As part of our three-day eat-a-thon while visiting my Dad in Hallandale Beach, we had a memorable lunch at Sage Bagel & Deli, an authentic Jewish-style deli.

My husband began with a cup of matzoh ball soup:

That is one big-ass matzoh ball 

The kids got salads and omelets, but my husband and I went for more classic Jewish deli fare.  My husband had the Reuben sandwich with sweet potato fries:

While I chose to elevate my cholesterol with a Salad Sampler Platter of whitefish, baked salmon, and tuna salads with a toasted bagel:

Couldn’t leave without buying a few black and white cookies for later . . . .

We also had lunch at Lychee Garden, a Chinese restaurant that had been a favorite of my Mom’s.  In fact, the restaurant has a framed newspaper article with a picture of my parents eating there, which my kids got quite a kick out of:

At the Chinese restaurants we frequent in Houston, the food is served on platters.  But at Lychee Garden, the food was served in metal compotes, which I haven’t seen in a long time, and brought back memories of many, many Chinese meals with my family growing up:

 Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables 

But we didn’t JUST eat on our trip.  We went to see Anchorman 2, which my Dad declared to be the worst movie ever made (he was warned), at least the parts he stayed awake for.  We also did some sightseeing, including a visit to Flamingo Gardens in Davie, a botanical collection and wildlife sanctuary.  I love this place.  There are impressive plants all over the property, including flowering gingers and other tropicals:

I was fascinated by the star fruit hanging off of this carambola tree:

And even more fascinated by the seed pods on the annatto tree.  (Annatto, also called achiote, is used in Latin American and Carribbean cuisines for both coloring and flavoring food):

Peacocks roam the property:

There’s lots of other birds too:

The Rookery — a free-flight aviary

I had ’em eating out of my hand 

And of course, there were flamingos:

Interestingly, flamingo is the color adorning the roadways in Hallandale Beach — wouldn’t have been my choice, but yet, it seems so Florida-y:

But I digress.  Flamingo Gardens also has some very animated parrots, a wildlife sanctuary with alligators, bobcats, and other animals, a narrated tram ride through a tropical rainforest and groves, and a restored home that provides a look at life in South Florida in the 1930s.  A visit to Flamingo Gardens is a great way to spend an afternoon, especially if you’ve got kids — even teenagers!