The Food Capital of Connecticut

If Mecca is to Muslims, this is to Fooderatis. This place. Wow. Wow. Double Wow. A million times wow. Stew Leonards claims itself to be the World’s largest dairy, but it’s more than that. It’s a fresh produce palace.

They make pretty much everything on sight. Departments include fresh coffee beans, bakery, patisserie, place where they make potato chips and rice cakes (not sure the actual name of that department, but they even make sweet potato chips – so thick and delicious that I bought a bag to take with me to New York), tortillary, pizzeria, sushi bar, cheese section, seafood, abattoir/butcher, fresh fruit and veg, juicer, smoothie bar, ice creamery, cellar and I’m sure I’ve missed some others. Each section is massive, and has a bigger range than I’ve ever seen in these departments. The fruit and veg section is probably twice the size of your specialty fruit & vegetable shops in Australia. But the thing is that you can consume all these products while you are doing your shopping. Even your trolley has a coffee cup holder in it for you! Each department offers an array of samples and simply give away all their goods that are deemed inferior (i.e. massive bowl of cookies that had fallen apart when they came out of the oven, for consumers to eat, bbq in the butcher section).

This is pretty much your entrée, because when you come to the end, there is one of the biggest buffets I’ve seen, and all of the fresh produce is utilised in it! Simply amazing – you fill up a bowl and they weigh your meal and charge you based on weight. 2lbs (just under a kilo of food) was about $10. Bargain. I don’t think I can aptly describe this place without taking you there, but it makes going to the market an experience. They even had a petting farm out the front for kids! And also a grill out the front where you could order cheap as cheap meals. That was right next to the smoothie bar too. This place – WOW. I officially name it as the food capital of Connecticut.

Conche Fritters

We’ve covered Key Lime Pie and we’ve covered Gator Bites so far in the blog. Now onto the third strictly food segment: Conche Fritters. Conche are a type of shell with a fleshy inside, which in turn is boiled, then mashed up with some vegetables, dipped in batter and then deep fried. Served with a tomato & paprika heavy sauce, these are heavenly little snacks perfect to serve with a couple of drinks. You could find them quite easily in key west, and I also found a few places in Miami that served them. The taste is a little difficult to describe – the flesh is quite a sweet meat, with the sweetness reduced with the addition of vegetables and batter. Delicious. Best conche fritters we had were at a place called Finnegan’s on Duval St, purely for overall taste. However, that just being suited to my pallet, I should probably also mention another place (whose name escapes me) on Caroline St (both in Key West) and just across the road from Pepe’s Café (Key Lime Pie) in a little shanty set up, which looks far from glamorous. They serve up a generous helping for a small price whilst you overlook Caroline St. The chef here proclaimed to have a 50/50 conche-to-vegetable ratio, and they weren’t quite as sweet. The batter was also a far simpler batter, leaving the fritter itself to do the work. Only a close second, but both deserve a mention.

GATORADE

It just wouldn’t be a trip to Florida without a trip to the Everglades. So of course, we obliged. They are far closer to Miami than you would imagine, with the park itself stretching as far north as Orlando almost. It’s a pity that this ecosystem looks likely to sustain some long-term damage from the oil spill and the inadequacy of BP, but enough about that.

We went to the Everglades Alligator Park (http://www.everglades.com/) which offered an opportunity to (as the name suggests) get up and close with Alligators. Very close in fact. The fences are by no means thick. It’s just your standard fencing (the stuff you see at music festivals). That’s it. If you stick your fingers through the holes, bad luck. You will lose your finger. Or get the shit scared out of you as you walk past a docile looking alligator that starts hissing at you and then lunges at the fence when you are half a foot away from it. Yes, that is what happened to me.

We stayed and watched all the shows that the park offered (alligator feeding, alligator wrestling and a snake show). It was the same host for all three, and he was by far the most entertaining host ever. The jokes didn’t stop, and he had an especially good time when he picked out a Belgian girl to be his volunteer for the snake show.

