Arbetter Hot Dogs

 See, I said you'd laugh about my lunch request. 

After visiting the church, I asked Doug and Bri if we could go to Arbetter's. It's a little dive about 15 minutes away from the church in the Westchester area of town. It only serves hot dogs, corn dogs and fries. That's it. So if you don't like hot dogs and fries, it's not the place for you. But if you do like hot dogs and fries, it's the best place in town. As good as The Varsity hot dog is in Atlanta, I'd turn one of those down in a millisecond for an Arbetter hot dog and I'm not joking.

I can't tell you how many times my family visited this restaurant as a kid. And it wasn't right down the street from my house. It was about 25 minutes away. But every so often, that's where we ate...

I had to take pictures for my parents. My kid at Arbetter's...

The air conditioning was actually really cold inside, so we ate at an outside table...

Hot dog!!!!

My poor sweetie. Briana really dislikes hot dogs, but she went there for me. Luckily, she was able to sink her teeth into some delicious cheese fries...

As we sat eating, one of the typical Florida afternoon rain showers started to move in...

View across the street...

Ahhhh, the trees. See these two trees below?

Quite often when I was a kid, the restaurant would be completely full when my family came to eat. So instead of trying to find a place to sit in the restaurant, we would just sit in the car and eat our hot dogs. Sometimes with both my parents, but it was usually with my mom and sister while my dad was at work. And when it was just me, my mom and my sister, we would eat and then get to giggling about something really silly until we were hysterical. We had a lot of good times sitting, eating and goofing off under those two trees...

Lots of good memories...

I could have gone back again another day, but I was outvoted. ;)

That is ok - one day I'll be back. Even if it is a few years from now. I was just happy to have my hubby (who has been there with me before) and my daughter recapturing a memory with me.

Church Of The Little Flower

  When we arrived in Coral Gables, we decided that before we went to the hotel that we would stop at one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. My mom went to this Catholic church as a child. I never went to a mass there, but my mom would bring me and my sister for a visit every so often to take a look and walk around because it's so beautiful.

This was the first church I ever stepped in and it was grand and magnificent in my eyes as a child. And looking around today, it is still as magnificent as it was then. They just don't make churches like this anymore.

My mom wanted to get married in this church and wanted her children to get married in this church. Sadly no one in our family ended up getting married there, but it certainly was a nice dream. :)

Welcome to the Church of the Little Flower...

The narthex of the church is so beautiful. So many memorial candles available for lighting...

Briana lighting a couple of candles. When I was a kid, we used real candles and fire - now you just hit a button and it lights up...

I lit a few myself...

Looking in toward the alter...

The ceilings are so high and I love the stained glass...

The breathtaking alter...

I sat down in a pew and Doug and Bri gave me a few minutes to myself. An overwhelming feeling of sadness came over me and tears welled up in my eyes. I was missing my friend Carole. I was missing all my grandparents. I was overwhelmed just being back in this beautiful place...

After a few minutes, I got up and walked to where Doug and Bri were. They were checking out the second floor of the church where the organ is housed. The view from up there is breathtaking...

Me and my gal...

There is a beautiful blue stained glass window in one of the stairways that leads to the second floor...

It was surreal to have my daughter with me in this church...

We probably spent around a half an hour there (maybe a little more) and there were just a couple of people in the church. It was lovely to have the church so silent and peaceful.

I could have probably spent much more time there, but we needed to get going. We were getting pretty hungry because we hadn't had lunch yet and we needed to head toward the hotel.

Next stop, lunch. And your probably going to laugh at where we ended up. A great memory from my past. It's a dive - but an awesome dive. :)

Tree Lined Streets

I know you will all think I am a little "off" devoting a whole post to trees, but that's exactly what I'm going to do.

As a Florida girl in the 70's and 80's, I didn't see a lot of trees. I saw lots of palm trees and short flowery type trees, but that was about it. My neighborhood back then literally had no trees at all. We had to plant trees to see any. The majestic trees I did see as a kid were located in Coral Gables. I loved when my parents would drive me there. Coral Gables was where my parents would take me and my sister to visit Santa Claus. Large beautiful trees lining the streets. I thought they were the coolest things in the world. And when we returned this trip, the trees were even bigger than ever. Truly amazing.

The entrance to the Gables...

Tree lined streets...

 Enormous trunks (Banyan trees)...

Looks like several trees entwine in each other to make enormous tree trunks...

I think I take advantage now of all trees that surround me on a daily basis in Georgia. I have a forest in my backyard - literally. I guess that is why I love trees so much now - I didn't get to see them all that much back then. I obviously didn't see any hills either - which is why I love mountains so much now.

See what I mean? Trees were pretty lacking where I lived...

 So even today, I am still enthralled with the Coral Gables trees...