Leaving the nest
This week, Vance and I found ourselves on a college campus, attending orientation at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. Our daughter Elizabeth who now has her AA degree, is transferring there in August for her last two years of college.
But before then…
Saturday Vance spotted a beautiful cardinal on our morning walk. It got incredibly hot and humid as we got closer to home but spotting that beautiful bird and getting our steps in was well worth it. After that, Vance went off to play golf with his friend Phil and Nick and I went to see the animated Pixar sequel “Inside Out 2.” It was wonderful, I cried like a baby. What a great movie, it’s touching, emotional and oh so relevant.
On Sunday we spent the day enjoying Downtown Miami, one of our favorite things to do. We checked out HistoryMiami and then walked over to Julia & Henry’s, a cool food hall in the historic Art Deco building on the corner of Flagler St. and 2 Ave., where we enjoyed some lunch and great live music. I like the vibe of that place! Nick had a cheeseburger and fries and I had some babaganoush from Mench’s.
Mazen with a face full of chocolate cake and his brother Ramzi at Cracker Barrel in Brevard.
Pool view at the Doubletree Hilton UCF East in Orlando.
Gin & Tonic by the pool.
Two warm, gooey and famous Doubletree Hilton chocolate chip cookies.
A bowl of hummus topped with delicious meat and soft pita bread at The Dough Boy.
Vance and Elizabeth at the UCF Campus Bookstore. Vance already sporting some UCF merch.
Tuesday, Vance and I headed to Orlando so we could attend the aforementioned orientation at UCF. On the way, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Brevard County and as luck would have it, my niece Nicole was right nearby picking up her son Ramzi from camp at the Brevard Zoo so they came over and joined us! After that, we checked into the Doubletree Hilton UCF East where I enjoyed a cocktail by the pool. Then for dinner we had some tasty Mediterranean food at The Dough Show right near our hotel. I enjoyed one of their amazing chocolate chip cookies for dessert in the room.
The next day at the UCF Orientation, the day was filled with information and welcome sessions, a resource fair and a rather chaotic lunchtime. It’s great that she’s now registered for four classes, even though she’s a bit disappointed two of them will be online. Overall though we’re glad we went. We loved that they had $1.75 ice cream cones at a cute kiosk on the campus, that was great.
From Orlando we drove straight to trivia where we joined The Wutzlers, my sister Susy who stayed with Nick on Tuesday and Wednesday and drove him to trivia where we once again took first place!
Miami Lighthouse for the Blind exhibition in the Main Library lobby.
Cool sewing machine artwork on the second floor of the Main Library.
Works by Miami’s own, the late Purvis Young.
Yesterday after watching Nick and his fellow program participants perform a choreographed dance to “Footloose,” I stopped at the Main Library in Downtown to finish my book club book and return it (it was due to the library yesterday). While there, I took in the wonderful exhibitions they’ve got throughout the two-story library. See the photos above that show the current exhibition of works by participants from Miami Lighthouse for the Blind (that show is on the first floor) and then the rest of the art displayed throughout the second floor. They’ve got a couple of Andy Warhol prints and a Pablo Picasso print on display. I also loved the exhibition of Artist Books by several of Miami’s best and the works by the late and Miami’s own Purvis Young along the staircase up to the second floor.
The spectacular dangling lights at Royal Caribbean’s Terminal at Port Miami. The installation is called “Volume Miami” created by Erwin Redl and made of white LED lights, wires, custom electronics and custom software.
Last night, I took an amazing tour, along with around 40-50 other people, of the extensive Art in Public Places collection at the various cruise terminals at Port Miami. I’m writing an article about the impressive collection and it was fascinating to see them up close and even hear the process to create the works by some of the actual artists who were on the tour with us. Can’t wait to share that article with you!
Today’s beach view at Surfside.
Today, I took a little break and went to the beach for a few hours in the morning. It was glorious! Tonight I’m staying home to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics after our book club meeting where we’ll be discussing our thoughts on “The Haunting of Hill House,” which we have now finished. I wonder what our illustrious book club leader Hailey will come up with next.
Then tomorrow I’m looking forward to a night out with my sister Ana. We’re going to the production of “The Little Mermaid” by Area Stage at Sunset Place.
I’ll be back next week with more fun stuff. Until then… have a great weekend.
