North Florida

Tourist Attractions.  There are many, but  Old Town has cool chararacter.  5770 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway

Kissimmee (407) 396-4888-Heres some images from Old Town

Alachua, FL (Near Gainesville)

Eats-Browns Country Buffet-14423 NW US Hwy 441, Alachua, FL 32615-Southern food in Greater Gainesville.

Boynton Beach, FL

Bar-Sweetwater Bar & Grill-1507 S Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, Florida-Bar and grill with “mixologist’ cocktails with an occasional soul and tiki DJ.

Clearwater, FL

Many cool things do not last forever in FL, but once upon a time, there was a huge garish restaurant called the Kapok Tree.  It closed many years ago, but part of its facilities and gardens are still used for special events and can be viewed.  Check out this tribute page.

923 McMullen Booth Rd. Clearwater, FL   33759

 

Gainesville, FL

Some events listed at the Gainesville Iguana.  Check out DIY GAINESVILLE.

Sightseeing-

Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park- hike to view waterfalls, foliage & a 120-ft. cavity.-4732 Millhopper Rd, Gainesville, FL 32653

Eats-
Satchel’s restaurant-1800 NE 23rd Ave, Gainesville, FL 352-335-7272. It’s the best pizza/salad/calzone place in town and it’s very artsy, with a million mobiles hanging from the ceiling and an outdoor garden

Sandwich Inn-110 NE 16th Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601-Divey drive through that can be hit or miss but is actually one of the oldest places in town.

Hogans-2327 NW 13th St, Gainesville, FL 32609-Formerly Hogans Heroes, they got sued, but it is still a 40 plus year old sandwich place that this sight exists for.

Adams Ribs-2109 NW 13th St, Gainesville, FL 32609-Newer joint with remodeled galvanized interior but building must have been a previous family restaurant.  Closed Sunday.

Terrell’s Bar-B-Que- 1916 Waldo Rd Gainesville, FL 32609 -Truck only open Thursday Friday and Saturday.

Live Music-

High Dive– no-cover for the  outdoor bar, this live-music venue hosts  local & traveling bands.: 210 SW 2nd Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601 (352) 872-5949

The Atlantic Nightspot -Address: 15 N Main St, Gainesville, FL 32601 Burlesque and Bands

Top Secret Events at the Wooly- 30 N. Main St. Gainesville, FL 32601-Banquet hall with privately run events

First Magnitude Brewing Company -1220 SE Veitch St, Gainesville, FL 32601

Hardback Cafe-920 NW 2nd St, Gainesville, FL 32601-Wednesday Night variety show.

Record Stores-
Hear Again Records- 201 SE 1st St, Gainesville, FL 32601

Jacksonville, FL

 

Above, a Camel Rider, a local regional specialty in Jacksonville. Sometimes called Riders. Basically any type of sub in a pita.

The Weekly alternative paper is Folio Weekly. No Idea records has a lot of bands that tour through the area

Music Clubs-
Imperial Bar & Lounge-325 W. Forsyth St., Jacksonville (904) 355-0810 Live music & pizza in renovated antique bar
Jack Rabbits, 1528 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville.
The Florida Theatre-128 East Forsyth Street-Jacksonville, FL 32202  (904) 355-2787-large venue for bigger acts.

Rain Dogs -1045 Park St, Jacksonville, FL 32204(904) 379-4969-Beer only room with a cool back room for bands.

Underbelly – 113 E Bay St, Jacksonville, FL 32202

Birdie’s-1044 Park St, Jacksonville, FL 32204 (904) 356-4444

Achetype– 2952 Roosevelt Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32205  (904) 619-9978 formerly starlite and Nighthawks

Harbor Tavern – 160 Mayport Rd, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233: (904) 246-2555 -Pub with touring punk and rock bands on occasion.

Wall Street Lounge-1050 Park St, Jacksonville, FL 32204  (904) 355-6969 Smoky Dive Bar where you can get mixed drinks between bands at the beer only rain dogs.

 

Eats-

Freds Cotton BBQ-2623 N. Main Street-904-356-8274

Bars-

Bahi Hut is a throwback Tiki Lounge-4675 N Tamaimi Trail

Sarasota, FL

Eats-THE HOLY GRAIL OF FOOD.  YEAR ROUND TURDUCKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thats Chicken stuffed in a duck, stuffed in a turkey at Alpine Meat Market and Restaurant OPEN!
Tues-Sat 9am-9pm, Closed Sun & Mon,  (941) 922-3797  4520 South Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34231 http://www.alpinesteak.com/

Live Music-

Regional Specialty-Minorcan Clam Chowder-unique to this area, similar to Manhattan clam chowder but with hot local Datil Peppers.  Available at Schooner’s Seafood House ,  O’Steen’s Restaurant , Barnacle Bill’s and Saltwater Cowboy’s .  Bills also has hot wings made with the pepper and all these joints specialize in shrimp as well.  