However, we did really go for the true boat ride through the Everglades which we got to achieve, and get wet in doing so. And get very very very very close to the wildlife. So close in that if you put your hand over the side of the boat, you could pat one of the alligators that decided to come and hang out right next to our boat. Apart from that, it’s driving over half water, half vegetation for a solid half hour, and as plain as that sounds, you do get to take in the scenery, which is much more intriguing than it sounds. Oh by the way, it’s not as if they talk you through the Everglades on these boats for the whole thing. The boat is loud. Very loud. And people get wet. The drivers make sure of this.

Good fun had. Back to Miami now.

PS. Because this also doubled as an alligator farm, you can guess what we ate for lunch.

Another night out in town

So you can only imagine how we were feeling. A long day in the sun. Snorkelling and all the other water activities. Free beer. Then a cruise with more free alcohol. We were a little bit buoyant (which is how we ended up with the last post).

Just wanted to add though of the infamous Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Yep, it's his bar. And he makes his own type of rum, which I got to try. It was ok, not the greatest, but definately not the worst. So being in Margaritaville, we went there and had a margarita. Ended up chatting with a guy who used to be Jimmy Buffet's room mate (doubt if you want, I don't mind what he told me, because it was bloody interesting at the time). He turned out to be a rum fiend too. Again not sure how genuine anything he was saying was, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

We had to leave kind of early the next day, which didn't quite go as planned, due to Lukas leaving his bag in a bar and only realising at 3am in the morning when I was fast asleep. Though kudos to him for waking me up to drive him, only to realise that the rental car key was in the bag. Thanks buddy.

Fat Chick Falling Off Mechanical Bull

This post pretty much speaks for itself.

Best Key Lime Pie

Finally, we found the perfect Key Lime Pie. We overheard about it when a waiter was telling someone where to get a good slice of the icon, and decided to check it out. It's located off Duval St, so it's fair to say that not many tourists would be able to find it. Pepe's Cafe (http://www.pepescafe.net/) serve you up a helping of that famous Key Lime Pie that is so light and fluffy, with a biscuit base the just crumbles apart. The sweetness is not over done, and the serving isn't one of those gigantic ones that would be infamous in USA. It's big enough to serve as an ample dessert, whilst small enough to ensure you finish it (seriously, desserts bigger than entrees seems to be the norm here).

The website has the recipe for the pie up there, so make sure you check it out.

Ultimate Adventure in the Gulf of Mexico

We woke up nice and early to be on time (literally, smack bang on time - I couldn't believe it) for our cruise on a catamaran out to do some snorkelling, jetskiing, parasailing and various other activities on the water. Also included was breakfast, lunch, drinks, and once all the activities involving machines were over, free booze! All this for $139 (and it also included another 2 hour 'sunset cruise' which was also included free booze - pretty bloody good deal!).

The snorkelling wasn't the best I've done, with water visibility quite low due to the choppiness of the sea. This is probably due to the fact that there are storms out over the ocean nearly every evening. Still managed to see barracudas every time you turned around, a couple of sharks and some stingrays.

The wind picked up making it near impossible to hold down your plate for lunch, but quickly after, we were ushered off in our group to go parasailing, the first time I've done it. You only got about 10 minutes up there, but it was still pretty amazing to see a view over much of key west and a good look over the Gulf (don't worry folks, the oil spill hasn't made it down to Key West yet, no oil in sight).

Tearing up the jetskis was next, another thing I'd never done before. Trying to throw Lukas off the back of the jetski was the aim, and I came close, but not quite.

Then came the water activites: a giant rock climbing mountain floating in the ocean, along with a giant slide and a giant trampoline. Lots of fun was had with the other people from the trip, particularly on the rock climbing mountain, where there were numerous times people accidentally 'slipped' or lost their balance and fell into the water.

The day ended (it goes for about 6.5 hours) and we ended up back on dryland, a couple of hours to kill until our sunset cruise was to depart. Big shoutout to the crew at FURY (http://www.furycat.com/) who were the ones who took us out for the day. They did an awesome job and if anyone ever heads to Key West, definately hit these guys up. Chilled out, ever helpful, and not really much of a dull moment on the boat. The trip out to the reefs didn't take long at all, and there is generally always something happening whilst on board, so you're not waiting for long periods at a time for something to do.

