Super Bowl Sunday, and our plan for the day did include watching the game, but first we took our dinghy to shore, walked to the bus stop and caught the bus to the central station, transferred to another bus, and disembarked on Calle Ocho (8th St.) in Little Havana. We had breakfast at Versailles Bakery, then took another short bus ride to the heart of Little Havana on Calle Ocho to see the art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, cigar shops, and parks.

Towards mid-afternoon, we took the bus back to Versailles Restaurant (“The World’s Most Famous Cuban Restaurant”) for a late lunch. Versailles, named after the French palace, was opened in 1971 by Felipe Valls, a Cuban immigrant – it had seating for eight patrons, and now it accommodates over 400. It is a hub for locals, politicians and newscasters, as well as a destination for tourists and, occasionally, celebrities. It was in the news during the custody battle for Elian Gonzalez, on the occasion of Castro’s death, and when President Obama began talks of normalizing relations with Cuba.

Back on the bus to the Metro station, we stopped into Publix across the street for wings-to-go, caught the bus back to Crandon Park, hopped in our dinghy, and were back on the boat in time for kickoff. We will continue heading south on Monday, via the Hawk Channel.