Live Music-

Shanghai Nobby’s-10 Anastasia Blvd, St Augustine, FL 32080 (904) 547-2188-sports bar with occasional bands

Stuart, FL-(about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach

Record Stores-
Confusion Records 20 E Ocean Blvd  Stuart, FL (561) 287-9994

Video store-
Groovy Movie A Go-Go 28 E Ocean Blvd  Stuart, FL (561) 221-0400

Tallahassee, FL

Live Music-

Liberty Bar and Restaurant-1307 N Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32303 (850) 284-7966
Club Downunder -Tallahassee, FL-gets shows like Mary Timony and superchunk.  College associated.

The Wilbury-513 West Gaines St, Tallahassee, FL 32301(850) 320-6353 most nights til 2.  Mini bowling, occasional live music, bbq and battered to order onion rings and cheese sticks.

Warhorse Whiskey Bar– 603 W Gaines St, Tallahassee, FL 32304

DIY venue-The shark tank.   Updated 12/2016 these types of places tend to be short lived.

Tiki Bar-Waterworks-104 1/2 S. Monroe, Tallahassee, FL 904-224-1887

Record Stores-
Vinyl Fever-2033 W. Pensacola St,Tallahassee, FL 904-576-4314.great store, great website with local act info.

Retrofit Records-439 W Gaines St, Tallahassee, FL 32301-Occasional in store shows

Eats!-
Nicholson Farmhouse is now known as White Dog Plantation. No longer a restaurant.
Manna, 3507 Thomasville Rd. (Village Square Blvd.) Tallahassee, FL 32309 , 850-668-1968  Gourmet deli, take-out and restaurant.
Shell Oyster Bar-Oysters in a converted gas station- 114 East Oakland Ave (between Munroe and Adams), 850-224-9919

Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack-No-frills seafood joint featuring oysters with many toppings and burgers: 325 N Bronough St, Tallahassee, FL 32301

Tampa, FL/St. Petersburg/Lakeland

The Local Alternative Paper is Weekly Planet. For good show info click here.  For Ybor city news try Ybor City.com.  For other concert info check out local promoter Fantasma’s Site.  Local info site Bay Domain is also worth a visit.

TBT Soundcheck site.

Monthly swing events at Swingtime.

Nearby is St. Petersburg is the Salvadore Dali Museum.

Live music-

Fubar Downtown – 658 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Daily 3PM–3AM  (727) 424-1809
The State Theatre -687 Central Avenue -St. Petersburg FL 33701
727.895.3045
Skippers Smokehouse-Corner of Skipper Road and Nebraska-813-971-0666-yeah, I know.  Sounds like a restaurant, and it is, but is was also voted best place to hear live music in Tampa.
Jannus Landing-16 2nd St N, St. Petersburg (727) 896-1244
The HUB-Dive bar with the occasional live band-719 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602

Crowbar -1812 N 17th St, Ybor City, FL 33605
Phone:(813) 241-8600

Dance Clubs-
The Castle-2004 North 16th Street, Tampa, FL 33605-(813) 247-7547-its a castle.  bar/club thump thump, maybe a goth night

Tampa is home to a Busch Gardens theme park with some great coasters.

When in Tampa, the place to be is YBOR City (pronounced e-bore), home of galleries, clubs and restaurants in this college town, though it can be kind of sleepy when its not a weekend night.  They have gallery walkarounds once a month too.  Don’t miss the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg across the river.

Eats-
Berns Steakhouse-1208 S. Howard Avenue at Margere-Tampa (813) 251-2421-THE most famous restaurant in Tampa, and pricey but a hipster spy tells me they are not quite what they used to be and instead recommends Charlies Steakhouse and Fish-4444 W. Cypress St., Tampa, FL 813-353-9706
Pasadena Steak House  -1530 Pasadena Avenue S. at 22nd Ave

Brocato’s Sandwich Shop-5021 E Columbus Dr, Tampa, FL 33619-open for decades, home of a famous deviled crab ball and “stuffed potato” which is also breaded and fried.  Only open til 5:30 pm, earlier on saturday and closed on SUnday.

Coney Island Sandwich Shop ?-250 Dr M.L.K. Jr St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33705(727) 822-4493
Most days 10AM–4PM, Sunday Closed -90 years old, coney dogs and burgers.