Day Two in the Keys

So out and about, walking around Duval St on a Monday night. Taking it all in, it is very much a chilled out place, although the streets come to life once the sun goes down. The closer you are towards the marina at the end of Duval St, the closer you are to the action, so it seemingly tapers off the further you walk down.

Some dinner was had (an entire post to Conche Fritters is a must read), some jumbo sized cocktails were consumed and then we headed home.

Waking up feeling strangely fine, we organised some stuff for day three (Wednesday) and then spent time at the National Park beach, Fort Zachory Taylor. A couple of little rock formations to swim out to, and the sun shining long and hard. Prior to the swim, we got our tourist on and headed to the landmark that shows the southern most point on continental USA. How it's still continental USA when you've travelled over a good 15 islands to get there is still beyond me, but nonetheless, obligatory photo was taken (and attached).

Tues night, again we hit up Duval St and some of the various nightspots. Drinking is very much a way of life down in the keys. Not only is drinking allowed on the streets, it is encouraged. They serve you in plastic cups and encourage you to top up your drink before you leave the bars. Some more conche fritters were eaten, and due to it being a Tuesday, and also considering that we had to wake up early for our Ultimate Adventure on the Wednesday, we headed home around 12:30.

On the road to Conche County

So today, we went and hired our car (which I haven't even taken a photo of yet... we named her KW), and headed south along the keys to Key West. Drive took about 3 hours, and it was not only interesting, but refreshing to get away from the glitz and pretentiousness of Miami. To sum up Miami (moreso South Beach where we were), it's like a combination of Kings Cross & Darling Harbour with a hint of Bondi in there. A lot of attitude, and if you don't like people getting up in your face, then probably stay away from here. Don't get me wrong, Miami was definately nice for a holiday (very nice beach) but as far as the culture goes, very much up in your face, and everybody trying to make a name for themselves. A lot of sleazy guys, but also a lot of scantily clad girls. Very hot the whole time (was always at least 33 degrees during the day) so have developed a bit of colour compared to what I would have in Sydney.

Driving down US-1, you got to see a lot of different independent diners and small resorts (they literally littered the highway), and not a neon sign in sight! We stopped at a little diner (the one in the photo) where I got served an Iced Tea (home made of course) in a pitcher jug (MASSIVE). We ordered GATOR BITES (little bits of deep fried alligator tail, seasoned and served with chipotle mayo and a squeeze of lemon) and they were DELICIOUS. I'm tempted to go and find somewhere that serves alligator steaks, because the meat was phenomenal. A little like pork, but a bit gamier.

Also had a slice of the compulsory KEY LIME PIE. Let me put it this way - I couldn't finish a slice it was so sweet. And big. Massive. Nice, but only in small doses. I'm not one for overly sweet things, so it might go down a little differently for others (forgot to take a photo, but I'm sure I'll eat some more somewhere - everywhere sells it).

We drove over the 7-mile bridge on the way down, weaving through the islands, which is, just as it sounds, a bridge that is 7 miles long. Not that you really notice much apart from blue on either side.

Safe in the hotel now, will probably end up going out for dinner, before coming home and planning for tomorrow. It's a little windy down here for now, so not quite beach weather, but still quite warm.

Adios!

PS. The pictures to the other posts will come later tonight when we get back to the hotel.

Sorry, beach has been calling

Yep so a few things to fill you in on. Going to be as brief as possible so using dot points, and going in chronological order:

