2021 Favorites List and Travel Notes Index

It was another rough year for the industry. Few break throughs. Lots of reductive concepts. Lots of snack bar level ambition (pizza, tacos, burgers, donuts, ramen, etc). Lots of poor execution. Lots of turmoil. Once again, I had to grade on a curve just to fill this out.

$$$$-

$$$- Osphere, Aji, Hunan Taste

$$- Shanghai Lane, Tokyo Ramen, Thai Halal Grill, Ramen Takagi. Deli Desires, Mei's Kitchen, This Little Piggy (Winter Garden), Ceviche Express (Mount Dora), Cryderman Barbeque (Cocoa Village)

$- Taino's Bakery, Parva, Ziggy's

Travel Notes Index

January 31 - UT

February 5 - SC/GA

February 19 - MT

March 10 - FL

March 12 - AL/MS

March 14 - LA

March 17 - TX

April 2 - NC/SC

April 18 - CO

May 4 - AZ

May 24 - OH/MI/IN/KY/TN

May 31 - FL GC

June 14 - NY/NE

July 2 - OR/NV

July 4 - CA

August 1 - SD/ND/MN/WI/IA/MO

August 19 - FL

August 23 - NC/SC/VA

August 25 - PA/NY/MD

September 12 - LA/TX/OK/AR

September 15 - FL/AL/MS

October 8 - Nantucket

October 31 - NM/TX/AZ

November 4 - NV/UT/CO

November 12 - FL Keys

November 18 - FL GC

November 23 - FL/AL

December 10 - FL Keys

December 20 - SC/GA

Ma-Se Sushi Eatery, Longwood *SC/GA Travel Notes

I tried this partially Japanese and partially Thai/Lao place on Friday at dinner. It replaces some whacky sandwich shop from Jacksonville or Tampa that was in this strip mall with a car wash and a pizzeria. Near the tracks on 434. It confused me. I thought it was just sushi. The menu is half Thai+. That always gives me pause. Although one of the two chefs may have been at least half Japanese. It's harder to look for "traits" when masks are worn. I did see a sign (far away) proclaiming Jiro a sushi chef. The first name (last names go first ) was very long though. Long enough to be Thai. Any way. I just trust Japanese chefs more with my sushi. Not that others can't learn the skill. They can. It's just an odds game. Remember when incorporating statistical logic showed you were endowed with a MORE advanced mind? In this case, I may have been right. Or wrong if there is a Japanese presence. I sampled two pieces of conch nigiri. The rice was bad. Bad temp. Broken husks. No discernible vinegar. Probably wrong grain. Etc. The conch was also spongy (old). It should be crisp. Like an apple. No flavor either. It should be sweet. The tuna I saw looked barely pink too. The salmon looked ok. And it is expensive. Only by a buck or two. But, that adds up. Renting this tiny location in a shit hole strip mall in a poor area of town should DECREASE the prices. Inflation or no inflation. All apps and rolls were also over priced. They did ply me with a sample tuna nacho. The tuna cubes on that were fresh. It was from the other sushi prep area. I didn't get to gaze at the quality of the fish in that area. And it was nice of them to do that. My main course was from the Thai side. Part curiosity. Part damage control. Part whimsy. I had the Ma-Se Noodles. It only cost $15. I wasn't sure if I had had it before. It is the place's name. It was ok. Half the chicken (alot in the dish) was like plastic. Freezer burn. The wavy, thin noodles were nice. Came with scrambled egg, cabbage, mushroom, onions, scallions, chili and they said Chinese broccoli. Not sure I received much of that. The Thai side is less expensive. It could be called the carb side. Yaki soba, fried rice, lad nar, kee mao soba and two chicken and three seafood dishes. The salads and apps are "pan" too. Tiny room. Maybe five tables of four and a sushi bar for five. A section of one wall with some sheets ripped out of a magazine to make wall paper is the decoration. Nice service. One cook. One waitress. two sushi chefs. Sushi orders to go took a while. The lunch menu isn't a great value either. A sushi roll sleep walk at $12 or $11-13 noodle/rice yawn. They have been open for two months. If they just had their stuff together a little more, I would have loved to recommend them. They even give 10% off to first time customers. I just need more Japanese obsessiveness. Fresher ingredients. Tighter controls. FYI - the name is a play on words. The end of "irasshai-mase" (welcome) from Japanese and ma-se (let's meet or something) from Thai (according to them). 

*Travel Notes - SC and GA: I went back and added "travel notes" to the start of all of the previous ones. Not that it probably helps. Maybe that can be the search phrase/word? Or the full name of the area or its abbreviation? I drove to Hilton Head and stayed at the Home 2 Suites for $104. Ate a lunch of ribs, ps and mac just outside in Bluffton at Jim n Nicks Bar B Q. Turned out to be a chain. Ate a dinner of fried chicken sandwich with slaw and pimento ch and ff at Chow Daddy's. On Food Paradise. Ate a brunch "smoke stack" of fried eggs, sausage, pulled pork, hb, fruit salad and toast at The Smokehouse. Winner. Ate a forgettable Wavy Nood of pork belly and egg with ramen at Nood. Slept at the Grand Hilton Head Inn for $99. It was near Coligny Beach. One of the few public ones. Had breakfast at Stacks Pancakes. The Hilton Head breakfast of 3 eggs, sausage, pancakes and hb. Had a dinner of bad fried oysters and fries and hp at Marley's Shrimp and Burger Shack. Slept in the Sea Pines Resort area at the Inn at Harbour Town for $254. It's on Travel and Leisure's top ten Southern hotels. It was fine. They actually just called and comped the room because I bitched a little in a review. I had a lunch of their supposed famous Calabogue shrimp salad with ps at Salty Dog at Braddock Cove inside the Sea Pines area. Walked the Lands End beach there. Had a pre-dinner of chicken pot pie soup and fried chicken salad sandwich at Nectar Farm Kitchen. A really cute place. We could use a few of these. Grabbed a surprisingly good meatball sub with house made chips at Fat Baby's Pizza. Slept at the Best Western at Coligny Beach for $111. Grabbed a terrible broiled flounder with rice and beans lunch at Skull Creek Dockside. Left town for Charleston area. Drove through Beaufort, Hunting Island and Fripp Island. Visited the Magnolia Plantation. Didn't go in because it was near closing plus it cost $29. Ate a disappointing brisket and smoked pork belly and ps and mac at Swig and Swine west of Charleston in an area called West of the Ashley. Pork belly doesn't smoke well. Slept at the Town and Country Inn for $111. Ate a breakfast of two eggs, sausage and toast at Early Bird Diner. On 3D. Went down the street and grabbed a Boxcar fried chicken sandwich with pimento ch and peach slaw at Boxcar Betty's. Left town because hotel prices in town were redic. Drove to Johns Island to see the 400+ year old oak tree. Free. Drove to St Simons Island. Stayed at the Ocean Suites and Inn for $104. Visited beaches at Massengale Park, Coast Guard Station and 15th St. Ate a dinner of lobster salad and blacked shrimp on a salad at Mullet Bay. I knew it wouldn't be lobster at the price, but, at least others have the decency to just proclaim the surimi - crab salad. Ate a lunch of Huevos Esplendidas (wrap of scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado) at Palm Coast Coffee. Lucky with the weather. Didn't plan to stay so long in HH. Glad I did. I think I finally found the place (Van der Meer Racquet Club) my tennis team had spring practice at years ago. Was going to try and stay at two high end resorts in St Simons. Rates were too high. Can't see paying high dollar for Georgia. Who would? Hawaii maybe.

Pupusas and Burritos Grill, Sanford *FL Keys Travel Notes

I tried this two year old (seems longer) mish mosh (Latin American, American, Italian, etc) near 17-92 on 46/S. Park Ave today at lunch. I pass it on my way to and from 95. I disliked everything about it except the food. Reservedly. I grabbed two Pupusas for $3.50 a piece. One was what they translate as ground pork. In Spanish it is listed as Chicharron. Further confusing what that word actually translates to. The other was queso and loroco (a vine with edible flowers). They described this as artichoke tasting like. They took a while to appear. I hope that means they were being made to order. The pork pup wasn't sealed together. It split in two. Never had that happen before. It was ok. It could have been cooked longer. Corn tasted a bit raw. They offer a hot and a not hot sauce for it. Plus vinegar-ed "cole slaw". It adds a dimension. The loroco did taste a bit like artichoke. At least it was a new experience. They also sell pizza (saw two steel pizza ovens), sandwiches, gyro, Mexican items, Carib items, etc. The place is just a bare white square. No effort. No decoration. I expected it would be like this. Why it has been ignored. The pricing is also bad. Maybe 25% too expensive. A burrito was over $10 for instance. Pizzas were near $15. 

*I forgot to alert you to a delivery site called Gold Belly. They deliver from many famous restaurants.

**Travel Notes - Florida Keys: I first stopped at a place on US 1 in Pinecrest that looked cool. It wasn't. Just another three step bowl/burrito place. Called Diced. Had an ok chicken wrap. In Islamorada, I ate dinner at Ziggie and Mad Dogs. Had one of the better cheeseburgers I've had in a while. Cheapest thing, Plus an ok shrimp cocktail too. Was a Capone hang out. Now owned by a 70's Miami Dolphin. Stayed three nights at Creekside Inn for around $133 a night. Keys getting expensive. Seems like hotels are only partially renting rooms to inflate prices. Had mahi reuben at Island Grill. Had a great pizza at Enrico's after watching the sunset at Mile Marker 88. Had a meh chicken salad sandwich at City Hall. Dinner menu looked better. They have a nice wine store inside. You'd never think it from the outside. Scuba'd at Islamorada Dive Center. $95 plus $30 for gear (pre tax). Great coconut and coffee ice cream at Mr C's. Drove to Key Largo for happy hour (half price on already cheap drinks) at Jimmy Johnson's Big Chill. Went back for dinner at Old Tavernier. Mushy yellowtail snapper almondine with "risotto". Old school flop. Wrong rice. Mushy too. Expensive for what they delivered. Very good and generously portioned bread crumb encrusted hogfish at Lazy Days for lunch. Looks like a dump. But, great view and surprisingly good food. Saw some sick shrimp cocktails. Huge! Drove to Marathon. Stayed at the Sea Dell Motel for $145. Cheapest thing available! It was ok. Not fancy, but, quietish and no glaring disappointments. Saw sunset at Burdine's. Got a media noche to go at La Nina. Got a beef empanada, croquetta and pork tamale at Juice Paradise Cuban Cafe. Didn't want a sit down dinner. Marathon location of Captain Hook's didn't have a pm dive, so, I drove to Big Pine Key to dive Looe Key Reef. $95 plus $36 for gear. This was a better dive site. Sailed by Little Palm Island going out. It has a hotel that is $2500 a night. Ate a Turkey Club at Big Pine Rooster before the dive. Drove back through Marathon to Castaway for lionfish sushi and lionfish miso soup. It was on 3D. Had dinner two at Twisted Shrimp in Islamorada. It gets a 5 out of 5 on Yelp. Great "fried" shrimp and roasted brussel sprouts. Barely coated. Like salt baked shrimp. Excellent. And it's an order at the counter place. Low maintenance vibe. Spent the night at Travelodge in Florida City because at $80 it was $40  less than anything in the Keys. Had lunch in Pinecrest at another place that looked cool. It wasn't. Called Grown Drive Thru. Crappy Cobb salad for $11 because everything was WAY overpriced. Trying to get you for $20 to start. Another stupid three step fast casual place. Plus it was only healthy crap. No traffic snarls either way. Only rained Monday morning. Temps in the low 80's. Water temp also good. I also laid out at Founder's Park (free with Creekside parking pass) in Islamorada and Coco Plum beach in Marathon.