South Pasedena (727) 341-1711-a cheaper steak place with a great caesar in an area of St Petersburg.
The Crab Shack-old fashioned CHEAP!! Crab house. St. Pete.  They feature a very unusual Smoked mullet.  Get the peel and eat shrimp and coleslaw.  Skip the crab cakes and the garlic butter crabs, but get the key lime pie!
Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish, 1350 Pasadena Ave S, South Pasadena, FL 33707  (727) 381-7931-another smoked fish joint, this one also has an amazing fish spread, smoked mullet and whole large platters of smoked fish.  Potato salad made with BACON and a surf and turf combo with the fish spread side and a burger made with velveeta.  You can also bring your own fish and have it smoked.

 

More Tampa/St Pete Eats

 

Skyway Jack’s -2795 34th St S, Saint Petersburg, FL 33711 (727) 867-1907-Only open 5am  to 3 pm.  Hobo soup, SOS, breakfast pie, scrambled brains. Giant humpty dumpty and chicken out front.

Ted Peter’s Famous Smoked Fish-1350 Pasadena Ave S, South Pasadena, FL 33707-Phone number (727) 381-7931-Tiny old classic Florida must eat.   Nothing like this anywhere else in the country.  Huge planks of smoked fish of different types.  Closed Tuesday, other days  11:30 am – 7:30 pm

Trip’s Diner – 10555 Park Blvd N, Seminole, FL 33772 most days 7AM–9PM
(727) 623-0907-Breakfast cuban sandwich, Crabmeat omelette, beautiful thin onion rings.

West Tampa Sandwich Shop -3904 N Armenia Ave, Tampa, FL 33607 Daily 5AM–3PM, Saturday 5AM–5PM, Sunday 5AM–1PM  (813) 873-7104 Cuban sandwiches and Garbanzo soup and the Tripleta Sandwich. Ham, Pork & Shredded Steak. Crab Croquettes.

 

Record Stores

 

Hotels-
In addition to the numerous chain hotels around the area, there is the Tahitian Inn, 601 South Dale Mabry Highway, (800) 876-1397,  with 62 rooms in a residential neighborhood, with a heated outdoor pool. $69 to $89.

Drive In Theater-
Silver Moon Drive In-4100 U.S. 92 W., Lakeland, FL 33801, (941) 682-0849
Treasure Island, FL

Eats-

Panama City and the Redneck Riviera

These towns are close to each other, but not very close to Orlando and Tampa.  They can be done as part of a New Orleans road trip.

Miracle Strip-12000 Front Beach Road, Panama City Beach, FL (850) 234-5810-Amusement Strip and beach area for Northern Florida.  SORRY-MIRACLE STRIP HAS GONE OUT OF BUSINESS.  THERE IS A WATERPARK ACROSS FROM THE ADDRESS THAT STILL USES THE WEBSITE (closed 8/2004)

Near Panama City is St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, where you can rent a cabin, swim at a very clean beach or go horseback riding.

Apalachicola, FL

Eats-
Tamaras Cafe Floridita-17 Avenue E. Apalachicola, FL-850-653-4111-excellent venezuelan restaurant.

Hotels-
Brigitte’s Romantic Retreat -101 Sixth St., Apalachicola, FL.  One of them themed hotels with all different rooms.

Carabelle, FL

World’s Smallest Police Station in Carabelle, on US 98.

De Leon Springs, FL

Eats
Old Spanish Sugar Mill, 601 Ponce Deleon Blvd
De Leon Springs, FL 32130   (386) 985-5644-  In a state park, this place lets you grill your own pancakes.

Destin, FL

Shopping-Banana Bart-620 Harbor Blvd, Destin, FL 32541-Old Florida souvenir and novelty shop.

Eats-

Donut Hole Bakery and Cafe-635 Harbor Blvd, Destin, FL 32541-Breakfast place with counter seating.

The Back Porch-Big seafood place since 1974- 1740 Scenic Hwy 98, Destin, FL 32541

Fort Walton Beach, FL (50 miles east of Pensacola)

Eats-
Joe & Eddies Restaurant, 206 SE Florida Place,  Ft. Walton Beach, 243-0733-Incredibly good, incredibly cheap down home cooking.  Open 24 hours on the weekends.
Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q,925 North Beal Parkway, Fort Walton Beach, (850) 314-0717-When in the south, you gotta get ‘cue.

Movie Theater-
Suds-N-Cinema — 174 SE Miracle Strip Parkway, Ft. Walton Beach, FL – (850) 244-2484, 243-7455-Movie theater where you can drink and smoke.  Great Idea.

