Around the State (and what we ate) - A Florida road trip report-COMPLETE 9/23

[mickey916]

April 21 - Giving the Stuart/Jupiter Area Another Try​

Since breakfast is not included at the Courtyard, we had to continue our donut quest by stopping by Jupiter Donuts. This place has smaller donuts and a huge cinnamon roll. We simply had to get both. Here is the cinnamon roll with a lip balm for size reference.



This cinnamon roll was not only gigantic, it was absolutely delicious! The dough was fresh, the cinnamon sugar was plentiful and the sweet glaze topped it off nicely. I would recommend getting there early as they do sell out and trying the cinnamon roll if you're ever near a Jupiter donuts. We were outside eating this when a man sent his wife back in to get one after seeing it and they were all sold out!

We also ordered six mini donuts (clockwise starting in upper left corner): cookies & creaam, butterfinger, heath bar, coconut, M&M, Reese's peanut butter). All of these were chocolate cake donuts with chocolate frosting and different toppings.



These donuts were all pretty good but nothing that really stood out as a "must get". The cinnamon roll is where it's at! We ended up making two days' breakfast out of these treats!

After our hearty breakfast, we went to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, Florida. This is a small non-profit wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary. Admission is by voluntary donation. We truly enjoyed seeing all of the rescued animals and learning about them. We spoke with a volunteer at length and learned about panthers and mountain lions. We saw all kinds of animals. It was a great stop!

We then stopped at Loggerhead Marine and had a picnic lunch of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. We opted not to go in the facility but took a long walk along Juno Beach all the way to the pier.



Yet another beautiful day!

We also visited Dubois Park which is a nice area for picnicking and swimming and has free parking.



We stopped by the Jupiter lighthouse but we were too late to take a trek to the top.

​

We then stopped by the Blowing Rocks Preserve in Hobe Sound but the tide was too low to see any blowing rocks.



This would probably be better at high tide. Parking is free but there is a suggested donation of $2 per person to go to the preserve. Also be aware that the beach closes at 4:30 . We saw a poor family lugging all their beach gear and children down only to be told by a ranger that they closed in a half hour.

As we drove back to the Courtyard for the evening, we went down this street with impressive trees.



After our disappointing dinner the night before, we decided to walk over to a nice little restaurant area across from the Courtyard. There were many options to choose from but we decided to give Blaze Pizza a try. We've never tried the one in Disney Springs but have seen good reviews. We decided to share a Caesar salad.



This was very good. It had nice slices of parmesan cheese, crispy croutons, and a tasty dressing. We each decided to build our own individual pizza on high rise dough. I ordered mine with red and white sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms, banana peppers, and oregano.



My DH ordered his with red/white sauce, mozzarella, feta, pepperoni, meatballs, ham, spinach, red pepper, and sea salt.



We were very impressed by the whole experience. The process was very efficient, the employees were all working very hard and the pizzas were very tasty. And, we noted, as opposed to the previous night's dining experience, there was a worker going around with individual disposable wipes cleaning all the tables. Overall, this was a much better dinner.

We headed back to the Courtyard to watch some Bob's Burgers episodes as we awaited the arrival of our DS-26. After I had planned our trip, our oldest son mentioned that he had a week's vacation he had to use before mid-May or he would lose the time. I suggested he join us for a portion of our trip. He chose the Fort Lauderdale/Miami/Keys part. We're so happy he was able to come along on part of our travels.

His flight was due to land at the Palm Beach Airport at 11 pm. Unfortunately as seems to happen all too often there was a "mechanical issue" (i.e. likely no flight crew) and he didn't end up taking off until after 11 and landing at 2 am. We picked him up then and drove the 45 minute drive back to the Courtyard Port St. Lucie/Tradition. In hindsight, we should have stayed that night somewhere closer to the airport, since we were checking out that next morning and heading south anyhow. It just never occurred to me back when we found out he would be joining us.

Up next, the three of us venture down to Fort Lauderdale and Miami before heading to the Keys.

 

[mickey916]

April 22 - Starting Our Adventure for 3 in Little Havana
​

After getting to sleep at about 3 am, we tried to sleep in a little. For breakfast we finished off the mini donuts and coffee roll from the previous morning before checking out of the Courtyard Port St. Lucie-Tradition and grabbing a couple of iced coffees from Dunkin'. This Courtyard was an excellent hotel. Spacious, clean, and quiet with a lot of eateries within walking distance. We would definitely stay here again.

Since this was our DS-26's vacation, we let him plan our agenda. We had visited Little Havana back in December 2017 and he asked if we could explore the area again. We got back on the road and drove down to Miami.
We found a parking lot near Calle Ocho and paid $30 for three hours of parking (yikes).

