We spent the night in Asheville at the lovely and Historic Grove Park Inn, ate dinner at the Sunset Terrace with John and Kelley to celebrate our anniversaries, before heading to Cashiers and a wonderful wedding we attended in Glenville, North Carolina. While walking the streets of Highlands, nary a mask was seen and, when we arrived in Nashville, it was packed and bustling with tourists, making the rounds up and down music joints and honky tonks on Broadway. When we tried to get a reservation for dinner (on a Monday night), we couldn’t get one until 9 p.m., way past my suppertime!

And when we stopped by Mammoth Caves, the largest cave in the world, on the way to our next stop in Louisville, the tours were totally sold out for the next week. Obviously, I didn’t plan ahead well enough, but I hadn’t gotten the memo that the world was open and ready for business! We toured another, commercial cave (Diamond Caverns) and I felt lucky that we were able to get tickets for the Kentucky Derby Museum and the Behind the Scenes Tour the next day.

We went straight to the bar in the lovely and historic Brown Hotel for a drink. The bartender there was totally underwater, his fourth day on the job, one bartender short and trying to split a check between three guys. We finally sat down and ordered a drink. I got a Bourbon Mule, because if there’s one thing Kentucky is synonomous with it’s bourbon. It was cool and refreshing, just what I needed after a long day in the car. We put our names on the list for dinner in the Brown, but didn’t sit down until 9 p.m. again!

We split the Hot Brown sandwich, a dish associated with Louisville and invented in The Brown Hotel. It’s an open faced turkey sandwich, served on toast points with Mornay sauce, bacon, tomato and cheese and it was as decandent and delicious as it sounds.

The next morning, just driving up to Churchill Downs was a thrill and the Behind the Scenes tour was really wonderful. Some of it was outside, by the paddocks, but the other part was inside the stadium, in different areas. I was surprised when our guide instructed us to enter the elevator to the second floor. About twenty of us were crammed into a large elevator, shoulder to shoulder. I looked in my purse for a mask, but didn’t find one, so tried to hold my breathe on the ride up. After staying six feet away from my fellow man for more than a year, this sudden togetherness, with us all breathing the same air in a small enclosed space was like going from 0 to 60 with no warning. I tried not to over-think it, but it felt strange, to say the least. I felt a minor panic attack coming on, but I lived through it.

We left the Kentucky Derby Museum to eat at Biscuit Belly, with biscuits the size of a small baby. In fact, I kept wanting to call it Biscuit Baby. If there was one theme to our Road Trip, a food I saw over and over again, it was Biscuits and Gravy. Zeke got the favorite- Rockwell Supreme with sausage gravy, fried chicken breast, bacon and a fried egg. I got the more petite Mama’s Boy with fried green tomato, fried chicken breast, jalapeno pimento cheese and pickles. Both were delicious! Then it was time for our tour at Four Roses Bourbon Distillery.

I checked many Bourbon Distilleries on the Bourbon Trail to make a reservation, but they were all booked! Probably the only reason we were able to get a tour at Four Roses was because it was Four Roses’ first day of tours since COVID. Four Roses is located in Lawrenceburg, about an hour away from Louisville, in the same town as Wild Turkey. We did the tour, had a bourbon tasting and I checked one distillery off my Bourbon Trail passport (with 36 to go!). Dessert was Derby Pie in our hotel lobby, the official pie of the Kentucky Derby. It’s made with semi-sweet chocolate, walnuts and bourbon and we had it served a la mode. Delicious!

The final food destination I had to make was Skyline Chili, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. This also allowed me to check another state off my list. I’m down to two- Rhode Island and Alaska. We first visited the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati (very cool!), then went to Skyline Chili in Clifton, the oldest one still existing. While I’d heard about Cincinnati Chili for years, I’d never eaten it, so was really looking forward to it.

Skyline is a chain of Cincinnati-style chili that was started by a Greek Immigrant and named for the view of the Cincinnati skyline seen from the original restaurant. The Skyline Diner is just a straight up, old school diner, with stools and booths and cooks in the middle, lining up hot dogs and topping them with chili and mounds of grated cheese, like a factory. There were oyster crackers and hot sauce on the table, as our waitress handed us laminated menus. Obviously the thing to get was the chili, but it came different ways- 3-way, 4-way and 5-way.

