Need a place to eat in central Florida

[zenjen]

Hubby and I are taking the boy to see the space shuttle launch on November 1st. We will be staying in Lakeland and traveling around the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach/Melbourne area, back to Orlando, and around Tampa/St. Pete. We're also thinking of going as far south as Ft. Myers on the west coast. I want to go where the locals eat because they're usually the best and cheapest places. Obviously fresh fish is a must when in Florida. If anybody has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. The more laid back, the better, as the kid is only 7 year old, and we aren't planning on packing any clothes that can't be worn to the beach! Also, if there are any hidden BBQ joints around any of those places, we always want to try those too.

[Boomer]

Never actually been to a launch. That is my one regret....I havent been to a launch. I was almost called on to do search and rescue for Challenger, but we were being pulled into drydock at the time, and didnt want to risk any problems with the Soviet Union (long story!). I would suggest not going near Jacksonville. I was down there in July. Thats one violent town. Fort Myers there used to be a BBQ House near Fort Myers that was awesome but I cant remember the name of it. That was awhile ago. DRATS! I'll ask my wife see if she remembers. It was in Port Charlotte where my grandparents lived is all I remember for sure. Seafood shops are a dime a dozen some are good but careful some of them dont always cook the food right and you end up getting sick.

[zenjen]

And there is nothing worse than food poisoning derived from fish. Been there, don't ever wanna do it again. I was miserable for a week. I don't mind a place that looks totally run down, and I don't even mind a few health department violations, as long as it doesn't make me become best friends with my bathroom.

There is one more shuttle launch at the end of February. Tentatively there may be another one, but the only one scheduled after November 1st is Feb 28th. We can't really afford to go, but this is such a once in a lifetime thing that I can't justify missing it. If we have to go in debt to make it happen, it will have created one hell of a memory for my son. Plus my uncle has a place in Lakeland, so at least we get to stay for free as long as we don't mind a bit of driving. I just don't want to eat at chain restaurants the whole time. My favorite place in the world is a little dive bar in the marina in Key West that I found by accident. It's called the Schooner Wharf Bar and Grill. It's an outdoor bar, half of it is covered with a thatched roof, the other half is open air, and there is a music stage that has live performances all day and night. We have seen just one guy with an acoustic guitar and we've seen a really great blues band. I need to stop talking about it or I'll just drive south on I-95 when the launch is over, and Key West is no place for a 7 year old kid. I don't want to explain what a drag queen is yet =)

[zenjen]

Took me long enough to report back. We never saw the shuttle launch (obv, as of this posting, it's been rescheduled for December 17th), and the day we went to visit the Kennedy Space Center anyway turned out to be an adventure from hell. We weren't 100 feet from the car when I stepped in an uneven part of the parking lot, rolled my right ankle (I thought I had broken it at the time), and landed on my left knee. I ended up in the ER that afternoon while husband and kid got to do a shuttle simulator at the space center. While we spent 3 hours in the ER to never see a doctor, my best friend got online found a GREAT place to eat, but it wasn't cheap, and I'm not so sure it's a locals place. It's called Dixie Crossroads, and it's in Titusville. They bring out "corn fritters" to the table like a Mexican place brings chips/salsa before the meal. When I thought of corn fritters, I didn't imagine that they would be little fried corn dough puffs of heaven dusted with powdered sugar. What is better than dessert before the meal??? The rock shrimp were absolutely FANTASTIC, and the blackened grouper was perfect. It was slightly over $100 for 4 of us, which really isn't bad, but it doesn't qualify as cheap. You know the place is good when they bring you paper bibs that cover your entire front side. It's almost like they know that if the food is good, some of it will invariably end up on my shirt no matter where I go. It's a very large building that has been renovated a few times to make more space for dining, and the part of the restaurant we sat in looked like it had been put together in the 1960s or 70s as there was a ton of wood paneling on the walls.

I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant we went to when we went to Clearwater Beach. It was right on the beach. The grouper and the shrimp there were tasty as well, and we got to watch the sunset as we ate. Couldn't have asked for a prettier setting for dinner. Dammit, I wish I could remember the name.....