Anyone vacationed on the Florida Keys? Tips?

[NewRVLady]

It was hwy 997 between Sweetwater and Homestead
We took Hwy 41 thru Everglades

 

[JaxDad]

If you do get off the main road around Homestead, visit the Robert is Here fruit stand for a shake or smoothie!

My intel on the keys is very dated, but others have mentioned many of my old favorites: Alabama Jacks, Robbie's Marina, No Name Pub, Turtle Kraals, Schooner Wharf, Bull and Whistle, Green Parrot,...

There was a good pizza slice stand in the middle of the Duval craziness too, but I don't recall the name. I remember El Cacique for Cuban. And definitely do the main tourist stuff like Hemingway House, Sunset, etc. It's all fun!

 

[phinz]

It was hwy 997 between Sweetwater and Homestead
We took Hwy 41 thru Everglades

997 is Krome. I love the 41 drive from Marco/Naples to Krome. My wife and I have a tradition now of just pointing off to the side of the road occasionally and saying very calmly "Indian village" due to making that drive several times when we lived in SW Florida and the in-laws lived in N. Key Largo, since occasionally you would see an Indian Village sign and then would see the chickees over the fences. Chickees fascinate me. 41 is so much better than the drone of Alligator Alley, though it seems like it takes twice as long with slow drivers, etc.

As an aside, I love the drive from SW FL to Palm Beach on Palm Beach Blvd too. Being a kid who grew up in the flatlands of SE Texas, apparently the flat farmlands of FL really speak to me.

 

[phinz]

Top 10 Florida Keys bars you have to see.

 

[NewRVLady]

If you do get off the main road around Homestead, visit the Robert is Here fruit stand for a shake or smoothie!
!

darn...we PASSED that place!! it was packed-I thought it looked good

 

[JaxDad]

darn...we PASSED that place!! it was packed-I thought it looked good

I haven't been in a while, but the produce there was always amazing and the shakes awesome! The history of the place is cute too. When Robert was a boy, he had a little produce stand at his school bus stop. He put out "Robert is Here" signs to attract customers. He left a jar for people to pay while he was at school.

 

[JJZMgailey]

Where should we have dinner tonight that's real close to the Hilton Key Largo Resort?

 

[phinz]

Where should we have dinner tonight that's real close to the Hilton Key Largo Resort?

Snappers. From the article I posted above:

4. Snappers (Key Largo)

Oh what a view! Snappers is a seafood restaurant with a large Tiki style outdoor bar right on the water. Plenty of seating and a great view of the ocean. My favorite spot to sip a cocktail is in the brightly painted Adirondack chairs along the walkway. Snappers is also a great place for a night out. Obviously you lose the ocean view, but you gain live music from local musicians. And only at a Florida Keys bar will you see the musician playing from a little pontoon boat tied up to the deck. Pretty cool way to add square footage. http://snapperskeylargo.com/

I also like the Pilot House. It has glass panels in the outside bar's floor.

 

[JJZMgailey]

Snappers. From the article I posted above:

4. Snappers (Key Largo)

Oh what a view! Snappers is a seafood restaurant with a large Tiki style outdoor bar right on the water. Plenty of seating and a great view of the ocean. My favorite spot to sip a cocktail is in the brightly painted Adirondack chairs along the walkway. Snappers is also a great place for a night out. Obviously you lose the ocean view, but you gain live music from local musicians. And only at a Florida Keys bar will you see the musician playing from a little pontoon boat tied up to the deck. Pretty cool way to add square footage. http://snapperskeylargo.com/

I also like the Pilot House. It has glass panels in the outside bar's floor.

Mmmm! That sounds amazing! My hubby is wanting to go to a place called Lucie's - ever eaten at that one?

We have our teenagers with us and they're not huge seafood fans.

 

[phinz]

I have not been to Lucy, but my wife doesn't eat seafood and she's always able to find something to eat in the Keys.

Looks like Lucy just opened up in the past few months. http://keysnews.com/node/65688

 

[JJZMgailey]

I have not been to Lucy, but my wife doesn't eat seafood and she's always able to find something to eat in the Keys.

Looks like Lucy just opened up in the past few months. http://keysnews.com/node/65688

Thank you SO much for posting that article! I can't believe this, but when we lived up in Savannah, we had neighbors named Fred and Petra! Petra was German and worked in a little cafe up the road from us. Everything was made from scratch by her and was out of this world. I'll totally fall over if it's them - I can't imagine what a coincidence that would be, but with uncommon names like theirs, it's got to be them! We're going to head there now - I'll come back later and let you all know how it was.

 

[phinz]

Thank you SO much for posting that article! I can't believe this, but when we lived up in Savannah, we had neighbors named Fred and Petra! Petra was German and worked in a little cafe up the road from us. Everything was made from scratch by her and was out of this world. I'll totally fall over if it's them - I can't imagine what a coincidence that would be, but with uncommon names like theirs, it's got to be them! We're going to head there now - I'll come back later and let you all know how it was.

I can't wait to see if it is them! Petra is from Richmond Hill, GA, from what I can tell from her Facebook profile, so I bet it is...

 

[JJZMgailey]

I can't wait to see if it is them! Petra is from Richmond Hill, GA, from what I can tell from her Facebook profile, so I bet it is...

It was totally them!! We had the most fantastic dinner and a great visit with our old friends too! The restaurant has incredibly high ratings on Trip Advisor already - the locals just love it. They make everything from scratch still and everything we had was delicious! She makes authentic German food and some other super fun things too. My daughter had chicken and donuts and ate every last morsel! Her schnitzel was to die for and my hubby loved the brats and sauerkraut he had. Their daughter's boyfriend is a pastry chef who did part of his culinary studies in Germany and he brought out a special German cheesecake that had shortbread crust and sour cherries. It was seriously amazing!

I took a couple of pics of what we had and of their menu, but I'm exhausted so I'll post them tomorrow.

 

[phinz]

That is far too cool to run into an acquaintance that far from the last place of encounter, and completely by accident.