2.5 Million Reasons

We're learning a lot about south Florida, and it ain't all good. In the short time we've been here, we've enjoyed the Everglades, an airboat ride, and most of all, the weather, which continues to be comfortable in the mid 80's. However, today we saw Miami's other side.

There are over 2.5 million people that live in the greater Miami-Dade area, with all the problems that brings. We needed to do some shopping before we fell off the edge of the world tomorrow, so a bit of research told us that there was a Costco store about 8 miles away. No problem, right? Wrong. Just a short distance away from the rv park the landscape turns from agricultural to urban. Six lane surface streets are common, with all lanes full to the brim with vehicles. Residential development after development lined the streets, interspersed with strip malls and office buildings. The 8 mile journey required about 45 minutes, with about half of that time spent waiting at a stoplight! They believe in looonnnggg stoplights here!

Once we located the Costco store, we circled the block twice before we could find the entrance. Once in the store, the crowds were astounding! Shopping carts careening from right to left, people stopping in the middle of the aisle and walking away to sample a free treat.....Get me outta here!

Fortunately, after our shopping ordeal, we found Sergio's. This is a Cuban Kitchen with several locations in South Florida, and is highly rated. We didn't know from nothing about Cuban food, so in we went to see what was going on!.

The menu is quite extensive, and best described by a California Mexican-food aficionado as not-so-spicy mexican food with oxtail, plantain, and unknown spices! It was delicious!

Donna ordered a dish called Lechon Asado, which is roasted pork, with onions, moros, boiled yuca and mojito sauce. Moros are the Cuban version of beans, and yuca is a carbohydrate rich dish made from Cassava. Interestingly enough, if not prepared properly, Cassava can have enough residual cyanide to cause acute cyanide intoxication! D's was apparently prepared properly, since she ate it all and is just fine, thank you very much!

I ordered Vaca Frita, which is flatiron-grilled shredded beef with grilled onions and garlic sauce. Sounds simple, but the flavors were exquisitely blended. A small salad and a bowl of brown rice completed the meal.

Why does this sound like a Yelp review?

Anyway, after lunch another safari into the urban desert took us to Walmart to complete our shopping. All in all we drove less than 20 miles, shopped at two stores and ate lunch, and this activity consumed almost 6 hours! Crazy, crazy, crazy!