The Square Grouper ~ And Other Fish Tails

July 26, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

Square Grouper 2014 07 09 - 0021 — The Square Grouper Logo, tagline ” my favorite joint”

The Square Grouper – highly desirable in some circles, very profitable and oops, illegal. A Square Grouper is a tongue-in-check name for the bales of marijuana that sometimes wash up on shore in the Keys after they have been dumped off drug running boats when authorities get too close. It is also the name of a lower keys restaurant and long time institution.

We were ready for a road trip and had heard about a great restaurant on Cudjoe Key, Mile 22.5 Oceanside, so one fine day we jumped in the car for a ride. Most Keys locations don’t have a regular address, they give their mile marker number as their address. Mile 100 is in Key Largo, the first key from the mainland and Mile 0 is in Key West. Since most keys are so skinny, getting the mile marker number and then “Oceanside” or “Bay/Gulf” side is enough description to find almost any place. It’s also a very convenient way to know how far away places are.

We pulled into a pretty non descript building and I was surprised when we got inside. People had touted The Square Grouper Bar and Grill as having an old keys feeling so I was expecting a somewhat run down or ramshackle type setting. Instead, the interior was sleek and modern. Maybe they were talking about the menu? Nope, delicious looking but trendy. Prices could be old keys – very reasonable for great food.

The industrial exterior conceals a surprisingly upscale and attractive interior

We were there for lunch and it was hard to decide what to order ~ so many dishes looked great, so we decided to only purchase appetizers so we could sample more options. We started off with Yellowfin Tuna and Avocado Eggrolls with a great dipping sauce. These were crispy and wonderful. We also scarfed down some yummy flash fried conch with a Ponzu sauce drizzled with wasabi. These were followed by Island Shrimp Cakes with a Banana Pepper Aioli sauce which were also fabulous.

Square Grouper 2014 07 09 - 0004 — Island Shrimp Cakes, Yellowfin Tuna and Avocado Eggrolls and flash fried Conch on right

White chocolate, toasted coconut, almond cheesecake, Oh My!

But the best part was dessert. They were serving a white chocolate, toasted coconut, almond cheese cake. I generally would never get dessert for lunch, I don’t even usually get dessert with dinner and I’ll almost never order cheesecake after growing up in New York where, in my opinion, they make the best cheesecake in the world. This looked to wonderful too pass up and boy am I glad I didn’t. Michael and I split a piece and it was dense and creamy like New York cheesecake plus it had all the wonderful additional flavors that blended really well. I’m still thinking about it days later …..

Just down the road, we stopped at Low Keys Fisheries, a seafood retail store, that was recommended to us. One of the surprises about Key West is how hard it is to buy fresh fish. All the restaurants have it, of course, but the grocery stores’ fish look pretty poor and so do the seafood markets. All I can figure is that so many people have boats and they catch fish for themselves so there isn’t a big market to purchase fresh fish. We asked around the charter boats but they don’t sell the fish they catch. Mr. Chapman’s brother, Eugene, catches a lot of fish and will sell his extra which is wonderful, but he mostly catches snapper so not much variety.

Low Key Fisheries is an exception (as long as you want to travel 20 miles to buy fish). The store had a nice variety of fish and everything looked great. We bought some Key West Pinks (shrimp) and some lovely looking Salmon. Chef Michael did his fish magic the next two nights and prepared feasts. I love having a personal chef!

The Locals Hideaway ~ Boca Chica Beach

July 24, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

Boca Chica beach is a place you would never find on your own. I’m guessing even a lot of locals don’t know about it (or if they do, they have never been there). Boca Chica key is a few islands up from Key West and you have to drive past it to Big Coppitt Key (mile marker 10.5) to turn onto Boca Chica Road which will lead you back, back, back to this secluded beach. You will finally get to the end of the road and the beach will be directly on your left and the Naval Air Station will be on your right. There are some good shade trees here, a few picnic tables and directly ahead the road is blocked off and then crumbles away. From here you can begin walking the shoreline.

"Beach Patrol" on the rocky shore — “Beach Patrol” on the rocky shore

Looking at a map, the road appears to go all along the shoreline, right up to US1 but it’s all washed away (by Hurricane Wilma, I’ve read). This is good news and “bad” news. The good news is not many people come to this beach. The “bad” news is if you want to explore this part of the island you do a lot of walking – sometimes even in the water on a pretty rocky shoreline, in some places, depending on the tide. It’s remote enough that dogs can be off leash and they can freely romp in the water and nose around the back woods. We’ve come here many times to give Mick the freedom he likes, Michael some good photo ops and all of us a chance to explore.

At low tide, there are a lot of tidal pools which can be fun to examine. There are also numerous trails that go into the woods and open onto marshes and small bodies of water. We’ve seen some great birds here and I’m sure this is a favorite migration stopover.

The Flip Flop Memorial. I love this, makes me smile every time I see it

Some of the really fun things you can discover are: the flip flop memorial – a portion of chain link fence with lots of discarded shoes attached; a beautiful structure of driftwood, rocks and found objects that look like a castle – with multiple rooms that have tables and beach chairs; and the shoreline path which goes right past the end of the Naval Station runway. We spent one morning watching someone learn how to maneuver a large helicopter. It was fascinating watching the person try to master hovering which has to be a lot harder that it looks from all the gyrations the ‘copter was going through. I’ve got a much deeper appreciation for the skills our pilots have to master.