I ordered a small 5 way, which was the signature dish 3-way of “steaming spaghetti, covered with the chili and topped with a mound of shredded cheddar cheese”- plus diced onions and beans. I was disappointed in this dish; I’m not a fan of the dish other people rave about. First of all, the spaghetti wasn’t steaming, it was cold, the chili tasted bland, sweet (from cinnamon and chocolate) and watery, there was a lot of cheese and not many diced onions.

After a couple bites, I added the oyster crackers and hot sauce to the dish to try and liven it up. It helped a bit, but really I felt those 450 calories could have been spent on something that actually tasted good. The Peppermint Patty, at the cashier register, was the highlight of this meal for me. I know people from Cincinnati love this stuff, so maybe you have to have been raised on it. As a Miami Girl, I’ll take a toasty Media Noche, creamy croquettas or black beans and rice any day over this dish!

On the way back to Asheville from Ohio, we stopped in Corbin, Kentucky to see the Original Kentucky Fried Chicken location. Unfortunately the museum was closed (thanks, COVID!) but it was still fun to take a little side trip to the birthplace of Finger-Lickin’ Good Chicken. Needless to say, I didn’t need to eat any more fried chicken on this trip, so we stopped, got a bottle of water and were back on the road.

In conclusion, in case you’re planning a Road Trip to any of these locations:

• Best Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes Pucketts in Nashville
• Best Lunch: The Burger at Bridge at Mill Creek , Highlands, North Carolina
• Best Dinner: Smoked Pork Shank with cilantro microgreens, peanuts, sorghum-chili glaze and lime on cheese grits at Deacon’s New South, Nashville
• Best Drink: The Bourbon Mule, The Brown Hotel Bar, Louisville
• Best Dessert: The Derby Pie, The Brown Hotel, Louisville
• Best Old School Dish: The Hot Brown, The Brown Hotel, Louisville
• Most Outrageous Meal: The Rockewell Supreme, Biscuit Belly, Louisville
• Most Disappointing Meal: The 5-way Chili at Skyline Chili, Cincinnati

Up Next: Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

“That’s the story of every marriage,” I said to Zeke, who was driving, as I navigated.

“Maybe if Bill had compromised more, you’d still be married,” he said.

Who knows?

My first marriage wasn’t as much a Democracy as a Dictatorship (and not a benevolent one) with my husband in charge. After 17 long years, I defected. I will be married to Zeke 17 years next year (God willing) and, so far, so good. At 60, I’ve now been married more than half my life.

Compromise and negotiations are essential in every marriage, which can sometimes make it seem more like a business deal than a merging of two hearts, but these are necessary skills for any successful relationship; I would argue that marriage is the most important relationship in life and finding the right partner is essential. You’ve got to find your groove, however, and sometimes, it take time.

Take vacation, for example.

In normal (non-Pandemic) times, I like to wake up around 8, take my time getting up, stretch, drink my coffee in bed and write in my journal. Zeke wakes up earlier (like 6), goes to the gym and works out, comes back and showers. Sometimes he brings me coffee from the lobby or his walk. On this trip, however, most of the hotel gyms were closed and some of the places we stayed at weren’t safe to walk around, so Zeke would wake up early, then pace around our room like a caged tiger on steroids. It was rather stressful to have someone awake, fully dressed and ready to go, as I lay in bed, still in my nightgown and trying to wake up. Plus, I need “alone” time to do my own thing; consequently I hardly got any writing done.

We arrived in Annapolis at lunchtime, after spending a day and night in Baltimore, Maryland. I’d heard Baltimore was a fun city, with a great Foodie scene, lots of history and great architecture. It’s also home to Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, baseball compound Camden Yards and master of Macabre Edgar Allen Poe’s hometown and final resting place.

We’d stopped first at Faidley’s, world renowned as the place to get the best Crab Cakes in the World. They were awesome, but the neighborhood where Faidley’s was located left something to be desired. I flat-out refused to walk back around the block we’d walked to get there, so we found a back entrance to the parking garage and left. As we were driving to our hotel, we drove through more questionable neighborhoods, which prompted me to ask the Front Desk lady at our pretty B & B, the Carrolton Inn.

“Is this neighborhood safe?”

“When you walk out the front door, just go right,” she answered.

