The Wicked Hickory food truck has been serving up smoked meats for at least a couple of years. Their menu is unique in the way that their meats (pork, brisket, and chicken) are served. Once you settle on your meat you pick the style from the choice of bun, tacos, pita, BBQ bowl, or nachos. And then you pick the toppings with choices like southern slaw, picnic slaw, island slaw, wicked style, or Texas style.

Truck

I ordered the pork BBQ bowl style ($9), which means the pork was served over red beans and rice. I also picked island slaw for the topping, which combines pineapple, jalapenos, cabbage, and cilantro. This was really good and even with all of the toppings I could still taste a bit of a nice smoky flavor in the pork. The beans, rice, and pineapple all worked really well together.

Pork BBQ Bowl

I also ordered the chicken tacos for my wife ($9 for 2). This was ordered topped with southern slaw that featured cider vinegar, cabbage, and carrot. This was also a solid choice, but overall I preferred the pork to the chicken. Smoked chicken tends to be a little dryer, so the wet cider vinegar was a good topping to compliment and the flavors combined well. This one needed a little extra sauce to truly bring it all together.

Chicken Tacos

Wicked Hickory has solid smoked meats, which are essential for any BBQ spot. And the creativity they have put into their menu offerings helps to distinguish them from other BBQ restaurants.

After enjoying a day in Key West, my family and I headed for Turtle Kraals for dinner. One of our initial draws was to see their evening turtle races, but we ended up not staying late enough to see it. Our kids were tired from our adventures of the day, so we opted to head back to our resort earlier than planned.

Outside Seating

However we did enjoy the outside dining and views of the Key West Bight Marina from their spacious and relatively cool patio. We arrived in time for happy hour, which runs daily from 4:30 – 6:30, and enjoyed half off their decent draft list. A variety of food specials are also offered, most of the appetizer variety.

Harbor View

I knew going into our visit what I wanted to try for dinner, and that was their arepas ($13.99). Here the Venezuelan corn cakes are topped with a pistachio and raisin chicken salad, mango, tomato, and avocado. This is served with a field green salad on the side. The arepas themselves were good, but the real standout here was the chicken salad. I really enjoyed their unique take and found the addition of pistachios to be amazing! The toppings were fresh and complimented the rest of the dish quite well.

Chicken Salad Arepas

My wife chose the fish tacos on flour tortillas served with yellow rice, black beans (market price, $16.95 during our visit). The serving was large with three tortillas stuffed full. The fish of the day was mahi mahi and my wife really enjoyed that.

Fish Tacos

We also shared some of the happy hour appetizers with our kids. The pretzel bites ($6) were fried to perfection and served with a tasty mustard based sauce on the side.

Pretzel Bites

The cheese sticks were also good ($6.99) and was more than enough for a meal for our four-year-old. Kid’s meals are a bit pricey ($8.50), so if your kids are on the younger side the appetizers can make a more affordable option.

Cheese Sticks

One of our favorite things about Turtle Kraals were the bocce courts near the outdoor dining area. This allowed my wife and I time to enjoy a second happy hour beer while playing some games with our kiddos.

Bocce

We had a great time at Turtle Kraals and would not hesitate to visit again. The food was really good, the service was attentive, and the environment was perfect.

During our summer trip to the Florida Keys we spent an afternoon in Key West. I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of things for our family to do on the often party filled island. When I found the glass bottom boat tour from Fury I quickly made a reservation for the 2 hour tour.

Mermaid

Upon checking in I was told that due to water being too rough near the planned stop at the coral reef, we would instead be heading to a coral garden on the Gulf of Mexico side of the island. They let me know this ahead of time so that we could reschedule if we wanted, but we were not staying in Key West and would only have a chance to visit on this one afternoon. So we stuck with our planned time.

Cruising Out

The “Pride of Key West” is a large catamaran that features a seated sun deck on top, and an air-conditioned viewing area below. The indoor area is complete with plenty of seating, a snack bar, restrooms, and two glass bottom hulls. You are welcome to bring your own snacks and drinks, including alcohol, for enjoyment on the cruise.

Glass Bottom

The ride out to the coral gardens was smooth and before too long the engines slowed and we grabbed seats around the glass bottom sections of the boat. One of the crew grabbed a microphone and guided us through the garden telling us about everything we were seeing and some area history as well.

Corals

It was not the most interesting glass bottom trip I’ve been on, but our kids really enjoyed seeing all the fish and various corals. I enjoyed the boat ride with scenic views out of and back into Key West.

Cruising Back

We didn’t leave the resort much during our stay at Hawks Cay Resort, so when we did I wanted to find the best places around. For our first lunch away from the resort I chose Herbie’s Bar & Chowder House. I first found this place due to their excellent craft beer menu. But I was happy to find that they are wonderfully kid friendly as well.

Outside

Their screened in porch is the room for families wishing to dine in. There are fans throughout so the heat wasn’t overbearing. There are child seats that clip on to the table ends, as well as small chalkboards for each kid with a bucket of chalk to help pass the time for food to arrive.

