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O Natasha

When I wrote my last post, my friend Natasha was halfway through her visit. Here’s how the rest of the week went.

On Wednesday night, Natasha and I joined my sister and her friend Jennifer for dinner at Sushi Yama, a Japanese restaurant in Boca Raton. A good time and sushi were had by all. After that, we went home, and my sister’s friend Nathalie joined us to hang out. We decided to go and hang out with our friend Mike in the neighborhood for a while.

The next day was a slow one. After hanging around at home for most of the day, Natasha and I made it out to the Coral Square Mall so we could hit up Build-A-Bear Workshop and make a stuffed animal as a souvenir for her nephew. She had seen on their web site that there were alligators and Florida Gators football uniforms available, but at this particular store they didn’t have them. She chose the just-as-Floridian Florida panther wearing a Gators hat and t-shirt. She has good taste.

After milling around a bit at the mall, we went back home to have a homemade dinner of eggplant parmesan with my family and my sister’s friend Kelli. Later, Natasha and I watched sixth Harry Potter movie, which I hadn’t seen; it came out while I was in Europe last year.

Friday was a big day. Natasha and I went to the Deerfield Beach train station, as seen in one of her favorite movies. From there, we took the Tri-Rail and the Metrorail to Miami. Even though we started early, it was already getting to be lunchtime when we got there, so we had lunch at a smoothie place. Next we went to the Bayside shopping center in Bayfront Park, where my sister and our friend Kevin met up with us.

Andy met up with us there as well, and he went with Natasha and me to the Miami Seaquarium. It was a common destination for field trips when I was a kid, and I figured it would be a great way to show Natasha some of the wildlife all in one place. I hadn’t been there in ages, and I forgot how small the place was. But still, there was enough to do. We saw crocodiles, manatees, parrots, sea lions, dolphins, a killer whale, and more. Natasha loved it.

Next, we decided to have an early dinner, so we went to Little Havana and ate at a Cuban restaurant called La Carreta. Andy was pleased because he got to practice his Spanish. They got my order completely wrong, which led me to believe that they didn’t know much English. The food was good, though. After that, we met up with Kevin and my sister again and drove to Miami Beach, where we checked out the Lincoln Road Mall. Once it was dark, we walked over to the beach to check it out.

As we were leaving Miami Beach, we got an invitation from our friend Mike to hang out with him and our friend Nick, so once we made it back north, we hung out for a while with them and then got home pretty late.

Natasha still hadn’t been to the beach during the day, so on Saturday—her last full day—she and I went to Deerfield Beach. It was extremely hot, even for me, so we were done pretty quickly. Still, I’m glad she got to experience it. After burning at the beach, we cooled off in the pool at home. We spent the rest of the day getting ready to have a semi-fancy dinner at P.F. Chang’s in Boca Raton for Natasha’s last night in Florida. Kevin, Nathalie, Andy, and my sister joined Natasha and me there.

After dinner, we hung around for a while, wondering what to do. Eventually, we decided that it was late and that we should just go our separate ways. For Natasha, my sister, and me, that meant going back to the house, where we took another dip in the pool before going to bed.

On Natasha’s last day, there wasn’t time to do much except have Sunday brunch with the family and take a few photos of all of us together. After that, my mom took Natasha and me to the airport. We hardly had any time to say our goodbyes, but I knew we didn’t need to say very much. Whatever she would have said, I knew I could feel it in here [pounds chest with fist].

The week Natasha spent with me was a very special one that I won’t soon forget. In real life, with her smile and quirks and turns of phrase, she was every bit as fantastic as the Natasha I had gotten to know online over the years. I probably do say it enough, and maybe even too much, but I really appreciate Natasha and consider her one of my best friends. I look forward to visiting her sometime soon.