So we went right, to Little Italy, Fell’s Point and the Inner Harbor. We walked around for a couple hours, had raw oysters and a cold drink at the Thames Oyster Bar, then came home and changed for dinner at Gia’s in Little Italy. We had a lovely breakfast in the courtyard of the Carrollton Inn, our B & B, checked out and drove to Federal Hill to visit the park before we left. It was a perfect spot, high up above on a hill, where we could see all of Downtown Maryland. Our last stop was to Edgar Allen Poe’s Grave at Westminister Presbyterian Church and then we were on our way to Annapolis.

Unfortunately, as was the case in Harper’s Ferry, the Visitor’s Center in Annapolis was closed, which is how we found ourselves Wazing it to The Boatyard, recommended on Yelp as a good place for lunch. On our many Road Trips, Zeke is the driver and I am the navigator. The Boatyard, normally an inside bar/restaurant, got creative and turned their parking lot into a dining area. They laid down a ton of pebbles, put plastic tables and chairs out and decorated it with potted palms, under a big tent, with fans. Instead of “paving Paradise and putting up a parking lot”, they did the opposite.

We had an excellent lunch, with local fresh oysters (our favorites of the trip) and local beer. Zeke LOVED his crab cake sandwich and said the crab cake was comparable to Faidley’s, which is high praise. Since we had time to kill, we checked out St. John’s College, which was of course, closed but we walked around the campus. We then attempted to visit the U.S. Naval Academy, but got stopped at the guard gate by a no-nonsense military man demanding Zeke’s driver’s license and eyeing our rented minivan suspiciously. After he checked out our license plate (with an armed guard watching us), he dismissed us, telling us to come again “when this is all over.”

Our dinner at Preserve on the main street was very good. I got crab cakes served on a bed of sautéed corn, basil, basil oil and cherrby tomatoes, Zeke got a burger and we split a bottle of wine. As we walked across the bridge to check out the boats and marina in Annapolis, we attempted to walk around a swaggering, maskless guy on the street.

“You think I’ve got COVID?” he screamed at us. “Yeah, I’ve got COVID up my ass.”

We kept walking, avoiding a confrontation. I think alcohol may have been a factor in this guy’s extreme reaction. It was interesting to see how the different states handled the COVID situation. Most restaurants and hotels were very good about mask-wearing and social distancing, but out on the streets, it was every man for him/her selves, with about half of the people wearing masks and a lot of them not wearing them correctly. A mask on the hand is not worth two in the bush.

We had a great breakfast at The Iron Rooster in Annapolis and hit the road for St. Micheal’s, a city a friend had told me was a charming little Chesapeake Bay town where her brother had worked at a resort. As we made our way to St. Micheal’s, Waze directed us to: “Make a slight left on Harmony Road.” With my coffee in my drink holder and my notebook paper in my lap to write, it felt like we’d hit our vacation groove and Harmony Road.

“I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul. Where I’ll end up, I think God really knows.”

Cat Stevens

Up Next: Hamburger Pizza

• It Happened One Night Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert at the height of their popularity, I love this film about a runaway bride and a journalist on the road together.
• Vacation Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo star in this film. Any parents (and kids) who’ve ever taken a family vacation in a car can relate this journey to WalleyWorld.
• Almost Famous One of my favorite movies, I love the scene on the bus singing Tiny Dancer. Kate Hudson’s breakout role as Penny Lane, a charming groupie.
• Rain Man Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman star in this touching and funny movie about forging bonds as brothers.
• Easy Rider Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper wrote the script and starred in this film about two bikers who head from L.A. to New Orleans.
• Sideways Hysterically funny and sad, set in beautiful Napa Valley. Just don’t watch while drinking Merlot.
• Little Miss Sunshine An extremely dysfunctional but loving family, take a road trip in a VW Van to a Beauty Pageant.
• Thelma and Louise It doesn’t end well, but this movie was ground breaking in for its role as being one of the first female “Buddy” films.
• Stagecoach One of the first movies John Wayne starred in, directed by the legendary John Ford about a group of misfits on their way to New Mexico.
• Smokey in the Bandit Watch Sally Fields and Burt Reynolds (who were dating at the time) star in this Southern-fried flick, with Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T.
• Two for the Road This was my Film School Director’s favorite movie, with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney taking a trip to the South of France, with flashbacks to their troubled marriage.
• Motorcycle Diaries Dramatization of a trip around South America that a young Che Guevarra took and how it shaped his world views.

