Jason told Omar about this Honduran Restaurant that is right near our hotel. Omar was so excited. We went for breakfast there our last 2 days. Omar got his baleadas (they are the 2 folded over tortilla things). That is his most favorite food. It is so simple too - just tortilla, refried beans, and this liquid creme. I just got some eggs since I couldn't eat much. I really wanted sopa de res (beef soup), but they don't have it available for breakfast. I love how the simple things make him so happy.
After breakfast, we decided to go to Biscayne Bay National Park to do some snorkeling at one of the keys. We talked about going to Shark Valley, which is the the north end of the Everglades and bike their 15 mile bike path through the Glades. Rentals had to be returned by like 4pm and it was supposed to rain all afternoon so we decided that was probably not the best choice. My friend Ismael Vergara who I knew before Omar and I began dating looked into us going snorkeling in Florida City, but they are closed on Sundays. Yes, we were doing this on a Sunday. He heard the National Park was pretty good and so we went there. It was about a 30 minute drive from Ismael's house in Kendall.
At the park you can rent kayaks, paddle boats, and even do what we did, have a boat take you out to one of the Keys and snorkel. It was $90 for Omar and I. Not too bad for the boat ride - about an hour out, an hour of snorkeling including equipment and a boat ride back. I guess they had a groupon a few months back - too bad we missed it.
When we got to the Park we took the elevator upstairs. I must say that was a huge mistake. We were talking in the elevator waiting for its doors to close (it was so slow) when we realized that it had to be the largest breeding pool for mosquitoes ever. There was probably 30 mosquitoes on each of us - no kidding. We then got stuck inside the elevator getting attacked. Talk about wishing I had left the bug spray in the car.
Before we boarded the boat the Park Ranger did a 20-30 minute talk about safety, reefs, animals, etc. All the while Omar is jumping up and down killing mosquito after mosquito. The Ranger must have been immune because he had about 10 of them around his face and he didn't even flinch.
After this we went to La Perla which is a very well known Peruvian restaurant in Miami. It is actually in Kendall. Of course Ismael is Peruvian and recommended it. It was delicious. We had pretty much all their traditional dishes. We had chilcano (fish soup), Inca Cola (Omar got that, I don't really like it - it is their Peruvian soda), lomo saltado (it is like steak, tomato, onion), papa a la huancaina (eggs, potato, olive with this yellow thick sauce over it), we had one other dish that I cannot remember what it was. It was super yummy. We also had their traditional ice cream which is imported from Peru. It was small but yummy. It has some special fruit in it that I had never heard of that I guess is really only in Peru. I want to try their ceviche next time, I guess they have really good ceviche - I was just not in the mood. It was so nice to be able to spend time with Ismael. I look forward to being able to go to one of his gigs in Miami next time we visit.
It was a great birthday trip. If you ever want to know what to get me for a gift - I don't care about presents- I like experiences. This was a good experience and memory.
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