In preparation for our trip, the three of us watched a YouTube video by Mark Wiens and DavidsBeenHere on a Miami Food Tour. My DS-26 wanted to eat at two of the places they reviewed. So, we headed to lunch at the first place, El Rey de las Fritas. This is a small restaurant in a strip mall with a few booths and counter seating. They have a pretty extensive menu of Cuban specialties but we were there for the "fritas" which is a burger made with a special blend of ground beef and chorizo. We found seats at the counter and ordered two Supreme Fritas (DS-26 had his own and DH & I shared one). The Supreme Frita consisted of their specialty burger patty with a slab of white cheese, sweet plantains, and crispy onion straws.



My DS-26 absolutely loved this! He felt it was outstanding and says it's one of the best things he ate all week. We also enjoyed it but it wasn't as huge as we expected when we decided to share one, so we both felt we didn't get enough to really experience it.

I also ordered a side of tostones to go with our shared frita.



We'd never had tostones before so we didn't have anything to compare them to, but we thought they were quite tasty.

After our lunch we explored the sights and sounds of Little Havana. We love all the vibrant colors. Even McDonald's was cool-looking. (Note: another perfect weather day).



All that walking worked up an appetite so we decided to grab a Cuban coffee and snack at El Pub on Calle Ocho.



The Cuban coffee was very strong but very good. My DS-26 loves his coffee dark and strong so he really enjoyed it.

For our snack we ordered guava empanadas.




These were delicious! The dough was crispy, the guava was sweet and the cheese was creamy, balancing nicely with the guava. This was a great treat!

At this point our three hour time limit was running out and DS-26 wanted to explore some more. So, we headed to pay another $10 for another hour of parking and continued our exploration. We sat in a park for a while and watched the roosters.



Since it was springtime, there were so many chicks around! See how many you can spot in this photo...


There was a band playing at the Ball & Chain that we stopped and listened to for a while. The drummer was amazing with his hands moving so quickly. I wish I could post a video here. He was impressive!



After our allotted parking time was up, we headed off for dinner....up next, did the Versailles Restaurant live up to our expectations?

 

[mickey916]

April 22 continued - Dinner & Dessert​

The second restaurant we wanted to try based on Mark Wiens and David's Been Here's vlogs was the Versailles Restaurant, "the world's most famous Cuban restaurant". We arrived for dinner before 5:00 and there was already a huge line. I think the waitstaff was still arriving so they hadn't filled too many tables. We ended up waiting about a half hour which wasn't too bad.

We decided to start with the Versailles Combo as an appetizer: Ham and Beef Empanadas, Ham and Chicken Croquettes, Yuca Fries Served with Cilantro Sauce.



All three of us enjoyed everything on this plate. There were two different empanadas, one ham, one beef and two different croquettes, one ham and one chicken. They were all excellent. A great start to our meal!

We were all in the mood for an authentic Cuban sandwich. My DH ordered the traditional sandwich, called Our Famous Cuban Sandwich: Sweet Ham, Roast Pork, Swiss Cheese on a Toasted Cuban Bread with Mustard and Pickles.



The sandwich was actually a little disappointing. It wasn't served warm. As you can see the cheese isn't really melty and it lacked flavor. While the meats were generously portioned, it needed more sauce and pickles.

My DS-26 and I both ordered the Versailles Especial sandwich: Sweet Ham, Roast Pork, Swiss Cheese and Spanish Sausage on Toasted Cuban Bread with Mustard and Pickles



As you can see, ours came with fries, my DH's did not. He was disappointed with that as well, although we had plenty to share with him. Our opinion of these sandwiches were similar to my DH's, although the "Spanish sausage", which seemed an awful lot like pepperoni, did add some needed flavor. These too weren't served warm enough and needed more sauce and pickles.

So, overall, this wasn't the fabulous meal we were expecting. It was good and maybe we'd think it was great if we had ordered one of the entrees but the Cubans just weren't spectacular.

We decided to go elsewhere for dessert, as we discovered there was a Rita's Italian Ice not too far from our hotel. My DH and I got a twist.

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We haven't had Rita's custard in several years. It was as creamy and delicious as we remembered!

My DS-26 ordered a lemonade gelati with chocolate custard. This is his go-to every time. He likes the sour/sweet contrast.

​

After dessert we headed to check into the Springhill Suites in Miramar. We've never stayed in Springhill Suites and I wasn't sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised. The room was very spacious with a couch/sitting area, large desk, large closet and spacious bathroom. It was great to have the extra space for the three of us. This hotel was in a nice area that was very easy to drive to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. We would definitely stay here again.

