Stranded in Florida: Con, Tiki, Taco, and Tikka, our food explorations.
Not having the van with us “allowed” us to eat out a lot more and we wanted to share a few of these places with you.
Bokeelia Island
We enjoyed sitting out on the Patio of Captain Con’s seafood place on Bokeelia Island,
watching the sunset
and watching the people watching the sunset.
Looks like everyone was on the dock ready to watch another sunset.
There were birds fishing in the sunset, ignoring both the people and the sunset and focusing on their food.
Unlike the birds, we were not focussing on our food. There was so much to see and take photos of, that we forgot to take pictures of the food until it was too late. Below is the remnants of a delicious pecan pie. Their fish baskets were really good too, but we have no visual evidence.
The bromosa murkily glistened in the sunset and was very refreshing.
Our second favourite place on Bokeelia is technically on another island, Matlacha (pronounced mut-la-shay with emphasis on shay). Both places are part of Pine Island.
Yucatan Waterfront Bar and Grill had a wonderful balcony right on the water
Again, there were many distractions such as dolphins passing by,
nesting osprey,
osprey sitting and watching at every move we make,
And osprey screaming.
But above all we were a bit distracted by the table next to us. If you look up the tree you will see the coconut hanging above this guy’s head. I really wanted to tell him to move…instinctual residue from our time in the Philippines, where some islands reported the highest cause of death was from falling coconuts.
This is partly why, again, we forgot to take photos of the food until it was almost too late.
Luckily we have an accidental photo of the a margarita from the bottom up.
The fish basket was giant and delicious. The quesadillas were pretty good too.
Manasota Key
There are Tikis everywhere in these parts of Florida. We didn’t visit any, but the place on our new island, Manasota Key, is called Tiki Place. We went for tacos instead.
Speedy Gonzales, the taco place that we found just off the island, ended up being a taco food truck and it was super tasty.
The guy sitting under the canopy said he works at another Mexican restaurant, but comes to this place to eat “because it’s really good”, suggested the Pambazo, a Mexican sandwich. It was like a symphony of flavours in your mouth.
As were the street tacos.
We definitely need to go back there before we leave this area!
Finally, Our St. Pete’s cousin took us to Tikka, an Indian Restaurant in Venice. It was one of the best Indian restaurants we visited, but again, we failed when it came to the photos part. We were busy being social.
Here is a photo from Tikka’s Facebook page. Not exactly what we had, but similar. My Masala was amazing, and Tony’s Rogan Josh was delicious as well.
So this is it for Captain Con, Tiki Place, Speedy Gonzales Tacos, and Tikka Indian Restaurant. It looks like we have about another week to stay here in Southern Florida, so we’ll have a few more tales to tell.
It seems as though you’re holding up fairly well. 😉 Beautiful sunsets and lots of places to visit. I’m looking forward to your next post. In the meantime I hope they get your van fixed. That’s a bummer.
We will continue to suffer quietly here 😊 I am finding it very hard to find time to write, but I’ll do my best!
Immersing yourselves in local culture. 😀 If you ever get back to Wiarton you can get an Indian style dinner just like that one at The Spirit Rock Outpost and Cafe 100% true story. EnJoy your journey. <3 T+D
We ended up a bit farther from Wiarton than we planned initially, but we plan to visit the area again, so thanks for the tip! We are having a great time doing beach bum things 😊
If you have to be stranded in a place, it should at least have good food, good views and good weather. Glad you are able to relax. Allan
We are having a blast! Thanks, Allan!
I’m still laughing…proper thing to eat the food and forget about the photos 🙂
This happens to me way too often, but I think it’s a good thing 😊
I think it is too. Years ago, I spent far too much time taking photos rather than enjoying the moment. I haven’t looked back since…
It looks like you both are having such a great time. What a calmer pace of life looking at everyone on the dock leisurely enjoying that beautiful sunset. All the food looked sounded great!
