Travel Blog

Sorry for the silence. I was away for a couple of days in Bimini, celebrating Hemingway's 111th birthday with John Hemingway (and about thirty other media folks and assorted others who had come for the reopening of the Bimini Big Game Club). And Monday I'm off to Trinidad & Tobago for a week.

But between trips I wanted to mention that I just got back from Marando Farms (on a tip from Risa whom I met in Bimini). It is a farmers' market on SW 1st Avenue (a little south of Davie Blvd.) that makes you feel as if you're in Lancaster County - or at least the Redlands. (It's been open nearly a year, 10 blocks from my condo, and I had to go to the Bahamas to hear about it. The benefits of travel.)

There are farm fresh eggs from Homestead and mangoes off of neighborhood trees. There are ruby red grapefruits, organic arugula, not-quite-Beefsteak tomatoes, fat leeks, goat cheese, okra, homemade soups in a fridge. Everybody is friendly - what is it about farmers' markets and a neighborly spirit? - as is the Golden Retriever Gucci who greets every customer.

Inside, there are jams and honeys and baked goods, including organic pizza - I got a delicious slice for lunch - and vegan and gluten-free cookies. There are also two lovely rabbits, one with ears going in different directions who doesn't object to people scratching his nose. Outside are two Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs who have a definite fondness for peaches.

I'm glad I went to Bimini.