Attention South Florida Dopers: I will be in your lovely neck of the woods for a week, starting next Wednesday (wasn’t it nice of my cousin to get married in January? I sure thought so!), and although I’ve been in your lovely neck of the woods on several occasions, I’m sure I’ve missed some of what your lovely neck of the woods has to offer.
Obviously, I’ll be doing a lot of family stuff, but I’m also going to hang out with my oldest childhood friends, who live in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. They’ve lived there for a while, but aren’t natives either, so I’m sure they’re up for trying new things. So what are your recommendations for:
Best Cuban restaurant (hole-in-the-wall storefront category; the more authentic, the better. Bonus if it’s the kind of place where nobody speaks English unless you beg, although I’m told this shouldn’t be a problem.) And what should we order?
Best Cuban restaurant; somewhat nicer than hole-in-the-wall category, but not hideously expensive.
Best slice of Latin culture other than a restaurant (live music, anyone?)
Best overlooked, deserted beach, preferably in the Keys (I have this fantasy about sitting on a deserted beach with my guitar and a key lime pie)
Best spot in the Keys to relax and veg out
Best place to experience local culture, however you want to define that
Best decadent seafood place
Best hole-in-the wall, yummy but inexpensive seafood place, the kind where you can eat barefoot and toss your shrimp shells in the sand/water
Best place to hear live music, preferably outdoors and/or little to no cigarette smoke
Best places to stay the hell away from clueless tourists (except French-Canadian snowbirds; I find them hilarious. They seem to annoy the natives, but they never bothered me. I like trying to brush up on the bizarre spin on my minimal French.)
Any other suggestions for fun and/or unusual things to do and places to visit? Kid-friendly ones are also appreciated, as one friend has a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old. (I’m not so big on typical touristy things like theme parks, though.)
There is this Cuban restaurant called Versailles that I think is pretty famous and I think it is good. It is modeled after soemthing and has lots of mirrors inside.
I recommend this Haitian restaurant called Tap-Tap. It is close to South Beach, kind of.
The whole Keys is pretty good for relaxing; it is an entirely different scene than South Beach. It is mostly bars. I like Sloppy Joes. while you are there, you should go to a gay bar.
I don’t know what else; it has been a while. Maybe I’ll remember something later.
I’ve only been here three and a half years, but here’s my take.
Versailles is the political center of gravity for the Cuban Mafia, oops, I mean Cuban Exile Community. The food is basically the same as the place across the street, La Carreta, and the one down the street, La Casita. They are owned by the same people. Havana Harry’s on LeJeune is reported to be more authentic without the name dropping. Here are some more Cuban places.
Decadent Seafood Places? Monty’s Stone Crabs, either on the Beach or Dinner Key, Coconut Grove.
Local Culture, that would take six months to cover. Of course Ocean Drive, South Beach for the freak show.
Some links from over here may help in the fun stuff category.
The beach at Fort Zachary, Key West has some quiet spots, out by the Fort itself. For Key Lime Pie, get it at the Blond Giraffe in Key West, or in Marathon, in a strip mall Oceanside.
Give us an e-mail, we may be able to get more info.
For your beach adventure, may I suggest you venture even further out into the keys, to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. I spent the day there once about 12 years ago, and aside from a few bored park rangers, we were the only ones there that day. What a beautiful and serene place on earth. A few years back, while living in Miami, my wife took her mother there via small seaplane.
Unfortunatley, she also brought her back. ::rimshot::
Anyway, I don’t think a day trip out there via seaplane is that expensive.
And, if you’re in KW, you absolutely must hang out one afternoon at Sloppy Joes!
The fast cats to Ft Jefferson is $95 per person. I’m sure a seaplane would be more. But for a deserted beach, camp out overnight there. Does not get much more deserted than after that boat leaves.
* I love all the keys.