As the heavens hail on and try to wash Ocean City away, I’m sitting at the counter at Ocean City Health and Racquet Club waiting for a break in the weather, so I can dash over to Fager’s for their Monday Deck Party and those scrumptious BBQ’d good eats dished by Chef Raymond.  It’s a good time to reflect on where I wintered last January to the end of April in the Florida Keys and camped in Big Cypress in the Everglades, Big Bend N.P., Tex., Organ Pipes Cactus National Monument, Ariz. and Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Ariz. In particular I’m thinking of the in between stops in my travels.  Several of them made my “Don’t Miss” List, and will become a place where I’ll enjoy a week or more in a future year’s meanderings through our country’s warm places.  
    My first rush to warmth in the winter to my less visited places takes me to St. Augustine which I can get to by 6 p.m. and driving with few breaks or stops down US Rt. 95 if I’m out of Ocean City by 6 a.m.  Borrello’s sandwich shop has great eats and a walk by the Fort along the water first thing the next morning starts my trip right. Deerfield Beach is a mainstay on my trips. I lived there for the winter of 1998 before I started my yearly Adventures. I learned all the local spots so it’s a mandatory couple days stay. My housemates Don & Mary Johnson, former O.C. residents and Seacrets veterans, are still there. Our favorite stops are: The Cove Bar & Restaurant for Happy Hour on Friday, Rattlesnake Jakes for the best tuna which is caught by the owner, then marinated in a sesame mix, seared and eaten rare, and the Br u Room Sports Bar (a new place), plus there’s a gorgeous public beach.
    When I leave it’s lunch time when I get to the west coast of Florida. Café Perks in Sanford, Fl. is a great spot for lunch with its specials and locals talk. I’ve been spending the night in Homosassa. It has many scenic waterscapes with cypress trees draped with spanish moss and its waters are manatee laden. The lazy Suwannee River winds through the area just to the west and creates many naturally dazzling areas. As I follow Rt. 98 west along the Gulf Coast I’m always entertained with many picturesque views. The Cypress Inn in Cross City has an AYCE buffet for each meal crammed with local food & seafood. Farther west is the Landing Restaurant in Panacea where their buffet is stocked with butter beans & ham hocks, chicken roasted & fried, broccoli, a good salad bar and other land lubber food.  
    Marathon driving is my style from Florida to the Texas line, so I don’t stop much.  I overnighted in Lake Charles where I got a mufalito sandwich at Novrozsky’s good enough to be served in New Orleans. That topped off a great discovery. Once I crossed the Texas line I decided to check out Sabine Pass, but there were only chemical plants, so I followed the coast on Rt. 82 back into Louisiana, and found mile after mile of peopleless coast on the Creole Nature Trail, Louisiana’s OutBack, at Holly Beach. I’ll be there next March!
    My next “Don’t Miss” Place is Palmetto’s in Eden 130 miles south west of Houston on Rt. 77, where there’s lots of good grease and neck bones, fried okra, fried chicken, slippery pot pie, gumbo, greens, corn bread and more.  After a stuffing I waddle across the street to a motel, get up the next morning, and head for the Spring Break Mecca of South Padre Island.  On the way, though, I stop at the Riviera Barn Door Restaurant first for Migas. They are a great breakfast, kinda poached eggs on tortilla chips with chili beans, chorizo sausage, covered with salsa and cheese. My motel for Spring Break was in Port Isabel across the bridge from most of the partiers, but where the good food is. Especially at Joe’s Oyster bar, where a grilled plate of locally caught seafood is $10 with $1 ACBs and Fishman’s stuffs their omelets with at least a half pound of local shrimp.
    More “Don’t Miss Places West” later. In the meantime. if you’d like to set up a family photo on the beach with me, call 410-289-7339 and check out my web page at http://photosasyouwantthem.biz