Wednesday, March 17th: G&S together finally on St. Patty's Day!

The two of us managed to get up nice and early on Wednesday. It was St. Patty's Day, but we didn't really care about that. We also didn't care that it was raining, and due to rain all day long. We wanted to get back to Little Havana. So we hopped on the bus, conscious of keeping our eyes and ears open for any texts from Ade. The Little Havana bus, the 208, actually went along Flagler going west, and we saw the Padron store, so on the spur of the moment, we got off the bus there on Flagler.

The new Padron store is actually around the corner from the one we saw, on SW 1st Street and SW 16th Avenue (remember Miami is chopped into four quadrants - NE, SE, NW and SW - so you always have to know which one you're in to be able to know how to get where you want to go).

Man, the entrance to the Padron store makes it look like some kind of Spanish plantation. All that iron grill and colored tile flooring. Very cool. And one of those big rooster sculptures!

Inside, there was a receptionist who had to call somebody to come out and help us. And wouldn't you know it, they only sell boxes, not singles there! But the fellow who helped us admitted they had some samplers also we could buy, and we finally settled on a sampler of 5 cigars for around $30 - not too bad. But no beverages! either complimentary or for sale. Oh well, no matter, at least there was a large flatscreen tv and some beautiful leather chairs and couches.

So we sat there and smoked, and Kevin looked for the Major League Baseball channel, without success. He never did find it on any of the tvs of any of the places we went in Miami, for some reason.

After finishing at Padron, we hopped back on the bus and took it to Calle Ocho to look for a place to eat. It took a little wandering, but we found a nice Colombian restaurant called San Pocho. Wow, good food and a lot of it. I had the traditional Colombian dish (I forget the name) - grilled steak, an egg, rice and beans, avocado and corn cake, plus I ordered a side of chorizo. Kevin had pork chop and rice and beans - two huge chops. Plus we both had a glass of wine. We were very happy leaving there with doggy bags in hand and heading on the bus back to South Beach.

It was still early in the afternoon, but we wanted to be there in case we could hook up with Ade and Anthony. Unfortunately, we learned that Ade had had trouble renting a car. So for the time being we went off on our own, taking Maria Martin's advice to explore Ocean Drive.

The Palm trees full of coconuts were pretty cool, and of course all the sidewalk restaurants filled with spring breakers and people just generally having a good time made for a festive atmosphere. I saw News Cafe which I had heard about, so I suggested we sit down there and have a drink, which we did. Part of my rationale for that too was that I have never been good at smoking while I walk. Sitting at a table with a caipirinha to go with my cigar was very nice indeed. Kevin once again had a mojito. Then he suggested we get a bite of something, so we shared some coconut shrimp and spring rolls.

The whole day had been wet, and it was getting chilly, so we decided to go get jackets and dry clothes. Luckily it had stopped raining. We finally got in touch with Ade and agreed to meet at the nearby lounge on Lincoln Road, Deco Drive. We took a table outside among the hookah smokers, under a tent now protect (a little) from the wind and cold by some Tiki lamps. Kevin was smoking a CAO Amazon again, and this time I was smoking one too.

Years ago, when I first started getting serious about smoking cigars, I discovered the Amazon. It was one of the first really big, 60 ring gauge cigars I ever smoked. But when I smoked them back then, I found them to have a pretty tight draw - I had to suck hard to get any smoke out of them. So for a long time I've been avoiding the Amazon. Smoking one that night was a pleasant surprise - it was not a hard smoke, and overall I really enjoyed it. Now I wish I had bought a couple more!

But honestly, I bought so many cigars while on this trip. And I got so many free cigars too! So I'll get around to smoking another Amazon at some point. I was taking my time - I'm a slow smoker, usually - on that Amazon, when Ade and Anthony came up. Wow, it was so great for all four of us to be together. Kevin and I are different from each other, and then Ade and Anthony are from a totally different world than the two of us. But we all complement each other very well. Put us all together, and you had a quartet of relaxed, fun-loving guys having a good time.

Of course we couldn't get over the craziness of the four of us being together in Miami! And Ade wanted to hear about all that we were doing, and we were all swapping stories, as Ade was also telling me and Kevin about what had been happening in NYC in our absence.

After being there for a couple more hours, and starting to freeze, we decided to go to Five Guys for some hamburgers. We were on our way down Washington Avenue, when these ladies standing in line to get into a club called Dreams practically grabbed Anthony and Ade! In a second like 6 ladies are all around them, or was it the other way around? and Kevin and I are laughing. Wow, what a spectacle. Eventually, the two guys were able to get themselves out of the clutches of those ladies, but they swore they would go back after we ate.

Five guys was just right. Really filling, kinda greasy, just what I needed. Something tasty to finish off a long and surprisingly hectic day. And looming in front of us was tomorrow, Thursday, the highlight of the whole trip! Kevin and I walked back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep, leaving the other guys to celebrate their first night in Miami with some good old-fashioned revelry.