Grub Crawl - Thornton Park: 808 (Closed), Island Time and Sperry Deli & Creamery

I tried these places in on East Washington St today at lunch. This area is now done too. The area was pleasantly empty. I even found a parking space though the main area near the lake was closed off. They had a marathon earlier. 

808 - The area code for Hawaii. They opened in August. I had the two item platter for $14. I chose the Kalua pork and grouper fingers with white rice and macaroni salad. Served in a cafeteria tray. Lei type flower in the middle. The pork was ok. A tad dry on the outside. Probably oldish. They topped it with a tropical barbeque sauce. Big Portion. Three grouper fingers in a bloated tempura coat. Made them look bigger. I believe the grouper was frozen. It may not have totally been defrosted inside. Bland. Needs a sauce. I finally realized (near the end) that there was soy sauce on the table. That helped. Rice was good. Mac too. I tried mixing it up. A forkful of mac and pork was the best. You can add a wide variety of menu items to a platter (ie tuna or salmon poke, chicken, spam, etc). They sell pokes, handhelds, apps, etc. They were doing brunch (eggs, macadamia nut pancakes, etc) until 2pm. Probably just a weekend thing. Some traditional things like spam masubi and loco moco (burger patty and gravy dish). It's a fair representation of island food. Not a fast casual place. Sit down. Fifteen four person high tops. Thirty seats at an end to end bar in the center. Sixteen seats in the front patio area. High ceilings. Woody. Surfboards. I think Dexter's was here before them. Half price drinks during the day. A card said. Double check. About ten people there. Not a ton of Hawaiian options in CF. Could be better. But, could be worse. Not a waste of time. Service was good. 

Island Time - I think I reviewed them already. Forgot to check. Been there before. Not sure what it was called. Why I've ignored them. If I have. Open as this for nine years. They said this. Seems exaggerated. New owner for the last two years. That seems more like it. Now they serve more food. I got the Mangu for $12. Why? Craziest thing of course. They said it is Dominican. Google agrees. It was one runny egg with ground sausage and smashed green plantains. Egg (thankfully) wasn't that runny. One is not enough though. Sausage and plantain were good. Better overall than I expected. Ate it for dinner. Also had needless avocado slice and tomatoes. Small place. Most of the action is in front on the patio. Small bar inside. One waitress. One cook. One stove. They had about ten brunch items. Dinner menu was lightly bigger. I remember: a Jamaican grits and shrimp dish, deviled eggs, burger, etc. When you go past it at night, it seems like a bar. More expansive though. As you can see. Caribbean. Anglicized. Porch area was filled.

Sperry Deli & Creamery - Across the street from Island Time. Kind of grubby. Barely a creamery. Just a display container of Hershey's ice cream and sandwiches and salads (as in tuna). Small patio in front. I made my own sandwich for $8. 8" hoagie of turkey and swiss and Russian dressing. Turkey could have been Boarshead. It was in a package. They sliced it. Swiss was pre-cut. Lettuce was meh. Tomato was fresh. Too little dressing. Roll was mass produced and still under baked and over floured. Those need to go. That's the problem. It seems to want to be bougie. It's just ordinary. It wouldn't take much to fit into the neighborhood. The guy said it may close. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Or. Do better! Clean the place up. Decorate it cutely. Get some better product. It has been open for two years.

Grub Crawl - New Smyrna Beach: The Spott, Dough Girl (Closed), Lilly Rose Cafe and Cafe del Soul *FL/AL Travel Notes

I tried these spots on Friday at lunch. They are all on the intercoastal side of town. The first and last two are right in the center of town. Like five more spots to go. All open for dinner only though. A new one (La Fiesta) is opening near the drawbridge.

The Spott - Like Zee Boyzzz, the extra letter must be for more flava. They opened in the Thai restaurant spot on Canal St four months ago. From the looks of it, it seems like an Irish pub. It is more of an up scale (in concept) place than that. I had a sous vide chicken sandwich with fries. It cost $14. The sous vide part is really for affect. A dish like this (that is pan sauteed anyway) doesn't need it. And the results didn't warrant it (if done correctly). It just made it bland. It came with veg on top of a supposedly hand made bread. It needed a sauce/spread. The bread wasn't that great either. I think it was supposed to come with avocado. That was mia. The best component was the fries. They were that scoop shape I think I told you about in a Moab travel note. The ones that look like Frito scoops. I should have gone with a burger that had bone marrow butter, Nueske bacon and an egg on it. They said the beef is Schneid and Sons. I guess that should mean something to me. They also touted (who knows if they actually buy it) duroc pork. It came with edamame. Interesting? Or revolting? The menu had some appealing items on it. Prices were high. IE $30 for a grouper sandwich. $3 for a soda. It was more than I thought I was going to experience. That might be part of the problem. I wasn't expecting a fancy feast. So, it kind of struck me as needlessly pretentious. Go in with expectations. Service was ok. I went late-ish, so, it wasn't too full. They did a good job on the reno. Bar in back on the right. Open spacing with tables in two rows. TVs. Sports on. I wonder if it will be a tweener. Too high brow for the sports crowd. And too butch for the foodies. 

Dough Girl - On the road to the draw bridge. They open at 2:30 pm. I don't get it. They sell cookie dough. It tastes like crystalized sugar. Get's real dry real fast too. A big scoop of it. You can get it with ice cream (shake, float or side by side). Doubles the cost. That may help. I tried a scoop of Cookie Monster (blue with oreos and chips) for $5. As I said, I don't get it. They also had "nachos". On waffle cone circles. Open for a year. 

Lilly Rose Cafe - I saw them while driving to the beach. Off Canal on Downing. Open for eighteen months. They sell girlie food. Vegan-y things. Soups, wraps, smoothies, salads, juice, etc. Maybe some of the meats were real. It was late, so, many things in the showcase were gone. I found out after that they could have made me something then and there. I settled on a soup. It was damn good. $5 for a small. It was enough though. And they didn't fill it with liquid. Beans (at least two types), barley, sausage (seemed real), kale, other veg, chicken or veg stock. Came with chips (blue corn). Very tasty. Cute, little spot. Not much (if any) seating. 

Cafe del Soul - I that it was Sol driving by last time. Guess it ain't a Latin place. Open now. For two months. Off Canal on Magnolia. L and D. Seating. Nice atmosphere'interior design. Owner has two places in NorCal. Moved here for health reasons. Glad to have you. Another girlie, vegan-y place. Though you can get chicken instead of tofu. It's gmo of course. Like my natural Covid antibodies. They sell soups, nachos, quesadillas, rice dishes, quinoa dishes, wraps, salads, smoothies, juices, drinks, beer, wine, kombuchas, canned cocktails, champers, desserts, tea and coffee. I had a Hummus Yummus (can you tell I order by monikers) for $10. I know. A little high. Plus you must add $3 for chicken. It was good though. And I don't go cuckoo for veggie puffs. It had hummus (no duh), red leaf lettuce, feta, edamame, almonds, regular lettuce, cukes, onion and a ginger vinaigrette in a spinach tortilla. Pretty filling. Who knew I could be satiated by two vegan-ish enterprises. I'd go back for more. This place is more "substantial" than Lilly Rose. You could have a sit down meal here. Even a date. Large, open space. High ceilings. Counter. Semi-exposed kitchen. Modern, yet earthy decor. I'm worried I might be seduced by these healthy options. Where's my yoga mat?

*Travel Notes - Florida and Alabama: I stayed the first night in Chipley because I chose the Miami/FSU game day to travel. Remember that I chose the FSU/ND game day to stay in Tallahassee to start the season? I stayed at a Comfort Inn for $104. It seemed like it had been damaged. Hurricane? Shit town. I drove to Ponce de Leon the next morning. Went four miles south of 10 and made a left to Morrison Springs. No fee. Then circled back and went about a mile north of 10 and a mile east to Ponce de Leon State Park. Another spring. Fee required. Didn't swim in either. Drove through dt Pensacola to Cub's Crawfish on 98. It became some other road. 200 something. This place (I was told on last trip) had great and cheap crawfish. They were cheap. But, it (as I found out) isn't crawfish season. That is mid January (pushing it) to July 4th (pushing it). So, I ate frozen crap that gave me the squirts by dinner time. Live and learn. They get 4 and a half stars on Yelp though.  I continued on that road past Perdido Key to Orange City AL. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn for $97. On the beach! I drove west through Gulf Shores AL to the end of 182. I came back and had a half pound of red shrimp at Lartigue's Seafood Market (across from hotel). I ate dinner at The Gulf. It was on Food Paradise. They take shipping containers and make a place out of them. Great location. Had a good tuna poke bowl. Has a bar area and shops. Right on ocean by a canal and aside a bridge. Found out this might be a chain. Saw one in Fort Walton Beach later on. The next morning I drove to 59 in Gulf Shores and went north a mile or two and hung a left onto 180W. Took it to the end. Intercoastal part of area that goes further west than the coastal. Great drive. Mobile Bay on the north side. Ends at Fort Morgan. Funny observation. Signs for graveyards seemed to go out of their way to let you know they were established AFTER the Civil War. Came back to 59 and went a mile back to the coast and ate at Original Oyster House. On Man v Food. Ten years ago! Time flies. Had a half dozen Area 3 Louisiana oysters. Good. Tried trigger fish again to see if Farlow's screwed me. Maybe. This filet had the firmness and thickness near the dorsal area that I remember. It came with two sides. I did a baked potato and cheese grits. Invented the baked potato with cheese grits topping (instead of melted cheese) inside. Passed Lake Shelby and a fancy Lodge by Hilton on the way back. OC and GS are nice. Not as congested as Destin. Really getting more "updated" though. I went back to Florida and made a right on 172 to the Naval Air Station. Sign says Pensacola Lighthouse. It must be inside the base. I didn't see if they would let me in. Blue Angels there too. Back through Pensacola over bridge to to Pensacola Beach. Sign said toll road. Didn't want to trip the rental car EZ Pass. Stayed on 98. Drove it to Navarre Beach and found I could take that road back to PB. Did that. I goes through a portion of Gulf Islands NS through PB to Santa Rosa Island and Fort Pickens. The end of Florida. Back the same way to Navarre. Back to 98 and into Fort Walton Beach. Stayed at La Qunita Inn for $90. Ate at Nacho n Taco Taqueria. Had a lengua chimichanga and a bad chicken empanada. Drove east through Destin and south on 30a. They are doing work on a bridge, so, I had to detour half way through. Great drive though. So clean. Great communities. Stopped in Seaside. The destination. Where they filmed the Truman Show. Found his house at 36 Natchez (also 31). Had lunch at one of the many food trucks. The Meltdown on 30A. Had a All American grilled cheese on Texas toast and a Strawberry Goat Forever (Alabama Goat Cheese, strawberry preserves and prosciutto). Drove east through Rosemary Beach. They have a fancy hotel called The Pearl. Past Panama City and Port Joe and Mexico. Beach. You know. The one the hurricane crushed. Still building back. Maybe even better? Past Apalachicola. Stopped at St George Island. Stayed at St George Inn for $106. A crumbling dump. Ate at Paddy's Raw Bar. Eaten up by sand fleas. Said they had Apalachicola Oysters. Found out there is a two year moratorium on harvesting them. They sucked. Whatever they were. Even worse mahi tacos. Whole island isn't really anything. Drove east to 319N. Went to Leon Sinks Geological Area. Found out it is closed for two years. Made a right onto 61S to Edward Ball Wakulla Springs SP. Stayed at Lodge at Wakulla Springs for $125. Great lodge built in the Thirties. No park fee if you stay here. Took a boat ride for $8. Saw manatees, etc. Swam. They filmed Creature from the Black Lagoon and Tarzan movies here. Ate at the Edward Ball Dining Room for lunch and dinner. Good cb for lunch. Not so great Panhandle Chicken with mashed red potatoes and mostly cheeseless mac and cheese for dinner. Still nice ambiance. Had a dog at The Parlor too. Warning! No tvs. Drove down to 27 and south on 47 at High Springs. East at 340. North on some road shortly after. To Ginnie Springs. Didn't stop. Cloudy. Will go back. Costs $15. I think you can tube. Can get to it from 75 at Alachua exit (399). And that is it. another one in the books. Weather supported a trip to these locations. Prices were low in most places. DT Pensacola was still high.

