A Road Trip to the Keys - Part 1
January 11-20, 2000
I would love to tell you that every fishing trip is a blast...that we had a wheelbarrow full of fish and broke every fishing record known to man. But this trip was a mixed bag of nuts. It all started ten days ago. Mike, Mark and I were on a mission to bring back a story from the south. What was in store for us was not in our plans. We left on Tuesday night at midnight, the best time to travel, there's no traffic so you can blow right down the highway.
We had every kind of rod from freshwater to tuna sticks. Coats to shorts were packed for whatever weather we would run into. We had a driving rotation going and the weather for traveling down could not have been better. Our mission was to be in Key West by Thursday for a four day fishing trip to the Dry Tortugas.
Bottom fishing there is nothing short of incredible. Giant mutton, red snapper, cobia, kingfish, yellow tail to 5 pounds and better. Grouper of all varieties...a smorgasbord of tropical fish. The entire trip down we only stopped for gas and coffee...coffee and gas. Hey...it's only 1500 miles...just a stones throw down the coast. I was glad to get into some
warm weather. Winter was giving me cabin fever and driving down in my new car was pure pleasure...blue skies and no traffic all the way down. Tunes and rockin' down the highway. Now let me tell you there was some serious bad jokes coming out of Mark and Mike...the kind that makes your eyes cross, if you get my drift. They had me laughing the whole way.
I've had a thing for fireworks ever since I was a kid growing up on the Island...and so of course, we had to stop in South Carolina for a pit stop at the infamous "South of the Border." I am sure that all of you are guilty of the same temptation. It's a hard place to pass up...especially with those road signs..."only 80 mile to go"..."only 60 miles to go"...so on and so on. It's a tradition...we may be adults outside, but we are kids forever inside.
This place is the king of tack! All in all we had our laughs and jokes about this place, stretched our legs, had some bad coffee and left (but not before I tried to blow up my to two companions).
Off we went...South Beach or bust! At our first stop we fell into a deep drop-dead sleep, the kind of sleep where they have to check to see if you are still breathing. Mike kept calling me the "old man." He wanted to drive the entire way without stopping. Not happening! Driving for 19 hours straight is enough.
When we got to Key West we had a day to blow so we went to all the local haunts. Stops that included Sloppy Joe's and some fresh rolled cigars. The weather was in the 80's, not shabby! Shorts and an ugly shirt...what is an "ugly" shirt you may ask? It's a hawaiian shirt with hula girls dancing or a shirt with an all fish printed pattern. To top off the outfit...a cheap pair of sunglasses. Tourists with a capital "T." Hey what the heck, it's all in fun! Loosen up your draw strings buddy.
Key West has changed alot in 10 years. It's all polished now...I guess in a good way. It used to be a one horse town and now it's a two horse town. No Burger King or Star Bucks...yet. I love the small stores and restaurants. I do love it down there...nothing personal but you can keep the snow and sub zero weather which hit right as we left.
Florida houses painted in pastels bright and colorful and full of life. Not for everyone. But the traveling fisherman could handle it. A New Yorker's reaction to southern hospitality is "Hey, why are they so polite? Something's up, I know it! They must be trying to get over". That's a New Yorker down to the concrete beneath his feet. Well we ate our way through Key West looking for the best key lime pie...not the cool whip specials and I found it at the Italian fisherman restaurant with, of course, a double espresso. Real coffee with a kick.
Mike was itchy to start up some fishing and so we were off to the Yankee Captain to drop off our equipment... which was basically the entire truck load. Mike must have brought a hundred pounds of lead with him. I kid you not! He was geared to the teeth. We got to the boat, chose our bunks and loaded up our equipment. We came to film this trip, something I was really looking forward to doing the whole drive down...boy was I in for a surprise!
Click here for Part 2.
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