It is said that there is no romance without finance.
Therefore, I will eliminate the 16th incarnation of Moonlight & Music at the Deering. I’ll also skip the Valentine Weekend Cruise – Not Just for Couples – on the Carnival Destiny aka The Love Boat. The Date Creatively with Heartsy must also get cut since I don’t find 16×20 acrylic painting done at Ruby Tuesday sufficiently able to inspire any particular passion. Now is as good as any time to say goodbye to the idea of spending time on Feb. 14 with Andrea Boccelli at the Seminole Hard rock. I can can cannot get excited about the Paris showgirls doing the Can Can at the Viva Paris International Show by Erika Moon at the Colony. Jessie J at the Fillmore – (upper case) NO THANKS!
At Mansion on the Beach, DJ Konflikt and Damaged Goods are hosting a $30 party which is out of the question. LIV, Bardot and Treehouse will also host pseudo Valentine parties fully identical to those they host every other week of the year. Brickell Irish Pub is drumming up business on Valentine’s Day by offering their own clever take: a Kill Cupid evening. How is a romantic supposed to express allegiance to a mate with such a predictably ordinary series of opportunities theoretically designed to assist us as we endeavor to express our ardor?
#1 — Flowers inevitably succeed. Yes, you can purchase a dozen lifeless long stems from the fellow next to the highway exit alongside the water bottle guy and football kids collecting to go to some alleged national championship. And yes, you could snatch an emergency orchid on the side of Old Cutler Road. Better yet, visit a reputable master like Sidney from Tropicalia Flowers located in the tiny Palmetto Bay cottage near IHOP where your romantic questions will manifest into a personalized bouquet of manifold shapes and colors. Sidney spends Sundays as a fixture at the Pinecrest Market.
#2 — Chocolate is not only purported to help that love blood percolate, but also fulfills the bill sustainably; share it and all that remains is a wrapper. For originality, go to Mainzer’s German Deli near The Daily Bread to get something special from Holland, Sweden or Bavaria. You may have to wrap it yourself, but you will also be contributing to a true, small local treasure which has been surviving for what seems like the last century. If Mainzer’s is too humble for you and your intention more inclined toward areas in which impressions must be made, Cao Chocolates has lovely tablets, discs and barks adorned with nuts and dried fruits.
#3 — Wine from Trader Joe’s will save you money which you will reinvest in peculiar cookie butters and frozen, preserved ready to heat products. You can also go to Total Wine instead and contribute to massive factory winemaking programs too big to fail. Instead go to Happy Wine on 8th Street near 58th Ave. Here you can browse crates and cartons of thousands of bottles of carefully selected vintages at a cut rate and again help a small business. They have a second, more upscale option in the Grove, but the original is legitimately intimate and should inspire a gift much more personal and romantic on this day, which commercial interests have all but run into the ground.
#4 — Think Italy for romance, like the new Made in Italy Gourmet found on Miami Ave. near Midtown and Wynwood where all sorts of grandiose culinary things seem to be suddenly exploding. Perhaps you will consider Proof Pizza and Pasta or venture further north to Ironside Pizza, both of which have substantial romantic potential, though neither on the scale of Lucali in Sunset Harbor, which in early evening has the potential to revive amorous sentiments in even the most far gone among us.
#5 — Music may soothe the soul or arouse sensations far healthier than those ubiquitous TV commercials related to dysfunction and here are some suggestions. If you are up for a rousing live performance at South Dade’s Cake – SMDCAC has Black Creek Nights with Batuke Samba Funk on the 13th or the Miami Symphony Orchestra on Valentine’s evening. Two new CDs might also fan the affection flames: Jamie Cullum for pop-jazz lovers or Charlie Wilson for old school soul. Finally, as a last resort if all else fails, put on some Marvin Gaye.
Carl Rachelson is a teacher at Palmer Trinity School and a regular contributor to the Pinecrest Tribune. He may be contacted by addressing email to crachelson@palmertrinity.org.
