Biking Home from South Beach at Night

The title says it all. After spending the afternoon meeting intelligent, genuine, people in South Beach, I biked home and decided to snap some pictures.

 Miami Beach Marina

 South Pointe

South Pointe Beach

 More of South Pointe Towers

Classic South Beach Photo: Ocean Drive

Some Miami Art Deco for You

Lincoln Road & Collins Ave

 Miami Skyline from Venetian Causeway

Day Off Bike Ride

Remember how I said I was going to update the blog on my day off on Saturday, well, I went for a LONG ride, probably around 40 miles, and when I get home, I was done. I laid on the couch and didn't move a muscle until the next morning.

The thing is, it wasn't supposed to be a long ride. I just felt like going for a spin, getting some Cuban coffee along the way, and enjoying the nice weather. However, I got into South Miami and the Coral Gables neighborhood, and the beauty of the neighborhood took over and I just kept riding. Every single time I turned a corner, I was greeted by another gorgeous boulevard, house, park, etc.

Unfortunately, I didn't follow my first rule of traveling...always carry your camera. After my year in Argentina, I learned that it's always wise to have a camera present, because you never know what daily occurrence might be photo worthy.

Fortunately, I had my Palm Centro cellphone, which has a camera. It's not the best, but I took as many pictures as I could, and I hope you can somewhat get a jist of just how beautiful this last ride was.

Chris, my roommate Julie's boyfriend, and I are going to go for a ride in another scenery-laden neighborhood today or tomorrow. It's down South, of course, and this time I'll remember my camera.

Coral Gables Street

 I have a strong fascination with houses covered in foliage

My bike path 

 Along with my "houses in foliage" fascination, I also LOVE Mangrove trees

 I stopped at a Home Depot. Only in "Northern Cuba" would they sell domino tables at HD :)

 Classic 1970s concrete public housing project. Neighborhood didn't seem to sketchy though

13th St SW, called Coral Way

Concrete Barrier Wall protecting a neighborhood. Don't know too much about these yet 

House, foliage, need I say more? 

 Lots of gorgeous canopy-covered streets in Coral Gables

The Historic Biltmore Hotel from afar 

At the front door 

Those same barrier walls from before

Mangrove trees...again. I never get sick of seeing them.

This picture doesn't nearly do this house justice. Just amazing up close

Making Some Cash

Saturday March 5, 2011



I'm working on an online business right now, but it's still about a month from going live. So, in the meantime, I thought it would be nice to make a little cash, but with no long-tern commitment, in case I want to head to El Salvador to see my sister, or go paragliding in Guatemala.

So, my fishing partner Emin, from Serbia, got a catering gig and told me to call the guy. I gave him a ring, had a quick interview, and was hired immediately. I start tonight. We're working a private party on Star Island, the island of the rich and famous of Miami. Gloria Estefan lives there, among other people. It's a private island, so I've never been allowed to bike on the island, though I've tried. I'm pumped to see who we're catering for, what we're serving, and what the island looks like.

Details to come tomorrow morning.

Star Island Aerial View

Fishing Excursion - Julia Tuttle: Less Pictures, More Results

Another day, another fishing story.

After my goose-egg day of fishing in Key Biscayne, I was determined to catch a keeper. I enjoy the relaxation and meditation aspects of fishing, but I also enjoy eating my catch, and I had yet to do that...until this past Thursday.

At the sporting goods store, I'd met a guide who told me there was actually some good sea trout fishing to be had, fishing off the Julia Tuttle Causeway, which happens to be just a few blocks from my house.

I got to the causeway and walked past a semi-homeless man who was also fishing and said he wasnt having too much luck. I walked about 100 yards further down the Causeway.

Well, after 20 minutes of fruitless casting, the homeless man started to walk towards me saying something in Spanish. I was expecting him to ask for food, change, or hassle me in some sort of way, my usual interaction with homeless people.

WRONG.

Sergio, as his named turned out to be, actually came down to offer me some tips because he saw how little luck I was having. He helped me tie on a different hook set-up than the topwater baits I was previously using, and even gave me a little box of bait because I was fishing baitless lures. We chatted for awhile, he was 1/2 Cuban 1/2 American, and has a 23 year old son. When I asked where he lived, his reply, "wherever I feel like on any given night."