• Went out on Weds night to LIV and saw Dada Life. Club can best be described as a plush version of the forum, that fills up every wednesday (voted best party in Miami).
• The next morning, I was robbed. Two girls came back to the hotel with us and when they left, my iphone was gone and so was at least $500 out of my wallet (well, all the money from my wallet was gone). No cards, ID or camera/laptop, just those artifacts. Been to the police and filed a report, gotten the hotel security footage, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like they'll be able to ID them. At least I have travel insurance though.
• Beach
• Visited Espinola way, just around the corner from us. It's a nice little courtyard section (well cordoned off road for pedestrians) kind of reminiscent to Chinatown, but filled with Spanish, Mexican & Italian style restaurants and shops.
• Did a big walk around the Art Deco district (which we're staying in) but just walked around to take it all in. It really is the tourist centre of Miami, which we found out when we went out on Saturday night (it's coming, chill). Lots of pastel coloured buildings with fluorescent lights... it really does look like GTA: Vice City. And you do get that vibe about it.
• Beach
• Visited Little Havana. Not so much a tourist attraction as such, but just an area where all the Cubans have settled, and where they have the Domino Park where all the old men play dominos. Cigar factories litter the streets, along with Cuban restaurants and other shops, all with Spanish as the primary language.
• Went to Grand Central on Satruday night, a club which is in the middle of Downtown Miami, but as we discovered, there are only really two streets that operate in Downtown at night time. The rest is a ghost town. Literally. If you've seen Will Smith in I Am Legend, that's what it was like. All the shops are locked up to the teeth with their rollar doors, no people walking around, no sounds... just a few homeless people lying around. We walked all the way there from Little Havana (a solid 90 minute walk in the humidity, so we were dying by the end of it). And the main thing is I survived, even with a camera hanging around my shoulder. I was told I was lucky to not have been mugged for my camera in Little Havana (I did notice a lot of glancing eyes at my camera though).
• Grand Central was a nice big space, formerly an office space, which had been gutted and turned into a massive club (roughly OAF size if you combined both rooms). Theophilus London was doing a set which was pretty awesome.

I'm off to Key West tomorrow and will probably just be at the beach today, along with updating police report and filing for insurance.

Before I forget, big ups to Chris for hooking me up with some people down here who have taken great care of us, and meant that we've met a few more legends too. Cheers bro.

Ciao

*Photos will be in the next post, and added to all the previous posts without photos

Much of the same

Really not much else to report from yesterday or today. Just been at the beach for most of it. Yep. That pretty much sums it up. The water feels about the same temperature as urine, so not too refreshing (it is nice and blue though), and it's about 34 degrees from 10 in the morning til about 6 at night. Forgot my thongs yesterday so burnt the shit out of my feet which now hurt a little bit. A tiny bit sunburnt. But seriously, nothing new.

Still no photos to upload, but I'll try and upload them at least by Key West at the very latest.

Umm... how are you?

Sup Miami

So another short post, purely because the weather outside is INCREDIBLE. Waking up at 7AM and it's already 28 Celcius*, sun is out and it's a beautiful day. The beach is a block away and just begging for me to come to it, so who am I to argue.

We arrived without coincidence yesterday, got to the hotel and walked along South Beach, which is actually pretty beautiful. I know, in Australia, people say we have the nicest beaches and I was told not to expect much more coming to America, but really, it does hold it's own.

We then ended up at a bar on Ocean Drive, Mango's (http://www.mangostropicalcafe.com/) (yes I got my tourist on, but everyone is allowed to once right?) A few overpriced cocktails (mojitos were pretty farrrrrkin good!) & a couple of beers later and we were in a good mood. Then the waitresses changed shifts. Ok, so I thought this girl had a skimpy outfit on. Then when the new waitresses came in. I've seen girls at a strip club wear more than this. She was wearing nothing but skimpy, sexy lingerie** as her work uniform, and this is a restaurant/bar, not even a strip club!!!! Pleasant views aside, we stayed there for a while before retreating back to the hotel to grab some sleep (and put a dent in the duty free bottle of Gin I bought).

Today = BEACH

Probably not much else to say apart from BEACH.

Oh. And WAY too many Ed Hardy shirts. I think the guy lives here.


*Let's get one thing straight. Fahrenheit is dumb. So I won't ever use it. Simple. Also, humidity is about 80-85% so yeah, nice and hot. How's Sydney again? #suckedinwinter

** Sorry fellas, no photos here. Didn't want to seem like a creep.

PS. I tried to do this with some pictures, but having some troubles with the uploading (apparently, uploading photos means using an unauthorised URL), so photos are coming.

What's up with chicken sandwiches?

Some more of that wholesome American food. I thought this was a myth until I saw the ad in a window of a KFC. Anyway, enjoy!