For most of the time we’ve been here, there has been heavy reddish seaweed coating the shoreline but this is a seasonal thing and should be gone shortly, hopefully before we leave. You need to be watchful at all times because there are a lot of rocks, coral, trees, etc. to maneuver around. Usually we walk until we come to the first small channel that opens onto a salt marsh but this time we brought extra shoes so we could wade across and continue along the coastline.

I was surprised that the shallow water actually felt hot, very hot. Last Sunday, the beach was the busiest I’ve ever seen it – maybe 10 cars (!) and most of the way we were by ourselves. We saw a few people photographing birds and a couple of gentlemen fishing, but mostly it was a solitary, lovely walk along the beach.

Boca Chica beach is a slice of natural heaven.

Tantalizing Tapas ~ Santiago’s Bodega

July 21, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

Until this dinner, we haven’t been overly impressed with the food in Key West. I think Michael and I both came down with the expectation of finding lots of restaurants with fabulous food. We have eaten good food here but we have spent a fair amount of money in some places and didn’t think the quality of the food justified the high price. Santiago’s Bodega, a tapas style restaurant, exceeded all our expectations and can be rated a solid 10.

The beautiful full moon outside Santiago's Bodega — The beautiful full moon outside Santiago’s Bodega

Santiago’s Bodega is off the main drag, on Petronia Street, just past Mr. Chapman’s house. We had reservations for 9:30 PM because we were dining after our full moon sunset cruise. The restaurant was still hopping. As we were shown to our table, I could see great meals being delivered left and right. We had a lovely table in the corner so it was quite intimate and we could still see the bustle of the rest of the restaurant. Michael ordered a lovely bottle of wine and it was fairly priced for a change. Wine in Key West restaurants generally is very expensive. I know you will always pay more but often it’s 4 times what you could buy on your own which means you are paying $80 for a $20 bottle of wine!

The lovely interior of Santiago's Beodega — The lovely interior of Santiago’s Beodega

Alan, our server, was personable and guided us through the extensive menu. We decide on 6 dishes to share – Beef Tenderloin, mini rack of Lamb (encrusted with mustard, thyme and pecans), Shrimp and Chorizo, Spanakopita (Spinach, Feta and onion in Phyllo), a Scallop special and beef short ribs with a cherry hoisin glaze. EVERYTHING was wonderful and we had a hard time deciding what we liked best. Michael voted for the short ribs, I honestly couldn’t decide, I could just narrow it down to 4 items. I love that problem. Lighting in the restaurant was fairly dark so Michael was not able to snap any pictures of the food but, believe me, the plates looked as good as they tasted.

I’d love to go back to this restaurant again before we leave and the big question will be – should we try the other mouth watering items on the menu or enjoy the great dished we have already tasted? We’ll have to see …… I’m sure the short ribs at least, as we both loved them.

Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This ~ Moonrise/Sunset Sailing

July 18, 2014 by Candi Licence 4 Comments

At the Pier House one evening, we watched numerous boats depart for sunset tours. We knew we wanted to do a sunset sail while we were in Key West, the decision was when to go and on what boat. Because of the beautiful full moonrise in June, I also checked to see if there was a way to coordinate seeing the July moonrise while we were on the sunset tour. BINGO! We lucked out. On July 11th, the moon was scheduled to rise at 7:36PM and the sun was scheduled to set at 8:19PM.

As you might guess, there are a large number of options but after researching, I found Sunset Sail Key West who have a lovely, small boat named High Tide that only takes 6 passengers. It was a little more expensive but sounded so much more intimate than the larger boats that take anywhere for 40 to 80 people. Also, the big boats come back by 8:30, just minutes after the sun drops below the horizon in July and Sunset Sail Key West sails until 9:00 which would give us lots of time to enjoy the changing colors as the twilight appears. I booked our seats and prayed for great weather. The evening was perfect; blue sky with some lovely clouds, but a clear horizon and little haze.

_MS41805 — The drama of this sunset kept getting better and better

We got to the harbor and it was a mad house. Lots of people loading onto lots of boats. The advantage of the large boats is you can wait to see if the night is going to be wonderful, book last minute and probably get a seat, and they were all packed full – with music blaring. We were in for a much different experience. High Tide is a sweet, small boat and as luck would have it, no one else had booked for the 11th so we were the only passengers.

First Mate, Joanne, looking east towards to moonrise

Joanne was the First Mate and had everything ship shape for the start of the tour and Steven was the Captain. We motored out of the harbor, the sails were raised and then Steven cut the engine – Ah, peace and quiet and we were off. Lucky for us, we had good wind so it was cool and we could cruise at a nice pace. This was the point when Steven told us the other big boats have a sail raised but they motor the whole trip. WOW, I didn’t realize that and I would have been really disappointed.