F

Pensacola, FL

Amusement Park-
Sam’s Fun City– Located in Pensacola south of I-10 on Highway 29. New Family Amusement Park.

Bars-

Elbow Room -2213 W Cervantes St, Pensacola, FL 32505  (850) 434-0300-very dark red lit dive bar.

Azalea Cocktail Lounge-810 N Davis Hwy, Pensacola, FL 32501 -60 plus years.  Most nights til 2:30 : (850) 433-9186

Eats-

Purple Parrot Tiki Bar & 3 Palms Bistro-13555 Perdido Key Dr, Pensacola, FL 32507
Closes 12AM  (850) 466-3805 Public bar in a resort with great burgers

Blue Dot-310 N De Villiers St, Pensacola, FL 32501  (850) 432-0644 -Great burger and a bbq sandwich at this counter joint that is lunch only.

Cubi Bar Cafe – in the National Naval Aviation Museum, 1750 Radford Blvd, Pensacola, FL 32508  (850) 452-2643-an unusual local restaurant that is located in the aviation museum.  An inexpensive 49th aerosquadon, sorta.

Jerry’s Drive In -2815 E Cervantes St, Pensacola, FL 32503 (850) 433-9910-The kind of joint this site exists for.

Peg Leg Pete’s-pirate-themed oyster bar with picnic tables and good char grilled oysters in many varieties -Tip-make a reservation on their app via yelp before you go-1010 Fort Pickens Rd, Pensacola Beach, FL 32561  (850) 932-4139

Five Sisters Blues Cafe-421 W Belmont St, Pensacola, FL 32501  (850) 912-4856-Excellent Cajun joint.

Paradise Bar & Grill Located in: Paradise Inn,  21 Via De Luna Dr, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561: (850) 916-5087-This is your typical Florida Beach Bar, Crab bites, peel and eat shrimp Mahi (Dolphin) sandwiches, and often some sort of bar band.  Tables on the beach too.

The Fish House -600 S Barracks St, Pensacola, FL 32502  (850) 470-0003 fancier right on the dock seafood restaurant.  Prices are not insane though.

Native Cafe-45 A Via De Luna Dr, Pensacola Beach, FL 32561  (850) 934-4848-brunchy locals place, shrimp and grits, etc and great key lime pie.

Jackson’s Steakhouse -Fancy Steakhouse in a building from the 1860s-400 S Palafox St, Pensacola, FL 32502   (850) 469-9898

Blue Dot Barbecue -310 N De Villiers St,Pensacola, FL 32501 (850) 432-0644-Despite the Name, this place makes only Burgers and then two saturdays a month, rib sandwiches and ribs that you have to order by 9 am. But the burger is a simple homestyle monster and the building is a cool glass brick front building. Closed Sunday and Monday too.

Live Music-

lora-bama Lounge and Package-17401 Perdido Key Drive in Pensacola Bay., 850-492-3048-Live Music in a beach house with a Jimmy Buffet twist. HUGE joint with 3 stages and many varieties of grilled oysters.

Vinyl Music Hall – 2 S Palafox St, Pensacola, FL 32502 (850) 607-6758
HANDLEBAR– 319 N. Tarragonna, Pensacola, (850)434-9060-Old punk ruck club

Local Music Info Here.

Record Stores-
Music Box: 3960 W Navy Blvd, Pensacola, FL 32507 (850) 434-1977
Remember Wynn-7007 Lanier Dr, Pensacola, FL 32504 (850) 476-8630
Revolver Records: 9 E Gregory St, Pensacola, FL 32502 (850) 712-6373

Seaside, FL-Believe it or not, an artists community 40 miles east of Fort Walton Beach.

Books-
Sundog Books-89 Central Square-850-231-5481 – Seaside

Spring Hill, Florida

Awesome tourist attraction
Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, 6131 Commercial Way, Spring Hill, Florida 34606 (352) 592-5656  Old timey Florida tourist attraction, now part of a state park.  See a quaint show where mermaids perform to you in an underwater theater.  Catch it before the times or the mean environmentalists cause it to shut down

 

 

Winter Haven, FL

Cypress Gardens amusement park is gone and is now Legoland, FL.  A tourist destination of old, with classic water skier shows and the like.  It was saved by the wrecking ball by another operator and added rollercoasters and other thrill rides. Winter Haven has a Monster mini golf, an indoor, glow in the dark mini golf course.  Air conditioned!

 

Eats-Harbor Side Steakhouse & Oyster Bar 2435 7th St SW, 863-293-7070. It’s a roomy restaurant situated on a lake and is an old-school Florida seafood restaurant. They have  fried pickle chips.