Eighteen years ago today Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union. We celebrated on Saturday, driving down to Sunny Isles for the Ukrainian Independence Day festival.
It was the first year the festival had been held on this spot, in a little park on Collins behind the towering row of beachfront condos. I got half a dozen varenyky and Hania got three holubtsi. Eating pierogies and stuffed cabbage on a summer evening in South Florida seamed as surreal as watching the young people on stage - in boots and billowy blouses - performing folk dances before a backdrop of palms.
Around seven the rains came and we walked across the street to the Epicure Market. Inside the name of the previous establishment was written above the entrance: Rascal House. And all of a sudden the festival food seemed appropriate, marking the triumphant return of sour cream to Collins Avenue.