Screened In Porch

There are two other rooms that are inside, but these feature high top tables and bar seating. Either way there is plenty of room that you wouldn’t expect there to be from viewing the restaurant from the outside.

Front Room

I ordered from the smoker side of the menu, the pulled pork sandwich with in-house smoked pork butt on a brioche bun with lettuce, tomato, and onion ($13.95). The pork had a wonderful smoke flavor and was lightly topped with a tangy sauce. I also enjoyed a side of black beans and rice ($3) though wish the beans had a bit more kick to them. With that said my daughter really enjoyed not having them overly spiced.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

My son really enjoyed the cheese burger sliders with fries. The burger was thick cut and cooked perfectly. I stole a couple of fries and these were fresh-cut and fried to perfection.

Kid’s Sliders

My wife’s only request was crab cakes. They appear as a starter on the menu ($12.95 for 2). However our server recommended adding a salad to this as she thought the crab cakes alone are not enough food for a solid lunch. My wife agreed but actually ended up with more food that she could eat. The salad ($8.95) portion was quite large with a blend of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion. This might be a good dinner option but too much for lunch. With that said, my wife really enjoyed the crab cakes and the salad was of highest quality.

Crab Cake Salad

Finally my daughter is big macaroni and cheese fan. She was given a massive bowl of the stuff and it was just as expected. No complaints from her on this dining adventure.

Mac & Cheese

We had a great visit to Herbie’s and would not hesitate to stop in again on future travels to the area.

Summer is not quite officially over but the kids are back to school. In the meantime I’m still trying to catch up with all of our summer travels.  The first trip we took right after the kids were finished with school was down to the Florida Keys. There aren’t a lot of hotels with a swimmable beach in the keys, but fortunately we found Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key.

Lagoon

Hawks Cay has their own ocean fed saltwater lagoon. It is large enough for kayaks and snorkeling and is full of aquatic life. We spent a lot of time here catching little fish and crabs. There are a couple of outdoor grills nearby and food or drinks can be ordered from the wait staff who make the rounds through the lounge chairs.

Iguana

We didn’t stay in the resort building itself, instead we rented a two bedroom villa that was equipped with a kitchen, dining table, and a small area with a couch and television. While my wife and I enjoyed making our own breakfasts in the mornings and having extra space, I think the kids favorite thing were the iguanas that were living in the trees near our back porch.

Pirate Ship Pool

In addition to the lagoon, there are five pools scattered on the resort grounds. We didn’t use the adult only tranquility pool but spent considerable time at the kid’s pirate ship pool, the resort pool near the lagoon, and the sunset pool that was closest to our villa.

Mini Golf

And if that wasn’t enough there are so many family activities planned throughout the day. We competed in a scavenger hunt and also spent a lot of time on the turf soccer field. There is also a miniature golf course, plenty of tennis courts, and a full service marina.

Soccer

There is so much to do that you may not even leave the resort area. If you do it is at least 15 minutes drive to any other restaurants or attractions. We had such an incredible stay at Hawks Cay and I definitely think we will visit again in the future.

My son Trey has really developed a love for fishing over the last year or two on seeing how Jimmy John Shark does. During our summer vacation to Hilton Head Island my wife searched hard for a fishing trip to take our six year old and his five year old buddy. We struggled to find a boat large enough for group of eleven and eventually found it would be easiest to just have the four guys take the boys out for this trip. Once the group was reduced down to six we quickly found Bulldog Fishing Charters and reserved their 2 hour fishing trip that was marked as great for kids ($350 for up to 6 people).

The Bulldog is 32 foot long and is captained by Christiaan Politzer, a second generation Hilton Head fishing captain for over 25 years. Christiaan’s teenage son Stratton was also on board for our trip serving as first mate. Both were extremely helpful and courteous throughout our entire trip. After cruising out for awhile we had reached our fishing destination above a pile of rocks that local legend says was formed by old sailing ships dropping their rock ballasts on their way into Savannah.

Once our anchor was in, the crew immediately threw in some lines for the boys. While doing so we were told of the history of the area and how the rock pile is full of sea bass that should given plenty of entertainment for the boys. Before the lines were even in the water for a minute they had already hooked one of these black seas bass. None that the boys caught were large enough to keep, but they still had a blast reeling them in and probably caught a dozen throughout the trip.

While that was going on they also threw in some larger rods for the adults. Though we didn’t see any sharks on this short trip, we did reel in 2 cobia and thought we might have had a shark or sting ray on but it broke the line after a good fight from my dad. We had an amazing trip on the Bulldog and would not hesitate to go on another trip with Captain Christiaan in the future.

After our exciting rafting trip my family and I walk over to Spring Creek Tavern for lunch. We arrived around 1:30 on a Sunday and found that most tables were occupied. Fortunately a high top table for four was just leaving as we arrived. We grabbed this table inside near the bar and kitchen. There is also a large outdoor dining area.