I always have a little cooler with me for Road Trips, where I keep my cheese sticks and fruit to snack on, and wine for when I arrive at my destination. Other snacks I like to carry: nuts, popcorn, dark chocolate and I always have my trusty water bottle, which I refill. It’s always fun to stop at a Local Farmer’s Market on the side of the road and get whatever fruit or nuts that are grown in the area. Pecan log anyone?

Stay safe and if you can’t go on a Road Trip, watch one!

What could we have done differently to prevent this whole fiasco? Plenty, methinks. I have heard so many people who THINK they already had the virus in January or February, even though they weren’t tested, because it was before COVID was a news item. Is this paranoia common in 2020? Or is it justified? I also know of a lot of people, who have suddenly decided to move from their house, city, state, job, you name it. The self-reflection forced upon us in Pandemic quarantine has brought plenty of radical changes.

My favorite neighbor Maggie has moved to Coconut Grove. I’m happy for her as she embarks on this new chapter of her life, but I will miss her. I didn’t get a chance to really say goodbye, since I’m down (up?) in the Keys. Not that I could’ve hugged her, at any rate. And after being in the Keys alone for so long, I’ve started to veer into a weird territory- growing scallion ends and succulents, researching recipes for pickled watermelon rind and taking photos of mushrooms growing in my condo development to see if they’re edible. If the Pandemic doesn’t get me, the mushrooms may.

And Wyatt’s gone for a week, so I miss him.

It seems people are divided in our country on many fronts. One example is the working vs. not working camps; this even comes into play in my own family. My son Christopher is a welder in Tallahassee, his wife Courtney a Labor and Delivery Nurse in a hospital. When I Face Timed with them last week, Christopher told me he only worked 25 hours the week before. Courtney, on the other hand, is working more than ever. Her hospital has always been understaffed, but added to that now is people out sick with COVID or awaiting results from COVID, and they’re severely understaffed. She’s working her a** off and she’s pregnant! My son wants more work, but it’s not there. The situation is frustrating and it seems, no one’s happy.

My friend Katy is a server at Disney World and was one of the “lucky” ones hired back recently. But instead of her normal 6 hour shifts, on different days, she now has 12 hour shifts, four days in a row. And she has to wear, not only a mask, but a plastic face shield while serving Disney diners- she’s on her feet all day and she’s my age (60). Not easy! But when the 7000 Disney employees who got hired back complained about the working conditions in an online chat group, the 12,000 who haven’t been hired back said: “Stop complaining. At least you have a job!” And the $600 a week unemployment boost by the government, to help citizens in the Pandemic, ends at the end of this month.

Apparently, lingerie sales are up 50% in the Pandemic. Not in this household. Mumus and yoga clothes are still in steady rotation. We’ve been looking into buying a boat this summer (a dream of ours for a while), but apparently they’re a hot commodity right now, since everyone wants to be out on the water, socially distancing. Since being in the Keys for a month straight, I’ve started noticing things here that need to be fixed/organized/replaced, so I’ve made some Amazon purchases, delivered to the Keys. All my kitchen appliances are original, from the 90’s, so I’m thinking about replacing them, especially my Hotpoint microwave, which I feel must have been a prototype for microwaves. There’s no turntable that spins and when I put my coffee in to heat it up, the mug comes out hot, the coffee cold, so besides being ineffective, I worry about getting zapped with radioactive waves.

At home, our roof is still not fixed, but they have found the leak, thank God. The deck guy I got to install our deck was cheaper than the rest (originally), but he underestimated the size of the deck, so I had to pay him $2000 more. And when the contractor pulled up the deck, they found he had screwed the faux wood panels into the roof, which caused our roof to leak, so my “cheap” deck is going to end up costing me a fortune. Lesson learned.

My week of meals down in the Keys ended up being (at least somewhat) the way I envisioned them. Monday I made shrimp ceviche, a Cotsco recipe (Ceviche Salad with Avocado, Cilantro and Green Chile) since I had all the ingredients already. I wanted to give a little oomph, so mixed a simple mashed avocado sauce to put on top, along with sriracha (for color and heat). I also wanted a little crunch to my salad, so heated a flour tortilla in the cast iron skillet to go with it and sliced it into wedges. Yummy and pretty healthy.

