What do & see in Florida Keys

[Flame]

pdemarest, Can you send me a PM like you said about New Orleans or at least let me know on here where we need to go. We are stopping in New Orleans on the way back from the Keys. We leave early this Saturday morning. Looks like warm weather!!

[pdemarest]

Hey Flame - I had sent you a PM about New Orleans but it looks like it didn't go out. I did a new PM today and it looks like it went through but if not send me your email address and I'll send you a copy.

Hey Chin_k - Conch can be a bit chewy but in the Caribbean and the Keys they chop it up and put it into a batter shaped into small balls and drop it into the fryer. Its very tasty - like calamari or abalone.

Paul

[chin_k]

I am going to see if there are frozen version available in supermarket. My mouth is watering, and I can't wait for the trip!

[Manitou]

Conch fritters are a bit of a staple for florida in general. I don't think a frozen grocery store version would be a good idea (never saw it available anyway). If you are driving the whole way there and back, port canaveral has some great food places.
https://www.grillsseafood.com/
Has great tuna and/or mahi sandwiches... the sauce is so popular, they sell it in take away jars. (I see they have 3 locations now.. I only know the port canaveral spot)

[chin_k]

I been to Cape Canaveral area on several occasions for business, but never got to the Cape proper. The thing that caught my taste buds were the clam chowder. I do not remember seeing any with conch, but some of the restaurant do put reasonably amount of clams pieces in there. Hopefully if I go there for pleasure, I will get to explore more on the local food.

[Flame]

All sounds great but what is a Mahi sandwich? I'm east Texan and don't have a clue. Thank you everyone for helping us out. We can't wait till Saturday morning to start our journey!!

[pdemarest]

Chin_k - It sounds like you'll be driving down to the Keys any minute now to grab some conch fritters. Make sure to try the oysters and grouper. I grew up in New Orleans where oysters are a staple but the ones in the Keys are really great.

Paul

[Blue~Go]

All sounds great but what is a Mahi sandwich?

Mahi-Mahi is a fish, also known as Dolphin Fish (not the same as a "regular" dolphin). They are a beautiful fish, and they glimmer like a rainbow. If you catch one and kill it, the glimmer fades and they are just grey (aww). They are very good eating. If you like fish and chips and can take a bit of "funky" in dining, I can recommend B & O Fish Wagon in Key West. Across from West Marine (at least a few years ago). I think you can also get a fish sandwich with the Mahi (and you can get both with other types of fish too).

[Flame]

Well everyone, we just got back from our trip to Key West Florida and as requested by some I am giving you feedback on our trip. Good and bad. From East Texas where we live to the tip of the keys in Key West is 1300 miles one way!! Drove 2 days to stay 2 days as base camp in Homestead Florida. It is 100 miles from there to Key West on the oversea hiway. Hiway #1 so we were advised to leave a little before daylight. Got to Key West on a Monday morning at 8:30am. The streets were already so crowded and people parked on the narrow streets on both sides that we could not even find a place to park!! On top of that...a lot of streets were dead end and you had to back out with all that traffic!! We never got out of our vehicle!! All our plans and dreams went out the window because of so much traffic and tourists!! It is full of shops and restraunts if you could get to them without walking forever. We are getting a little too old for that. We finally found the big red monument that says you are at the southernmost point of the continental US and you are only 90 miles from Cuba but...no place to park and the line of people waiting to stand by it and take a picture was stupid long!! We drove by it and took pictures from the windows of our Chinook!! We got on the main Hiway #1 and started heading back. We were very disappointed. We stopped at shops and cafes along the way back on other islands and were not near as busy. We did get to eat conch fritters and Maui Maui fish and both were great. We had keylime pie at 2 locations and both were great. The weather was beautiful and near 90 degrees. The water was a fantastic bluegreen and aqua color but...if you have ever been on a cruise you have seen water that color before. The road is only 2 lanes. One in and one out. There was a wreck that happened behind us as we were driving out and the firetruck had both lanes blocked with thousands of tourist vehicles still coming in!! Traffic was stopped for miles and miles and miles on the incoming side. We were so glad we were getting the hell out of there. The next morning we just decided to head back to Texas and I made the wrong decision to take the "scenic" route back by way of the Gulf Coast. The everglades were a nice change but the traffic again on the gulf coast was horibble!! Now ,here comes insult to injury...I had a front brake caliper lock up and had to spend the night at a mechanics garage until the next morning to do a complete front brake job on my "Land Shark". 5 1/2 hours later the next day and about $850 we were back on our way to Texas. Best part of the whole trip was Golden Nugget casino in Biloxi Miss. comped us a free room and we won enough money to pay for that brake job!! In our opinion...2600 miles round trip driving to eat a conch fritter was definently not worth it. My wife told her people at work...Oh, we drove to Key West Florida to get a brake job done on our RV and come home!! One and done and marked off my bucket list.

[chin_k]

Very sorry that it was a disappointment. For our future trips, we are going to plan to be somewhere that few people willing to go, so I know we won't have the same problem like you. This is the issue when you pick a popular location.

Glad that you were able to finance your brake job from the casino. I am sure part of that money if from all the loss that I had over the years. You owe me a favor, Flame.