Heading Back To Key Largo

Sadly, we had to leave South Beach this morning. We agreed that we could spend a lot of time there. But, all good things must end. We took one last walk along the beach and Ocean Drive before we left. The art deco buildings are really great to look at and remind you of another era.

On the way out of Miami, the sky got progressively darker and threatening. The radio was warning of storms and a possible tornado. As much as I wanted to see a tornado, we kept going. We drove through some rain but missed the major stuff.

We took this shot on the way back to Key Largo along the Overseas Highway or Highway 1. We never did see either a crocodile or an alligator. 

Once we got back to Key Largo, we decided to take a look at the bird sanctuary just down the highway. It was a bit of a ramshackle place. On the way in we saw this helicopter hovering over the swampy area along the road with a police car following along. I immediately figured there was a convict on the loose and we'd be held hostage or something. We went up to the road and I asked the officer what was going on and if we were safe. He smiled and said the helicopter was just checking the power lines. 

The bird sanctuary is home to a bunch of injured birds that couldn't survive in the wild. Plus a ton of pelicans that seem to enjoy the free ride. We saw a lot of hawks and owls with mangled or missing wings which was pretty sad. I apologize for the excess of pelican pictures. I find them fascinating. Maybe people who visit our part of the world find Canada geese or squirrels fascinating!

This is a snowy egret. There were quite a few of them. Loved the yellow feet!

This is an American Ibis. The brownish one following is also an American Ibis but it has brown on it for some reason.

 

For our final meal in Florida, we decided to try a Tikki Bar. We'd seen one attached to a restaurant we'd been to earlier and gave it a try. As it happened, it was happy hour when we arrived! We think we might try a Tikki Bar again! Dinner was Tikki Bar happy hour food, wings and potato skins and beer. We think it was a fitting way to end our Florida adventure.

Sorry for the partial food pic. I guess the laid back Keys atmosphere and the beer distracted me again! There were more of both the wings and potato skins!

South Beach - Pride Edition

We woke up to another fabulous day and were not pleased that we'd have to leave after the Pride Parade. So, we went to the front desk and extended our stay for another day. Then we explored around the grounds a bit and Marilyn tried out the hotel pool. 

I went out to Ocean Drive while Marilyn was swimming to check out preparations for the parade. The staging area was right in front of our hotel. I was also able to get some shots of the hotel and the street with no cars which is impossible to do at other times.

Before the parade started, we wandered around the tents that were set up. Luckily, all the water that was there last night had dried up. One of the first things we noticed was all the food stands! Since we'd only had coffee so far, we tried an arepa and a pina colada. Excellent breakfast!

These are the arepas. They're made with corn flour and these are stuffed with sweet corn and cheese. 

This is another stand with a neat way of grilling turkey legs.

We shared this pina colada.

We found a spot that had a good view of the parade and waited for it to arrive. I don't think it's as big as the Toronto parade but there were still a lot of people, and dogs!

After a short break for lunch, just a sandwich, we set out again to walk on the beach. We went along the beach to some of the larger resort hotels and then cut up to Collins Ave. which is one of the shopping areas. It took a while to explore that and then we went back to the hotel, watched most of the end of the Masters and headed off to dinner.
Tonight's dinner was Cuban at a place called Rodriquez de Cuba. It's fancier than the diner type places and we really enjoyed the flavours. 
We shared two appetizers. The first was smoked marlin tacos. 

The second app was a lemon seafood ceviche with lobster, shrimp and crab. It had a potato and corn salad and some fried plantain chips.

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Marilyn's main was Cuban Shrimp and Grits. It was a little spicy but the flavour was excellent.

My main was boneless oxtail that came in a can! The chef has a machine that cans the oxtail and then slow cooks it. They open the can at the table and add it to the plate. The picture doesn't do it justice really. The side is black beans and rice.