A Reason to Celebrate

The first weekend in June was a special time for us. We traveled to the Tampa area to celebrate the much anticipated high school graduation of our youngest grand nephew!

On the way down, we stopped in Tallahassee for dinner with the family of our adopted Goddaughter. While we indulged the two little boys with gifts and tons of attention, she and her husband prepared a truly gourmet meal for us. They are both outstanding cooks and it was amazing. Think Chilean Sea Bass...the real thing. (Sorry there are no pictures.) The highlight of the meal came when, after already having served amazing wines with every course, Winston opened this bottle of Grand Vin Chateau Latour 1995! When we got home, I realized I had NO pictures of the family, No pictures of the food, but I did have this close up of the wine. My only defense is that we had already enjoyed several glasses before this.

  

Then it was on to Tampa for a really big celebration. There were parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. We had all been pulling hard for four long years and it was time to celebrate!  The next morning the graduate still could not believe it had finally happened. It was a pretty bumpy road. Here, reality seems to have set in as he and his older brother examine his diploma more closely.

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Even the four-legged brother, Kaiser, needed to be convinced. Yes, Kaiser. He really did it...just as we all knew he would. I cannot WAIT to meet the man he chooses to become.

The next morning, older brother was off to fulfill his duty as an Army National Guardsman. I pray that perhaps cleaning Florida beaches will be as close as he ever has to come to the mixture of heat, sand and oil.

We try never to leave Tampa without having a meal at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. This authentic Cuban restaurant was established in Ybor in 1905. There are now several others in the area, but for me, this is the only one that really counts. If you are ever in the area, it is worth a visit. At dinner there are Flamenco dancers and reservations are highly recommended.