Up next: Spending a day in Fort Lauderdale

 

[DeeBee3]

Thanks for all of this info! Florida is so large but people tend to talk only about a few spots. Looking forward to all of your reviews.

 

[mickey916]

Thanks for all of this info! Florida is so large but people tend to talk only about a few spots. Looking forward to all of your reviews.

Thank you! I'm hoping to post more regularly again.

 

[footballmouse]

All I'm going to say is OMG, that cinnamon roll!!!!

 

[mickey916]

All I'm going to say is OMG, that cinnamon roll!!!!

The fact that two of us had part of it one day and then three of us had the rest the next day tells you how big it was! It was very tasty too!

 

[mickey916]

April 23 - Fort Lauderdale​

We started our morning with breakfast at the Springhill Suites which was decent for hotel breakfast. We then decided to try to get some steps and see some wildlife. I searched Trip Advisor and found good reviews for the Long Key Natural Area & Nature Center in Davie. We arrived to the parking lot and struggled a little to find the walking path but eventually found it. As we headed down the path we were swarmed with mosquitos so we headed back to the car to apply some Bull Frog sunscreen with bug repellant, which by the way was really sticky and gross. We walked the path for a while and ended up in a residential subdivision. We retraced our steps back to the parking lot, never seeing any wildlife. This was not at all as it was described in the reviews I read on Trip Advisor. I don't know whether we chose a wrong path or even the wrong park (but Google Maps said we were in the correct locale). This was by far the least impressive nature walk we did on the entire trip but at least we got some steps in.

We then headed to find lunch in Fort Lauderdale. We had watched a review on YouTube (by Off Our Couch) of Henry's Sandwich Station and decided to head there. We arrived at the address to find it was permanently closed. Fortunately, across the street there was a marketplace called Sistrunk Marketplace & Brewery so we headed over there. Lo and behold, Henry's Sandwich Station was actually relocated there so we were able to eat there after all!

My DS-26 ordered the Buffalo Fried Chicken sandwich: crispy chicken, frank’s buffalo hot sauce, pickled jalapeños, shaved lettuce, homemade bleu cheese dressing



He thought this was excellent. It was a huge, tender chicken breast fried perfectly with plenty of buffalo sauce and blue cheese. This was one of his favorite things he ate all week!

My DH ordered the Southwestern Club at the recommendation of the cashier: roasted turkey breast, smoked bacon, pepper jack cheese, shaved lettuce, tomato, chipotle mayo, pressed baguette



This looked delicious to me and he enjoyed it but felt it was lacking in something. He felt it needed a sweetness to contrast with the savoriness. As you can see it had nice fresh turkey and lots of melty cheese.

I wanted to go for something out of the ordinary for me so I ordered the Truffle Philly: shaved ribeye, exotic mushrooms, caramelized onions, truffle whiz, Italian roll



Man was this delicious! The ribeye meat was well cooked and tender and it was filled with lots of juicy mushrooms. It was very mushroom forward so unless you're a mushroom fan, you may not like it but I thought it was terrific! Soooo glad I ordered this! My DH isn't a mushroom fan so there was no sharing this time.

This was a great lunch stop. I highly recommend a stop here at the Sistrunk Marketplace if you're ever in Fort Lauderdale. There were also many other eateries in this marketplace that looked very good as well but it would be hard to pass up Henry's if we were ever there again! As a special bonus, I had looked in the Upside App before we ordered and found a 6% cashback offer, so we even made some cash on this lunch.

After lunch at Henry's we headed to Fort Lauderdale beach. When we had driven through prior to lunch there was tons of parking available so we figured we'd head back and park there to enjoy the beach before our next activity. Unbelievably when we went back all the parking lots were full with people driving around stalking anyone that went to their car in attempt to snag a spot. We had reservations for the Jungle Queen Riverboat cruise so we ended up having to park at the lot adjacent to the boarding dock, which was $11 for those who had cruise tickets, not too bad.

We had taken this cruise back on our December 2017 trip at night which included a luau meal on an island. That time a cold front had gone through and we were freezing. It was so cold they had to put down plastic shades so it was hard to even see the houses along the intercoastal waterway. While the meal was decent last time it was nothing special.
This time we decided to do the 90 minute day cruise that didn't include a meal.

Fortunately this time the weather cooperated and it was yet another beautiful day. The tourguide did a nice job and we got to see quite a few millionaire's homes along the way. This is the biggest one, worth $160 million.



There were several empty lots where homes have been demolished in order to rebuild. I'd be interested to see what shows up next. The tourguide also remarked that there were a lot less yachts docked along the way, he wasn't sure why. Here's one small dinghy we saw (can you believe the weather???)...