Steven has been a Captain for many years and he told us lots about Key West and sailing throughout the Caribbean. He pointed out a large ship that is a Boy Scout sailing camp where the boys get to live and sail for a week. They learn to do everything – rig, sail, cook and clean. He had been a Captain for a summer and really liked it. When we went by, the boys were swinging off the rigging into the water below and looking like they were having a blast.

As you can see, the sunset was fairly spectacular that night and the moonrise was like adding a cherry on top of a perfect evening. I don’t think there was any way the sail could have been more perfect. Perfect day, perfect boat, perfect crew and perfect husband. YUM!

Happy Wife, Happy Life ~ The Key West Jewelry Bar

July 8, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

Bard GrOb, Designer/Curator of The Key West Jewelry Bar — Barb GrOb, Designer/Curator of The Key West Jewelry Bar

You gotta love a woman who says the following things: “Jewelry is the greatest gift … It always fits, easily ships & won’t go to the hips!”, “You look so thin in those Pearls“, “Happy Wife, Happy Life“, “Give her what she REALLY wants!“. Meet Barb GrOb, the vivacious Designer/Curator of The Key West Jewelry Bar ~ One of a Kind and Rare to Find Art Accessories. If you know me, you know I LOVE jewelry ~ but not the shy, small, delicate pieces often sold in fine jewelry stores. Oh no, I like the bold, big, splashy, one of a kind jewelry that is more usually found in crafty places. “…Local Luxuries! … Objects of Desire…!” Do I really need to tell you I was enrolled even before I saw the store?

Miss Luna Stamm — Lovely Luna Stamm modeling some of my favorite jewelry. Peter, her dad, is going to have his hands full!

We met Barb at the Farmers Market. Of course, the reason was our sweet Irish Setter, Mick. Key West is an overwhelmingly dog friendly town, EVERYBODY loves Mick, thinks he’s handsome and needs to give him a pet. Barb came over to introduce herself to Mick and Michael. I walked up and Barb noticed my beautiful Lois Hill designed silver bracelets that I wear most of the time and said, “You’ll love my store, please stop by” and gave me a $10 off card. Barb was wearing great, unique jewelry so I checked her website and the first three pieces displayed were all items I’d happily wear. Hmmm, great jewelry, discount coupon, did I need any additional motivation to go? I stopped in the other day and was pleased to see Barb was manning the shop. She didn’t remember me from a few weeks ago but zeroed in on my necklace and said it looked like something that I could have bought in her shop. She was right. The windows and displays were filled with my kind of jewelry. Now comes my dilemma. Overall, Barb’s beautiful jewelry is well priced but not inexpensive (actually there is a wide variety of prices, I just really like all her very special pieces). Her jewelry is unique and beautiful but you need to understand, I’ve got a lot of outstanding jewelry AND I’ve started making my own jewelry AND have invested in a ton of gorgeous beads, stones, pearl and trinkets to create my own designs. There were a few pieces I definitely would have scooped up if I didn’t already have something very similar already or all the makings of a piece. Nothing jumped out and caught me by the throat and said you HAVE to buy me so ‘for the time being’ I’m passing on making a purchase. Of course this may also be influenced by the upcoming trunk show on Thursday that will have a lot more pieces than were displayed in the store.

A sampling of Barb's beautiful jewelry from the trunk show — A sampling of Barb’s beautiful jewelry from the trunk show

Barb designs a fair amount of the jewelry and buys in other pieces from all over. This allows the store to have a wide range of fabulous pieces with varying styles but always impactful. (It also allows Barb to fulfill her dream of traveling around the world, smart woman.) In the back of my mind, I’m wondering if I can sell my jewelry to her or trade for pieces. I’m at a point where my designs are solid but I need a little refinement on finishing the pieces so they look really professional. I’m going to be working on that while I’m here. Hmmm…..

Lucious, lovely jewelry that has found a good home - Mine! — Lucious, lovely jewelry that has found a good home – Mine!

Flash forward to the show. Michael and I get there right at the start because I wouldn’t want to miss getting a great piece because someone else was walking out with ‘my” treasure. The show was smaller than I expected but it had a large variety of lovely pieces. Michael saw a delicious bracelet that he had me try on. It had beautiful turquoise stones set in silver with pearls and other gems. I promised one of the sales people I wouldn’t steal it but wanted to wear it for a while as I was browsing. I saw a pair of earrings I liked that Barb was modeling but Michael didn’t particularly care for them so I passed and told him I was ready to check out. He made a big deal that I should continue looking which surprised the sales staff and made them laugh.

WP_20140703_20_42_50_Pro__highres — All decked out in my new jewelry

We walked around some more and Michael admired a necklace that Barb was wearing for a second time and had me try it on. It was a large statement piece made of beautiful golden quartz. I had on the wrong top so it didn’t look that great but Michael really liked it and it looked great on Barb, so we added that to the bracelet. I went back 3 or 4 times to the earrings that had caught my eye early on and decided I needed to get them. They were stunning and kept catching my eye. They have a large chunk of red coral surrounded by crystals, Michael loves red and I have a great red coral necklace that I made that they will look beautiful with. My birthday is coming up this month and Michael has now completed his shopping for me – I’m just wondering if this also covers Christmas and next year as well!