Naples Pier

Ayk and I headed to the Naples Pier after the zoo. We would have checked out the animals longer, but there was a wedding there that evening. Look, I love animals too, but zoos smell foul. Who gets a whiff of sulfurous swamps and wildebeest dung, and thinks “Now THAT’S what I want wafting through the air while reciting vows.” What a romantic.

The beach was too chilly for swimming, but that didn’t stop us from dipping our toes in the gulf. We stayed on the pier till twilight. People watching should always come with a sunset backdrop.

So long, sun.

Beaches to the left

Beaches to the right

Dutch fisherman (Ayk swears he was Serbian) was kind enough to let me document his fish-gutting process.

It has teeth!

Expert gutter

Open wide

Looking back to the beach

Awkward nighttime flash

“Don’t touch it! It’s an electric eel!” the kid said as the fisherman reeled in his catch. Shocker: this guy wasn't giving off any hertz (baazing!).

Now it’s bait.

Sunset on the pier
 

Playing with perspective

For dinner, Ayk and I went to Café Barcelona. The only reason I’m mentioning this restaurant – not for the forgettable tapas – is because a Big Boyz Bail Bonds pen, ubiquitous in Baltimore restaurants, found its way to Naples. We asked the server, and she wasn’t sure where the pen came from. Guess someone wanted to share a bit of Baltimore with the Sunshine State.

Savannah

Savannah

Savannah, our last major stop before heading back to Baltimore, was a rather bitter-sweet visit. After this, our trip was almost over and we'd have to return to unemployment.  The only joyous part of waking up that morning was leaving behind the malodorous stench from the nearby paper factory.

River Street

Walking along River Street was a pretty area, but there weren't that many sites to see, other than a few souvenir shops. There were a lot of bars, which were sadly not opened before noon. Pfht. This country.

Wiley's Championship BBQ

Unfamiliar with Savannah's local cuisine, we went to Trip Advisor for some suggestions. The top ranked restaurant was Wiley's. Trust us when we say that they deserve that title.

Our server, Wiley's wife, recommended we started off with the onion rings, which are probably the best either of us has had. 

Between the two of us, we split a sample platter. It was so filling that it was the only meal we had for the day. The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender, the pulled-pork was the best I've ever had. I could write a sonnet about how good that pork was. Juicy but not soggy, meaty but not tough; it was every meat-lover's paradise. They even had some smoky and tasty brisket, which almost rivals some Texas barbeque. It went perfectly with their house black pepper based hot sauce.  Even the sweet potato sides and the baked beans were phenomenal.

We finished the meal with a super creamy and yummy peanut butter pie. What a sweet send-off.

We came in at 11 AM. It was packed by the time we left.

Chippewa Square

Our favorite site in Savannah was Chippewa Square. This is where Forrest Gump was sitting on a bench narrating his own journey. How apropos for our last site to see.

Magnolias and Spanish moss

This is right where Forrest was sitting. We're not sure what happened to the bench.

This wasn't the bench, but we figured we'd try to recreate anyway. Now if only we could find a floating feather.

Key West: Sunset

Sunset at Mallory Square

Everyone who has ever been to Key West says watching the sunset at Mallory Square is the thing to do.  Though I’m not sure it’s what the locals do, it does draw a massive crowd.  Thousands of tourists pack themselves into the tiny pier to see street performers, buy kitschy artwork and jewelry, eat street food and – of course – watch the sun sink into the Gulf of Mexico.

Think of it as where the Venice Beach frequenters go for vacation when they retire; just replace Sublime with Jimmy Buffet, weed with booze, and skateboarders with tightrope walkers. It’s definitely not our scene, but we got a kick out of watching the patrons as much as the street performers.

One man's trash is another's way to sell overpriced trash to tourists. 

Ayk took this picture and it is possibly one of the best from the entire trip.

It took us at least 5 tries and 4 different locations for us to get this picture right.  I had to swerve in and out of the densely packed crowd, dragging Ayk behind me, to find the best spot.  I might have gotten a few dirty looks, but at least my persistence paid off.  This is one of my favorite pictures of us from the trip.

Some religious nut making Glenn Beck look almost sane.

Captivating an audience of two.

Key West: Daytime

With all the driving we did in freezing temperatures, we wanted to treat ourselves to some tropical weather.  Such a shame Ft. Lauderdale was a chilly 70 degrees.  We decided to take the nearly 5-hour trip to balmy and beautiful Key West.

Food: Savory, Spicy and Sweet

It was lunchtime when we arrived in Key West.  We went to Garbo’s Grille, a one-woman operated food cart that sells some pretty awesome fish tacos.  Heidi, the owner, gave us some helpful sightseeing suggestions for tourists our age.  I added the age qualifier, as most of the winter-time visitors were retirees stopping by on cruise ships.

Garbo's hours of operation.  This is livin'.

Lunch al fresco.

Heidi Garbo, owner and chef and refugee from cold Connecticut.

Fish taco burrito made with mahi mahi.

The best part about Garbo’s Grille?  Location, location location.  Directly across the street is Peppers of Key West, a hot sauce store that will let you sample different hot sauces on your yummy fish taco burrito.  They feature some sauces made in house, but they have a wider variety of sauces from other companies.

As much as we love hot sauce, we needed to cool down our mouths with the island’s famous Key Lime Pie.  Here it’s served frozen on a stick and dipped in chocolate, unlike the slices on a plate I’ve had on the mainland.  Sadly, most of the pie-on-a-stick businesses have closed.  The Key West Key Lime Pie Factory, the only one that’s still open, seems to have a bit of a monopoly on the island.  Nevertheless, it was still delicious, but could’ve had a touch more lime.

Sightseeing

Apparently the best way to see the island is to rent a bike.  Embarrassing confession: I only learned how to ride a bike at the ripe age of 20 and I haven’t gotten back on a bike since.  Yes, laugh all you want, but at least I don't have gruesome scars from falling on asphalt.  Feeling rather dubious of my skills, we decided to drive around instead.

 The Southernmost Point in the Continental US.  I felt the need to clarify since I unwittingly covered most of the buoy.

90 miles to Cuba (not pictured).

I guess we could have seen the island this way. 

The beginning of US Route 1

Feral chickens run rampant on the island.  One of our servers told us that if you kick a chicken, they'll put you in jail; if you hit a homeless person with your car, you'll get a fine.   He was exaggerating, clearly, but I wouldn't put that logic past most vegetarians.

Apparently the only way to deal with the wild chickens is to get a cat -- preferably not a lazy one like this.