The coconut thing freaks me out now that you mentioned it! How long were you at the Philippines for and which part?
We are making the best of a crappy situation for sure! We were in the Philippines many years ago ((in 1982) while backpacking in the far east. We stayed in Manila for a while and worked as extras in movies, which was a lot of fun, and made a few short trips to other parts of the country. The coconut info comes from Boracay, which at the time was mainly what sandy beach and coconut trees with a few huts and a couple of restaurants. Today it’s full of resort…have you been?
I was born in the Philippines in 81. So I was a wee infant when you were in movies. You’ll have to let me know which movies and actors!
Boracay is lovely. We went in 2008. And when we went back in 2010 it was so commercialized in just 2 years. How lovely for you to have seen it in its purest form. The current President shut Boracay travel and tourism down for about a year a few years ago to allow them to clean up the island and protect its natural resources as it became way too commercialized.
PS Here’s s post I wrote about my visit to the Philippines: https://mylovablepest.com/2020/12/15/adventure-in-the-philippines/
I can’t wait to take T there one day!
Cool! Where in the Philippines are you from? We were in a movie directed by Cirio Santiago, who is rumored to be Tarantino’s inspiration. We were in a most wonderful B movie called Stryker :😊. I’m glad to hear that there is effort to preserve Boracay; it was such a beautiful place and I hated hearing that it ended up the way it did. I always think about Boracay when Iwritee about lesser known places…good thing that i don’t have the same readership as Blog TO, right?
We lived in old Chinatown in Manila. 🙂 I’ve never heard of Cirio Santiago but did some reading on him last night and learned about his work inspiring Tarantino. How very cool you got to do that extra work!
I would not have learned about Boracay if others have not written about it. So I think it’s nice to help spread the word (including being nice to the environment). Haha. There are now many other lesser known islands in the Philippines becoming the new Boracay.
I think we stayed not too far from Chinatown, but I don’t remember exactly where…I guess you are right, and this is how I find out about some places too, I just don’t want those places to completely change into Disneyish places. But of course, as you say, there are many more islands to be discovered!
It’s know fun being stranded anywhere, though it doesn’t appear that you have it too rough. I’ll bet you’re chomping at the bit to get going. I assume it’s taking a while to get the part rather than they are having trouble fixing your van.
Terrific shot of the osprey. They are fun to watch when they’re fishing.
Thanks, Pete! At first it was getting a part for another truck that was on the hoist, not we are waiting for a part for our van. We’ll see what comes next 🤷♀️
That’s what I call making the best of the situation. That Mexican sandwich looked amazing.
Haha, it was! We went back today hoping for more, but it was closed.
It’s impressive you saw so many wild animals! The osprey looks absolutely beautiful!
Thanks you! It’s always such a thrill to see wildlife!
I know, right? I remember watching an osprey eat a fish once. It was easily something to watch for hours, if it had lasted for hours that is. Lol
It must have been a short, gory sight 😊
Actually, I was a distance away and it took a while for it to eat the fish
Looks like you’re making the most of being stranded. Perfect way to spend your time.
It feels pretty darn perfect 😊
Very nice post
Thank you!
Love the pics – what a beautiful location!
Thank you, and yes, it’s pretty cool down here. Not what we expected.
Thank you for liking my post ! I appreciate all your posts, but my like button still no working, I am very sorry. Have a nice day (or evening) ! Diana
THank, Diana and I appreciate you taking the time to let me know! I hope you get your issue sorted out!
Good vibes all around! Not a bad place to be stranded in. 🙂
Right? We really can’t complain!
Sounds (and looks) like you’re eating well while you’re stranded in southern Florida. I can see why you’ve been distracted while eating as the views of everything and everyone are beautiful and interesting.
Right? Who wouldn’t get distracted by dolphins frolicking by the dock?
I could have eaten you under the table at these fabulous eateries. All the food looked yummy!! Enjoy, Muriel
It was all very yummy! Thanks, Muriel!