It was pretty warm so we decided to order virgin pina coladas. They were quite refreshing!

​

Overall we enjoyed the cruise but we expected to see a lot more homes and yachts from celebrities we recognized. It seems there's been a lot of turn over since we did the cruise several years ago and a lot less recognizable names. Most of the homes we saw were owned by Wayne Huizenga, founder of Waste Management and his extended family.

After our cruise, we spent some time walking around the beachfront area. It was quite busy as there was a navy ship in port. There were Navy men and women everywhere. It looked like they were enjoying their time ashore.

We decided to head out of the busy area and find somewhere closer to the hotel for dinner. My DS-26 was craving Italian food so I searched Trip Advisor for a recommendation and found Amici Trattoria Italiana in Miramar. This was a cute little restaurant in a strip mall with quirky decorations. We were the only patrons as we were shown to our booth.

My DS-26 ordered spaghetti and meatballs. He was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this dish.


My DH and I shared the Tour of Amici sampler platter for 2 which included lasagna that came in it's own separate dish....check out the size of this lasagna! This was easily a meal in itself for us. Luckily our son was happy to help us eat this. The lasagna was very meaty with a nice peppery flavor.



In addition, here is the platter with the remainder of our sampler: eggplant parmigiana, chicken parmigiana, cheese raviolis with side of pasta.



Our meals also came with a salad and garlic knots (which I forgot to take pictures of). This was sooo much food! It was all very tasty. I think the three of us could actually have just shared this and had plenty to spare.

Service was excellent and the place was nicely decorated. Overall this was a very good meal. We didn't have room for dessert so we headed back to the hotel and watched some Bob's Burgers before bed.

Up next...making the best of a bad weather day...

 

[mickey916]

April 24 - A Weather Avoidance Plan​

This was our last full day in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area before heading to the Keys. My DS-26 wanted to go to Pompano Beach, which we had visited back in Dec. 2017. We took a quick look at the forecast and thought we'd be okay for a morning visit so we put on our swimsuits and headed in that direction. For those keeping track, we are now 15 days into our road trip and we have had nothing but absolutely perfect weather. Warm and sunny with low humidity. We knew eventually we had to hit some rain and unfortunately it hit on our drive to the beach. My DH suggested I look at a map and find where we could head that wasn't raining. Here's what I saw:



Definitely not a beach day! It did appear that the Everglades were relatively rain free, so we decided to head there and take the loop road through Big Cypress National Preserve. What a fantastic drive! The road is mostly gravel with many turnout spots where we stopped and saw all kinds of wildlife. The weather was perfect for the gators so they were visible everywhere. We also saw countless birds. Here's just a small sampling of the wildlife:















We stopped for a picnic lunch at a picnic area along the way. There was a hiking trail there that warned you would be knee deep in water in sections. No thank you!!! We did see several people heading out on the trail though.

After completing the 27 mile loop, we stopped at a visitor center on Route 41 and saw many gators swimming.



One of the observations we made was how easily we would lose sight of a gator once it went under water. They would dive down and be invisible in a matter of seconds. Definitely not walking knee deep in these waters.

As we made our drive back to the hotel, my DS-26 wanted to take a drive along Ocean Drive in Miami. Ocean Drive was closed due to construction so we had to take a parallel road but it was interesting seeing all the "wild life" in Miami too!

We didn't want to battle the crowds in Miami restaurants for dinner so we headed back to find something closer to the hotel. My DH and I were craving salads so we decided go to Texas Roadhouse. We both got the chicken critter salad: Hot, crispy chicken tenders piled high on a bed of cold greens with jack and cheddar cheeses, egg, tomato and bacon.



This was really good and was exactly what we both were craving. The rolls and cinnamon butter were also really tasty.

Our DS-26 ordered the Beef tips dinner: Cuts of steak with sautéed mushrooms, onions, brown gravy and sour cream over seasoned rice or mashed potatoes and one side. He chose mashed potatoes. He very much enjoyed his meal as well.



Overall the service was excellent at Texas Roadhouse and our meals were great. We're not huge fans of chain restaurants, but right now Texas Roadhouse ranks up there at the top of our list.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for the night. This was a great day and one of our favorite things we did. Pretty good for a plan B!

Up next...venturing down to Key West.

 

[mickey916]

April 25 - Making Our Way Down to Key West​

After eating breakfast at the Springhill Suites, we checked out and started our drive down the keys. My parents had suggested we visit the Coral Castle in Homestead but unfortunately we drove there to discover it is not opened on Tuesdays.

