20 More Florida Keys Bars in 6 Days

on another beautiful day on another trip down the florida keys a couple of years ago my wife anita and i posted a video slideshow called 28 florida keys bars in six days this trip our bar hopping itinerary is going to be a bit less ambitious and we're going to take our time visiting waterfront saloons that we didn't have time to hit in our previous six days and spend more time revisiting our favorite dives in key west it is the first week in december right now and we like the keys now because it's between the holiday crush of northerners escaping the cold at thanksgiving and christmas but also a time when key west is still decked out in its christmas red and green so again you're welcome to come along with us the beach where i was just standing was an uber popular laurel eye on isla murada but we didn't linger because it's on our hit list for when we climb back up the keys later this week so down we go to marathon with only one road to follow heading south it's hard to get lost but the first stop is a little bit tricky because it's off the beaten track on a series of canals on the ocean side of marathon where fishing and crayfish boats are docked guy fieri found it easily enough to feature on his diners drive-ins and dives we stop a mile short of the seven mile bridge and veer left at mile marker 48 at 15th street and head down 15th street to where it curves into castaway no need to take notes on mile marker numbers i'll include them at the end and in the youtube video notes since the outdoor bar has no water view we moved inside canals are carved into the atlantic side of marathon for the boats and castaway resides alongside one of them surrounded by brightly colored trailer homes neighbors include thirsty manatees [Music] there is fairly conspicuous evidence that the owner has connections to submarines owing to a former career in the navy there are 56 beers on tap and the cuisine is elevated above that of your typical keys joint just caught local fish baja tacos with black and yellow jack lobster enchiladas with homemade poblano sauce and fresh sushi made to order hogfish are abundant in the keys and it's our favorite fish so we ordered that even though our destination tomorrow is the hogfish bar and grill castaway makes a great hogfish sandwich owner john mirabella is also a diver and he's on a mission to help eradicate the invasive lionfish hereabouts by spearing them and serving them to you his king of the jungle raw lionfish sushi roll is an amazing work of art castaway is a stone's throw from other waterfront saloons on our list but on the way let's revisit that thirsty manatee just outside the canal side door right there's [Music] now let's move on to burdine's marina right on the seaside a three-minute walk from castaway and up ahead and up overhead is burdine's waterfront bar and grill aka the cheeky tiki perched up high on stilts with a view to the ocean and to boot key the signs on the tables and some places on the bar say reserved but the host alex confided that they are quote unquote reserved for paying customers and not for the tourists just up here for the great views so we score a fine spot at the bar where they use painted mouse traps to keep the marbles from blowing away the view is the star at burdines but the menu boasts about the burgers made they proudly proclaim from the antibiotic-free grass-fed cattle of family-owned brass town beef in north carolina and they call their cheesesteak sandwiches key steak sandwiches boot key across the water is evergreen protected from development by federal conservation law and hidden among the lush mangroves on sister creek over there is the transmitter and studios of radio marti broadcasting anti-cuban regime propaganda in spanish to a cuban audience since 1985. we descend from the cheeky tiki and are on the road again for just about two minutes out to the overseas highway and south from 15th street to 11th street oceanside which is at mile marker 47.3 a short drive down 11th street on the right is the newest restaurant in marathon the waterfront lazy days south its owner and operator is the same chef lupe who runs lazydays islamorada which has won multiple people's choice awards for best restaurant in the upper keys so now he's expanded south think upscale dining with prime stakes you know how travel sites put dollar signs next to the names for a price comparison so for example burdine's cheeky tiki which we just left would be followed by one dollar sign in parentheses so in the parentheses for lazy days add two more dollar signs oysters rockefeller and escargot seafood salads catch of the day sandwiches and kong fritters like everywhere great spot for vegging and the drinks are priced right watch the water while sipping a three dollar isla murata ale and a seven dollar pina colada there is a direct view from lazydays to our next stop our overnight destination isla bella resort lazy days has a nice sunset view but you can't see the sun actually set on the ocean because our resort is in the way which is why we will be watching the sunset today with an unobstructed view from the beach bar