Grub Crawl - Deland: Pho Company Noodle House, The Abbey, Sidecar Home Market and Loaded Lunch Box *FL Gulf Coast Travel Notes

I tried the first three at night about two weeks ago on a Saturday. They are all around Woodland Blvd (17) and New York Ave. The last is on New York Ave (44) back towards I-4 near the Deland HS turn. I tried that on this Saturday at lunch. Now I have given you every spot in Deland.

Pho Company Noodle House - Open for five years. Some how they had a wait list. I sneaked in. I tried the curry chicken with white rice. Let me say that no cuisine has lost as much respect with me than Vietnamese. I pretty much only like banh mi now. This was a piss poor attempt at a Thai dish. I'm not sure if they really make this in Vietnam. Many countries do a version of a neighboring cuisine. I've never seen nor heard of the Vietnamese doing so. It is plausible. Maybe just what places in the States do? They also had some other "pan Asian" items as well. Like bao. The curry had no heat. Bland. Bisque like. I swear they used the chicken roll from the banh mi. The chicken was in little slices (stuck together). Sad if they did that. The rice was mushy. Not good. Even the soda tasted off. The place is a long hall with a mural on one side. Not a destination spot. Open for lunch or dinner.

The Abbey - The reason for the trip. Only open at night. A bar. I had a mead they make for $5. Called Abbey Normal. It was good. Sweet. They have a few. Plus wine, beer, cigars. Good selection. Brick walls. They let dogs in. Patio. TVs. I was leaving early the next day or I would have stayed longer. Open for many years. I'm just not here often at night. So it slipped by.

Sidecar Home Market - A furniture store with a bar and things in a fridge. I grabbed a coffee in a can for the next morning. Cute spot.

*I also passed by the alley with Persimmon Hollow and the courtyard area with a bar/counter that I think is called DaVinci Gardens. It's still there. I believe I reviewed it ages ago.

Loaded Lunch Box - A real dive of a snack bar. Had a terrible (unoiled) grilled cheese for $2 and an equally bad hot dog (the cheapest type of bologna dog) for $2.50. They do other sandwiches and burgers and fish and ribs. Open for eight months. 

*Travel Notes - Florida Gulf Coast: I drove from the Keys on 1N to 997N in Florida City to 41W (Tamiami Trail) to Naples. Stayed at the Lemon Tree Inn for $102.50 (Booking gave me a $20 coupon). I was way cute. Little bungalows. Two blocks from 5th Ave. I had dinner at bha! bha! on 5th. It is upscale Persian. I forget what designation they claimed. NYT Best or something. I had a great Lamb Bedemjune Koresh (stew) with eggplant and tomato and sour grapes (the draw). Very large portion. Came with basmati rice. I had a good Sandra's Hottie burger of cream cheese, cheese, bacon and jalapenos at Brooks Burgers near the hotel the next afternoon. It also claimed to be the second best burger (I believe in the country) per Trip Advisor (they said). No idea if that was true and when it was. Sign out front said it was called Lindburghers. Like the pilot. I guess that was a popular place or they wouldn't have a sign saying so. I drove up 41 through Fort Myers. Went to the Edison and Ford Winter Homes. Didn't go in because I have seen it on tv and I think it was $25. I was going to do Sanibel but the bridge had tolls and I didn't want to set off the rental car EZ Pass. Drove north past other pay bridges to Cape Coral. I think I took 78W in North Fort Myers to Cape Coral and then Matlacha Island and then Pine Island (has a ferry to a place called Caya Costa. Cabbage Key is another spot you need a boat to get to too). Drove it south to St James City. Then to the north end at Bokeelia. They were ok islands. Not very developed. I then took some road just past Matlacha to Punta Gorda. Stayed at the Punta Gorda Waterfront for $95. Ate at The Perfect Caper (beat Bobby Flay with mussels). Saw this in Food Traveler magazine a while back. Had the mussels, a terrible salmon tartare (pasty) and chicken liver pate. Drove up 41N and west on 776 (about eight miles past the Gasparilla Island turn off at 771) to Englewood and Farlow's on the Water. Rays spring training stadium is on this road too. Same article. It looked better than I expected. It was packed. Mostly hunch backed old Irish ladies. I had to send back the mussels. Like raisins. I had a triggerfish (that I think they gave me barramundi instead) with a weird cold quinoa salad and papaya salad. All disappointing. The chef is from St Croix. I think. Menu reflects it. On a lagoon/river. Drove back to Punta Gorda and drove up to I-4 from there. I believe it was 17N to 64E to 98N to 27N. Next post will have my west of Tallahasee and Alabama notes.

Grub Crawl - Lake Ivanhoe and Audubon Park: Ziggie's Pizza and Sugar Dough *FL Keys Travel Notes

I tried these new participants last Saturday afternoon. They are semi-near each other. The first is on Virginia in between Lake Ivanhoe and Mills next to Thirsty Topher. The next is across from the East End Market in the old Bluebird spot.

Ziggie's Pizza - The partners from Perla split. This is one of them. Ziggie is a nick name. He and his bro do a New Haven "inspired" pie. No coal oven. It's steel. But they said it gets to 600 degrees. Open for two months. Only pizza. Some funky toppings. I had the basic OG. It cost $10. Not bad. Gray-ish under crust. Alright char. Thin! Almost no crust. Was better than Pop's in that you could taste the sauce. Cheese was ok.

Sugar Dough - I had a spam quiche danish because it was the weirdest thing. It cost $4.50. No complaints. They sell cookies, cruffins, crowaffles, etc. Not much of a departure from Bluebird. I will opine that if a business had this lack of alternate sex employees, there would be a scene. But. since it doesn't involve white males, no one will kvetch. You are more evolved though. Don't let your behavior tell you otherwise. Some sort of past discrimination sterilizes your innate bigotry. Gurrl power.

*Travel Notes - Florida Keys: I will break the trip into three parts. This is the first. I left a few days early because the prices were rising due to a boat race. Plus the weather was deteriorating. I slept at the Rock Reef Resort in Key Largo on Sunday for $117. I like to drive down on Sunday. Less traffic. I ate dinner at Ballyhoos. I had an Iron Skillet of Mahi with Shrimp and roasted mushrooms that were sauteed/boiled. I had a poor slice at Upper Crust in Key Largo. I had a mahi sandwich in Key Lime Butter with ff at Hobo's Cafe at lunch. Good quality mahi. In Marathon, I slept at the horrible Kingsail Resort (noise) for $244 for two nights. I whiffed on scuba. Went to the wrong place (based on last year's rates) and passed. Found out a place called Hook's had reasonable rates the next day. Ate dinner at Barracuda Grill. It was surprisingly ambitious and expensive. Had Roast Duckling with veg and mp. Also a salad with sweet cherry peppers. Had lunch at Porky's. A bad yt snapper sandwich with potato salad. Supplemented the lunch with a snack of stone crabs at Key Fisheries. Found out that deformed claws are called floaters. They sold them for 1/3 the price per pound. They were going for $30 this year. These cost $10. The meat was about a half as large. Some claws seemed to be "full". It was worth the discount. Never seen them offered up before. Had another snack at a food truck called Las Isla Taco Grill. Had a bad al pastor taco and a good mahi. Ate a bad hogfish sandwich at Sunset Grille under the 7 Mile Bridge. Good spot to see the sunset though. Ate an ok egg and sausage breakfast at Stout's (cash only). Ate lunch on the way out at Lazy Lobster in Key Largo. A lazy. tail piece yt tuna sandwich with store bought, watery potato salad. Sad. I think I'll go back in December since this trip got truncated. Got a few more scuba options. I went to Naples next. That will be part 2.

Blended Bistro & Boba, Lake Mary *NV/UT/CO Travel Notes

I tried this peculiar restaurant in the shopping area on 46A and International Parkway (has the Amstar theater) on Wednesday at lunch. It was a Subway sandwich shop before this. I say peculiar because who doesn't think pho, bao, banh mi, macarons, poke, boba and wok dishes when they hear "bistro"? Needless to say. I was non-plussed when I viewed the menu. I was expecting bistro fare. Maybe a burger. I settled on the Malay Fried Chicken Rice because I saw one of the only other customers being served it and it had pink rice. Never had that. I should have settled for a $5 banh mi to go. The dish cost $12. It was a tiny drum and thigh deep fried. No flavor. The rice also had zero seasoning. It also came with a basic shredded cabbage and carrot salad with an over soy-ed dressing. I've had some Malayasian food. Even been there. Can't recall it being this bland. I had to order a fruit tea because they don't sell soda. Of course it tasted like peach juice rather than tea and cost $5. Another fail. The place is now white and green. The lights were off. Gloomy atmosphere. Didn't feel like the air was on either. You order at the counter. They only give you plastic cutlery. I don't know what to make of it. It has potential. Or maybe it doesn't? Probably will drop the food going forward and just sell the junk food. That is all most of the orders (all to go) seemed to be. Has been open for six months. *It appears they have a location in College Park that I tried in February 2019. I liked the banh mi.

*Travel Notes - NV/UT/CO: In Las Vegas I stayed downtown. The Electric Daisy Carnival was in town and the rates were high. I stayed at the Plaza for $63 (+$32 resort fee) on the first night. Across the street at the Golden Gate for $80 (+34 resort fee) the next night. Parking free at both. Turns out the Gate is the oldest hotel in Vegas. Rooms looked it. No views. I ate at the Yi Mei Champion Taiwan Deli on Spring Mountain Rd. It was the last remaining one from that Marcus Samuelson show. I had a pork and nap cabbage steamed bao and traditional beef noodle soup. I had drinks downtown at the Underground at the Mob Museum. It is a secret speakeasy that you need a password for. I had dinner at Carson Kitchen. Not as great as advertised. I had barramundi in a walnut romesco and black rice and ox tail risotto. I had average quality "all you can eat" sushi at Kaya on Spring Mountain Rd. I found the pawn shop on Pawn Stars. It's near the Strat. Passed it a million times. I also checked out the new Resorts World Casino. I tried to find the shop on American Restoration. Got bad intel. I believe it is under the highway intersection downtown. Didn't feel up for it. Next time. I had chicken noodle soup (started getting a tooth ache) at Saginaw's Delicatessen at the Circa. I had a drink at the Prohibition Bar at the Golden Gate. I had drinks at Park on Fremont. I left early on Friday to beat the festival traffic (was at the race track). There was none yet. Drove north through Utah to Salina. Stayed at the Super 8 for $85. Drove east to Glenwood Springs CO. Stayed at the Cedar Lodge for $105. Drove east to Silverthorne. Stayed at Luxury Inn for $92. Ate a egg and avocado burrito and mushroom soup at Blue Moon Bakery. Drove east to DIA. Stayed at Baymont for $111. Fall in Colorado wasn't as pretty as I thought it would be. West part of state already has decent snow accumulation.