We continued on to our next destination which we had seen in a few YouTube videos, Robert is Here fruit stand, also in Homestead, FL. This is such a quirky, unique place that it's hard to properly describe the experience. We loved it! It is at its core a fruit stand but it is so much more. We were fascinated by all the unique items they had for sale, fruit and otherwise. We didn't buy one, but they even had ostrich eggs for sale.


Behind the fruit market, there's a fenced in area with all sorts of animals, living in harmony. We saw chickens, geese, ducks, goats, emus, tortoises, cows, and birds. It was really incredible the numbers of species they had in their back pen.





There is also a snack stand that sells smoothies, Cubans, and other items. The smoothies were made with fresh fruit from the stand. We each ordered a smoothie.

I ordered a pineapple, coconut, banana smoothie. This was delicious, sweet and full of flavor.



My DS-26 ordered a blueberry, banana, and dragonfruit smoothie. He really enjoyed his as well.



Lastly, my DH got sapodilla, pineapple, coconut. We had never heard of sapodilla but he really enjoyed the sweetness it gave to his smoothie. There was an option to add sugar or honey to the smoothies but we opted to just go for fruit only. The bananas and sapodilla gave our smoothies sufficient sweetness.



We really enjoyed our stop at Robert is Here!

After our visit, we headed down the street to our next bucket-list stop - Gator Grill, also in Homestead. We ordered one order of grilled gator to share.



These were surprisingly tasty. They were tender and nicely seasoned. My DH and DS-26 loved them. I liked the flavor but wasn't crazy about the texture, just a little too spongy for me. The dipping sauces were very good. DS ranks this among his top things he ate during his visit.

After our snacks, we continued driving down the keys and stopped in Islamorada at Robbies to feed the tarpon. We purchased a bucket of fish and paid our admission to go out on the dock. This was an amazing experience. The tarpon were huge and would jump out of the water to eat fish right out of our hands. We had a great time and I got some cool video of my DS and DH feeding them. Here is an action shot of my DH:


Yes, that's the fish's entire mouth around his hand!

Check out the size of these fish!


If you are ever driving in Islamorada, take the time to feed the tarpon. So fun! So far our day was off to a phenomenal start...up next mixed reviews for our lunch at the Hungry Tarpon Restaurant.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

April 21 - Giving the Stuart/Jupiter Area Another Try​

Since breakfast is not included at the Courtyard, we had to continue our donut quest by stopping by Jupiter Donuts. This place has smaller donuts and a huge cinnamon roll. We simply had to get both. Here is the cinnamon roll with a lip balm for size reference.

View attachment 775689

This cinnamon roll was not only gigantic, it was absolutely delicious! The dough was fresh, the cinnamon sugar was plentiful and the sweet glaze topped it off nicely. I would recommend getting there early as they do sell out and trying the cinnamon roll if you're ever near a Jupiter donuts. We were outside eating this when a man sent his wife back in to get one after seeing it and they were all sold out!

We also ordered six mini donuts (clockwise starting in upper left corner): cookies & creaam, butterfinger, heath bar, coconut, M&M, Reese's peanut butter). All of these were chocolate cake donuts with chocolate frosting and different toppings.

View attachment 775690

These donuts were all pretty good but nothing that really stood out as a "must get". The cinnamon roll is where it's at! We ended up making two days' breakfast out of these treats!

After our hearty breakfast, we went to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, Florida. This is a small non-profit wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary. Admission is by voluntary donation. We truly enjoyed seeing all of the rescued animals and learning about them. We spoke with a volunteer at length and learned about panthers and mountain lions. We saw all kinds of animals. It was a great stop!

We then stopped at Loggerhead Marine and had a picnic lunch of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. We opted not to go in the facility but took a long walk along Juno Beach all the way to the pier.

View attachment 775693

Yet another beautiful day!

We also visited Dubois Park which is a nice area for picnicking and swimming and has free parking.

View attachment 775694

We stopped by the Jupiter lighthouse but we were too late to take a trek to the top.

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​

We then stopped by the Blowing Rocks Preserve in Hobe Sound but the tide was too low to see any blowing rocks.

View attachment 775696

This would probably be better at high tide. Parking is free but there is a suggested donation of $2 per person to go to the preserve. Also be aware that the beach closes at 4:30 . We saw a poor family lugging all their beach gear and children down only to be told by a ranger that they closed in a half hour.

As we drove back to the Courtyard for the evening, we went down this street with impressive trees.

View attachment 775697

After our disappointing dinner the night before, we decided to walk over to a nice little restaurant area across from the Courtyard. There were many options to choose from but we decided to give Blaze Pizza a try. We've never tried the one in Disney Springs but have seen good reviews. We decided to share a Caesar salad.

View attachment 775698

This was very good. It had nice slices of parmesan cheese, crispy croutons, and a tasty dressing. We each decided to build our own individual pizza on high rise dough. I ordered mine with red and white sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms, banana peppers, and oregano.

