BACON HAPPY HOUR and 5 other CAN'T-MISS spots in crazy Key West!

At Tough Love Travel, I'll show you the real Conch Republic...

Far from Duval Street, where the locals hang,  it's the best of Key West for Foodies! 

Grab a free appointment NOW to hear more!  Click HERE! 

1.  Key West Best BACON HAPPY HOUR
At the new 2¢ Bar,  bacon happy hour is irresistible.  Yes, strips of crispy bacon stick out of rocks glasses, and you can even roll the dice for a price of your drink.  (NOTE:  Don't roll a 6 like I did!  You want to roll a "1" -- this means your Albarino will cost only a buck!)




This is truly one of the best Key West gastropubs!  You'll nosh on fresh-from-farm grapefruit and avocado arugula salad - so peppery it made my mouth burn!

And Scottish eggs -- a hard boiled quail egg, rolled in sausage and sauteed to a crisp!

Everything -- I mean, EVERYTHING -- in the 2¢, from the hyper-creative menu concoctions to the repurposed chandeliers (compliments to the designer from Chicago), to the pressed tin and custom woodwork and hand-sponged counters,  is a personal creation of owner Chris.

2¢ gets my vote for the Conch Republic's most eclectic yet modest new gem, with the warmest welcome!


2.  Key West Best FISHING THE FLATS
Fishing the "flats" -- which some people call the "Banks" - is the best Key West angling experience!  The flats are sandy expanses, 15 minutes our of the marine, where you can fish, in a special no-draft boat, for baracuda, shark, and more!

This is really fun, guys!  No fishing experience needed, you stand on the bow, and "sight cast", meaning you look for a blackish-blue 4'-ers swimming across the clear turquoise.  Then you cast your line just past their nose, and reeeeeeel in quickly.  It's a hoot to see them spot the lure, and turn in a dash towards the boat!




Another type of flat fishing in amongst the mangrove islands, where you can find Jacks and, if you're lucky, a school of big Reds!


3.  Key West Best AFTERNOON AT SOUTHERNMOST HOUSE
It's a privileged overnight (or a superb wedding venue!) at this historic Victorian on the sea, built by the Ramos merchanting family in 1819, and more recently owned by the much-respected Circuit Judge (not to be confused with Salvage Judge) Jeptha Harris.

But if you don't want to plunk down the $250/night for a room, you can enjoy this Best of Key West experience for the day.
For $10, you get a poolside chair and towel,  chilled limewater by bowl of fresh fruit, and even one complimentary drink!
This is a wonderfully secluded and calming oasis to afternoon, away from the crowds!


4.  Key West Best OCEANVIEW FLAT

Want the best Key West hidden lodging?   Here's a great cottage, for you to call home in Key West!  Right on the beach, on the eastern side, smack in the middle of the Louie's Backyard action,  you'll wake up to killer views, yet enjoy privacy, tucked behind the sea grape and palm!


5.  Key West Best OYSTER HAPPY HOUR AT THE HALF SHELL 
This may not be new, but it's so good, it bears mention.
50* oysters!  On the half shell.  Starting at 4pm.
You can get 2 dozen of the freshest bursting-with-brine oysters and 2 glasses of crisp Pinot Grigio, for under $20!  I am not kidding!

NOTE:  if the place is packed, don't wait!  Order at the bar, and walk our platter out to the dock, to slurp shellfish  amongst the sailboat masts, with the pelicans!


6.  Key West Best NEW CHERRY-ENCRUSTED RIBS AT SANTIAGOS

 Santiago's Bodega -- already an unchallenged Key West Best for afternoon tapas,  just introduced their cherry-encrusted shortribs!  Add to your decadence with some flambeed haloumi cheese and roasted brussel sprouts, and you could be there for hours!

Don't you just LOVE Key West?

If you want to hear more about the BEST of Key West, let's talk! 

Call or text Melanie now:  (609) 923 0304!

Island Dreaming: zap me to KEY WEST!

More aptly titled, "3600 Calories (in 36 hours) in Key West", here's a truly decadent table crawl on Cayo Heuso!

Don't waste a minute!  Go 2-wheelin' straight from the  airport

to the deck at Louie's Backyard! 

