My favorite days are the ones where I end up in places I never dreamed of being when I woke up that morning. I was up at 6am yesterday. Yes, on a Saturday. My daughter had to take the SAT, so we were up and out early to get her to the test center by 7:45. Yuck. Being already fully awake, I came home, took a bike ride, a dip in the pool, ran some errands with my husband - pretty much a normal Saturday. In the afternoon, said daughter and her boyfriend, both of whom are artistic, planned to attend an anime convention in Miami so -- and this is where we scored points for being majorly awesome parents -- we drove them.

I rarely go to Miami. I always say I hate going and that I "just don't do Miami." And let me say, the horrendous weather we crawled through at times only reiterated that mantra in my mind as I chewed my fingernails and prayed we'd emerge alive from the unraveled ball of twine that is Miami's highway network. There were times we could barely distinguish between the road and the sky, never mind the other cars groping their way along. You just hope no one goes sliding. We arrived at the convention site to find the entrance roads flooded bumper deep, but by then the rain had stopped we were able to drop the kids off at the door.

And then it was blue skies over Miami...hmm, what's a pair of childless parents to do?? Suddenly, that maze of a city where so many of the people don't speak the same language I do didn't seem so intimidating, and my latent urban tendencies kicked into gear. Scenarios popped into my suddenly revitalized mind, laden with words like "outside cafe" and "white wine on ice" and "coconut," as in Coconut Grove.

There were more highways, of course, but with the sun to guide us we had no problem finding our way south of downtown. Coconut Grove is sort of Miami's answer to Greenwich Village, only in miniscule form. It's all brick sidewalks, little shops, cafes and clubs, very trendy but very laid back. Except....

Yesterday happened to be the annual Miami-Bahamas Goombay Festival in the Grove. (history: begun in 1976 by descendants of the Bahamian immigrants who first settled Coconut Grove. The festival is one of the largest Black heritage festivals in the U.S.) Beneath a burning hot sun, we found ourselves absorbed into island culture, complete with dancing, music, parades (I especially loved the junkanoo costume that incorporated a picture of Pres. Obama near the crest; you can just make it out in the picture) and amazing things to eat. The spicy aromas floating through the air could drive you insane, but in a really good way. We sampled some skewered chicken, considered one of those pina coladas served in a hollowed out pineapple but didn't, and generally just enjoyed the heck out of being in the middle of something that doesn't happen out in the western burbs where we live.

When the sun got to be too much, we hopped a couple of streets over to the Greenstreet Cafe, where we sat outside beneath wide awnings and umbrellas, on a red velvet Victorian-style sofa. As we watched the cars go by and the wind stirring the jungle-like growth of trees in the park across the street, we enjoyed stuffed grape leaves and chips with homemade guacamole. I sipped cold white zin and my husband had an imported beer. Kind of like yoga for the soul.

After walking around the Grove a little, we drove north and stopped at a park overlooking Biscayne Bay, with mangroves growing along the coastline. Places like that remind me of how beautiful Florida can be, with an environment that's complicated, delicate and so worth saving. I must make a point of driving east more often; I see way too little of the coast living where I do.

By the end of the day, I remembered how much I actually do love Miami, and how alive cities can make me feel. Yes, you do have to be more careful in a city and always be aware of your surroundings, but I love the diversity and mix of cultures, the energy, excitement and flow of ideas, the quirkiness and the fascinating places you can stumble upon. So I think I'll stop saying "I don't do Miami," and try to do Miami a little more often.

Other fabulous major cities where I've been: New York - still the most fabulous. London. Paris. Edenburgh. Vancouver. 

What are some others?