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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The South Beach Wine and Food Festival!

Last weekend I got the opportunity to go to Miami, Florida with my mom and sisters! It was an incredible trip, and I am so thankful that we were able to do it. Mom and I flew out of BWI and switched planes in Raleigh where Becca got on our flight! Then Sarah picked us up at the airport in Florida.

Our big plans for the weekend were to go to the South Beach Wine and Food Festival on Saturday! Mom and Sarah went last year and loved it so much they really wanted us to all be able to come.

The event is sponsored by the Food Network and is basically all you can eat and drink for a good portion of the day! We had breakfast with friends of Sarah, who were also going to the festival, and then took a taxi to South Beach. All the tents and booths are literally on the beach!

Even the line supports were made of pasta.

Everyone gets a big bag of free samples (but you have to carry it with you all day!) and they also gave us a lanyard to hang our wine glasses off of!

The weather threatened rain a number of times, but thankfully held off! Here's a look at the tents when you first come in. Each tent had a sample to taste (like Chipotle or Jelly Belly or pork sandwiches) or a drink (margaritas, Illy coffee, and lots of water). Most of them also gave some sample to take home too!

The main event is the Tasting Village...2 HUGE tents full of tables of samples. This was open from 11-5 for non-stop food and drink! Here's a favorite sample...octopus!


These tents were huge and totally packed with people. We had to be patient, but it was so worth it. We literally ate all day.

It turned into quite a beautiful day! Here we were taking a break in between the two tasting tents.

This is the best look I have at the inside setup. The outside of the tent was lined with venders, but there were also booths located at the center of the tents. This is about halfway through one tent on one side. So it looked the same behind me as well as on the other side. Truly amazing!

Another feature was demonstrations by Food Network stars. Mom really wanted to see Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and he was the last event of the night. We all got to see him, though Mom had a much better seat since she got there early.

We waited until they were kicking us out, but she got his autograph too! He was a really nice guy, especially since he didn't let security make us leave after waiting so long!

Here's a last shot before we went to hail a cab. Portable bathrooms...fun fun!


What an amazing day. So, so thankful to get to spend the time with you guys!

2 comments:

Life of books, movies, travel and dogs said...

There's just something about eating outside that makes things taste better... if you ever make the trip east (i.e. Japan, China, Vietnam, etc.) a lot of their food culture is based on outdoor markets and eating outside... classy memories.

Great Oma said...

Great pictures, Beth Anne. I'm sure it was a wonderful day, and you all had lots of fun. I'm glad you all were able to go.