Hialeah Park Grand Reopening!

Quarter Horses
Originally uploaded by alexthoth

After 10 years of ruins the old Hialeah Park Racetrack is finally reopened to the public this Saturday and the place was packed with nostalgic and curious visitors. This might sound cheesy but it sort of filled me with pride. El Hipodromo was such a big part of my life growing up in Hialeah, not that we would go there that often, but it was always present. Although people would bash other aspects of the city, Hialeah Park was always spoken of with pride. It was our Vizcaya.

I went a few months ago when it was still in poor shape (see pics here) and the difference was palpable. I've got to give it to the people who resuscitated the old place... they did a fantastic job in a really short time.

My one suggestion to the owner and the City of Hialeah is that they create another entrance to the place, maybe on Palm Ave. One entrance just doesn't accommodate the number of visitors and is the source of bottlenecks and aggravation.

Kayaking at Oleta River

Mai and Alex
Originally uploaded by alexthoth

I went kayaking on my 31st birthday weekend with my 4 and a half week pregnant wife and my bestfriend, Frank, and his girlfriend, Christina. We went to Oleta River State Park down 163rd street. This park is a very nice slice of nature in the middle of urban (suburban?) North Miami Beach, with kayaks, biking trails, picnic areas, a beach ...

The kayaks were a bit pricey($35 bucks for an hour and a half), but we had a great time, the weather was awesome, and the place was beautiful.

Here are more pics.

Hialeah Park RaceTrack

Club House
Originally uploaded by alexthoth

Went to the old Hialeah Racetrack and took some pretty cool pictures. The place is still beautiful, but now in a rundown haunted sort of way. I'm surprised to see the flamingos are still there.

Eventually they'll renovate it and make it all nice, so I'm glad I got some pics of when it was in disrepair.