You can indeed go home again

The Mrs. and I made our annual pilgrimage to South Florida. We did a swap with The Mrs. parents of our futon, which we got from them, for a treadmill and a big ass TV. My father-in-law just got a bigger ass TV. So wins all around. The real reason I was going down however was to go to the liquor store. The liquor laws in North Carolina being what they are it is much better to shop for liquid gold in Florida. It also happened that a very dear old friend has had his second child and the christening was Saturday. We were very graciously let off the hook for the church part of the celebration but got to go by the house later and have a few sangrias and catch up with not just him but the rest of his family that we had not seen in quite some time. His family was a surrogate family for me at times during high school and it was great to see everyone. During our conversation we eventually started talking about food, as we always do, and we got a great tip on a place for Cuban food that was, in a round about way, on the way back. Meaning it was south but not really on the way, but who cares it's Cuban food. So when the time was right, and just before the conversation would begin to be interrupted by my stomach rumbling, we said our good byes and set off for dinner. When we arrived at The Havana Restaurant the parking lot was packed and there was a very nice guy helping everyone find a spot. So we got parked and headed in. The first decision was if we wanted to eat in or eat at the take out window. We decided to check the wait, twenty minutes, and then thought we would hang out and eat in. I should mention that the counter is open twenty-four hours and we will be returning on our way home for breakfast. So now you know it was good but let me tell you why. We did get seated with the caveat from the hostess, "Let me know if the table is ok", it was right next to the server station, which was fine by me I was hungry. Our server was an older gentleman who seamed to be a little overwhelmed buy the late rush that we were now a part of and was, maybe, not on his game. I will forgive him everything except not coming by to offer me another beer; that's just criminal. Anyway, on to the food. To start we ordered a plate of croquettes that were ham and swiss. They also came with assorted meat and cheese, the marinated pork was really good. The croquetes themselves were tasty but were not as fresh as I would have expected and, so, a little underwhelming. All was redeemed with the entrées. I ordered the "Masitas de Puerco Fritas" pig lovers hold on to your hats. This was huge chunks of marinaded slow roasted pork that are then deep fried without batter; crispy and falling apart tender. They come topped with sautéed pickled onions and mojo sauce. On the side was yellow rice and black beans and then there was the fried plantains. It was heavenly. The Mrs. got her favorite, the Media Noche, which is the same as the typical Cuban sandwich but on a sweeter bread. She was very happy, and even happier when she started stealing my plantains. Sadly, we were both too full to even contemplate dessert so we rolled ourselves to the car and headed back to the in-laws for a good night sleep. We had a long day ahead of us heading to the Keys.