Grub Crawl - Mills Ave: Pop's Pizza and Conrad's Shanty *NM/TX/AZ Travel Notes

I tried these two places on Mills on Tuesday night. The first is near Tako Ckeeka. The second is near Hawkers (it was some bar with video games last).

Pop's Pizza - They are only doing take out. You park and order around back. Open for two years. No Monday. After 4pm. I had a regular pie at $10. It was 11" or 14". It was ok. Thin. Typical pizza cheese. Needed more sauce. It had a garlic taste. Crust had a sweet undertone. I also tried the Caprese salad at $7. Fair amount for the price. Mozz was ok. Tomatoes were a little refrigerated. Tasteless and spongy. I actually expected worse. Covered in olive oil and basil and salt and pepper. They sell other pies and a few other items. Limited menu. Seemed like one guy was doing everything. Said he can't get workers. Wonder what those 1.2 million "refugees' are up to?

Conrad's Shanty - Just grabbed a beer. $2.50 for a PBR. Small bar. Some table top games. Dark. Seemed like a good joint. No hard stuff. Closed Monday (I believe).

Travel Notes - NM/TX/AZ: I flew into Denver on Frontier for $148. Car (SUV) for two weeks at Budget was $750. Drove to Albuquerque. Stayed at Comfort Inn for $100 (Rack). Down the street they had a food court called Tin Can Alley. I had a brisket slider with Hatch chile mac and cheese at S-A BBQ. At Pho Kup, I had a beef banh mi. Did you know pho is from the French "pot au feu"? It's a beef stew. Had beer at Santa Fe Brewing Co. Drove to El Paso the next day. Stopped at Petroglyph NM first. Stayed at America's Hotel for $92. Went to Chamizal NP. Ate a great brisket taco and chicharron burrito with beans.at at La Colonial Tortilla Factory. On 3D. Taco shell was semi-hard. Had a wave to it. White corn. So good. Chicharron was soft. No meat. I also ate at Chio'c Tacos. It was a little north of the city center. Bad beef taquitos and worse cb. They were on Best Thing I Ever Ate. Which once again leads me to wonder why the show isn't called Some Shit I Tried. I drove back north to three parks that make up the Salinas Pueblo Missions NP. Slept at Green Tree Inn in Albuquerque for $76. Ate Almond Chicken and Won Ton Soup at China Luck. Had breakfast at Rebel Donut (Cheap Eats). Had an Apple Pie donut and Croissant donut with cherry jelly and chocolate chips. Drove nw to Valles Caldera NP. Ate lunch near there in Jemez Springs at Highway 4 Cafe. Had a pretty decent turkey sandwich with fries. Drove west to Chaco Culture NP. Twenty miles of unpaved roads in. Thirty miles of worse leaving. Don't know how they allow this. A private facility would be shut down. Drove south to Gallup. Slept at Sleep Inn on Route 66 for $85. Drove nw to Hubell Trading Post NP in AZ. North thirty miles to Canyon de Chelly. That was better than I expected. Stayed in the park at Thunderbird Lodge for $123. Drove to Page. Made detour past Vermillion Cliffs and Navajo Bridge to North Rim of Grand Canyon NP. It was 9k in elevation. Snow. Stayed at Sleep Inn for three nights in Page for $250. Ate at Gone West (pot roast with mp and bp). Saw Antelope Canyon. Took boat tour ($135) to Rainbow Bridge. This is why I came back. Tours were closed last time because of Covid. Can't get there by car. On Lake Powell. Drove to Vegas. That and the rest will be in next post. This trip was about checking off all the parks, monuments, etc I haven't visited. Now all done.

Moonlight Drive In, Titusville

I actually went here before the last post. For lunch. I grabbed what I thought was the two patty bacon cb. They gave me the deluxe bacon cb. It cost $9. It came with fries and a drink. Burger was ok. Bacon was good. Veg ok. Half the fries were good and half were under cooked. Soda came with ice. Asked for no ice. As I was the first and only customer, I think they could have done better. It's a old timey burger stand. From 1964. They also sell fried items like fish and chicken and other things you'd expect. Waitress service. You drive into a spot. Also, a tiny inside. Not sure if you can avoid the waitresses by doing that. It's kitschy.

*I tried the second parking area at the Canaveral Seashore this time. Think things are nicer farther down.

**I have a CO/NM/TX/AZ/UT travel update coming in the next post.

Grub Crawl - Maitland: Jalapenos and Pita

I tried these two places on 17-92 (N Orlando Ave) today. They are near each other. The first is in the location that was most recently Greek To Go. The second is in that new condo complex next to Publix. 

Jalapenos - Two women from Guerrero. Small menu. 7 items (2T, B, Q, N, Tamales and Fiesta Bowl). I tried the tacos Mex (carnitas and barbacoa) for $2.60 each. Just onions and cilantro on corn tortillas. The tortillas were made by somebodies hands. Meats were ok. I wouldn't complain if I had only these to choose from. Had better though. I also tried a chicken tamale. It was similarly acceptable. Order at the counter. Everything under a saw buck (just learned that another old timey term is a dixie). Open for lunch and until 8pm. Closed Sunday. Opened one month ago.

Pita - They say they started in Peachtree City Georgia. Map on wall shows this as only Florida location. Chain Med. Chain meh. A few fillers (gyro, chicken, beef, falafel, shrimp, salmon) in a pita or rice bowl or salad. But wait...there's less. Just kidding. They also have spreads and salads and fries and desserts. Hey, can I start a new "..." thing with commas? ",,," Not sure what it will indicate though. Might try and mine the whole symbol universe. Who made the period king? I tried a chicken shawarma bowl for $10. Lowest price point. The rice looks yellow in the pictures. In reality it was white. It was ok. A few chunks of chicken. Alot of ground up something or other. I believe it had a tahini sauce (gyro had tzatziki). Some veg tossed in top. Medium sized portion. White, modern interior. Lots of height. Order at a counter. A few, spaced tables. Not much of a draw. I believe there is even another fast food Med place down the street (if it hasn't shut down). I believe the opened recently too. 

*Saw a cool episode on Martin Yan show about Chengdu dim sum called xiao chi (small bites). And of course they can't phoneticize, so, it's pronounced sh-ow suh. Worth a search.

Nick Filet, Sand Lake and Dr Phillips *Nantucket Travel Notes

I tried this franchise in the old Lemon Shark Poke spot in the strip mall at the intersection of Sand Lake and Dr Phillips last Friday. They seem to think that slicing beef is a step too far. They sell sandwiches of beef loin. I suspect the "loin" is an inferior cut that qualifies as loin. Like the one you would get at a Sizzler et al. Needless to say, it was weird. A hunk of beef an a Kaiser roll. I had a classic for $12. It had some immemorable cheese and sauce. Too much. Sloppy. They had around four or five (predictable) styles. Call me crazy, but, I prefer my loin on a plate with a side of veg. It was also too expensive. They also sold another thing I prefer not to be in a sandwich. Lobster. Also, too expensive. Now around $25 and they said the cost was going up. Not that I would really trust a lobster sale in Orlando at a sandwich shop anyway. At best, it would be just pre-prepped, shell less, boiled, undersized lobster. They are out of Philadelphia. I asked and this "loin" thing isn't a Philly staple. They opened 4 months ago. Mostly open space. Spartan. Order at a counter place. 

*Travel Notes - Nantucket: I'll skip the sites and the commentary as I suspect you don't really read this section and are unlikely to travel here. Just the basics. Everything here costs double what it would anywhere else. Had a turkey and Swiss with a pathetic (well a little commentary) bun at Henry Jrs. At Millie's, I ordered striped bass tacos (that cost $24 for two) and there was no way they delivered striped bass. Maybe cod. Or worse. Overcooked too. Had an egg and bacon and cheese sandwich from Wicked Island Bakery. Had brownie batter ice cream at Jack & Charlie's. Had good swordfish tacos at 167 Raw food truck. At Nantucket Provision, I had the Terrific Turkey sandwich that Alex Guaranaschelli placed on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Now, I've tried a few of the things on this show and I'm starting to think that they get kick backs or are pimping a friend's place or don't get out much. It was a Thanksgiving riff. CB sauce and stuffing. It was ok. That's all. At Nativ Made I had a chicken, rutabega, potato, etc Pasty. Chicken salad at Corner Table Cafe. Cheese and bacon cruffin at Born & Bread Bakery. Also a loaf of sourdough and focaccia. Very fresh fish (cod) and chips and ff at Town. Udon with shrimp at Bar Yoshi. Stewed chicken and rice and beans at Stubby's. Godfather (pep, salami, cap) sandwich at Walter's. Chicken salad and smoked blue fish pate at Green Market. Pizza at Sophie T's. Donuts at Downyflake Doughnuts. I ate at the cheaper joints. Price avoidance. IE - a tiny sushi place called Lola's had an app of salmon (a cheap fish) carpaccio at $50. Two interesting things I saw at a place called Gaslight were: pig ear salad with crispy egg and a burger with black garlic cheese. Flew on Jet Blue (delays each way and not weather related) through JFK. Just over $213. Didn't stay in hotel. They seemed to start at $300 (on week days). There is a bus that drops people around the island. Car rentals too.

Melao Bakery, Florida Mall Area

I tried this Latin (probably Puerto Rican) restaurant on S OBT and Consulate Dr last Friday at lunch. It's just past the Florida Mall and Sand Lake and 529 or 526 (I'm confusing myself). Traffic here sucks. The name has a Spanish and a Portuguese translation. I assume the Spanish is the one we want. It means heart of honey. It's melon in Portuguese. I saw it when I was looking for Moroccan Breeze a few months back. I thought it was just a bakery. They have that too. I ordered a la carte. Funny that they don't use (or there isn't an equivalence) a Spanish term. I tried the Mofongo with Chicken Cracklings for $10. Just trying to try something off script. For some reason I was just expecting fried chicken skins on top. I forgot that what they call skins (chicharron) are actually pieces of chicken. That justified the price a bit more. I liked it. The chicken was a little dry. It was fried of course. The mofongo (fried mashed plantains) was tasty. They have a LARGE menu. Breakfast (5), burgers (4), baked potatoes (6), hot cereal (was intrigued by those), sandwiches (26), salads (4), plates (8), mofongos (10) etc. Reasonable pricing. They also had a buffet. Not sure how much. It seemed like they decided at the register based on what you ordered. Too dicey for me. It was pretty full. Quite a few gringos too. Pretty big cafeteria like space. I was glad I finally tried it. Pain in the ass getting out of the parking lot. One of the main toll roads is between you and S OBT. The original is in Kissimmee.

Grub/Pub Crawl - South Orange Ave: Gatlin Hall Brewing and Willy's Original

I tried these places at lunch on Friday. I had meant to try them the night before, but, Jet Blue did their usual awful worst to make that impossible. They are near Le Coq au Vin. Next to the Porch. Worth a visit.

Gatlin Hall Brewing - I had samples of the NE Pale Ale and NE IPA. Both were good. Hoppy. 5oz pours had different prices. Started at $2.50. The place looks nice. TVs with sports on. Tables and a bar. They host the next place and a pizza place that is opening on Wednesday and a Da Kine Poke stalls. Open from 11am to 11pm. Opened around a month ago. Had customers at 11am.

