Candid Florida

On my way home from Pensacola, I had to stop in Bagdad to visit Florida’s last real Stuckeys.  When I was a kid and my family did road trips to Florida down the East Coast every year, we’d always stop at Stuckeys.  The distinctive yellow-roofed shops were filled with treats, had clean restrooms, and often included a snack bar, in later years typically a Dairy Queen where I could indulge in my favorite, chili dog! I’d save my allowance so I could buy pralines, which at the time were 3 for $1.

Did you know that in the 1970s, Stuckeys had the first real email system for travelers? I still have the brochure. It was a computer where you could leave a message for a friend and they’d stop into any Stuckeys, type in their secret code, and get the message. But over the years, the interstates crowded out the US highways and Stuckeys vanished, converted into less-glamorous uses.  There are only two “real” Stuckeys left in Florida – I don’t count the Stuckeys name slapped on a gas station to sell candy to be the same – and of those two, the one that still shows the genuine hospitality, cleanliness, and friendly spirit I remember from the 1960s is the Stuckeys at the Bagdad / Milton exit along I-10. It’s loaded with goodies and nostalgia items, and has a Dairy Queen to boot.  Do stop in when you’re on a road trip!

There is something to be said for the perfect sweet tea: so properly Southern that when it’s done right, you don’t need to think about it. It just is.

That was my tea today, when I stopped in with friends to catch the tail end of the Telford’s always-satisfying buffet in White Springs. This historic hotel dishes up a mean catfish and hush puppies, fried chicken and mac-and-cheese, but it’s the tea that weaves the best magic. Especially quenching a post-hike thirst, but when it’s so good you just can’t turn down another glass … well, that’s the way sweet tea should be.

Telford Hotel & Restaurant
16521 River St
White Springs, FL 32096
(386) 397-2000

En route back from Pensacola two weeks ago, I stopped late night at the Taco Bell just south of I-10 along US 129 at the Live Oak exit. Now I’m not a big fast food fan, but long drives after a day of hiking call for a fruitista and a taco quick so I can get back on the road again. Imagine my surprise to find this otherwise typical on the outside Taco Bell transformed into a mini-bistro with an interior bursting with Southwest colors, fresh new fabrics, fancy lighting, a variety of seating … and flat screen TVs all around like a sports bar! It was after 9 PM and the place was hopping. It reminded me of a coffeeshop. It’s the only one I’ve encountered so far in Florida that looks like this. If this is the future of Taco Bell, good for them.

Once settled in Pensacola (a month ago today or so) for the eve, I called my brother-in-law Jeff, newly residing in Pensacola,  and made plans to go out on the town. He consulted his brother, a long-time Pensacola resident, and came up with two options: a popular Irish pub or the Pensacola Fish House. It didn’t take long to decide: when on the water, fish is best!

Right along the bay downtown, the Pensacola Fish House is a hopping place, especially on a Friday night. It took a little while to get a seat, and we had to eat outdoors.  We both ordered seafood, of course, mine a spicy shrimp dish. The chef’s into Asian fusion, so there were a lot of funky tastes with the sauces and accompaniments, but it worked. I wasn’t so pleased with the Lemon Drop martini, however, as it wasn’t tart like the ones I’ve had elsewhere. And I drink so infrequently, it was a little disappointing.  But the tasty meal was well worth pushing through the swinging Friday eve crowd to ask for a seat on the deck — a bit chilly with the breeze off the water.

Arriving late in Blountstown after an afternoon of hiking hilly terrain around Lake Talquin, I was up for a hearty meal. Thanks to my friends Marti and Jeff Vickery, who supply the always-so-tasty Big River Coffee to this hometown bistro, I had dinner with them and their son Wesley at the Wisteria Cafe, a fun and funky restaurant just down the street from the Florida Trail and just off SR 20 in a lovingly restored Cracker home on the west side of town.

The eclectic menu includes sandwiches, wraps, salads, and burgers. I tried their chicken salad Waldorf style, and although I am rarely a chicken salad eater, I cleaned my plate. Jeff’s burger looked good, too.  But the kicker was the Key lime pie.  Since I review restaurants for my travel guides, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “we have the best Key lime pie” across the state, and in general … WRONG! Hardly anyone knows how to coax the sour into a pie, but the folks at the Wisteria Cafe got their pie spot-on. I’d go out of my way for this one.

The Wisteria Cafe cooks breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but they are closed Sun-Mon.

Wisteria Cafe
16863 NW Charlie Johns St
Blountstown, FL 32424
(850) 674-2235

Last Thursday’s road trip started out, after several hours on I-75 and I-10, with lunch with a friend and business colleague in Tallahassee.  Compared to the visit that Rob and I made two weeks before for his debut in “Disappearing Ink,” an exhibition of the works of Florida editorial cartoonists now on display at Florida A&M University, this was a very different town.

The Legislature is back in session, and packs of businessmen in suits and ties swarmed through the Capitol like angry bees: not the best time to try and find a parking space, let alone a quiet table at a restaurant down the street from the powers that be. But Sharon steered me to OneOOne, a tasteful bistro just a few steps from the Kleman Plaza parking garage, and we settled into comfortable chairs to chat.

The lunch menu leaned towards tapas, and not wanting a heavy meal, I went for the crab cakes with fruit salad; she tried the shrimp. Both were delectable. 101 appeals to the professional crowd with a slightly daring menu showcasing fresh preparations in a snazzy bistro atmosphere.

One0One Restaurant & Lounge
215 W College Ave
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 391-1309