Goes to show you that, once again, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

After re-rigging my line, my luck took a 180. I caught a small little speckled sea trout and even this little Pinfish. However, still no keepers.

I decided to try my luck on the north side of the Causeway and casted into the channel. After letting the bait sit for a while, I was holding the tip up and felt the classic THUMP THUMP THUMP of a fish hitting your bait. I gave it a few seconds to eat the hook, slowly started reeling in, still felt the fish in the line, set the hook, and BAM, caught this gorgeous 13 inch Bluefish, just above the 12 inch size limit.

Having successfully caught my first keeper, I headed home to clean it and cook it. Cooking it was the easy part, cleaning, not so much. I need to learn how to fillet a fish, and fast. I did a decent job, if you consider picking bones out of your fish acceptable. Either way, my first caught-with-my-own-hands meal in Miami.

-pj-

Fishing Excursion: Key Biscayne

So, I went fishing in Key Biscayne a couple days ago.

The day started out as usual. 9am wake up. Coffee, breakfast and internet. Then it was off to Key Biscayne, where I hoped to slay the mighty Snapper.

On my ride there, I passed through a wildlife refuge, and wildlife there was! Tons of Ibis and an Alligator in a pond. Then, as I was cruising along the bike path, I thought I was coming upon a large, obtuse, stick...turns out it was an Iguana, just sunning itself on the pathway. It ran for cover, along with the rest of his harem. I say HIS, because all the other Iguanas, maybe five in total, ran into a storm drain pipe, and he stood his ground outside the pipe, protecting, so I assume it was a male. No joke, he was a good two feet long including his tail. I guess there is actually an over population of Iguanas in South Florida from people letting their pet iguanas into the wild once they get too big to be pets anymore.

I love me some Mangrove trees

I finally got to my fishing pier and started casting. Not too much luck, just a ton of seaweed getting caught on my line. The view wasn't bad though. As they say, a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day of working.

Views from my pier

My tools of the trade

So about catching those Snapper...Well, that didn't happen. I did catch two fish though, both being the Scrawled Cowfish. It's definitely a reef-fish, based on its color. It had the hardest body I'd ever seen in a fish. It was like its body was made of hard plastic, because it kind of clacked on the pier when it was flopping around.

I most certainly wasn't going to try to eat such a fish, so I happily let them go. It had the smallest little side fins I'd ever seen. Very much like Nemo's handicapped fin from Finding Nemo, the Disney Original Film. Due to these baby fins, it wasn't much of a game fish, but it was fun catching my first real fish in Florida.

And as always, no better way to end the day than a Key Biscayne sunset

How to Drink Coconut Water...A Step-By-Step Guide

If you didn't already know, which I'm sure my Northern readers didn't, because I never did, coconut water is extremely good for you. Don't be confused and think coconut milk, that creamy sweet ingredient for recipes. We're talking the water inside the coconut itself.

Seeing as they are very plentiful here in Miami, I decided that it would only be wise to snag a few on my biking trips and drink the water. It's basically like having a Gatorade for free, but even BETTER for you during a workout.

I'm going to start carrying a big fat drill bit and plastic straw with me because using a fillet knife isn't the easiest. The big drill bit will enable me to hand-drill a hole into the coconut, and the straw, well, that's easy enough to figure out. However, the fillet knife sufficed for the tutorial that follows.

Your common Palm tree, heavy with coconuts. Perfect for the picking.

Note: Usually I choose small trees where I can either shake or stand on my bike seat to reach the coconuts. Don't attempt to climb a Palm tree, it's VERY painful, as my chest and leg scratches prove. Also, if you choose to shake the tree, you NEED to catch the coconuts. Even a small fall will crack them and you'll be out a perfectly good coconut.

The tools of the trade. Best to choose a green coconut. Not sure why, but that's what the internet told me.

Starting from the end that was previously connected to the tree, begin by cutting away as much of the outer shell as possible. Shave off more and more coconut shell until you can shave no more.

After you've cut away as much shell as possible, cut out a little circle into the innermost heart of the coconut, where the water resides. Make it big enough that you don't have to cut out a separate air/ventilation hole.

Once you have the hole cut into the coconut, cut out a triangular channel to make the drinking process easier. No channel means you're going to spill it all over your face, clothes, etc.

