Frita's

I've wanted to try this place for a while and the word is that it's good. For some time I have been enjoying the cheaper end of the dining scene in Key West and I think it's better value, often than the all-frills-included eateries. In short: I had high hopes.

Complete lack of pretension on Southard Street between Duval and Whitehead. Frita's Cuban Burgers Note the menu page I've linked to is rather oddly laid out but continuous scrolling will get you to the good stuff at the bottom of the page.

I met my main man JW, a former dispatcher now working elsewhere for the city in some amorphous department that gives him evenings and weekends off. When he worked with me on nights in dispatch we used to joke about how night shift was Sparta! but now the joke's on him as he is some day shift bugger. 

When we decided to have lunch we both suggested Frita's as the place. JW is a Conch so he had his Frita Burger traditional style while I pursued my goal of eating eggs with my burgers while trying not to make a mess. I did pretty well. These things are absurd. They are a patty of pork and beef mixed and there is chorizo in there with additional spices, so they may be Cuban burgers but they are far from bland. I like Cuban food but generally its very Caribbean and not at all Mexican, which is to say food is served at face value with no sauces or much spiciness. These things are very different. If I call them burgers you won't get the right idea at all. Inaddition to the spices and tangy  sauce they come with shoe string fries made  in the shop and they taste remarkably good. 

I should have ordered some fried yucca which I love or plantains or something but there was a lot of food to digest here while we talked about stuff. Catching up with JW was fun as there is always something going on in his life beyond keeping up with his daughters and coaching and all that other Conch stuff that he loves. He has a funny story or two in his back pocket and not always do they show people up to best advantage. 

I forgot to ask the cheerful lady her name but judging by some web sleuthing I did this should be the owner of this splendid establishment Marcia. She also brought me lemonade to drink which I was told was good and it was. JW pronounced it done properly. 

There is a ton of tat on the walls giving the place a lively colorful air, including the rather absurd police calendar which sold out in a  hurry (for a good cause) proving once again I have no taste as there is a pent up demand apparently for pictures of shirtless cops in assorted poses.

Frita's, worth a visit.

Waterfront Night

I wanted to wander Key West Bight on a lunch break recently.

So I did. 

It was a lovely breezy night, just a few people on the docks,boats rocking in their berths, and me.

Art In The Wilderness

It was a rather hot day but Rusty has been quite resilient to the heat so far. He actually enjoys laying out on the deck in my chaise longue ignoring the temptations of conditioned air. So we went up Niles Road and explored the back country of Summerland Key.

I came here with Cheyenne around 2010 but she lost interest in exploring the mangroves wth me so Rusty is an opportunity to re-visit these spots. Cheyenne suffered the heat much more than Rusty does.

I guess Rusty is lucky Cheyenne chose to die when she did because here he is, young and active with lots to see.

Some driven soul has obviously been busy on these old cement pipes that have been lying around here forever. I rather like the effect:

There are still blank canvases for graffiti master to splurge on:

Rusty finally admitted that the sun was burning down quite hard:

The artist feels no compunction to clean up after self as evidenced by this abandoned tool of the trade. Mind you, considering the state of the place in general one can hardly blame them If there is no actual physical trash can it is obviously too much to expect them to pack it out...

We took refuge inside a pipe and rested a while.

It is time for rainy season to kick back in. Soon, but not on this 90 degree day.

Lovely.

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A Sunrise From 2010

West Summerland Sunrise

I have been attracted back to this spot quite a bit lately. I enjoy standing at the top of a thirty foot "hill" and looking out over the water. Cheyenne likes wandering at her own pace smelling the smells so we are both happy.On returning home from work several days ago I got it into my head to drive the fifteen minutes from house to enjoy what promised to be a spectacular sunrise. I missed the arrival of the orb above the horizon but I got some lovely colors reflected off the water.
Pelicans are back for the winter.
It was a lovely still morning of low humidity, abundant dew and temperatures hovering around a perfect 70 degrees (20 C).

I photographed anything that moved and a few things that didn't.

The morning glow gave everything a particular brilliance. The stop sign marks the edge of the Overseas Highway atop the embankment.

Cheyenne was busy in the dawn's early light.

The old Bahia Honda ("deep bay" in Spanish) bridge looked sepia tinted in the light.Then an exceedingly odd thing happened when Cheyenne started nuzzling my legs. I stepped away from her and she followed insistently nuzzling my legs. I looked down and found my Labrador patiently picking sand spurs off my uniform trousers. She pulled one, spat it out and went back for the next of these nasty spiky little buggers. She was taking care of me the same way I take care of her when she starts limping from getting one of these things up in her pads. I have never had a dog take care of me like that.I am very fond of my Labrador.I quite like living in the Keys too. I wonder what the attraction of snow and gray skies are.

We enjoy the bright colors of winter down here.

The state of Florida manifests the most wicked sense of humor unexpectedly. Who would think to park an RV overnight on this vegetated slope?

See your blizzard and raise you another sunny day in Paradise.

This was Ramrod Key from the Overseas Highway as we arrived home.

There are no mountains or deciduous forests or winding twisty roads, but that's okay. We have sun sea and enough sand to make it all worthwhile.

McConnell's Pub

My friend George likes Irish pubs which is funny as he lives in the land of the world's best Pilsner beer, the home of the Original Budweiser, the Czech Republic.

Finnegan's Wake used to be the meeting place of choice, in the days when this place was Bogart's but McConnell's on Duval at Olivia does a fine job of filling in. With the added benefit of some people watching on the 900 block of Duval.

George ordered a burger, which is no mean meal of course but in a place like this I feel one has to step out a bit. One cannot keep lamenting the passing of Finnegan's especially when this lot offer Smithwick's on tap with a vast plate of bangers and mash.

George has lived most of his adult life in Europe and done well raising a family, keeping friends and enjoying a proper snowy Christmas from time to time in a fairy tale city like Prague. He makes me crazy with stories of quick excursions to Italy just a few hours from his home. The huge variety of European cultures in a relatively small area is a delight for the traveler.

Then there's Key West which exerts its own fascination. George keeps a house here with all the work that entails. I think his children will do better growing up in Prague speaking English, rather than growing up in the US speaking Czech but I appreciate the desire to keep a toe hold in the old country. When I was a child my time was split between Italy and England and I'm glad my parents didn't take away my choices. In the end of course I chose my own path elsewhere but that's been my way all my life.

We talked, I watched the leaves blowing through the door, winters autumnal leaves, victims of a sudden windy summer storm. The little dry crisps fluttering on the dark wooden floor gave the place a comforting non - urban air. We were far from Duval Street.

Another tradition: when we meet it rains. It did too on the ride home. But lunch was good. Very good. Till next time, George.

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