View attachment 775700

My DH ordered his with red/white sauce, mozzarella, feta, pepperoni, meatballs, ham, spinach, red pepper, and sea salt.

View attachment 775701

We were very impressed by the whole experience. The process was very efficient, the employees were all working very hard and the pizzas were very tasty. And, we noted, as opposed to the previous night's dining experience, there was a worker going around with individual disposable wipes cleaning all the tables. Overall, this was a much better dinner.

We headed back to the Courtyard to watch some Bob's Burgers episodes as we awaited the arrival of our DS-26. After I had planned our trip, our oldest son mentioned that he had a week's vacation he had to use before mid-May or he would lose the time. I suggested he join us for a portion of our trip. He chose the Fort Lauderdale/Miami/Keys part. We're so happy he was able to come along on part of our travels.

His flight was due to land at the Palm Beach Airport at 11 pm. Unfortunately as seems to happen all too often there was a "mechanical issue" (i.e. likely no flight crew) and he didn't end up taking off until after 11 and landing at 2 am. We picked him up then and drove the 45 minute drive back to the Courtyard Port St. Lucie/Tradition. In hindsight, we should have stayed that night somewhere closer to the airport, since we were checking out that next morning and heading south anyhow. It just never occurred to me back when we found out he would be joining us.

Up next, the three of us venture down to Fort Lauderdale and Miami before heading to the Keys.

Wow, that cinnamon roll is impressive. I'm looking forward to the next segment. I'm curious to see what you thought about my area. Off to read more.....

 

[mickey916]

April 25 continued..Lunch in Islamorada, Dinner & Dessert in Key West​

After feeding the tarpon, we decided to get lunch at the restaurant on site, the Hungry Tarpon. We were seated outside and decided to share three entrees.

First, we shared the cheeseburger sliders: White American, lettuce, tomato,1000 island, tater tot "buns"



I thought these were quite good. I liked the hashbrown buns and thought that the burger patties were well seasoned. DS liked them as well. DH thought there wasn't enough substance to them, that they were just gimmicky.

Second, my DH had been saying he wanted to try grouper, having never had it before. Keep in mind, he is not really a fan of seafood so I was quite surprised he wanted to order the Crunchy Grouper Sandwich with Lettuce, tomato, roasted red pepper aioli on a toasted hoagie



He hated it. Again, I thought it was pretty good. The French bread was fresh, the coating was crispy and not too greasy and the fish tasted fine to me. DS thought it was just okay, the weakest of the three dishes.

Lastly we ordered the Blackened Chicken Cobb Club with Lettuce, tomato, bacon, hard boiled egg, avocado, bleu cheese dressing, herb buttered white toast. (DS had already subbed out one quarter for a cheeseburger slider when I took the pic).


Again, I enjoyed this. I thought the chicken breast was tender and I liked the egg, bacon, and blue cheese toppings. DS really liked this and thought this was the best of the three entrees. DH felt the same. So, there you have it, a mixed review. DS and I thought this was a pretty good restaurant with unique offerings that were freshly prepared. DH was very disappointed with the grouper, didn't think there was enough substance with the sliders, but liked the club.

Here's a photo I forgot to include yesterday of the pelicans who also wanted to be fed with the tarpons. They could be quite aggressive but we were successful in avoiding them.



We left Islamorada and continued our drive down to the Keys. We arrived in Key West and checked into our hotel, the Best Western Hibiscus Motel. I was pretty nervous about staying here but it was only for one night so I took a chance. It got much better reviews than the Fairfield Inn and was less expensive. Can I just say, this place is an absolute steal! It was beautifully maintained, clean, quiet and comfortable. Parking was included and, the best part, it was a short walk to Duval Street. At $300/night, it wasn't cheap but far and away much cheaper than most of the lodgings near Duval Street. I would highly recommend staying here to anyone looking for a stay in Key West.

After we checked in we spent a lot of time walking Duval street. We stopped in many of the art galleries which were very impressive. Eventually we decided to get dinner at Schooner Wharf Bar because DH had seen a video about their jerk chicken sandwich. We found a table and started with an order of conch fritters.


We've never tried these before but we used to love getting clam cakes at Rocky Point Amusement Park in Rhode Island back in the 80s so we were expecting something similar. These were just okay, mostly just fried dough balls with very little conch. Definitely not as good as the clam cakes from our youth.

DH and DS each got the jerk chicken sandwich, as planned.


DH and DS were disappointed with this too. They said it was a very basic chicken sandwich with no noticeable jerk seasoning.