Tuesday, I stuck with my normal Num Thai take-out, with an order of crispy duck and stuffed tuna. I’d read about the stuffed tuna on Yelp. It’s basically a slice of ahi tuna wrapped around crabmeat tossed in spicy mayo and it was as good as Yelped about. I fufilled my fantasy of grilled teriyaki chicken and corn on Thursday night. Zeke always accuses me of trying to “man his grill”, so this was my chance to man it myself. It turned out fantastic, but prefer boiled corn to grilled, even with the wasabi butter I slathered it with, to keep with the Asian theme.

On Wednesday, I made a Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Muenster cheese, guava preserves and arugula, on fresh rye bread. My Mom always used Muenster cheese for making grilled cheese sandwiches when I was growing up; it melts perfectly. The secret to getting a golden crust on the sandwich was spreading mayo on the bread (neat trick!); the preserves and arugula took it from a Ho Hum grilled cheese to Heck, yea! I served it with some quinoa bean salad my neighbor in the Key’s had dropped off for me. It was an easy, comforting dinner.

I also made Key Lime Bars with Vanilla Wafer Crust (a NYT Food recipe), just because I felt like it. It was basically a Key Lime Pie in bar form, but the vanilla wafer crust was kind of genius. It made the crust crunchier, and unlike the crumbly, graham cracker crust with a hint of cinnamon, focuses the palate on the intense Key Lime filling. Zeke loved them.

While I’ve been hunkered down in the Keys, Zeke has been in Miami whipping up gourmet meals for Rachel and, sometimes, Lauren. When I complained that he never whipped up these creative (or basically any) meals for me, he came down to the Keys equipped with a very fancy Coquille St. Jacques recipe (Ina Garten). He sautéed shallots with brandy and cream; it smelled heavenly. Best of all, this scallop recipe can be made ahead, stored in the fridge and baked later, which is what we did. He served it with rice and it was delicious. Saturday night, Zeke grilled a stuffed pork chop and served it with a Dijon, maple sauce. I made roasted Brussel Sprouts with balsamic vinegar to go with it. Both meals were winners and much appreciated.

We ate lunch at Mrs. Mac’s on Friday, which felt like Saturday all day because Zeke came down on Thursday. We sat outside (of course) and each got a cup of their Conch Chowder and split the Superfish Sandwich with onion rings. It came with grilled yellowtail snapper, sliced tomato, Swiss cheese and 1000 island dressing, on grilled whole wheat bread. It was really good and the service is always attentive and friendly at Mrs. Mac’s, a true local gem.

I can’t really complain about being quarantined in the Keys, as I’ve always wanted to seclude myself here and just write. Now I have the perfect excuse. I’ve been walking every day, reading a Travis McGee murder mystery (Bright Orange For the Shroud) and watching Chef’s Table, the ABC Murders and Clueless (25 year anniversary) on T.V. I’d like to paddleboard but I’m deathly afraid of sharks. I realize the chance of me getting bit by a shark is one in 3.75 million, but I feel like if it was ever going to happen, this would be the year. And Natalie Wood was deathly afraid of drowning, and you know how that ended.

I’m lucky I have a pool to swim in, as it seems to be the most desirable home luxury to have this summer. I was reading an article on The Skimm about how “Inflatable Pools are the Official Symbol of America’s Lost Summer.” The article said, about people ordering inflatable pools, if this Summer has a theme it would be: “It’s Better Than Nothing.” People are making do, doing without, realizing this might be as good as it gets, especially since Americans are allowed to travel like, nowhere. The article ended with “It’s 2020. Take a nice dip in all of your abandoned dreams.”

I’d been planning a Road Trip to visit my Mom’s condo in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with my Mom, A.J. and Wyatt. We were going to drive there, fly back, but after knowing a couple people who got, or were exposed to COVID on flights, I really didn’t think it was the right time to be flying. Especially with my eighty-something year old mom. And, Zeke and I were going to fly up to D.C. with Lauren to get her set up in her apartment to start Georgetown Law School in August, but now we’ve decided to drive instead. After dropping Lauren off, Zeke and I are going to knock off three more states on my Bucket List- West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

The expression “There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s a grisly little saying and while I have no desire to skin a cat, it’s just kind of been my theme for 2020. Because if this year has taught us anything, it’s how to pivot on a dime. If you can’t go on an Alaskan cruise this summer (like I was supposed to), vacay in the Keys, if you don’t have a pool at home, buy an inflatable one, if you can’t fly somewhere, drive and, if you don’t have a boat, paddleboard instead. Just watch out for sharks!