Kick’N Chick’N Sandwich

My wife and I split the Kick’N Chick’N Sandwich with blackened chicken, sautéed onions and mushrooms with a sweet Carolina BBQ sauce ($9.49). All sandwiches and burgers are served on garlic toasted Texas toast with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and your choice of fries, chili, salad or slaw. This was a really good sandwich and I especially liked the waffle fries.

Classic Burger

There is no kids menu, which was a little disappointing. We ended up with a classic burger with cheddar for our six-year-old son ($8.49). He really enjoyed having the burger on grilled bread rather than the traditional bun. This was a lot of food for him though.

Cheese Pizza

Our four-year-old daughter wanted pizza. Again there is no kid size so we ended up with a full cheese pizza ($10.99). This is why my wife and I split a sandwich. We knew there would be plenty of pizza leftover for us to enjoy. The pizza features handmade thin crust and a delicious red sauce.

There aren’t a whole lot of options in Hot Springs. While the Spring Creek Tavern was not very kid friendly, we made it work for a weekend lunch.

On our way back from Hilton Head, my family I and stopped for the night in Asheville, NC and the next morning visited the nearby town of Hot Springs. I had booked us on a calm water rafting trip with French Broad Rafting.

Given that my wife and I had both rafted a handful of times in the past, I booked the unguided 4 mile trip through class I-II rapids. The minimum age limit for this trip is 4 years old, so our little one just barely qualified.

After checking in at Hot Springs, we grabbed our gear and headed immediately for the water. There was another group that was going with a guide at the same time we were, so we let them go ahead and tried to follow them. But with only two paddlers we soon lost sight of them. Fortunately they have given us some verbal directions on which way was easiest to navigate throughout our three-hour float. Once our trip was over the staff was waiting with a van to drive us back to our car and where we started.

Our entire family loved the trip and wanted to go again right away. We will definitely be back.

My wife and I took advantage of our family trip to Hilton Head for one night out without the kids. Based on the recommendations of our group we headed for Marley’s Island Grille. This restaurant is up near what our group always calls the second traffic circle, where Pope and William Hilton Parkway meet. This is one of many restaurants owned and operated by the SERG Restaurant Group.

Kitchen

Inside Marley’s feels a bit tropical and for the most part very casual. There was a wait for a table when we arrived, but we found plenty of open seating at the bar. We enjoyed having a close view of the kitchen staff working hard to get a ton of food out in a timely manner.

Inside

My wife is nearly always ready to try something new, and she was immediately drawn to their shrimp burger feature. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a shrimp burger before but she was very impressed by it. The toppings were simple and allowed for the flavor of the shrimp patty to stand out, with citrus mixing well with old bay. This was served with fries on the side ($11).

Shrimp Burger

I was in the mood for something hearty and immediately found the Rasta chicken pasta with blackened chicken, red peppers, and mushrooms tossed in a Cajun crème sauce and topped with cheese and scallions ($17). This dish was a touch on the spicy side and had a great Cajun flavor. The penne pasta was a solid choice for this dish and I really enjoyed it. A petite size is offered, but for only $2 you should get the entrée size and take some home if necessary.

Rasta Chicken Pasta

Overall we were very pleased with our dinner at Marley’s and would not hesitate to go back. A lengthy kids menu is offered so perhaps next time we will make a reservation and take the whole family.

The Frosty Frog Cafe is a always a must hit on our vacations to Hilton Head. On this most recent trip I actually dined in twice. Our group all went out to dinner the second night of our trip, and when my brother joined in later in the week I took one for the team and made a return visit. I think by that point I had finally recovered from the large jungle juice daiquiri I had the first time around.

Daiquiris

I’m not going to lie, the main draw here is the frozen daiquiris. Their jungle juice is a favorite of mine, a combination of hurricane and jump start (mango), both of which are mixed with 190 proof grain alcohol. One large (32 oz, $13.75) should probably be considered the limit per visit. I made the mistake of having two of these on my second visit!

Jamie’s Sorta Chicken Philly

With all the talk about their daiquiris, I should mention that their food is actually pretty good too. The first meal I went with Jamie’s sorta chicken Philly with sautéed mushrooms and onions, loaded with cheddar and mozzarella ($11.99). This is served with a choice of side, either chips, fries, baked potato salad, or southern peach coleslaw. The roll was toasted, the chicken was plentiful, and there was more than enough cheese to blanket it all.

Wendi’s Chicken Walnut Salad Wrap

On my second visit I enjoyed Wendi’s chicken walnut salad wrap ($10.99), again served with your choice of side. Their chicken salad also features grapes, which always mix well with walnuts and a mayonnaise base. This was mixed with lettuce, tomato, and onion and wrapped up with a tomato basil flour wrap. I think I preferred the Philly over the wrap, but both were pretty good accompaniment to the frozen deliciousness.