Sea Monsters in the Keys

When you think of the Keys, you typically think of Key West, the very last island in the chain. We didn’t make it that far this trip, but I’m still totally in love. Such a beautiful, fun place. While mingling with the Gheenoe guys one night, they mentioned feeding huge tarpons. Now I know tarpons are pretty big, but they’re still just a fish, right? So I talked Chase into driving to Robbie’s in Islamorada to check it out.

They have an impressive set up. Walking in from the parking lot is an assortment of little tiki hut shops with all the random beachy touristy trinkets. From metal art to painted hermit crabs, these shops have it all. Then you move on to the official Robbie’s souvenir store, complete with branded shirts and clothing. Full disclosure, we bought a super tacky, 3 feet tall wooden wind chime, topped by a tropical fish.

If you navigate through all the way to the water, you’ll reach the tarpon feeding. Chase decided to record me feeding these tarpon since he thought it would be more amusing than throwing fish to, well, other fish. I was handed a bucket with four fish the length of my hand. At that point, I began to wonder just how large these tarpon could be.

Big. They’re Big. Would calling them sea monster size be an exaggeration? Maybe, but when you’re on the dock leaning over to toss out a fish, they seem able to swallow you whole. The first fish I threw was quickly devoured by the greedy pelicans that fight with the school of nearly 100 tarpon. Yep, that’s how many of these babies show up every day looking for a handout.

Determined to succeed, I recklessly crouched down and extended my arm and body over the water, trying to avoid the snappy pelicans. Suddenly, a mammoth tarpon jumps OUT of the water and snatches the fish right out of my hand! Its rough scales actually cut my finger- that’s how close I came to being eaten alive! 

Unfortunately, no one else seemed to grasp my fear. Everyone on the dock and nearby restaurant were laughing. 

I’d had enough of fish for the day. We moved on to the Hungry Tarpon restaurant, which was absolutely delicious. I don’t like Bloody Mary’s, but the amount of items they put on that drink was impressive. 

Our waitress was a very nice lady who commuted daily from Miami because her home was destroyed in Hurricane Irma. Imagine the money she must make to drive two hours each way for a serving job. Then again, the view alone is almost worth it. Plus, she gets to see silly tourists scream in terror over feeding a fish.

Made from scratch biscuits with my own custom omelet. Heavenly

With Love,

Susanne

How Had I Never Been to the Keys??

My family moved to Florida a month after I turned six years old. Prior to that, dad was in the navy and we bounced around along the eastern coast. So I consider myself a Floridian. I grew up in the little town founded by my ancestors, and that my dad and uncles were born in- I’m pretty darn close to native, okay?

Having lived in Florida for so long, I had never ever been to the Keys! Before I met Chase, I’d never been farther south than Tampa. I finally had my opportunity last month and it was magical! I seriously didn’t want to leave- and I live in Naples, a beach destination. 

Chase and I headed to Key Largo for a long weekend, but it wasn’t a romantic get-away. We were meeting up with a huge group of his Gheenoe buddies for their yearly rally. (Insert eye-roll) I anticipated a lot of fishing, boring fishing talk, and more fishing. Fortunately, it was so much more than that.

We did fish every day, but without the boys creating chaos and spilling things, it’s remarkably relaxing and fun. I caught several barracudas (apparently they’re not highly prized, but I thought it was cool), along with various types of snapper. The prize goes to hubby, though. He managed to catch Himself!! Yep, he was reeling in a fish when it spit the hook and wrapped into his nose. I was no help because the sight made me queasy and nearly throw up. Poor guy drove all the way back to shore with a huge lure dangling from his face and sat like a Rockstar while the hook was cut and worked out of his nose. On the plus side, everyone knew who we were after that and it helped spark a lot of conversation. 

 We stayed at a very tropical little resort right on the water that was an assortment of free-standing little cottages, vintage trailers, and a couple two story houses. They were all painted bright colors and interspersed with random life-size, painted animal statues. Unique. 

Note the standing bear to the left side of the home

We stayed in this charming little trailer- words I will never say outside of the Keys.

Greeted by zebras to the left, and the beautiful, clear water straight ahead

Because I have a hard time with spontaneity, I researched all the best restaurants in the area and found a popular tiki bar type place I wanted to try. Chase thought it was too ‘touristy’, and based on the billboards of margarita glasses and key lime pie that we passed, he was probably right. Fate was with us though, because we missed the turn and while making the u-turn, we saw a little hole in the wall pizza place. Chase is never one to turn down pizza and I conceded the battle. Turned out to be some of the best pizza and garlic rolls I’ve ever had! Huge and dripping with chunks of garlic and butter, those garlic rolls were to die for. Paired with homemade pizza and locally brewed beer, that was a delicious dinner. If you’re ever in Key Largo, stop at Tower of Pizza. 

I’m not done with the Keys yet, so I’ll continue in my next post about how I almost got eaten by a tarpon. Not that I’m dramatic…

With Love,

Susanne