Paris1972-Versailles2003

I like to share some nostalgic spot of me and my family, memories forever. While digging into my vault came up with pictures not in my blog and just brief mentions of these places dear to us. I had a wonderful 18 years of living in Central and South Florida USA with lots of family memories and 3 boys to cherish forever.  Therefore, let me tell you a bit about a personal restaurant and a mall in my dear Miami !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

La Carreta restaurant ,was a memorable spot indeed as my dear late father Elio was an great friend of the founder. One of my favorite restaurant for Cuban Cuisine located just outside the international mall at its best. 1455 NW 107th Avenue, now City of Doral, and now with 9 restaurants ! Serving Miami since 1976 at the original location which we have been too ,3632 SW 8th St, Miami Fl 33135, the so called Calle Ocho neighborhood. Here you can eat all the Cuban specialties possible and imaginable, based on fish, chicken or seafood, as well as a wide variety of sandwiches including the famous Cuban sandwich (ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles). If you still have room for dessert, don’t miss the typical dulce de leche, a delicious pudding prepared like in Cuba.

Cuban exile Felipe Vals created the very first La Carreta in 1972, practically across the street from his family’s own Versailles’ restaurant, (another icon of Miami) opened just a year earlier. The building originally was an old dining trailer called the Wagon Wheel, and in typical Cuban fashion, Vals kept much of the existing décor including the large wooden wheel that graced the building’s façade. By adding many Cuban touches, he transformed the “Wheel” into La Carreta with its emblematic logo of a horse-drawn cart, similar to those used by campesinos (farmers) and cane cutters in Cuba. La Carreta is a place where romances begin and end, where deals are made, where old friends find one other after many years of separation. It is the last stop on the way home or the first stop on the way to work in the morning. The founder was a friend of my father both RIP. The restaurant has a Spanish feel, with tile floors and dark wood accents. Backlighted photos from the glory days of Cuba in the 1950s line the walls, a constant reminder to the community of the country they left behind, and a place that today lives on only in memory. Indeed.

The official La Carrreta restaurant: https://www.lacarreta.com/about

We came many times and our favorite family mall was the International Mall parking lot outside the mall right next to the Dolphin Expressway (State road 836) coming from Miami Beach at NW 107 ave. you see it from the Expressway. As above, we came here a lot and lots of family memories of the place.

International Mall is a premiere family-friendly international shopping experience located now in new city of Doral, providing a gathering place for consumers to shop, dine and be entertained in a safe, comfortable environment. They had a friendly JC Penney store, a former Toys R Us on the parking property, former Dillard’s , and Sears, and Macy’s former building of Burdines

The mall was built by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. in 1982, (univ graduation in Daytona Beach !) and is currently managed by Simon Property Group, who owns 47.8% of it, so they tell me. The mall has 4 anchor stores: JC Penney, Kohl’s, and 2 Macy’s locations. A bit more into its history, tell us that the mall’s original anchors were Burdines, Jordan Marsh, and Sears. Lord & Taylor was added in 1985 , Mervyn”s which replaced Lord & Taylor in 1991, was sold to Dillard’s in 1997. Jordan Marsh was also husbanded and refashioned as a Burdines men’s, home, and furniture location. J C Penney built a store in 1992, and both Burdines stores became Macy’s in 2005 as part of a nationwide transaction, and the Lord & Taylor/Mervyn’s/Dillard’s building became Kohl’s in September 28, 2011. Sears was the last original anchor to close ; the store closed in November 2018. Oh well it seems the place is different …….

The official Simon’s Internatonal Mall: https://www.simon.com/mall/miami-international-mall

There you go folks, love to do these posts as they bring lots of good family memories and of course, need to be in my blog. Again, memories forever !!! Again, hope you enjoy this post on a personal restaurant and a mall in my dear Miami !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!