I wanted something light so I ordered a grilled shrimp BLT sandwich. And this is what I received...

Definitely not grilled shrimp BLT and definitely not light! We were trying to make it to Mallory Square for the sunset so I didn't take the time to return it and get the BLT. While it wasn't what I ordered, it was pretty good. The shrimp was nice and crunchy and I liked the housemade chips. I would still like to try the shrimp BLT though.

So our meal at the Schooner Wharf bar was mostly a miss. But then again, I think they're more known for their drinks not their food. We finished up and walked down to Mallory Square to catch the sunset.
Some clouds rolled in on the horizon, so we didn't get to see it fully set but it was still beautiful.

After sunset, we still needed dessert. I had heard that Blue Heaven served the best key lime pie. We have only ever had key lime pie one time. Back in December 2016 our family, my parents, and my brother's family rented a house in Marathon to celebrate our 25th, 50th, and 20th wedding anniversaries, respectively. We bought a key lime pie at Publix to try it and it was gross. It was so bitter! From then on we assumed we didn't like key lime pie but thought we should try "the best" to see if we might like it.

We walked to Blue Heaven and asked if it was possible to just get pie. The host told us to sit at the bar. We each ordered our own slice. Sorry for the dark picture. It was pretty dark in there.


This pie had a graham cracker crust, a layer of key lime filling and a huge, tall mound of meringue. We enjoyed listening to the live music while we ate our slices of pie. It was absolutely delicious! Now we understand how people can say they love key lime pie. The filling was creamy with a nice hint of key lime with no bitterness. This was by far the best thing we ate all day!

After our pie, we walked back to our room at the Best Western Hibiscus motel. Overall it was a very adventurous day.

 

[mickey916]

Wow, that cinnamon roll is impressive. I'm looking forward to the next segment. I'm curious to see what you thought about my area. Off to read more.....

I'll be very curious to get your feedback once you hear about our time in the Tampa area...it was interesting for sure!

 

[hrhdhd]

Weird . . . my DH loves key lime pie, including the Publix one. Maybe you got a bad pie.

 

[JaxDad]

Weird . . . my DH loves key lime pie, including the Publix one. Maybe you got a bad pie.

I agree. I travel to Key West often for work, and many of the Conchs recommend the key lime pie at Publix. The Blue Heaven pie is definitely good, especially if you like meringue!

And I always stop at Robert is Here on the way down!

 

[mickey916]

Weird . . . my DH loves key lime pie, including the Publix one. Maybe you got a bad pie.

Maybe we did get a bad one! We did do some further research on our trip to determine if we like Key Lime pie or not...

I agree. I travel to Key West often for work, and many of the Conchs recommend the key lime pie at Publix. The Blue Heaven pie is definitely good, especially if you like meringue!

And I always stop at Robert is Here on the way down!

That's interesting that Conchs recommend Publix's key lime pie. I'm not usually a meringue fan but it was so good! Robert is Here is such a fun place!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'll be very curious to get your feedback once you hear about our time in the Tampa area...it was interesting for sure!

We actually live in South Florida now, but I do miss Tampa. I'm interested in your thoughts on both areas.

 

[mickey916]

We actually live in South Florida now, but I do miss Tampa. I'm interested in your thoughts on both areas.

At the end I will report on our final thoughts for each area and tell you where we’ve decided to stay next year. We booked next year as soon as we returned!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

April 22 - Starting Our Adventure for 3
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After getting to sleep at about 3 am, we tried to sleep in a little. For breakfast we finished off the mini donuts and coffee roll from the previous morning before checking out of the Courtyard Port St. Lucie-Tradition and grabbing a couple of iced coffees from Dunkin'. This Courtyard was an excellent hotel. Spacious, clean, and quiet with a lot of eateries within walking distance. We would definitely stay here again.

Since this was our DS-26's vacation, we let him plan our agenda. We had visited Little Havana back in December 2017 and he asked if we could explore the area again. We got back on the road and drove down to Miami.
We found a parking lot near Calle Ocho and paid $30 for three hours of parking (yikes).

In preparation for our trip, the three of us watched a YouTube video by Mark Wiens and DavidsBeenHere on a Miami Food Tour. My DS-26 wanted to eat at two of the places they reviewed. So, we headed to lunch at the first place, El Rey de las Fritas. This is a small restaurant in a strip mall with a few booths and counter seating. They have a pretty extensive menu of Cuban specialties but we were there for the "fritas" which is a burger made with a special blend of ground beef and chorizo. We found seats at the counter and ordered two Supreme Fritas (DS-26 had his own and DH & I shared one). The Supreme Frita consisted of their specialty burger patty with a slab of white cheese, sweet plantains, and crispy onion straws.