Willy's Original - They sell five burgers and three chicken sands and salads and dogs. Also fries and curds. I had the All American (cheese, two patties, veg) for $10. It was fine. Big Mac-ish. But fancier. A little chewy. Veg were fresh. Bun was good. They put the meat on the grill as a ball and press it. I used to be able to comment on "the grind" when the burger thing became a thing. Now I'm not sure I can tell how they do it. 

Grub Crawl - New Smyrna Beach: Wake Up North, Island Roasters Coffee, Mason Bar and Touch of Italy

 I went to these places two weeks ago around lunch. The first three are on the road from downtown (on the mainland side) before the drawbridge to Flagler Ave. The second is in the strip mall with the Sentry Management offices (if you take the larger bridge and follow the road to the right).

Wake Up North - This is location two. I believe I reviewed the original. It is in the strip mall with the Publix on the beach side. Near Limoncello. I had Eggs Azules (bacon, blue cheese, spinach and tomato) for 11. They were good. Fresh veg. Properly timed fried eggs. Came with home fries and an English muffin. They offer waffles, ft, pancakes, eggs, sandwiches, soups, salads and lomito. The place has a South American vibe. Open four years here.

Island Coffee Roasters - I just grabbed an iced tea for the beach for $2 on the coffee side. They also have a separate area with sandwiches.

Mason Bar - I grabbed a tajin and lemonade popsicle for $4. Tajin is the chili and lime spice mix some places put on a Margarita. Or so they said. It was fine. They also sell acai bowls and drinks. 

Touch of Italy - I grabbed a pretty awful veal parm sandwich with chips at the $7 lunch price and ate it for dinner. Very tough. Cheese had no flavor. Average sauce. Carrots? Burnt hero. Typical Italian menu. The kind of place with a map of Italy place mat. Dark room. Guy who made (warmed) it was listening to heavy metal. Somehow open for 32 years. 

*There was one other place near the first three. Dough Girl. Didn't open at 2:30pm like the sign said. So I bailed. Saw another new place downtown on the mainland side. Something in Spanish. On a side street. Not open yet. Will fill you in some day.

**I just returned from Nantucket. I did four places today that I will break into three posts (probably M/W/F next week) and do a travel notes on the last one.

Grub Crawl - Winter Garden: Jodo Sushi, Local Butcher, Michael's and Ceviche Mix *FL/AL/MS Travel Notes

I tried these place at the marketplace on Thursday. The first two at lunch and then I swung back after Clermont at dinner time. I'll update that the Torres Chocolate stall claims to in reno and there is also a raclette style cheese stall and a juice stall and a popcorn stall and Antique-tea's stall and an outpost of Axum coffee that I have yet to sample. Also, new on Plant St were a French place and The Whole Enchilada. I also mis-remembered about the brewery that may have opened south of Michigan. Still one to go. And I forgot to tell you about Rap Snacks I saw in a gas station in Arlington. Take a look see if you want to how inconsistent racial polemics are. 

Jodo Sushi - I have a sneaking suspicion I had tried them before. But, I could find no evidence in cyberspace. I think I remember something about a South American aspect. Anyway, the prices were so beyond ridiculous ($26 poke bowl or $15 hand roll) that I gritted my teeth for the $6 salmon nigiri. The menu says two piece. They served three. It was ok. The part of the salmon that has equidistant horizontal lines of white. I believe that is fat not sinew. From the cheap tail section too. The lower quadrant too. Been there from the beginning.

Local Butcher & Market - I was a bit disheartened when I saw the Boar's Head guys delivering. Is that all that passes for specialty goods these days? So, it seems that the sandwich portion of the enterprise is hum drum. Maybe they do do something worth mentioning with the butchering? Maybe? I had a Meaty Butcher for $14. A Kaiser roll topped with roast beef, carmelized onions, provolone and a whisper of horseradish cream (really stingy with this). Lots of decent roast beef. Pretty good all around. They sell seven sandwiches in all. Came with a bag of chips. Been there from the beginning.

Michael's All Coal Fired Pizza - Claim a 1000 degree oven. I just sampled the basic 12". It was ok. The crust was yellow and oily. I don't love dough with oil in it. Makes it lean towards pastry. Otherwise, it was a typical NY style. Sauce had garlic and onion powder. Not great with a sweet sauce. Would try their wings (Rochester/Buffalo recipe) or meatball sandwich next time. They also sell stromboli, salad, etc. They have also been there since the beginning or near. Also own Mac's Up and one other stall.

Ceviche Mix - The originator of the one in Mount Dora. I had the same bowl here (mahi and shrimp). Worse in every way. Smaller. Tougher. Less fresh .Less stuff. Now it didn't help that I drove it home and the lime juice may have cooked the fish to death. However, I just get the feeling it wasn't top notch from the get go. He used unripe avocado too. It was part of a pattern. It cost $15. This is a new stall.

*Travel Notes - FL/AL/MS: I climbed Mt Britton (off 331 at DeFuniak Springs exit of 10) at Lakewood Park in Lakewood FL. It is the highest elevation in Florida at 345 feet! Before that I was talked into a thimble of sherry (because by coincidence I bought a bottle of dry sherry in honor of Frasier Crane and had some the night before and it was sour/awful) at the Chautauqua Vineyards (right off same exit). Sweet sherry is better. They claim they and another vineyard (I biden the name) actually have vines up there. As it was getting late, I tried to find a hotel off the highway near Pensacola. These bastards were looking for over $250 for a run down Comfort Inn.  I moved towards downtown (take the third of three exits they cite) and stumbled upon a boutique hotel called Sole Inn on Palafox Ave (the main street). They charged $145 all in (rack rate). But, it was right by all the things I wanted to walk to. Plus it turned out there are only around three hotels downtown anyway. I had a nice walk down to Palafox Pier. Along the way I found a sheltered food truck court called The Garden at Palafox Food Court. I came back towards the center and saw a few museums and Artel Gallery and ventured a few blocks east to what turned out to be a preserved old town. Very cool. Pensacola Bay Brewery was there. I popped in to waste time before I had dinner at Iron and ended up staying so long that they (Iron) stopped seatings at 9pm. How provincial. It seemed overpriced anyway. I grabbed slices at Graffiti Pizza because it was the only place open. I stopped the party short because I had to try and reconfigure my plans due to this Ida thing that was developing. In the morning I went to Joe Patti's Seafood. It was a few blocks west of downtown. It was more of a market than a restaurant. Nice selection. But, too crowded and it was 9am. Plus I had eaten the free piece of pizza they gave me at Graffiti for breakfast. Didn't buy anything. They also had a beignet stall in front. Driving through Mobile, I espied the billboard for Dick Russell's Bar-B-Q. I see it every time I drive through. This time I had time to see if it was bs. If it was really at this exit or miles away like some places trick you with. It was only a half mile north of 10. It was a full menu, sit down Southern cooking type of place. I had trouble choosing. Chose half chicken with turnip greens and potato salad and corn bread because I anticipated eating beef and pork and maybe crawfish soon and I had just clogged the system with cheesy pizza.. Very good. Then I did the middle portion of the trip (see below) and came back this way through middle Mississippi. Passed by Mississippi Valley State. That's a land lost in time. Slept at a La Quinta in Starkville MS for $102. It has grown since I last visited (the year that tornado crushed Tuscaloosa). Saw the Ulysses S Grant Presidential library on MSU campus. Why is it there? Drove through timber country to Jackson AL (north of Mobile). Had to shack up in these places because refugees from Louisiana and/or Labor Day vacationers were crushing hotel prices. Slept at a BW for $120. Finally stopped at USS Battlefield Alabama Memorial driving through Mobile. Had lunch at Mancis Antique Club in Daphne. Exit is right after you cross the bay. 98? On 3D. Had a bad Irish Cuban that took way to long. Drove a little south to Fairhope and tried Sunset Pointe at Fly Creek Marina. Also on 3D. This was good. Had a great tuna BLT. Side of grilled slaw. Wasn't even hungry. Whole menu looked good. Back too 10 and on to Tallahassee. Same hotel issues. Fortunately, this place (Comfort Inn on 319 NE) opened a few days before and they hadn't jacked the rates to the $300s (Labor Day plus FSU-ND Opening Game). Only $137 for a brand new hotel. Ate at Lofty Pursuits on the other side of 10. It's more of a sweet shop and ice cream place. Was in that AAA magazine. Had a good scoop of Mexican chocolate ice cream and a forgettable turkey and brie sandwich. Next day I drove on 319NE through the city to 61 and the Edward Ball SP in Wakulla Springs (like ten minutes south east of Tallahassee). It cost $6 and I didn't really have the time. I'll go back. They also have a Lodge and a riverboat cruise. This and the next stops were part of an article I clipped for manatee inhabited springs. Passed one near Ponce de Leon called Morrison Springs. Hooked up with 27E and popped into Wes Skiles Peacock Springs SP north of Mayo and south of Live Oak near Luraville. Couldn't find Ginnie Springs east of High Spring on the Santa Fe River. Back on 75 and home. Saw a new Steve Spurrier steakhouse opened in Gainesville. FYI. 3D means Diners Drive Ins and Dives.

Pub Crawl - Clermont: Suncreek Brewery and Clermont Brewing Company *LA/TX/OK/AR Travel Notes

I tried these two breweries in downtown Clermont on Wednesday afternoon. You get off 50 at 8th street. There is a sign. The first is closer to the lake (farther from 50) on West Minneola Ave. A few blocks in. On 8th street. The other is a block or two closer to 50 on Desoto St and one east (probably seventh). After these, I have pretty much tried all the local breweries for you.

Suncreek Brewery - A big warehouse type structure. New. I had a four item flight for $10 and a small Sol Splitter IPA. All were good. They also have two food options. One said Mac'd Out (like at Winter Garden Marketplace). The menu looked different though. I think the other was the pizza place from the WG Market called Michael's. I think I remember being told that they are owned by the same people. so, it is possible. I believe they have been open for five or six years.

Clermont Brewing Company - More of a restaurant seeking some hipster cred. Weird food options. sushi, hamburger stand, pizza oven. I tried a single beer. Had to respect Johnny Law. It was watery and sour. Place was new. Pretty big. Large patio. I think they have been grinding it out for a year or two.