Enjoy your sweet reward. A coconut this size produces about 1.5 cups of water. I'd say that's nearly equivalent to a 20oz bottle of Gatorade in vitamin and electrolyte content.

Plus, you also just picked, opened, and drank from a coconut. How cool is that?

PS- Who do I know from New Britain, Connecticut? I see them on the traffic indicator all the time, but I'm not sure who I know that lives there.

Fishing Excursion: The First

So I finally decided to buy my non-resident saltwater fishing license. It was a bit pricey at $50, but otherwise I would have had to either:

A) Wait 6 months until I'm a legal resident of Florida
B) Fished without a license like MANY people I've encountered
C) Not fished at all

Since I can never imagine myself waiting 6 months for anything, (A) definitely wasn't going to work out. Seeing as I tend to worry about law enforcement's overbearing power, taking the risk and getting caught, however slim the possibility, made (B) an anxiety-ridden and unwise choice. (C), yeah, that's not happening.

Therefore, being a rather moral person, I chose to buy a license and help out the state's fish and wildlife system.

My next step was to find a bait shop. I've done my research and there's a little place up on 79th street, Navarro Bait and Tackle, that was highly recommended on the internet. It's run by what appears to by a husband/wife team, and they're great. I'm thinking they're Cuban or Puerto Rican, but either way, they REALLY made me utilize my "Spanish Ear." The guy talked so fast, and with such a thick accent, that I'm pretty sure he initially thought I was fishing for Great White Shark, and not your common Snapper.

After working my way through the Spanish fishing sales process, I successfully purchased all my gear and I was set.

Off to the overpass of the Julia Tuttle Causeway at 36th Street. I initially was using a bait-catching line, which is just a rig with about 6 tiny hooks connected to a piece of line with a sinker at the bottom. I was hoping to catch sardines to use for tomorrow, my Key Biscayne Snapper Mission. (Post Tomorrow, Check Back!)

Well, I was having ZERO luck, and then a nice shrimp netter gave me a sardine to cut up into bait. My luck took a 180 and I was catching quite a few small pan fish, all being the common Grunt. Their name comes from the sound they make out of water, which, like their names suggests, is very similar to a pig, or piglet, grunt.

I caught a bunch, but decided to throw them back. I guess they're really good pan fried, but I was just having fun drinking beer and talking with the other fishermen.

Case in point, I'm officially a Florida saltwater fisherman.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Key Biscayne to slay the mighty Snapper. Should I catch one over the 12" limit, you better believe it'll be pan fried with onions and potatoes, just like the trout from the mighty Kickapoo River.

Wish me luck!

I caught many of these little Grunt fish. I gave this one another shot at life. Until next time my dear Grunt friend!

Pictures: Flowers, Trees, Houses, Water

I've made it a habit to always carry my camera with my in my biking bag, because I always seem to come upon something deserving of a picture during my daily rides.

The other day I took a spin up to the northern suburbs, and, following my usual MO of getting happily lost in the neighborhood.

As I was biking around, I started snapping pictures of all the eye-catching sights and properties, and believe me, in Miami, there are many.

Spanish home

Palm tree/bush is someone's front yard

Every so often I come upon a house that reminds me of an old plantation mansion. You can always tell the ones that have been around forever, because they have HUGE lots, fenced in yards, and are surrounded by much smaller houses.

No lacking of bright colors in Miami, be it houses or flowers. Beats the beige, taupe and off-white of the Midwest.

I just loved this tree. It dwarfed the very large home next to it.

A little water inlet view

That same old big tree. Lookin' good

Art Walk in the Design District

So I live very near the Design District, an area of over one hundred galleries of local, national, and international artists.

The second Saturday of every month, the galleries open their doors to the public for Art Walk, a late-night neighborhood art extravaganza where the galleries show off their newest exhibits. Some have musicians playing sets throughout the evening, and they all seem to have free hors d'oeuvres.

J, my roommate, invited me to go with her, C (her boyfriend), and their group of friends. It was a very fun night, walking from gallery to gallery, checking out some very interesting, and some very Uninteresting art.

One of my favorites. Really pretty faces painted onto collages of newspaper and magazine clippings.

A friend of a friend of my roommate is the female lead for this band.

After party we ended up at. It was the Matisyahu (Hasidic Jewish rapper) afterparty for the concert he just had downtown. We got in for free for knowing someone at the door.