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My DS-26 absolutely loved this! He felt it was outstanding and says it's one of the best things he ate all week. We also enjoyed it but it wasn't as huge as we expected when we decided to share one, so we both felt we didn't get enough to really experience it.

I also ordered a side of tostones to go with our shared frita.

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We'd never had tostones before so we didn't have anything to compare them to, but we thought they were quite tasty.

After our lunch we explored the sights and sounds of Little Havana. We love all the vibrant colors. Even McDonald's was cool-looking. (Note: another perfect weather day).

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All that walking worked up an appetite so we decided to grab a Cuban coffee and snack at El Pub on Calle Ocho.

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The Cuban coffee was very strong but very good. My DS-26 loves his coffee dark and strong so he really enjoyed it.

For our snack we ordered guava empanadas.
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These were delicious! The dough was crispy, the guava was sweet and the cheese was creamy, balancing nicely with the guava. This was a great treat!

At this point our three hour time limit was running out and DS-26 wanted to explore some more. So, we headed to pay another $10 for another hour of parking and continued our exploration. We sat in a park for a while and watched the roosters.

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Since it was springtime, there were so many chicks around! See how many you can spot in this photo...
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There was a band playing at the Ball & Chain that we stopped and listened to for a while. The drummer was amazing with his hands moving so quickly. I wish I could post a video here. He was impressive!

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After our allotted parking time was up, we headed off for dinner....up next, did the Versailles Restaurant live up to our expectations?

Parking in our area can be a problem, although it's not nearly as bad as many large cities. The non-existent free, beach parking is what annoys me the most. Most areas we visit have some free, beach parking. I hope you parked at Versailles for dinner, which is free. I wonder, if I'll find out in the next post.

Those empanadas look delicious. I'll have to remember that. We've never been to Ball & Chain, but it appears we need to change that. We're big fans of live music.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

April 22 continued - Dinner & Dessert​

The second restaurant we wanted to try based on Mark Wiens and David's Been Here's vlogs was the Versailles Restaurant, "the world's most famous Cuban restaurant". We arrived for dinner before 5:00 and there was already a huge line. I think the waitstaff was still arriving so they hadn't filled too many tables. We ended up waiting about a half hour which wasn't too bad.

We decided to start with the Versailles Combo as an appetizer: Ham and Beef Empanadas, Ham and Chicken Croquettes, Yuca Fries Served with Cilantro Sauce.

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All three of us enjoyed everything on this plate. There were two different empanadas, one ham, one beef and two different croquettes, one ham and one chicken. They were all excellent. A great start to our meal!

We were all in the mood for an authentic Cuban sandwich. My DH ordered the traditional sandwich, called Our Famous Cuban Sandwich: Sweet Ham, Roast Pork, Swiss Cheese on a Toasted Cuban Bread with Mustard and Pickles.

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The sandwich was actually a little disappointing. It wasn't served warm. As you can see the cheese isn't really melty and it lacked flavor. While the meats were generously portioned, it needed more sauce and pickles.

My DS-26 and I both ordered the Versailles Especial sandwich: Sweet Ham, Roast Pork, Swiss Cheese and Spanish Sausage on Toasted Cuban Bread with Mustard and Pickles

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As you can see, ours came with fries, my DH's did not. He was disappointed with that as well, although we had plenty to share with him. Our opinion of these sandwiches were similar to my DH's, although the "Spanish sausage", which seemed an awful lot like pepperoni, did add some needed flavor. These too weren't served warm enough and needed more sauce and pickles.

So, overall, this wasn't the fabulous meal we were expecting. It was good and maybe we'd think it was great if we had ordered one of the entrees but the Cubans just weren't spectacular.

We decided to go elsewhere for dessert, as we discovered there was a Rita's Italian Ice not too far from our hotel. My DH and I got a twist.

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We haven't had Rita's custard in several years. It was as creamy and delicious as we remembered!

My DS-26 ordered a lemonade gelati with chocolate custard. This is his go-to every time. He likes the sour/sweet contrast.

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After dessert we headed to check into the Springhill Suites in Miramar. We've never stayed in Springhill Suites and I wasn't sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised. The room was very spacious with a couch/sitting area, large desk, large closet and spacious bathroom. It was great to have the extra space for the three of us. This hotel was in a nice area that was very easy to drive to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. We would definitely stay here again.

Up next: Spending a day in Fort Lauderdale

It's too bad you didn't order entrees at Versailles. The tamales are also good. We've never tried the Cuban sandwiches. They do look disappointing. I'm glad you at least enjoyed the appetizer.

I'm curious to know why you chose Miramar for your hotel. There's nothing wrong with Miramar. I'm just curious.