We’re gonna need a bigger boat!

Brody (aka Roy Schneider) in Jaws.

Up Next: Key West Food Tour Seafood Lover’s Tour and Best Melting Cheeses.

And it seems Florida, particularly Miami, is back to square one in controlling the Coronavirus Pandemic, which is rushing through our state like a wildfire, with no end in sight. It’s hit a bit too close to home for me, so I’ve decided to quarantine in Key Largo, for the time being. Even though COVID cases in the Keys rose exponentially since they opened to non-residents, it’s still a lot less cases than Miami, where the positivity rate last week was 28%! We’re currently the epicenter of the United States for coronavirus cases. Also, hospital ICU’s in Miami are getting filled to capacity and coronavirus deaths are reaching an all time high in our state. Unbearably sad, especially if it was preventable.

Remember in the beginning when everything shut down, it seemed so scary and weird and unbelievable? We all wandered around like zombies in a bad B movie, wondering what was true, what was false and, most importantly, how long it would last. And now, four months later, everything seems worse than ever; it feels like those months of hunkering down, quarantining and sacrifice were for naught. Like, why did we do all that then, if we’re back here now? Getting tested is a Herculean effort and test results take from 5 to 7 business days, making contact tracing a joke. It’s depressing, that’s for sure.

Zeke and I went to Key West to celebrate his birthday and ate most of our meals out. This didn’t really feel too dangerous, since we mostly ate outside, but about half the people walking down Duval didn’t have masks, even though they were mandated. Mandating mask-wearing without enforcement seems a futile effort. In Steamboat Springs, where my Mom has a condo, they slap you with a $5000 fine for not wearing a mask. I think if they have police officers stationed at the beginning and end of Duval, handing out $1000 fines to non-maskers, most people would re-think their constitutional rights to be mask-less.

The first place we hit in Key West was Pepe’s for Happy Hour. We’d heard they had great deals on drinks and raw oysters (1/2 off), so we got a dozen each. The large, briny oysters came with Pepe’s sauce in oyster shells, that was more chunky salsa than cocktail sauce, with saltines, horseradish and lime wedges. I liked the sauce (they also had 4 hot sauces on the table), the oysters were delicious and Pepe’s atmosphere is funky and fun with good service. My margarita with fresh lime juice was fine, but I’ve yet to find a great margarita in the Florida Keys. The best one I ever had was at Bumby’s, now closed. I could write a book on my quest for a decent margarita in the Keys, but I digress.

Pepe’s Cafe Happy Hour 4-6 p.m. Fresh Margaritas Baked and Raw oysters on the 1/2 shell 806 Caroline Street

From there we made the short walk to A & B Lobster House in the Historic Seaport section. We’d made reservations to sit outside, but it was so bloody hot, we requested to sit inside and were accommodated. A & B reminds me kind of Joe’s Stone Crab, with white table cloths, dark wood paneling, terrazzo floors and seasoned waiters. If you sit by the window, or outside, there’s a lovely view of the water (try to go at sunset) and they have a cool, retro bar (Berlin’s) that was empty. Our waiter made some recommendations for appetizers and entrees, as well giving us his opinion on shutting down the Keys to tourists (he was against it). We got one appetizer and entree, split them both with a bottle of wine and some of their excellent warm, sourdough bread. We got the Lobster and Escargot appetizer and the Grouper Oscar, which has been on the menu since they opened in 1947. They split the entree in the kitchen for us ($6 extra), so it looked pretty and came with extra crabmeat. We loved our meal here.

A & B Lobster House Recommended Dishes: Maine Lobster and Escargot with Puff Pastry, Grouper Oscar 700 Front Street

I skipped breakfast the next day (Zeke got an almond croissant) to leave room for our Key West Food Company Seafood Lover’s Tour, which I will write about later because we made 6 stops! For appetizers, we considered going to Pepe’s again, but decided to try Alonzos Oyster Bar, located underneath A & B Lobster House, on the seaport. We walked in (with masks), sat outside, by the water and incoming boats.

