad I had no money to buy any.
It was nearly 11 a.m., but workers were still cleaning the terra cotta floors of the open air malls and several shops were still closed. The restaurants seemed kind of empty also. I felt like this is the kind of town that stays up until 3 a.m. and hates you if you try to wake it before noon.
I meandered around the town nevertheless, finding my way to Main Hwy. I saw the entrance to the Barnacle, advertised as the oldest house in Dade County on its original site. Unfortunately, it is open to the public on weekends only. On the same road I saw gates that seem to guard a mansion, and trees with Tarzan-style vines hanging from them. (Halle’s friend Carla later told me these were banyon trees.)
Soon it was lunchtime. I was tempted to go to Senor Frog’s on Main Highway for Mexican food, but I felt I should try something more local. I settled on Cafe Tu Tu Tango at CocoWalk. The restaurant had a nice awning-covered terrace and more original artwork (and even one artist working at her craft) in the inside section of the restaurant. I ordered a reasonably priced (and tasty) sangria, and ceviche. The ceviche was good, though not as mindblowing as when I had in Lima. It was also kind of small for $9; the pizza would have been a better deal. Plus, I read the menu and found out they have restaurants in Orange, CA so it wasn’t as local as I thought.
Feeling poorer and still slightly hungry, I left Cafe Tu Tu Tango and headed to Bookstore at the Grove for a soy latte and homemade carrot cake. It was nice to sit at the table of a independent bookstore and read while I listened to jazz music.
Tags: airport, cab, Coconut Grove, drink, Miami, Travel, U.S.
admin
Leave a Reply