at isla bella anabella beach resort is the newest luxury resort and marina in the keys having opened in spring of 2019. here on night ski a stone throw from the seven mile bridge it is two hours from miami and one hour from key west surrounded by a forest of a thousand palm trees its beachfront is so long about a mile that every single room here has an ocean view and from our balcony we are also favored with a direct view to the beach bar hey if it's right to do it's wrong to wait the beach bar is a lively spot this time of day and a place to dig your toes into the sand steps from the ocean with a cocktail you can order fresh seafood here and south florida craft beers right over there on the shore you'll find a telescope for star gazing after the sun goes down and the sun going down is center stage here and when it descends into the sea you can watch from your bar stool or carry your drink to a beachfront table with nothing between you and the spectacle except ocean and seabirds tomorrow key west early in the morning before we head out i walk over to the big barn of a marketplace next to the marina with the fishermen climbing aboard for a day on the ocean gotta say they have everything here i picked up some breakfast sandwiches to eat on the balcony before hitting the road the seven mile bridge is only a couple of hundred yards from the entrance to isla bella on night's key and we passed the sunset bar and grill right below the bridge which we visited on our last bar hopping trip down the keys great spot not much to see now but sky and water over the seven miles but since it is christmas time we keep our eyes out for an old friend fred the tree on the ancient bridge that parallels the seven mile bridge at some point a seed sprouted carried by wind or bird and on the concrete span far from land a tree grew and flourished named fred by the admiring locals who come out every christmas season and decorate him with lights and a sign reading keystrong if you go to google maps and type in fred the tree florida keys his exact location comes up alongside donna the bush when you spot donna fred's just beyond 45 minutes later we descend into the lower keys past the key west naval air station and enter stock island home to another great dive bar off the beaten track entering stock island you turn left at mile marker 5.1 onto third street and then you make a few turns past dilapidated mobile homes and trailers until you arrive at the front street docks in one of the best open-air bar restaurants in all the keys hogfish bar and grill the hogfish bar slogan is a great place if you can find it so you may need a little assist from google maps hogfish is smack in the middle of a working fishing boat fleet and the story goes that adjacent oceanside marina was a refuge for cocaine smugglers during the apex of the miami vice days the specialty on the menu is called the killer hogfish sandwich piled high with fixins on a cuban bun but uh we had a fine hog fish sandwich yesterday and everything with hogfish is good so we try something else this is what a hog fish looks like this is what a hog fish looks like in tacos this is what a hog fish looks like in sliders all great next time i'll try the ceviche at lunch we shared the bar with fishermen who were awaiting a charter boat captain's call for departure when he called i walked with one of them 50 steps to this boat where the fisherman said he and his pals were going to stay aboard for a trip lasting three straight days at sea out by the dry tortugas and wherever else the skipper knows that the big fish are waiting next it's a three-minute drive back to route 1 over the cow key channel bridge and on to key west [Music] we're heading to the marker hotel and that's in the top of old town right in the key west historic seaport we'll drop off our bags at the hotel and head out to the bars and the marker hotel's location is a waterfront bar fan's dream here's the hotel parking garage let's walk to the schooner wharf bar my favorite bar on the boardwalk at key west bight it's cool [Music] [Music] right beside our schooner wharf table a returning fishing boat puts on a show and so do a gang of hungry tarpons and another thirsty manatee thirsty [Music] wow they're vegetarians [Music] the replica sailing schooner america 2.0 modeled after the first winner of the america's cup yacht race pulls away for an afternoon cruise with a full galley and the bar is open [Music] again within direct view of our schooner wharf bar dockside table base of operations all life is the passage of time and when we're lucky we get to choose how to pass the time and so we spend an unhurried and mellow passage of time here on the docks in the presence of beer and boat drinks you want to bank the smells and sights and sounds for when you want to bring it back in your head when you're not here on the docks in the presence of beer and boat drinks then we walk around and take the obligatory key west holiday photos after a while and reluctantly we head back to the hotel because we have a jam-packed day tomorrow starting early we do stop off at the marker pool bar on the way to bed and we also