Who would have guessed that when I went to visit my friends in Florida I’d be introduced to the Cuban culture. Florida has oranges and grapefruits and gators galore. Buckets overflowing with sand and seashells. Shrimp you can peel or have fried or sautéed. But, Cuban food! We ventured to a place called Cafe’ Havana. It is owned and operated by a family of three generations. They were so very patient with us as we asked many questions about the food and even gave us samples of everything. They offered chicken in a coconut sauce, a spicy beef mixture and pork covered with cooked sliced onions. They had many choices of rice and a south of the border root plant called yucca which reminded me of a potato. They fixed the yucca two ways, one in a butter and garlic sauce and the other fried in a light batter. Both were enticing. The experience was fun, the people were very friendly and the food was very tasty. To top it off at the end of the meal one of the owners came around and passed out a shot of their Colombian very hot, very strong, dark coffee with whipped cream and sugar on top. Aww, this was the best treat of all! And if you smile real big like I did, they give you another one!!☕️ ☕️ After all, they say in Cuba you must always end your meal with coffee. The way they fix it, it’s like dessert!

So yes, Florida has oranges and lots of cows but why not run off to Cuba while you’re here!  I thought of my Dad and Barney Pierce and their group of friends who traveled to Cuba many many years ago  to sing and play their instruments.