Super Bowl – Day 14: Here We Go

Om Garden menu

Today’s the day, the one we’ve been preparing for, practicing for, stressing out over. As with the Pro-Bowl, Holly and Bryan and I, along with Holly’s neice Ashley, will meet at the volunteer parking location to check everybody in. From there we’ll board busses to the stadium, where we arrive about an hour before kickoff (which is at 6:28). It will be craziness, it always is, but it’s amazing to be there.

Yesterday we had the day off, as is always the case. It gives everyone a chance to unwind and rest (and perhaps recover from their production party hangovers) (but not me – I didn’t have a hangover) (…this year). I took the opportunity to drive down to Miami and find the two locations where my dad and his parents lived when he was a baby. I also searched out a vegetarian restaurant at which to eat lunch: Om Garden.

Rainbow Roll. Yum!

Just a little hole in the wall place – a little hard to find – but wonderful food. I had a green smoothie and their rainbow roll, which was carrot, beet, avocado, baby greens, cashew pate, mango, and figs all wrapped up and presented like sushi, with a yellow dipping sauce that was a little mustardy. The combination of tastes was amazing! My only mis-step was the café con leche at the end, because, being a vegan restaurant, they use nut milk instead of cow milk, and that tasted not like I like my coffee to taste. Not bad, just different. I’m so glad I found that place, and I’m bummed that it’s 900 miles away from my house.

That night for supper we went to a Spanish restaurant in Hollywood called La Barraca. They have flamenco dancing. Last year in Tampa we also went to see flamenco dancing and I suspected at the time, although I had never seen flamenco before in my life, that it was not very good. Seeing last night’s dancers confirmed that. A guitarist/singer and a percussionist provided the music, and both dancers clapped rhythmically along when they weren’t dancing. Their dancing, both together and solo, was passionate and sexy. Plus, the guy had on awesome red shoes.

Flamenco dancers and band at La Barraca.

I wish I was going to be here one more night so I could check out the restaurant next door to La Barraca. It was called Restaurant Transylvania and had slightly vampiric decorations in the front window. I’ve no idea what Romanian cuisine consists of, but I’m betting they use a lot of garlic.