went there for breakfast a couple of mornings and i have to include the marker bar among those we visited if for no other reason then anita calls the pina coladas there the best she's ever had by the way if you like others want to drink your breakfast schooner wharf starts theirs at 7 30 in the morning so now it is the next morning and if you think of the seaport harbor as the top of the town then we are heading to the bottom where the southernmost point is to visit rhett and scarlet the flamingos who live at the butterfly and nature conservatory on duval it's undeniably a zen way to kick off another day in paradise [Music] rhett and scarlet do a lot of honking and dancing because it's currently mating season and it gives them a surge of energy [Music] there are more than a thousand butterflies gliding around our heads here [Music] when we exit it's only a two minute walk to the southernmost point we're just squandering time till the green parrot opens not far away the green parrot is another excellent and authentic and iconic key west dive bar my old green parrot t-shirt was getting ratty and i needed a new one i always like to say that that's the saloon ernest hemingway walked past every day on his way to sloppy joe's which is true it's a key west classic check the parachutes spreading out over the bar pool players will pick up q sticks later but we like to come in early before the crowd arrives best blues jukebox in key west the conch train and trolley tours come around the corner with regularity pointing out green parrot to riders who look like they would clearly rather be in here than out there [Music] one bar that was not on our list we ended up at anyway because one does we had no intention of hitting sloppy joes this trip but anita's favorite t-shirt shop is on the opposite corner and we scored a creamy parking space that still had lots of time on the meter so here we are we could have walked here from the hotel but the southernmost point is a bit of a trek so since we had a car we decided to use it sloppy joe's is always crowded but it's been worse and anita snags the last two stools at the bar it is the busiest tourist trap in town apart from the sunset mob at mallory square but everybody feels somehow obligated to come here and they have good drinks everybody's in a good mood and there's always somebody up on stage [Music] on this day his name is brian roberts and since the last time we were here sloppy joe's has lent its name to another bar at the new boutique perry hotel on stock island not far from hogfish bar and grill where we were yesterday they call it sloppy joe's dockside and it's between the hotel pool and the boats in the private marina in a new upscale artsy development called the stock island marina village brian roberts bounces back and forth between this sloppy joes and the copycat one and he also plays at the bar at the pier house hotel another great place we've stayed at right on the ocean while anita saves my seat at the bar i pop down duval street maybe 50 yards just to show you irish kevin's a fun place we've been to before irish kevin's is famous for performers insulting cruise ship refugees who are pounding back drinks before returning shipboard and singing songs with creatively raunchy lyrics i return to my spot at sloppy joes so a few more beers and it's back to the car and back to the hotel parking garage lunch approaches so we pass up schooner wharf today and head to the bar right around the corner of the harbor the conch republic seafood company another great seafood and birder place with a water view its bar is enormous and fills up around lunchtime and stays that way the rest of the day tourists sitting on the long side of the bar are puzzled by a sign that reads i-i-t-y-w-y-b-t-b-a-r natural curiosity will move the bar patron to flag down a bartender and point to the sign and ask him what does that mean what do those letters stand for to which the bartender will reply if i tell you will you buy the bar around we've already eaten a lot of fish so we elect to go with burgers this is another bar where you can vegetate and watch the working boats come and go at length we wander back out onto the boardwalk and stroll along the docks past the schooner wharf and other bars we mentioned in our previous video about the saloons of the keys just past the lobster trap christmas tree we arrive at another four star waterfront dive the half shell raw bar laid back with the freshest shellfish oysters mussels a bucket of steamer clamps just like you get in rhode island and stone crab claws are in season right now we skip the crab claws because we can get them where we live for about 20 bucks a pound cheaper than in key west but you can't beat stone crab claws jason is the oyster shucker and he's clearly done this before [Music] it's another bar on the marina that ought to be on the national register of historic places [Music] next morning after breakfast we exit the pool restaurant and cut through the schooner wharf to wander around the marina area in the relative quiet of early morning before the crush of tourists arrived [Music] come here and then to our first