Have you ever been to Robbie's?

One item on our list of things to try while in South Florida was authentic Cuban cuisine.  I had heard good things about 5 Brothers Grocery in Key West, but they were closed the day we were down there.  Lucky for us they have a second location, 5 Brothers Grocery Two, further up the Keys on Summerland Key.

We left Bahia Honda with Cuban food on our minds and a short 15 minutes later we were pulling into a spot at 5 Brothers.  We immediately liked the place, it is a small grocery with a kitchen off to the side where they cook up some delicious grub.  Order and pay (cash only) at the counter inside and then take a seat on the back porch while they prepare your food.

Another thing on our list was to spot an iguana in the "wild".  That was also crossed off at 5 Brothers.  We were sitting on the porch relaxing and what ran by just outside the screens?  Yep!  An iguana!  There were several of them running this way and that around in the yard and bushes...

The wait for our food was short and when it was ready the lady poked her head outside to let us know we could come in and get it.  They were all super nice there and the food was sooo good.  We had the Cuban Mix sandwiches, the soup special, and an order of plantains.  We also shared some empenadas, conch fritters (still didn't like them!  can't get past the hard bits!!!), and a guava dessert.  My 8 year old had his first cafe con leche...he said it was excellent :).

Satisfied with our food and iguana watching, we headed back up the Keys.  Stopping along the way to admire the views...

We had one last place that we really wanted to visit before leaving the Keys behind.  A friend of ours had told us about a place on Islamorada called Robbie's where you can go and feed Tarpon from their docks.  We punched it into our GPS and still missed it the first time, if you are heading north it is on the left right before a bridge.

I was surprised when we pulled in, there is also an outdoor market area selling all kinds of things...a restaurant...boat rentals...tours...a beach...and of course, the Tarpon. 

We followed the signs that pointed to the Tarpon and came to a covered area at the entrance to their docks.  A few bucks later and we were walking along the water with a bucket of little fish in our hands and the eyes of many BIG fish following us!

These fish are huge and apparently hungry :)!  And just so you know, they hang out there because they want to (you can read the story of how it all started here).  There are no barriers of any kind keeping them there, they are free to swim away any time they choose.

We were warned not to let the fish get too close to our hands because they will bite you. 

Yes, yes they will indeed give you a chomp.  We got too close...the fish can jump quite high, btw.  One of the boys had some scrapes from Tarpon "teeth" to brag about for a while ;).

It was so strange to see these huge fish hungrily watching us from the water.  They have excellent eyesight and will stare you down...

After our bucket was empty, we washed our hands with some soap they provided at a little fountain right there on the dock. 

Then we walked around and watched some other people feeding the Tarpon...

...checked out the views...

...and said hello to a pelican.

What a fun stop!  Thanks, M., for the excellent recommendation :)!!!