“Hold still. Just like that. Beauuutiful,” says Sebastian, your Miami male companion, as he photographs you standing on the bed at The Villa By Barton G. You reach up to the ceiling’s gold, baroque medallion that flanks the gothic chandelier. Your long silhouette is a veritable mannequin for a black Versace bathing suit, which is decorated with gold studs that outline the Medusa head insignia. Sebastian tosses you over his shoulder and carries you, his muse for the day, over to the clawfoot bathtub filled with giant glass bubbles. He lays you atop this art installation and instructs you to freeze. After shooting through a tiny aperture, Sebastian whisks you away to the balcony. There you find a table filled with delicacies from “Il Sole,” which anchors the Villa’s culinary wing. You see a mother-of-pearl platter engulfing a small heap of Italian Ostera caviar beside a champagne flute overflowing with Prosecco. Sebastian’s final shots capture you pouring the sparkling wine into your mouth and down your neck.
Coconut Grove’s homey “The Grove Spot” serves breakfast all day, which is fortunate since you and Tommy are a bit groggy and need to recover from your previous day and evening. “Over easy, please,” you request, as you order the Bangers and Eggs. Tommy cracks you up as he recounts the previous day’s trials and tribulations of stand-up paddleboarding at Hobie Beach. Ostensibly an excellent workout, this activity provided, indeed, solid abdominal exercise. However, your core exertion comes from your gut-wrenching laughter about the activity’s shortcomings. Your attempts to commandeer the board proved to be an outright bust because each time you touched the board it would float upstream. You and Tommy next meander through shops in town. Slaphappy and giddy, you trigger the weekend’s final laughs when you comment that the women’s boutique you both enter on McFarlane Road, called “Touch & Go,” aptly summarizes your entire weekend’s series of trysts!
Yourself being a bibliophile, you appreciate how Dallas, your Miami male companion, is similarly fond of books. You and Dallas find yourselves at the independent, locally-owned store, “Books & Books,” at their Coral Gables location. You both participate in a dialogue between an author and a group. The featured selection, “Big, Bad Book of Botany,” by Michael Largo, inspires no shortage of discussion about the birds and the bees. Having listened intently, you both are steeped with a richer appreciation for biology, nature, and the ways humans have manipulated the earth to do both good and evil to other humans. Fittingly, you check out the bookstore’s lovely courtyard garden for a moment. You two then buzz over to pollinate the nearby Palme D’Or, where a decadent French dinner blooms. You take it all in by feasting on the Seared Branzino with Leek Foam. You feel grateful for Dallas’ close attention. Getting such care helps you grow.
“Pound, pound, thump, zip, grind, boom, pound,”… are the sound effects racing through your veins at “Story.” You and Shane are pressed up against each other as one, dancing to the compelling Electronica music. You feel the heat of Shane’s ripped body come into yours’. You are clearly in ecstasy. In a haze, you realize that Shane has spun you amidst the neon lights, around the strobe, over the strewn glitter, and toward the door. You stumble from a definite “scene” toward a nearby place where you will “be seen,” specifically Prime One Twelve. It’s another SoFi (South of Fifth) hot spot causing people to rave. You and Shane both prefer things raw and thus opt to start with the oysters. You taste his swordfish and insist he tastes your rack (of lamb).
You beg Dominic to try his hand at the “Artistic Vibes” Open Mic Night, where he can readily showcase his wonderful stand-up comedy for you. Dominic simply kills it with the audience members who are roaring in their seats. You beam with pride as your man is up there pleasing rows upon rows of judgmental spectators. He knows how to get the job done and is mastering an art. To celebrate his success, you two take a decent jaunt over to the elegantly titled, “James Club.” Nestled in oceanfront property, the lounge bar is an ideal place for you and Dominic to unwind, reflect, and, of course, share some special giggles that are exclusively for you two.
You meet your Miami male companion, Lucas, at “Versailles” Restaurant just west of the Little Havana neighborhood. You had previously read Lucas hails from Canada and is able to speak fluent French. So you thought dining at a place called “Versailles” would be quite representative of, at least, his linguistic roots. Although the (famous) restaurant’s name seems to indicate the fare inside will be predominantly French… au contraire! Rather, it serves wonderful Cuban food! Lucas playfully remarks, “Cet endroit est tout comme moi parce que ça sonne comme il est français mais vraiment c’est autre chose.” Utterly perplexed yet mesmerized, you query what Lucas said. He translates, “I said, ‘this place is just like me because it sounds like it is French but really it is something else.’ Eh?!” You’re relieved Lucas easily rolls with your blunder. You get acquainted with each other and enjoy sampling savory, traditional Cuban dishes.
You are so wet. You’re dripping, sopping, and soaking wet. Diving into the SLS Hotel’s Hyde Beach pool at 2:00 in the morning with Jermaine, your Miami male companion, will have that effect on a person. Jermaine turns you both into the life of the party. Accompanied by the live Techno DJ’s club music, Jermaine unabashedly hops up onto the fancy lounge couches and starts dancing with the smoothest moves. The whole crowd screams in approval and women start tossing their string bikinis at him. Showing the now-scantily-clad crowd that he’s taken, Jermaine grabs you and pulls you into the action. He actually props you up even higher than him, onto the tall table behind the couch, to join his moves and flaunt your own.