stop of the day at the oldest barn restaurant in key west the oldest eatery in all of the keys pepe's cafe it's the second oldest bar restaurant in the whole state of florida after columbia up in tampa a good place to arrive at early to score a seat there's a bench outside on the sidewalk that is usually occupied with those waiting for an opening the bartenders are jacob and justin our oyster shucker at half shell was named jason our server at breakfast at the hotel was named jason jason jason jacob and justin what is it with millennial dudes two-syllable j-names anyhow it's a good people-watching bar unvarnished walls and booths inside and then out here is the bar and the patio with bougainvillea providing color overhead somebody wrote of puppies that it is a place where tourists go happily having been told it's not a place where tourists go [Music] then it's back for a final visit to schooner wharf before finding a place for the sunset it's only a three minute walk from pepe's to the wharf schooner wharf's back of the bar section is a key location for a key west murder mystery novel i wrote the bar here and the one at green parrot figure in the plot here it is in a nutshell [Music] the town of key west a murder in a museum reporter milo byrd reluctantly undertakes to discover a motive and slowly joins together puzzle pieces tracking back to the early days of sound recording and a long forgotten connection between key west and thomas edison milo enlists his league of drinking buddies and together they unearth an astounding secret concealed since the time of prohibition they race against unknown killers to be first to unearth a hidden object that has awaited discovery for nearly a century new from dave mcbride and palapa press if you'd like to see and read more about it go to my website at davemcbride.com and click on the book cover thanks for putting up with this commercial and if you like key west i think you'll like this book now let's get back to the bars from schooner wharf we head out to the sunset bar at the galleon resort perched at the entrance to the key west bite marina two of our bartenders this week one at half shell raw bar and the other at conch republic seafood company both touted it as a more uncrowded spot to watch the sunset than the crush at mallory square but a fact of which both were unaware is that the sun goes down in a different spot at different times of the year and our bartender at the galleon beach bar disclosed right up front that the sun would set out of view now in december jay told us the best time for sunsets here is spring but this spot is a terrific place for views of the flotilla of party boats heading out for the sunset cruises and so we figured that's enough of a view for us here's some of the passing parade of boats leaving the bite you can also see directly across the marina entrance to the coast guard base [Music] my brother and sister-in-law came here to see the sunset in a june visit so this is what it looks like in the spring jay the bartender told the story of a tourist at the bar who once called him over and asked him when will the sun set in front of the island in the distance instead of behind it to which jay replied that if that ever happened everyone would be in a great deal of trouble nice place to chill and watch the boat people watching you the sunset switches on the holiday lights decorating our way back to the hotel as we walk from the galleon beach bar along the harbor boardwalk look at this [Music] oh my goodness sure tomorrow we're back on the overseas highway northbound we retrace our steps up the overseas highway think of route 1 in the keys as an elevator it takes you down and it brings you up and you push the buttons to stop at the floors or the keys where you want to get off the floor we're getting off at today is isla murata after returning to the mainland above key largo route 1 keeps on going along the east coast all the way to fort kent on the border between maine and canada it's the longest north-south highway in the usa if you see a curious object hovering over kajoki say hi to fat albert a 1400 foot military blimp that floats high in the sky tethered to the ground collecting data on everything it sees and hears for hundreds of miles in every direction it mainly detects drug smugglers with its high-tech electronics courtesy your tax dollars a few years ago it was announced that fat albert would be grounded as a victim of air force budget cuts yet here he is overhead surveilling us it's our last day before crossing over to the mainland and therefore the last stops in this video you will probably recognize the bars from our 28 bars and six days trip but we return to them because there are faves here we arrive first at one of the most picturesque waterfront spots in isla morata murata bay morata means purple in spanish and so isla murada is purple island and morata bay is purple bay why ask the spaniards who named it not me anyhow morata bay is a great place to eat with your feet in the sand outside or in air-conditioned comfort inside we had the baja fish tacos the name morata bay suggests it is on the florida bay