(thanks to Eaton Bikes and their free delivery @ 305.294.8188)

The best mojito on the island, enjoyed with some killer conch fritters, gets you started, but don't ask the bartend to order food anywhere but the bar... he'll know you're a Newbie!

For lunch, some fish tacos and cannellini bean bruschetta with sauteed calamari were slightly spicy winners!













I dozed next door on the Dog Beach









then biked over to my B&B for a quick shower before heading out to sunset.






A Painkiller at the Sunset Pier, while not exactly original, is a quintessential Key West treat!

I strolled Mallory Square, as the Cat Man performed before a setting sun and the Fury Booze Cruise rocked on by. 

Strolling the shops on the Westin waterfront -- nicely uncrowded without any cruise ships at dock -- worked up an appetite.



Soon i was ready to bike over to the Flaming Bouy Filet Company, a new dinner Hot Spot in town, opened by a Cinncinati-transplant named Fred.  Despite his landlocked life, he sure knows fish, and









grills a moist Key West Pinks (shrimp, for you out-of-staters) in cilantro chutney, and a sweetly watermelon-drenched ceviche too!    Topped it off with Spicy chocolate quesadilla!

Not quite ready to go to bed, I wandered "the strip"!   I watched martini-lovers on the La Te Da Duval-front barstools

and Gin-n-Juicers (an amazing cucumber concoction made with Hendrix Gin) at the secluded Orchid Bar, a little hidden gem hidden within a 1950's motel by the same name.

but frankly I was too beat for either, so i ducked into the old standby, Starbucks, for a chamomile tea, and was off to bed.  Day 1 was done!

Next morning I headed straight to La Creperie, owned by a Key West Icon, Yolande.  Her sidewalk tables  on Petronia were the perfect niche to enjoy a Banana Lime crepe and a cup of tea, before grabbing some book time on Fort Zachary Taylor beach.

Early lunch called at Sarabeths, a synagogue-turned-eatery over on Simonton.  The cool cathedral windows create an intriguing ambiance indoors, but my choice is the outdoor patio.  

A key west Pinks-infused crab cake and salad fill me up, but the strawberry cake, on homemade shortbread, is the real surprise! 

I spend the afternoon biking the hidden alleyways of Old Town,  through the Truman Annex community, and along the southern Higgs Beach trail.

I end up over at the Historic Seaport for a Dark-n-Stormy at Pepes, the oldest restaurant, a cuban-fringed steakhouse, in Key West- opened 1909.  










On a whim, i ordered the Mixed plate of Oysters... mexican ones with chile peppers, florentine ones with spinach, and spicy ones with tabasco.
Good choice!






Reservations for dinner were not easy to come by at the Seven Fish, but it's well worth the wait til 9pm! You could walk right by this little hovel, over on Olivia Street, but I had been wisely directed! The Black Grouper, their rendition steamed with almonds, apricots and coconut, was sweetly divine!

Full to the gills at the Seven Fish, Day 2 was done!

Next morning i found myself on the 8:15 complimentary water taxi to Sunset Key, an 8-minute ferry that delivered me to the private island with a clutch of posh residences, some Westin rentals, and the fancy Latitudes Restaurant.

A sister property to the famous Sagamore Hotel in Upstate NY, Latitudes offered me a rod-iron cafe table under the palms of its waterfront veranda.  There, i opened a menu promising the Power Foods -- soy, blueberries, yogurt, broccoli --









but i opted instead for some sauteed Yellowtail eggs benedict with a side of spinach, a bursting florida pink grapefruit, and some hot coffee that arrived with a flourish in a silver carafe.
I was stuffed!

A mid-morning stop on my bike at one of Key West's homemade gelato stands was a fine idea,

and, as a grand finale, I gave myself an hour on the porch of Santiago's Bedego before heading back to the aiport.  A flaky chevre tart, some thyme-laced lamb lollipops, and a tall glass of red sangria topped me off.  It was time to go home.

If that was all 3600 calories, I need a new calculator!

Honorable mention goes to Nine One Five, whose Victorian porch, slung with bougainvillea, has great people-watching along Duval as well as tasty Pinks!

And to Half Shell Raw Bar.  Happy hour's til 7pm where a couple of drinks and a dozen half-shells run less than 10 bucks! (best seat in the house?  Outside on the dock, watching sunset!)

Don't hurt yourself!