My first REAL girlfriend was from Miami. I'll never forget when she took me to a restaurant in Miami to have Tempura. I'd never had it before or even knew what it was!
Our son and fiancé were moving to Miami for reasons unknown to me; they both went to UF. They just found out she may be getting a good job in Gainesville! They and my wife and I are super excited. I always liked Gainesville when I went to UF - who doesn’t. It’s changed a lot since those halcyon days, traffic, congestion, campus is very dense but it’s still a special place, especially if you love Gator athletics!!
Many years later I dated another Miami girl. Her Dad was a high school football coach there for many years. I had dinner with her & her parents one night at their home along with Angelo Dundee and his wife...long time friends of the family. Her Dad was an Army vet and also had played football for FSU - way back when they were first starting their football program - and he played on both offense and defense. In fact....I have a commemorative plastic Hardees cup with his name and portrait on it, as a Hall of Fame player! When the movie "Castaway" came out - her and I double dated with her sister and her husband, a retired German boxing champion, in Miami on the night it premiered. What a special night that was as that movie was incredible!
it's where Burdines store originated. My parents moved to Immokalee in 1950, I believe and they had some stories of "old Man Burdine". Old Man Burdine had a hunting lease near Immokalee and my dad would take him pies that mom baked. Dad told me that he would get the to lease and have to track down the old man by following empty liquor bottles to discover the old man and some models from the store. I never asked for more of the story, but wondered about it.
Worst part is it's sweeping the state like a cancer. Every developer in St. Pete is from Miami and it shows.