side of the island and it is which means it's a primo spot for sunset watching if you're lucky enough to arrive at the full moon morata bay celebrates at night with bonfires fire jugglers junkanoo caribbean marchers reggae music and fireworks the resident chickens are not shy they strut like they own the place [Music] up the road less than a mile and a three minute drive from morata bay is the bar where i shot the opening of this video lorelei which continues to be a destination hugely popular with both the tourists and the locals it's famous for its giant mermaid sign you really can't miss standing out on us one five days ago bartender chris posed here with anita and so anita was tickled to run into her again today the slogan of lorelai is the pulse of islamorada it's rated high for seafood and is a prime destination for sunsets lorelai posts the precise time of sunset each day on its website i'll appear in another cameo in a minute after some images of our arrival at our stop for the night [Music] okay dave here again our last stop for an overnight before we head up to the mainland is here at chica lodge an iconic resort on isla murada it was fixed up even better after it got walloped by hurricane irma a couple of years ago it's uh it's close by a handful of more great waterfront saloons just a couple of minutes from here and like on our first trip we only had time in these six days to hang at a fraction of the instagram and facebook worthy saloons within a stone's throw of each other all the way up and down the keys if you like this video please subscribe and check out our other video called 28 florida keys bars in six days islamorada the town includes five islands in the keys halfway between key west and miami one of them is upper matakambe ki and chica lodge is smack in the middle of that one matakumbe was wiped clean by a famous unnamed hurricane in 1935 which destroyed the overseas railroad and killed more than 300 workers whose rescue train arrived late and was swept into the sea by the storm surge the only thing left standing when the hurricane departed was this angel monument at the grave of a young girl in a settler's graveyard right on the shore this cemetery survives today on the grounds of chica lodge within feet of where i was standing chica lodge has twin large palapa style thatched roof tiki bars beside two oceanfront pools both with sweeping water views the tiki bar between the two pools is called 25 south and it is open 11 to sunset i asked why do you call it 25 south and the person i asked didn't know so they checked with somebody else who said it referred to the latitude but i checked google maps and the tiki bar is approximately 25 north latitude not south 25 south would be somewhere on the coast of chile south of bolivia so go figure the other tiki bar next to the main building is called the tiki bar and is open from 11 to 11 with great views toward the long pier and the atlantic you don't have to stay at chica to have fun at the tiki bars in the restaurants when the sun goes down the holiday lights come on inviting us to the elegant lobby bar our final bar in the keys even though this video is titled 20 more florida keys bars in six days we accomplished all these keys bars in five days our trip lasted six but we visited a great bar we like called monty's raw bar on the marina in coconut grove just south of miami and so we technically bar hop for six days but because motties is on the mainland it is disqualified sorry monty's we're already planning our next trip and for the many commenters who have griped about our having overlooked no name pub on big pine key in our previous 28 bars video and who will surely gripe because we skipped it again i am adding it now as a bonus bar with a screen grab from google maps we have been to no name and it's a fun bar good pizza the ceiling is covered in tens of thousands of dollars in signed singles it's off the beaten track just short of the bridge to no-name key but compared to the expansive waterfront views of many of the others i think part of no name's allure derives from it being hard to find we just ran out of time this time and crossed big pine without stopping but hey if you have time for a detour about seven minutes off us one to no name on big pine key if you're heading down or up the keys it's another popular and legendary old keys bar to check off your list i'd be much obliged should you subscribe to this youtube channel and also if you would visit davemcbride.com to find out about my key west murder mystery with a history lock stock and peril adios till our next bar hopping trip down the keys chica lodge is on the ocean side instead of the bay side of isla morata and so our final last great view before leaving the keys is of the sunrise not the sunset [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: David Pollock

Views: 217,759

Keywords: Key West, Florida Keys, bars, Islamorada, Marathon, Hogfish bar & grill, Schooner Wharf Bar, Bar hopping, Saloon, Sloppy Joe's, Green Parrot, Cocktails, Dave McBride

Id: rdbGzDkhb4c

Length: 40min 8sec (2408 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 07 2022