Calle Ocho

 Breakfast at a place Sarah recommended that was great.

 Heidi, Sarah's friend, invited us to the "club" for lunch and beach/pool time.  Tricia stayed home to keep the dogs company.

 Heidi's 4 kids are all in school, but she was very nice to Ptolemy.

 How could you not be?  He's actually kinda grumpy to strangers due to his shyness, which is super annoying, but Heidi won him over.

 After floating in the ocean for awhile and gathering shells, we had lunch by the pool.

 I sent pics to Scott so he wouldn't forget me.  It's fun to be apart.

 This beach, in Miami Beach, reminded me of the Mediterranean and the weeks I spent alone in Chipiona, Spain, making new friends or just being solitary at the beach.

 Juan and Esther, Roland's parents, invited us to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Versailles.  The Cuban neighborhood is called Calle Ocho because 8th Street runs through it, or Little Havana.  The food was to die for.

 We were proud of ourselves for getting there before the rush.  It was a Cuban holiday, May 20, so I'm sure it was packed later.  It was kind of Juan and Esther to spend part of their holiday with us.  They had a bunch of parties to go to later in the evening.

 And this was just my plate!  Leftovers for days!

 After dinner, we hung around outside while Juan and Esther followed the Cuban tradition of getting a "cortadito" after dinner; a shot of espresso with a little cream.  Bunches of people were gathered around socializing.  Juan said Calle Ocho is like that every single night.

 Cemetery Little Havana

 And then back to this.

 And this.  The boys do most of their homework and extracurricular activities (socccer, piano, etc) at school, so evenings are free.  It was a change of pace for sure!  Genius for the school to offer all those programs.