Miraculous Miami

Well, I have returned to New York, have settled in, and am finally ready to finish the story of my trip. For anyone who was wondering what happened to me, well, things got so busy in Miami, and at the same time my crackberry decided to not let me into my blog anymore. So I couldn't blog on my phone, and Kevin was busy most nights on his laptop uploading dozens of pictures he took during the day documenting our adventures.

So let's do this one day at a time, but first I will give you a little overview. After our last several days in Tampa - basically all the days that Kevin was there with me - being very eventful, which meant that we got little sleep those days, we needed to relax and recharge our batteries when we got to Miami. And we did: Sunday we walked around South Beach a bit, and Monday we did some more walking. We discovered the nooks and crannies of our hotel, found a great patio where we could smoke our cigars in the evening in perfect comfort.

Tuesday we went to Little Havana, having a great Cuban lunch and then spending a couple hours at the Padilla lounge on Calle Ocho.

Wednesday we went back to Little Havana, this time to the Padron office/lounge, and then met up with new arrivals Ade and Anthony in the evening.

Thursday was the big day, the highlight of the week, and it did not disappoint. Berta Bravo, the Guayabera Lady, and Emilio Sauma picked us up in the morning, took us to the Don Pepin and El Credito factories, to Cuban Crafters for lunch, cigars and a tour. Then we met Maria Martin, Dylan Austin and some other Camacho people at a restaurant, STK, had a great dinner, and finished the evening having cigars at the rooftop bar.

Friday Kevin left, and Ade, Anthony and I went to Cuenca Cigars in Hollywood, met Ana and Miguel Cuenca as well as many of the regulars at the shop. Then we went back to Cuban Crafters where they were having a dominos tournament, food and music. We met Berta and Emilio there, as well as the owner, Don Kiki, and Tony Borhani of Bahia Cigars. We were treated like royalty, ate and smoked and danced. Grace, Berta's niece, came as well and we got to know her a bit and danced with her.

Saturday I didn't feel well, so I stayed in bed most of the day. But in the evening I joined Ade and Anthony for an event back at Cuenca Cigars in Hollywood. Ade and I went in together on a special sampler box of CAO Cigars, and I won a beautiful CAO ashtray.

Sunday I had to return to New York. I didn't want to! I made so many new friends, especially in Miami, and I can't wait to visit them again. I think it's time to look into making use of my frequent flyer miles!