St. Patrick's Day on Key Biscayne

After the bridal shower last week, we spent Sunday at my aunt's house in Key Biscayne, where we celebrated St. Patrick's Day as any Irish-Cuban couple visiting Miami should: wearing green and eating Cuban food.

I bought this dress for St. Patrick's Day when I visited Cathy in Spain last April. After spending four years at Notre Dame getting pinched every year for not wearing green (Do you know what I'm talking about—the tradition that you're supposed to pinch anyone who's not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day? At least that's what the kids in college said!), I had been on the look-out for a green dress for a while.

But since it was Miami, we feasted on Cuban sandwiches instead of the classic corned beef and cabbage (which Frank tells me isn't actually an Irish meal? Someone needs to set the record straight for this confused and very-ignorant-of-Irish-cuisine Cuban girl...).

Not pictured: the little cups of Cuban coffee ("cafecito") that we bought from a little roadside stand after Mass. So delicious!

We got to spend more time hanging out with Lillian and Matt... always my favorite. I miss Lillian so much when we're apart, and I'm really happy Matt is joining our family. He's the easiest person to get along with ever, and always fun to talk to. We had a good chat about Wendell Berry, since I finished Jayber Crow last week and had it on the mind.

After brunch we headed out to visit the local Key Biscayne Arts Festival.

Our means of transportation? This fabulous golf-cart chariot (chauffeured by my favorite driver).

Key Biscayne is a small enough island that you can drive around in golf carts instead of cars. My aunt and uncle lent us their cart for the weekend, and we felt so cool cruising the streets in that baby ... even though it maxes out at 12 miles per hour.

Next to the village green we found parking spots reserved for golf carts only.

We joined a whole row of carts in the reserved parking spots:

Isn't that the cutest thing? It almost makes me want to move to Key Biscayne so I can sashay around in a golf cart all the time.

In the evening, Frank and I drove to Fort Lauderdale to have dinner with my mom's side of the family. I couldn't resist taking this picture from their back door:

Doesn't that just slay you? Especially today, when winter seems to be back with a vengeance, I'm longing for that hammock and a few more days in sunny Florida.

We had such a great visit to Miami. I'm grateful for my extended family, who pretty much embody hospitality and have welcomed Frank (and Matt!) into the family with open arms. We can't wait for our next visit. :)