Uncle's Restaurant

This week’s restaurant spotlight is Uncle’s restaurant located at Mile Marker 81 in Islamorada. Uncle’s provides the perfect outdoor and indoor Keys dining experience with some of the best food the island has to offer. Uncles menu is a perfect blend of Keys chic and casual gourmet. Come in flip flops and order the some of the most exclusive wines you can find. This restaurant is the type of place where you wouldn’t even notice if Donald Trump was sitting next to you because all heirs are left at the door, or rather at the entrance of the lovely Tiki terrace. Uncle’s owner, Joe LePree is there to greet guest and to make their experience all the more enjoyable. Oh, and the beef tips appetizer is to die for!

Mini season Florida Keys

Wednesday at 12:01 am starts off Lobster mini-season throughout all of the Florida Keys. Mini-Season lasts until Thursday (tonight!) at midnight. This two-day period always creates a bit of a frenzy in the Keys although it always end up being a fun and well worth-it frenzy. Year after year Lobster hunters keep coming back for more fun in the sun. If your a visitor some restaurants will prepare your lobster for you and your guests for a small fee. If you are lucky enough to be a resident then get prepared for some top-notch BBQ serving nothing but fresh lobster tails and stone crab! Similar to the one we had at our house last night! Mini-season as a youth always involved a whole lot of waiting and wading, and we were lucky if we had one lobster for dinner! Good thing I married into a highly qualified lobster gathering family, a very important quality for living in the Florida Keys. So get off your computer and head out there! Or plan to come down for next year. Just book your hotel ahead of time.

Florida Trend Magazine recently rated Big Pine Key as one of the best boating places in the state.  There is great docking and you can take a long stroll down to No Name Pub when you are done.  Have a cold beer and pizza.  The pub has been hidden there since 1935. The water in Big Pine can’t get much better- crystal clear and full of life- whether you are fishing, snorkeling or just sight-seeing.

As some may know,  the Google Street View mobile has made it all the way down to Key West.  I’m on a mission to find the best views Google has to offer.

This week’s street view: The Seven Mile Bridge

The Blue Waters Venture Team discovered a gold chalice approximately 30 miles west of Key West. The chalice said to be worth more than a million dollars was found in only 18 feet of water! Etching and scroll work is also evident on the chalice and is going to a Key West laboratory for further cleaning. The chalice is said to have come from the Spanish Vessel, Santa Margarita, which was shipwrecked in 1622.

Lots of fun and discovery just off the coast of the Florida Keys!

Or should I say tarpon viewing! Tarpon season is slowly nearing an end, and it has been a tough one at that! We went out with Capt. Sid Bryant on Sunday and although we saw LOTS of tarpon swim by, they must not have been very hungry because we didn’t get a bite. But like the old Keys saying goes, it’s called “fishing not catching!”

I can’t say the trip wasn’t spectacular none the less. It was a beautiful day in Islamorada, the water was crystal clear and the wildlife was in full effect. We saw serveral large eagle rays and thought we might as well taken a dip. The water was too tempting not to! Thankfully the only sharks we saw were from the boat after we hopped back on. Not to fret though, mostly the Florida Keys sharks are quite friendly and if you are lucky enough to see them while you are diving they are quite the site!

And that’s just another day in paradise.

One famed Florida Keys hotel has graced the pages of Travel + Leisure’s 2008 The World’s Greatest Hotels, Resorts and Spas Book. Casa Morada in Islamorada is one of the most beautiful and exclusive hotels in the Florida Keys, and apparently the world. Staying there makes you feel as if you were on a secluded island in the Carribean- yet close enough to some of the best dining and activities the Florida Keys has to offer. The Hotel is small and intimate and provides 16 suites. Some features include a waterside breakfast bar, seaside cabana and seaside pool.

In Islamorada, you can just relax and do absolutely nothing- or enjoy plenty of activities the island has to offer. Casa Morada though is certainly a seaside jewel. This is a Florida Beach Vacation you will never forget.

Don’t miss out on this fun snorkel and diving event. Event held at Founders Park in Islamorada June 11-14, 2008.

Family fun events include snorkeling lessons, underwater photography and video seminars and the highlight- a Land & Sea Photo Scavenger Hunt where contestants photograph local landmarks and reef fish to earn points and win prizes. Other Sun Splash activities include fish identification classes, seminars, kayaking trips, sailing lessons!

See you there!

The spring is officially here and its a great time to visit.  Grab your sunscreen and whatever you have down and head down.  That’s the beauty of the Florida Keys is that it breeds spontaneity.  There is no pretension here- no wonder the Keys motto- is COME HOW YOU ARE.

Thanks for visiting and come back!  There is much much more Fl Keys chat to come!