*Travel Notes - LA/TX/OK/AR: Irma caused a mad scramble through LA to start the trip. I stayed at the Doubletree in Lafayette for $110. Not much there. Ate fried oysters, catfish and shrimp at Sam's Southern Eatery. Saw Cajun Dome and Swamp at University of Louisiana Lafayette. And Borden Milk plant. Stuck in heavy traffic the day before going through New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Possibly worse going to Houston the next day. If disaster strikes, just stay home. Stayed at BW in Waller TX (nw Houston) for $86. Ate tacos (fajita, lengua, asada and carnitas) at Ranchito Taqueria. Ate a tasty half chicken at Waller County Line BBQ the next day. A billboard coerced me . Had a 1/2 lb of lamb ribs after that in Elgin TX (near Austin). Very good. They claim to be oldest bbq joint in TX. It was a tip from a guy I met at Waller CL BBQ. Saw another place (Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse) on the way in. Grabbed a brisket wrap there. Saw the road to Shaw's BBQ. As it wasn't a Saturday, I didn't go. So close though. It is in Lexington. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Town Lake in Austin for $125. Ate at Kemuri Tatsu-ya. I saw them on A Chef's Life (I think I've been referring to it as Chef and the Farmer). I had: hot pockets of cheese and brisket inside a tofu wrap, raw octopus with wasabi root and quail egg, grilled beef cheeks skewer with peaches and ora king salmon rolls in cold beef broth. Got stomach cramps after and had to cancel seeing the bats at dusk. For breakfast I went back to this area (east side of 35 on Cesar Chavez) the next day and had an egg and cheese and arugula on a roll at Lou's. They charged a 5% packaging fee. Good food though. There are alot of places here now. I tried to try the new Mueller BBQ spot (forget the name) in Jarrell TX (north of Austin). The whole family seems to be trading off the name now. The info online was wrong. Only open for dinner. I stopped in Waco to see the Waco Mammoth NP. It was covid closed the last time I tried. Slept at the Four Points Arlington the next two night for $90. Great value. The city has a shuttle that stops there at takes you to the stadiums. I saw the new Ranger's stadium the next night. Discovered a brand called Rap Snacks (chips) at the gas station. I ate lunch at Prince Lebanese Grill. On 3D. It was past ATT Stadium on the same street. I had a lamb and beef shwarma platter. It was good. Also grabbed a less good gyro for dinner. On the way out I stopped at Sprout's Spring Roll & Pho (Closer to 40 around ATT). It was on MvF. Had the house vermicelli. It was to have C/B and S. Only had beef and shrimp. The Bowling HOF was also in Arlington. Six Flags was closed. West on 40 at north on 35 I saw Texas Motor Speedway and North Texas University. Both north of Fort Worth. Stopped at Chickasaw NRA in Sulphur OK. Mostly a lake. In Roland OK (AR border) I stayed at the Cherokee Casino Hotel for $104. They gave me the top level. Drove to Little Rock and saw Little Rock Central High School NHS. Drove south to around Gillett AR and the Arkansas Post NP. It's a fort on the Arkansas River from the time of the Spanish. The rest will be in the next post. 

**I saw on You Gotta Eat Here a corn flavored ice cream with corn nut pralines. Also saw a rolled up pork roll at another place.that was fried that they called a hot dog.

Grub/Pub Crawl - Cocoa Village and Titusville: Cryderman's Barbecue, Bugnutty Brewing Company and Playalinda Brewing Co

I tried these places on Tuesday. The first two are before the bridge (King St) to the beach. Not the bridge that goes to Port Canaveral. The one south. It may be the Beach Line (528 I think). I came in the other way because I took the first bridge. In Cocoa Village. The last is on US 1 at the southern end of Titusville. I have to add that I took 46 to US 1 and down to Titusville to try the beach at Playalinda. It is inside the Canaveral/Merritt Island National Seashore and Wildlife Refuge. It costs $20 for a car. I bought the annual parks pass for $80 (my last one ran out last month anyway) and now I can go whenever I want. Which I will. I think I like it better than NSB. Plus I think it is closer. They even have a nude beach. Who knew? Can't believe I've been missing out for so long. I also re-visited the Haulover Canal. It's a little north. It's a manatee sighting place (read about them in the AAA magazine). As are the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon inside the park. Summer isn't prime viewing season. 

Cryderman's Barbecue - A total surprise. I was early for Bugnutty and hadn't eaten yet. They are one block south (behind) of Bugnutty on Florida Ave. Alot of Texas style barbeque from a guy from Michigan. Cooks like a Texan though. Had a sample of brisket and three brisket confit tacos for $10. Brisket was perfect. The brisket for the tacos is scraps. However, they are clever (at least marketing wise) in calling them confit. They said they take the scraps and heat them in the oven to baste them in their own fat. I'm buying. Never seen that before. The tortillas and topping were good and fresh too. They also sell pork, ribs, turkey, sausage, etc. I just visited Texas and they compete. The place is mostly an outdoor seating area. Covered. Wood. It's cute. I wish we had one here. There is another branch in Melbourne. Cryder Man, Cryder Man. Does whatever a Cryder can. And that is cooking bbq!

Bugnutty Brewing Company - They moved from Meritt Island to here. I had a six flight trial for $15. All were good. I tried all types. Space is warehouse like. Open at 3pm. Lots of parking. I think they opened less than five years ago. There is another brewery nearby called Dirty Oar. It was closed on M and Tu. They also gave me a flyer for Oceanside Distillery in Cape Canaveral.

Playalinda Brewing Co - This spot is the"Brix" location. It's a term in alcohol production. They have the original in downtown. This spot is bigger and newer. More complete menu. I tried one beer (had tried others at bars) and had their poke. I met the chef and he recommended that over his tuna sashimi ramen special that Tuesday, a ribeye, tuna tataki and red fish. It cost $11 and the beer cost $4. Great prices. The other things mentioned were also reasonable (ribeye was $21). The poke was very fresh. All the components. And you know I don't crave poke. Jasmine flavored rice. This is a real gem. Some interesting things on the menu like malted cole slaw. The place is large and impressive. You can see the brewing equipment too. I was told that they started with a crazy chef who set the standards very high. So high that they couldn't turn a profit. The new team has toned it down a bit without losing touch. Not sure if it is now profitable. Quality is still beyond acceptable. Sounds like an episode of a Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares. Great for drinks and dinner. Opens at 4pm. Really surprised by this one. I think they opened this two years ago. The one downtown also opens at 4pm. Smaller menu. Oh. The beer was good too.

*I decided to break up the Travel Notes in the next two posts. Probably Sunday and Tuesday. Also, if you take 46 to the beach, know that the airboat ride place (on the billboard) isn't open for business anymore. Not sure if they will be again.

Grub/Pub Crawl - Eustis and Mount Dora: Wolf Branch Brewing Co, Cheese To Share and Ceviche Express

I stopped at these places on my way back into town on Sunday night. The first is on North Bay Street (SR 19) in Eustis. There are two areas in Eustis. This is in what I think they consider the old town. North of 441. The next two are in downtown Mount Dora. In a new (I think right as Covid hit) marketplace they made in the space that I thought I was going to be trying a new restaurant in. The space has had a few iterations. One was an Icelandic place. They have opened up the floor plan and married it to the space next door to make a marketplace. In addition to the two I tried, they list these as tenants: Feast Paninis, Shadrach's Pizza, Empanada, Lampe Berger, Mediterranean & Coffee Kitchens, Fun Ko Poke, Handlebar Lounge, Beruit Bites, Claire's Creperie, French Flair, Sweeties Bakery, Cava Wine Bar, European Breads, Caffe Kitchen. Some of these may not be food places or no longer in business. Most spots had closed for the night and I took some blurry pictures of some signs that listed these tenants.

Wolf Branch Brewing Co - They also had a space in the market at Mt Dora. This is the original. Smallish space. They only had four of their own beers. They were average. Peach Blonde Ale, Rauchbier and NE IPA. They also had a sour I avoided. $8 for three beer flight.

Cheese To Share - Cheese platters, fondue and few other things. I had tequenos to go for $10. Only 5. Baked. Pretty bad and too expensive. Just a half of a string cheese in a blanket. Fondue was $25. That seems high. Platter was $20. Didn't see quality of the product. Place has a Latin feel. They said they have been there for two years. But, I was last there during the lock down and this marketplace didn't exist then. 

Ceviche Express - I had the small Express. It was mahi and shrimp. It cost $17. It was one of the better ceviches I've had in a while. Tender, fresh mahi. Fresh shrimp. Fresh avocado, tomato and onion. Large portion. Oddly, I just went to the market in Winter Garden today and I ate at another ceviche place. The guy there said that this guy was his ex-employee and this space used to be his. He is getting his ass kicked by his ex-employee. The ceviche here was MUCH better and they gave me more. Also comes with corn chips or plantain chips.

*I have two or three (depending if I split one up) posts coming in the next week. Will split my new travel notes into two sections after them.

**In Mount Dora the English spot near the train has moved into a bigger building down the street and a coffee place replaced it.

Connie's Cafe, Deland

I had hoped to finish off the last three Deland locations on my way out of and back into town, but, I decided to take another way back (next post) because one of the remaining spots is only open at night and I came back earlier than that. Didn't trust they would be open tonight. This place is a lunch only (closes at 2:30 I think) that opens around 10:30am. It is inside a building on the corner of the two main streets though town. New York and 17? I should know by now. I grabbed a turkey club melt for $6. It came on a pita. It was ok. I had prepared myself for breakfast. This was a compromise. The menu is mostly salads and sandwiches and burgers. The owner said she has been in charge for seven or so years? The place has been there much longer than that. It looks it. A bit dingy. Why I got my order to go. It seemed popular with with what seemed like locals. 

*I noticed into town that that breakfast place into town (other locations too) had shuttered.

**I finally stopped at a store on 40 in Silver Springs that touts Whoopie pies. I grabbed a Key Lime one for $3 and a Moxie (had just seen a tv show on how it was made) soda. Pie was better than the Moxie. They also sold other sweets and whoopie pies with ice cream. They are like big macaroons. The place is called Sweet Janes. It seemed like almost every restaurant on 40 had changed names (and probably ownership).

***Expect a deluge of posts. My vacay was truncated/sped up by Ida. The next few days will be spent exploring locally.

Island Fin Poke, Longwood *PA/NY/MD Travel Notes

I tried this new (one month) poke place on 434 in between 436 and I-4 (a strip mall with a Publix) on Wednesday at lunch. They let you put three scoops of fish/chicken in the bowl. I mixed tuna/salmon/octopus to see as much as possible. They were fresh. Better than most places. Then again, most of these places start out conscientious and then "stretch" the shelf life of the product. Rice was also ok. It cost $12. Hawaiian theme. Yet none of these places knows what a true Hawaiin poke is. You would think someone would google it. They serve them in paper bowls. Phew. I was worried that those billions of third world miscreants (and if you don't believe me actually travel to one and see how environmentally concerned they are) were going to spoil the environment. We got you Mother Earth. No need to exert yourself going here. I'm sure there are one or two in your neighborhood. perhaps one in your house?

