Getaways to the authentic Florida
Unique Florida restaurants and bars, authentic Florida fish houses and seafood shacks, crab shacks, tiki bars, beach bars and raw bars.
My idea of a great choice for a place to eat on vacation is a restaurant with a story behind it. Here are eight historic restaurants that fit that criteria — from Prohibition rum-runners to 1980s drug-runners; from authentic 1920s grand hotel to an authentic 1950s diner.
The best road food along the Overseas Highway is served out of a handful of iconic kitchens, legendary Florida Keys diners and dive bars.
Blueberry farms were non-existent in Florida two decades ago, but much has changed. We are now 8th in the nation. April and May marks the blueberry harvest, and our guide takes you to family farms where you can pick your own.
This weekend’s St. Augustine Lions Club Spring Festival has reimagined its seafood festival past.
The Marathon Seafood Festival calls itself the Original Marathon Seafood Festival to emphasize it’s the real deal – indigenous and authentic. Marathon is a fishing town, and you don’t get fish any fresher than here, unless you catch it yourself.
Four of my favorite stops in the Keys are a little hard to find, and that’s part of their charm. They’re off the Overseas Highway in neighborhoods — and they’re worth discovering.
Fort Lauderdale’s iconic Mai-Kai Polynesian restaurant reopened in 2024 after 4 years of loving restoration and reimagining. You don’t have to save it for a special-occasion outing.
After a long wait, Miami’s favorite place for cinnamon rolls has reopened under new ownership at a new location. This institution south of Miami has generations of devoted fans.
An open-air Thai brunch and market draws throngs every Sunday morning to this beautiful waterfront temple in Tampa. The food is very good and moderately priced. The exotic gold-trimmed temple is worth visiting just because it’s beautiful, set among shady live oak trees decorated with orchids.
The weather is perfect for getting outdoors, and there’s no better way to enjoy Florida in the Fall than a good, old-fashioned seafood festival. Free parking; Free admission. Camping, fishing, kayaking nearby.
Stone crab season starts Oct. 15 and Everglades City, a small, isolated fishing village south of Naples, is a place to feast on this Florida favorite in an authentic Old Florida atmosphere.