Alonzo’s Oyster Bar is a perfect place to people watch- families walking around the seaport, water sports boats coming in and going out with passengers, and luxurious mega yachts docking with their guests and staff. We ordered a dozen Bluepoint oysters, one of my favorites, which were $2 each on Happy Hour. They were smaller than the oysters at Pepe’s, with a briny, satiny and mild flavor and came with cocktail and mignonette sauce. Their motto is “Fresh as Shuck” and they feature fresh oysters every day. Our waitress was excellent; I highly recommend Alonzo’s Oyster Bar, located on the A & B Marina.

Alonzo’s Oyster Bar Happy Hour 4 – 6:30 p.m. 1/2 off Well Drinks, Beer and Wine by the Glass Tapas Style Appetizers 700 Front Street

We wanted to leave room for dinner, because we were going to 915, a place Zeke had been dying to try for dinner. I’d eaten there before, last year, and while I’d enjoyed the food, the server had been pushy and a bit rude. This time, however, we couldn’t have asked for a more accommodating server (I think he was Australian), who was more than happy to offer recommendations. “I’ll tell you what my favorites are and then, what our most popular dishes are,” he said as we perused the menu with our white wine in hand. As we paused to reflect on what to get with puzzled faces, our waiter said “It’s hard, isn’t it?” Sitting on Duval street, on the porch of a restaurant housed in a quaint house, drinking cold Pinot Gris- not so hard, actually.

Zeke wanted to try the Whole fried Snapper with Thai sauce, that had been recommended by our Seafood Tour Guide that day. I got Mama’s Seafood Soup, a spicy Thai green curry broth, filled with seafood and complex flavors. We split the Ahi Tuna Gravlax appetizer, which is their best selling appetizer. It was thinly sliced tuna in a soy vinaigrette with saffron aioli, sliced jalapeños, radishes and micro greens. It was light, refreshing, full of flavor and texture. We both agreed we loved our meal at 915, wouldn’t have changed at thing and if I went back tomorrow, I’d order the same thing again.

915 Recommended Dishes: Carmelized Brussel Sprouts, Ahi Tuna Gravlax, Homemade Pastas Whole Yellowtail Snapper with Thai sauce, Soul Mama Seafood Soup 915 Duval Street

For breakfast the next morning, we tried Banana Cafe, which was super close to our hotel. I’d eaten there for dinner before, at the Key West Literary Festival Seminar (theme was Food), but they were overwhelmed that night and our food took forever, so it wasn’t a great first impression. I love the French, retro vibe of this place (think Josephine Baker in the 20’s), the lime green walls and staircase with words painted on it, leading upstairs.

We sat at a table near an open screened window and checked out the menu. Our French waitress recommended any of the crepes, since the owner is French, which is exactly what I got. The Inside Out Crepe had eggs, ham, Swiss cheese, carmelized onions and a Key lime hollandaise. It was folded into a rectangle, topped with hollandaise and sprinkled with parsley; the crepe had layers of flavor, with the sweet carmelized onions, salty ham, fluffy crepe and tart hollandaise. It was really good. Zeke got the Belgian Waffle with Bananas, and liked it. The crepes come sweet or savory, the coffee in heavy mugs, the atmosphere relaxed and fun; I loved this spot for breakfast.

Banana Cafe Recommended Dishes: Crepes, Quiches, Belgian Waffle with Bananas 1215 Duval Street

We’d done a bike ride around Key West that morning (a great way to see the island) but I almost passed out from the heat, so when we were in the middle of Duval Street at lunchtime, we went to First Flight instead of original plan of Louie’s Backyard for lunch. First Flight is a cute airline-themed restaurant that’s part of a restaurant group that includes 915 (where we’d eaten the night before) and Bagatelle. It’s located in the old Pan American Airlines headquarters (hence the theme) and used to be Kelly’s restaurant, owned by actress Kelly McGillis, who was married to the mayor of Key West, back in the ’90’s.

It’s now a Brewery and restaurant, piloted by executive chef Brendan Orr, who’s also the chef at 915 and was a sous chef at Louies’s Backyard. They brew the beer, with names like Maverick IPA, Havana Red and Main Squeeze, right on sight. We sat out in an open courtyard and I ordered a flight of beers, which came with three little beers and some oyster crackers. Zeke got his normal order of “the lightest beer you have” and we enjoyed escaping the heat in the garden setting. My Ahi Tuna Poke was very good (although I would’ve like some seaweed salad) and came with crispy won ton chips. Zeke got the Fish Bites Platter, which was tempura battered (tasted like a beer batter) Grouper Cheeks that came a lemon caper tater sauce and red beans and rice. They were golden brown and crunchy on the outside, white and flaky fish on the inside.