*Travel Notes - PA/NY/MD: I got off 95 before Fredricksburg VA because of an accident (two that day and one in GA coming back). Was going to anyway. Just a few exits farther north. Had to take a parallel road (1 to 17W and 66 to Winchester WV and north on 505 (I think) to 68W (I think) through Upper MD to Morgantown (nice lake before town). Then north to Friendship Hill NHS (some early Treasurer). Slept at at Hopwood Motel in Uniontown/Hopwood PA for $65 (rack rate). Went east the next day to Fort Necessity (Washington lost to French there before the Revolution). Then north to Fallingwaters (a Frank Lloyd Wright home). Then through some nice white water rafting areas and east and north to Johnstown Flood NHS (dam break). Then north and east to Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS (had to go over mountains here. Canals no good). Then north and east to College Station (Penn State). Then north and east to Williamsport (Little League World Series stadiums). Then north to Mansfield. Cute college town. Slept at Hampton Inn for $166 (rack rate). The Nascar race race in Watkins Glen purportedly raised the pricing even this far away. Plus in was a Saturday. Ate and had beer at Yorkholo Brewing Co. Had a pulled turkey with barbeque and honey mustard sauces combined. Drove to west and north to Canisteo NY (Cider Creek Hard Cider). Couldn't find it. North to try and find Wild Brute Winery in Arkport. Didn't find that either. It was raining very hard. Went east to Hammondsport NY and finally found something. Finger Lakes Beer Co. Then tried to find Steuben City Brewing. Found a retail bar for Cider Creek. Had some and a horrible chicken Caesar salad. And some Steuben and other NY beer.  South tip of Keuka Lake. Drove up about a mile and turned into first winery I saw. Turned out to be good. Domaine LeSeurre and Weis Vineyards. Prices at LeSeurre were too high. Tasted an ok Pinot Noir. Bought a bottle of Gruner Veltliner at Weis because it was more reasonable. They had a great patio over looking the lake. Had just opened. North and east through Finger Lakes to Seneca Falls (home of Tom Coughlin) and to the Women's Rights NHP. North to Oswego (on Lake Ontario). Slept at the Evergreen Motel for $84. North to 1000 Islands. Really 1864. First stop was Henderson Harbor and a light house. Next to Sackett's Harbor and a War of 1812 fort and cute town. Had a Route 3 (RB with Munster) at Sandwich Bar. There were a few nicer options as well. Then to Watertown. They have river rafting from there that didn't fit in the schedule. North and west to Cape Vincent and the Tibbetts Point Light House at the beginning of the St Lawrence River from Lake Ontario. Then east to Clayton. Bought mozzarella whips (thin pipes), a snack mix of sesame sticks with everything bagel spice (they had many flavors you see on bagels) and corn chips with chia seed baked in and Adirondack sodas at River Rat Cheese . They also sold cheese cut into shapes (and colored) like cookies. Plus alot of snacks. Maybe the cutest town. Slept at Westwind Motel for $93. Next door was St Lawrence Spirits. They claim many awards. Tried a few. Nice deck over the river too. Have a high end restaurant and boutique hotel too (Chateau). Next east on to Alexandria Bay for the Uncle Sam's Boat Tour. That day they just opened up the US plus Canada tour. It was $37. Included Boldt Castle. An island castle by an ex Waldorf Astoria honcho. Had a seafood sub and fries that were called sour cream fries but really just sour cream dusted fries at Jwreck Subs. Made me think why no one has taken all the potato chip seasoning to fries. Slept at Ship Motel (right in town) for $125. Drove east to Schermerhorn Harbor in Hammond to take the tour to Singer Castle (sewing machine people). It cost $35. Then east through Ogdensburg and then south and east back to Watertown. Then south past Syracuse and out of NY. Tried to stop a few times in PA, but, the hotel quotes were insane. Finally made it to Carlisle PA. Lucked into a $95 room at Sleep Inn. Had ok veal parm with spaghetti at Al's Pizza. The next day saw many better choices a few blocks in town. A very cute town. Something to do with Molly Pitcher. A college called Dickinson. Grabbed a Birch Beer Ice Cream at Massey's Frozen Custard. Tasted like vanilla. Drove to Gettysburg (past Appalachian Trail) to find that my restaurant (Gettysburger) wasn't open for lunch that day. Went south to Cacotin Mountain NP (home of Camp David). South to Frederick MD to Monocacy NB. Then south to C&O Canal Trail and Potomac Heritage NST. Nice drives. Short. Then south to Clara Barton NHS. Then I forget if I mentioned Wolf Trap NP and Prince William Forest NP (not in MD).

**I forgot to mention these Korean things at Area 51 in the FL Notes. She called her ramen - ramyeon. I haven't seen a Korean take off on the soup. This was smart. They also sold Makgeolli. They said it was Korea's oldest alcohol drink. Never heard of it. It may be like sake.

Grub Crawl - Sanford: Maggie Dog and The Greenery Creamery *NC/SC/VA Travel Notes

I tried these kiosks in Henry's Depot on First St on Tuesday at dinner. The first just opened two weeks ago. The second is an OG. I also learned, while here. that the space in the middle (now used for seating) will become a Git N Messy BBQ (without the original cook). They also have torn up one side of the outside for more access/parking.

Maggie Dog Specialty Links - A half dozen "fancified" links. I chose a rabbit sausage with bacon on the side for $10. Obviously not worth it. Not a particularly large sausage. Not particularly tasty. Could have been any animal. You can buy a PACK of similar ones in a supermarket for less. Bacon was stale and dry. Sat there for a long time. Cold too. Came with a fruit sauce. I forget which. Charged an extra 40 cents to go. Why exactly? Best element was the tiny cup of pasta salad. Very thin short tubes. Like in boxed mac and cheese. Same owner as the fish place next to them (Current). They need to drop the pricing in half.

The Greenery Creamery - They also have one downtown. I believe I rated them. That is why I think I've ignored this spot. Plus I can live with out ice cream. At least I think they make their own. when I was traveling last week, I kept passing packed ice cream stands. It made me pause. Why are idiots paying for ice cream they can buy in stores. Most of these places just buy the same mass produced ice cream we can all buy and scoop it for us. Ohhhh. We are that stupid and lazy. Well you are. I grabbed a coffee, cream and cookies mix for $4+. I forget the name and receipt just says "solo". It was good. They have about a dozen "gourmet" concoctions. Cones or cups. They said they make the cones here and the ice cream at the other location.

*I saw these oddities on tv. Waterfall cake (stolen from the internet I assume) by Buddy Delastro (sp?) and crumpet sandwiches from a place in Seattle called Queen Bee.

**Travel Notes - NC/SC/VA: These are actually the first and last states I hit. Will save the North for next post. Slept in a Comfort Inn in Wilson NC for $105 (rack rate). Grabbed a chopped pork sandwich with cole slaw at Ralph's Barbeque in Weldon NC (really the Roanoke Rapids main exit). Mushy. On the way back I slept at a Comfort Inn in Ruther Glen VA for $105 (rack rate). Had a pulled turkey sandwich at Boogie's Turkey BBQ in Elm City NC (on 301). It and the next two were on the Chef and the Farmer show. It was ok. Big. The show said turkey is becoming the "it" meat in the black community. I drove to Greenville to see ECU. Nice town. Nice facilities. Then just outside of town to Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville NC. It is an off shoot of the next place. More modern. I had a Jones Family Original Platter of pulled whole hog pork, a side and corn bread. Very good pork. Great potato salad. Interesting corn bread. It was like a dried polenta square. Dense. No sugar. Good. I drove a few miles south to Ayden NC. I had a whole hog pulled pork sandwich at Skylight Inn. I was pretty full and had dinner to go. It was a tad less good than at their sister shop. It also made me wonder how long can meat sit out without being refrigerated? The Inn had pics of Carter, Bush, Reagan, etc. It must have been famous for a long time. I never got the memo. I drove to Kinston NC to eat at The Chef & the Farmer. I've watched her show for a while. On PBS here. It was ok. Gritty swordfish. Watermelon salad on top was better. Ok (voluminous) Boiler Room beef fat fries with Kitchen Sink sauce. Dull menu. Overly pricey. It's right in the middle of the downtown. I slept at a Quality Inn for $107. Drove to Harker's Island to get a ferry to Cape Lookout NC. A NP. Drove back through a spit of land starting in Atlantic Beach that was kind of like New Smyrna. Slept in Jacksonville NC at the Coastal Motel for $88. Not on coast. Next to Camp Lejeune. Drove through Wilmington NC to North Myrtle Beach. Had a brisket sandwich at Bar B Que House. Sign said they were voted best bbq for ten years. It was good. Original location south of Myrtle Beach in Surfside. Never found Coastal Carolina Univ. On to Charleston SC. Had lunch 2 at 5 Church. An old church. Had a good and interesting Salmon vs Eggs (cooked salmon aside poached eggs and spinach on toast). Had dinner at 82 Queen. Was purported to be the originator of she crab soup. Bartender said that was bs. Good thing. It was bad. Bitter. Dry scant crab. Never would have taken off if they created it. Also had bbq shrimp and grits. Better. And tomato pie. Kind of a quiche. I think that was my first. Good. Slept at Days Inn for $112. Plus $20 for parking. Grabbed peach cider, apple and praline pie, popcorn on the cob and fried peanuts at Carolina Cider Company in Gardens Corner SC (on 17). Pie was so good that I ate it before I reached Florida. It was a six incher. I popped the popcorn yesterday. So fun. Came with a bag. Made the usual amount. All microwave popcorn should be like this. Dried on the cob. From Uncle Ozgoods of Kansas. Peanuts were a bit oily inside. From Uncle Bud's in Tennessee. Next post on Wednesday.

Grub Crawl - New Smyrna Beach: Mimi K's, City Market Bistro and Atlantis Bistro *FL Travel Notes

I tried the first place at lunch two weeks ago on my way North. I tried the other two at lunch and dinner yesterday respectively. The first and third are near the center of Flagler Ave (by the beach). The other is in the old Local Pearl Oyster Shoppe spot on the land side of the Intercoastal.

Mimi K's Beachside Cafe - They are in that alley way that has the Cuban place I just reviewed. Breakfast and lunch. I think they close at 2pm. Weekends until 4pm. Also closed on T and W, I think. It seats about a dozen inside. I grabbed a Cajun Benedict because I wanted shrimp. It cost $14. I recall it being ok. Five or more shrimp. Ok egg timing. Can't recall what the bottom was. Probably a muffin. It seemed like there was one waitress, a prep guy and a cook doubling as a waitress too. That slows things down a bit. I actually jumped ahead of other tables and it still took twenty plus minutes. Place was full. Seemed a mix of tourists and locals. The menu had skillets, benedicts, sandwiches, ricotta pancakes, vanilla french toast, etc. Only around a dozen items. Charming enough to go back to.

City Market Bistro - Looks almost the same inside. They dropped all the oysters except IROCs. Owner/Chef had a place in Ormond Beach (or near there) before this. Changed hands in February. Open for lunch and dinner. Closes for two hours between 3 and 5pm. Limited menu. A dozen or so things. Burger, chicken sandwich, shrimp cocktail, mussels and three seafood mains are all that I can recall. I grabbed the grilled ciabatta for $8 to go because it was already 2pm and I wanted to get to the beach. It was different and better than I expected. Three slices of bread topped with dressed cherry tomatoes, black olives and pickled red onions and a creamy spread. Tomatoes were fresh. Alot. I think they can be trusted. 

Atlantis Bistro - They have been in the queue forever. Open at 4pm. Really an Italian spot (one of those Italian bistros) with some seafood items. I call places like this a "to go menu" spots. They don't have "business cards". They print to go menus. The quality is usually lower. No outlier here. Perfectly pedestrian food. I think the owner was also cooking. There was a kitchen help sign in the window and some woman came out all exhausted and the staff treated her like she was in charge. The output wasn't great and it took a while. I surrendered to the Chicken Romano at $16. I didn't get the feeling they could do anything more extreme. And when the waitress told me the green mussels (why not black ones?) were frozen. I knew I dodged a bullet. Plus they wanted up to thirty bucks for the seafood dishes. Dull ones. With dull ingredients. Plus they went silent on the price of every special and when you asked you found out why. The only reason I contemplated the mussels was that they had a pithy name ) Mussels Lemonade. The chicken was to be topped with mozzarella and prosciutto. Terrible quality on both. If I wasn't informed it was mozzarella. I couldn't have guessed. Plus the chicken had no crust/color. Not sure if they dumped the wine in too quickly or what. It was pale and boiled. At least pan fry it if you won't finish it in the oven. It came with steamed broccoli or roasted potatoes. When you read what I've been eating lately, you will see why I chose something healthy. It probably wasn't. Alternately raw and mushy. With some carrots. It wouldn't surprise me if they reheated some old broccoli with the rest. That is what the complimentary bread seemed to have been. Hard as a rock. I'll bet that had been to two or three customers and reheated before me. Plus they served it with most repulsive "pesto" and olive oil. It looked like a loogy/phlegm in oil. Didn't touch it. Service was spotty. Never checked in. No refills. Ambiance is isolated to the ceiling of wine corks. Rest is pure mismatched junk like French wine signs and plastic grapes. Probably all dust covered. Clientele was mostly codgers. Probably from there. Probably from dives up North where this quality of food is the norm. I do not recommend it. Open for 14 years. Apps were all over priced and lame too.