Hey Connecticut, Can I buy you a soda?

So it's official. I have a new crush. Her name is Connecticut. She's a lovely wholesome girl, very friendly. Kind of low-key and appreciative of the simple things, but she's just a wholesome American girl.

Yep, it's true. I'm currently staying up in Norwalk, Connecticut (about an hour drive from NYC) and it's beautiful. So much greenery everywhere you look, all the typical American houses (big ones at that too), squirrels to the left, chipmunks to the right... It's so idealic and as corny as this sounds, this is the 'real america' that I was wanting to visit.

Yesterday, just bought the essential things (i.e. a phone - if you want the number, send me a message via facebook) and then went around to Lukas' cousins house, about ten minutes away. This house was MASSIVE. Approximately an acre property, it was just about the most impressive american house I've ever seen. (I can't remember what the actual style is called, but I have a few pictures I snapped on my iphone while I was there).

We went to Lukas' cousins house to watch the soccer (USA vs. England), on a nice big rear projection screen television. They whipped up something quickly to eat with what was left lying around, which reslted in hot dogs, iced tea, mac n cheese, corn on the cob and some crab. Ahhh, can you please pass the cliche sauce with that?

BUT IT WAS DELICIOUS. I didn't think they would actually bust all that stuff out, but it seems that it's just typical to have things like that lying around the house. Amazing.

Everyone I seem to meet is incredibly friendly and warm too. I've met the neighbours (strong NY accents - couldn't wipe the smile off my face), and it is that very close-knit community type feel where all the neighbours know each other (oh that's the Robertsons - they just live across from the Archsons).

Didn't end up going out last night and fell asleep at 7:30. The bad side of this was that I woke up at 3:30 this morning, but at least I'm getting better.

LOVING IT

Three cities in twenty five hours

So I've finally arrived. I'm up in Norwalk, Connecticut at the moment, chilling at my friend Lukas' house, who picked me up from the airport last night. It's about an hour drive from NYC itself, in one of those areas that is just... well it's green. Lots of trees and nature and you're typical american houses. I'll post some photos tomorrow. Quick recap of the trip over and the things I've learnt:

• LAX is one giant clusterf**k. Plane was late getting in so I missed my connecting flight(along with about 40 other people). Took about 45 minutes to clear customs and once I did that, the bags weren't even on the carousel. Once I had collected my bags and then gone and gotten put on a new plane, had to line up for security to get through to the gate, which was about another hour... In short, after arriving at 7am, I didn't get to sit down again until after 9:30.


• Met some total legends on the flight over and whilst waiting in LAX. For once, got sat next to somebody I could hold a conversation with, turned out to be a total legend. Other people whilst waiting in LAX too were good value too, sharing numerous breakfast margaritas with me (which were MASSIVE, and according to channel 4 news, the best in LA)


• Delta is not too bad when it comes to an airline. Sweet choice of films on the flight (I watched fantastic mr fox twice). Seats are ok, but not comfy enough to sleep on.

Today, gonna go grab a sim card so I can have a mobile (aka cell phone) over here. If anyone wants the number, just let me know via facebook or twitter. Gonna go and meet up with Mans tonight in NYC too I think and probably go out with him for a little bit.

In summation

• I arrived
• I'm safe and well
• I got massive margaritas in LAX
• Met some legends on the way

PEACE

Sixteen Days

Basically, I figured that the easiest way to stay in contact with everyone and provide a window into my trip was to do a blog. This way I can post photos and everyone can browse in their own time. Can also just post up interesting shit along the way also.

So it is sixteen days til I depart these shores and head over to the vast wide land that is America. Still waiting for people's tips to arrive, so figured this would be a good way to get them all out.

Place I need tips for are New York and San Francisco. I need tips on things such as music stores, opshops, sneaker stores, clubs/bars etc.

When I'm staying in New York, I'm going to be living in an apartment in Williamsburg, so anything in W'burg too would be greatly appreciated.

So if you would all be legends by writing in the comments below tips for these two cities, I will buy a post card for you*, forgot to send it and then just give it to you when I get back.

*maybe, but probably not