First Flight Recommended Dishes: Ahi Tuna Poke, Fish Bites Platter, Beer Happy Hour 4 -6 Deals on Beer, Wine and Food 301 Whitehead Street

We went to Louie’s Backyard for dinner that night, but had to sit inside due to making the reservation so late. I really prefer eating there for lunch outside where you get the beautiful water view, but c’est la vie. Usually, when we try new places on vacation, there are a couple clunkers in the bunch, but not on this trip. Next time, however, I would do the bike ride early (like 7 am) and have breakfast after. I feel the blood rushing to my stomach to digest my crepe, and extreme heat caused me to get light headed and almost eat it in the middle of Key West. Also, June is probably not the best time to visit Key West, FYI. We were just so desperate to get away…

No Name Pub

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention No Name Pub, located in Big Pine Key. We’ve talked about stopping here for a while, but it’s definitely off the beaten path. When you arrive, there’s actually a sign saying “You Found It”. We stopped on the way to Key West for a drink and on the way out for a drink and pizza. The inside is super funky, with neon signs, colored lights and dollar bills stapled to everything, but we opted to sit outside, under a huge chickee hut, built after Hurricane Irma. I had a Red Stripe, Zeke something on draft and we got the Shrimp and Ricotta Pizza, which the waiter recommended. It was delicious- lots of pink Key West Shrimp, creamy ricotta, sliced tomato and spinach smothered in Mozzarella cheese; we had enough leftover to take home. My only complaint is they need to carry our favorite beers from the Florida Keys Brewing Company– Iguana Bait (Zeke) and Spearfish Amber (me). It’s definitely worth a trip out of the way to No Name Pub and you might see some Key deer on the way.

No Name Pub Recommended Dishes: Shrimp and Ricotta Pizza 30813 Watson Boulevard, Big Pine Key

Good News! Niven Patel of Miami’s funky, fresh, Indian restaurant Ghee was named one of Food and Wines Best New Chefs. Unfortunately his restaurant isn’t open for dine-in now (thanks, coronavirus!) but you can get take-out and delivery by Uber Eats. July is National Ice Cream Month, first started in 1984 by Ronald Reagan and some Ice Cream Shops are offering deals. Carvel has buy one get one free Sundaes on Wednesdays in July and Carvel has $1 off any size dipped cones.

Bad News: Starbucks is closing 400 locations over the next 18 months and Dunkin’ Donuts is closing 450 locations by the end of 2020. Neither one of these affects me much, as I don’t go to Starbucks very often and even less to Dunkin’. Plus, the Dunkin’ Donuts being closed are in Speedway Gas Stations and, as a normal rule, I try to avoid eating in gas stations. Fumes and food don’t mix.

Well, toilet paper and flour are back on the shelves, but now it’s impossible to find Clorox wipes, 409 and Fantastic. “I guess people realized it’s not toilet paper we need, but cleaning supplies!” Zeke noted. Yep, now that we can venture out, we need to spray the hell out of surfaces when we return from Germ-City (aka Miami). Although, the way it’s going, we might be forced back into our holes in the near future, so you may want to stock up on TP.

As for me, I’ve been on an egg kick lately. Every day for breakfast I’ve been eating eggs. I think it’s important to listen to what our bodies tell us and lately it’s been telling me it wants protein, protein, protein! It’s also telling me it wants pasta and noodles, greens, healthy fats like avocado and nuts, along with the occasional bowl of Tahitian Vanilla gelato, so there’s a lot going on in my old bod. To keep it in check, I’m walking every day, but now in the Keys. Besides the obvious exercise and mental health benefits, I think the fresh air and sunlight does a body good. Vitamin D people!

And watching the sunset over the tranquil bay in Key Largo is not a bad way to quarantine. But Miami! I feel so bad, but I am planning a couple road trips to get the heck out of Magic City. These days, we’re light on the magic, heavy on the “you know what”. Stay safe out there and keep eating good food (even if you have to make it yourself!)

Up Next: Key West Food Tour and Mango Mania.