*Updates on the area - The Thai place near 1 is now an Irish pub called The Spot. Was open at lunch. The bowl place (from Winter Park) near the draw bridge (Flagler) is closed. That spot is death. The Greek place (Beacon) near the beach on Flagler re-opened yesterday. A Mexican place opened above Boston's Fish House.

**Travel Notes - Florida: I have a whole East Coast trip that I will divide into three posts. I'll just do Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach on this one because I'm tired. Check back in three days. I grabbed a terrible poke bowl at Timoti's. They used hot basmati rice! I had ok sushi at Akari. I had an interesting brisket and pulled pork egg rolls just to sample at Area 51 BBQ. Was too full to try the good stuff. Plus they have a Korean menu too. Disgusting Oreo flavored cream cheese bagel at Aloha Bagel. Bagel not great either. They had lots of weird cc flavors. Like peanut butter and bacon ranch. Good pulled pork with pimento cheese on wheat bread sandwich at Happy Tomato Cafe. All these are in or around Fernandina. Stayed at Amelia Hotel for $122. By far the cheapest option.

Grub Crawl - Hourglass District and Lake Underhill Rd: Uncommon Eatery and Estrella Latina *SD/ND/MN/WI/IA/MO Travel Notes

I tried these two spots on Wednesday at lunch. The first is in the Winn Dixie shopping mall with Rogue Pub on Curry Ford Rd. The second is near Meatball Stoppe at Goldenrod and Underhill. 

Uncommon Eatery - They are a catering concern that opened up the front of store. They said they opened fifteen months ago. I thought it was less. They have a small space with unwaitered service open to the public. Small menu as well. I settled on one of the three salads. Curry Chicken for $10. I wasn't paying $12 for bao (2 types) or $10 for an empanada (2 types). I also threw in an order of Moroccan Fries for $4. The salad was disappointing. Shredded chicken (I want chunks) atop of a smattering of field greens. Could have been bought from a supermarket. Chicken probably comes in a bag. They threw in some sliced strawberry and nuts and nuts. Some raisins in the salad. I also tasted dry curry powder in the salad. Lazy. It was made worse by the generous portioning. More to suffer through. The fries were limp. Seasoning ok. Topped with parmesan. Also a big portion. They also sell a grilled cheese, pork sandwich, chicken sandwich, poke bowl, crab cakes and soup. All over $10. I expected more. Maybe a different meal would bring different results. The room is decorated in Grandma level tchotchkes and mismatched chairs and tables (4). order at a counter. Open for lunch and dinner.

Estrella Latina - Open from breakfast to 5pm. No frills Latin. I had the roast pork from the buffet (also has a menu). They don't speak much English, so, I thought it would be $6. It was $8. Maybe the quote was for the chicken? Maybe they hosed me? still a deal. Came white half a to go tray of rice and a side. I chose yucca. Good. Buttery rice. Ok yucca. Pork was good too. Atmosphere is lacking. Dirty and bland. Big menu. No need to exert yourself finding them. I'm sure you have something similar near you.

*Travel Notes for SD/ND/MN/WI/IA/MO trip - I canceled a trip to NE because of Hurricane Elsa. Should have risked it. Plane left on time. Booked a $65 ticket to KC in its place. with one week notice. Rental car was just a tad more than NE. Lots of fast food in the beginning. Stayed in Sioux Falls SD at a BW (rack rate) for $130. Pricing was insane. Fried chicken nuggets at Slim Chickens. Drove to a crap NP in Pipestone MN and thru Fargo to Jamestown ND. Stayed at Jamestown Motel for $50. World's largest Buffalo Statue. Drove through Bismarck ND. Had a Neuron sandwich (brisket and mac and cheese) at Erbert's and Gerbert's. Drove to Stanton ND and another waste of a NP (Knife River Indian Villages). Onto Theodore Roosevelt NP and onto MT. Ate bad chili cheese fries and hamburger at Retreat in Glendive MT. Stayed at Baymont for $102. Drove back to ND and Fort Union NHS near Williston ND (home of Phil Jackson). Across ND to Stanley and the Dakota Drug Co where they claim they invented the machine that makes blizzards. Had a brickle and butterscotch whirl whip. Onto Minot ND and Scandinavian Heritage Center. Ate an ok bacon cheeseburger and fries at Burger Time. Slept at Noble In for $73. Onto Geographic Center of NA in Rugby ND and Grand Forks ND (U of ND). Slept across river in East Grand Forks MN (Fairfield Inn) for $96. Ate lunch at Fat Albert's Subs in Grand Forks. Had a "cubed meats" sandwich called the Punisher. They put all the chopped up ends of the sliced meats (like seven kinds) in a sandwich. Up north to this little notch into Canada called Lake of the Woods at Warroad MN. Onto Bemidji MN. First town of Mississippi. Paul Bunyan. Had ok beer at Bemidji Brewing Co. Slept at AmercInn for $130. Minnesota is expensive. Like the socialist enclaves usually are. Drove towards Duluth (east) and up to Two Harbors MN. Had ok beer at Castle Danger Brewery. Ok smoked Alaskan shrimp at Lou's Fish House. Slept at Voyageur Motel for $130. Everything booked. The first 3M hq is here. Drove east to Bayfield WI to take a boat around Apostle Islands NP. Tried last year. It wasn't running. Tour was $50. Ate at Pickled Herring Club. Had whitefish livers and a smoked trout and blue cheese naan. Slept in Washburn WI at Washburn Inn for $201. This was the cheapest thing within twenty miles. Drove south to Minneapolis MN. Slept at LivInn in Fridley for $103. Had Dum Ka Chicken at Hyderabad. #1 on Yelp. It was described as chicken in yougurt. Seemed like dark meat chicken tikka. Went to 3M Open in Blaine. It cost $65. South to Waterloo IA. Home of John Deere and Hostess (before sale) and Wrestling HOF. Ate at Newton's Paradise Cafe. Had a great (and huge) pork tenderloin sandwich (Iowa's thing) with parmesan fries. Slept at HoJo for $78. Went to U of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. U of Kurt Warner and David Johnson. Onto Marshalltown and Taylor's Maid Rite. They do loose meat sandwiches. Had two with cheese. I think I saw this place on some documentary about the Lincoln Highway. On through Cedar Rapids (Quaker Oats) to Dyersville IA to see the Field of Dreams movie set. On through Dubuque to Maquoketa and the Econolodge for $77. To Mississippi River and down to Davenport. Through Wapello IA (pit stop for lousy meager brisket sandwich at Cynful Smokehouse) to Eldon IA and the house from the Grant Wood American Gothic house. Onto Ottumwa IA (Radar O'Reilly's home) and Hotel Ottumwa for $75. They had a free breakfast at 2nd Ave Cafe. Eggs. Through Osceola IA to Maid Rite Diner. Had another loose meat with cheese. This time it was goo cheese and bigger. Cost more. Called a mega cheese. Onto KC and Gates Bar BQ. Had a Nooner sandwich. Was to have had brisket and burnt ends. No ends and sliced brisket. Real let down. They are supposed to be great. need brisket pencil thick. Took forever too. Also stopped at LC's Bar BQ. It was on No Reservations. Had a pork and burnt ends platter. Also no ends. Big chunks of pork. They had a fire in the smoker while I was there. Doused it with houses. I think my pork was washed. Also a disappointment. Got lost driving around and found a nice area with their zoo. The area around the gates I went to was also nice. Art museum and U of M KC, etc. Also some nice restaurants, etc. Will have to try KC again. Slept in Independence MO at My Place for $97. Went to downtown to see where Joseph Smith claims the Garden of Eden really was. It's an LDS temple. I had already done the Truman bs. Saw a soda factory for Polly's Pop. Back to near airport (Platte City MO). Stayed at Ramada for $71. I have to report that the KC airport is way better. Each five or so gates has their own TSA. My line had no people. Plus it's in the same hall as the check in. 

**I forgot to add these odd products: birdseed salad (sunflower seed and broccoli) and peanut butter monster (m and m's) cookies. I also saw a show on Austin TX that explained those Migas tacos I told you about. They put crushed tortillas in the eggs.

Bombay Street Kitchen, Orange Blossom Trail

I tried this Indian restaurant on OBT in between Lancaster and Oak Ridge (across from an Army and Navy store) last night. It is from the Aashirwad/Tamarind people. I guess this is a less formal offering? The menu didn't seem too "street" to me. Most of the usual suspects. I'll have to premise my review with a caveat. I believe I ordered the one thing you shouldn't. I saw a few dishes on other tables and they looked pleasing. I had the tandoori pompano (whole fish with bones) for $20. I like that silvery sucker and I've never ventured that far down the tandoor rabbit hole. It was a box that needed checking. Thought it wouldn't work. I was right. Even if the fish is fresh, I think that kiln would dry out anything that delicate. This was dry, mushy and foul tasting. The rub really overpowered the fish. Very bitter. Not sure if I was supposed to take off the skin. It was slightly better with it off. The fish tasted a bit too fishy. I'll bet it was frozen. And old. A smaller pompano. It came with an afterthought garnish salad and lumpy basmati. Not sure plain basmati is a real match with tandoori fish. Not a great composition. Maybe some vegetables?  I'll take this chance to veer off on a food tangent. I saw a taste test on Cook's Country that American basmati sucks. It has to be aged for at least 9 months. We don't do that. Indian brands like Dawaat do. We now return you to your original broadcast. The menu is broken down into small plates (things you can find under appetizers on most menus), bigger plates (similar and a chicken tikka bao is maybe the one concession to diversity/street food), vegetarian curry, dakshin se (crepes, etc), non-veg curry, tandoor, biryani, bread and Chinese. Is there anything "street" or atypical there? Maybe the Chinese? The place looks nice. A box. High ceilings. Bar. Visible kitchen. Gray, black and orange colors. Cutlery and glassware and serving vessels were cool. Copper serving pots. Tapered, conical glassware (real). Open for five months. It seems to have garnered a reputation. The crowd looked like they drove into the neighborhood. I talked with one table (tourists) and they said that a friend who lives here told them to go there. And Open Table recommended them. I haven't checked the word on the net/street. It was getting fuller. Service was a bit understaffed. Nice though. No refills. Didn't wait long for service. They are open for lunch and dinner. Lunch stops at 3pm. Dinner starts at 5pm. Ample parking. I think you should give it a try. Just don't order the fish (actually use that as a rule of thumb in most non-seafood spots). Try something with the gunpowder spice mix. That is one of the street foody sounding things they do offer.

*Here are some oddities I saw on my last trip (notes to follow on that in next post): A salad creating machine called Sally and microwave pork rinds by Lowrey's Bacon Curls in a supermarket in East Grand Forks, MN. Folios' cheese wraps (like tortillas) and meat sticks by Steve's Smokey Acres in a supermarket in Bemidji, MN. Those sticks looked like skinny hot dog or undried jerky. Jellied Pot Roast Beef Loaf by Elliott's in a supermarket in Two Harbors MN. It was sliced liked bologna. And guacamole mixed with hummus by Holy Land something? Swiss Almond cheese spread in a supermarket in Bayfield WI. They had alot of wacky flavors. Odd restaurant stuff in the next post. In three days or so. Only one grub crawl left in the hopper.