Roadside Finds

Southernmost "Western town" in the U.S. — a Cuban food + farm + nursery + petting zoo hybrid on the north edge of the Redland, founded by Royd and Maribel Lemus. Kitchen runs on Quintin and Maria Teresa Larios (Miami's king and queen of Cuban cuisine): lamb shank, vaca frita, oxtail stew, croquettes, fried stuffed tostones. PBR mechanical bull, live music, open-air dining, two fenced dog parks, and a nursery of ornamental and fruit trees to boot.

Classic Keys pull-off for shells, gifts, beach things, and the kind of roadside souvenirs that feel right after the first blue-water stretch.

Dave Shealy's swamp-cryptid clubhouse, tucked into the front of his family's Trail Lakes Campground — the self-appointed field office for Florida's Bigfoot, the seven-foot, garlic-reeking Skunk Ape said to prowl Big Cypress. Half gift shop, half museum, half backyard reptile zoo — plaster footprint casts, grainy trail-cam photos, Shealy's own sighting reports from the 1970s, and racks of camo Skunk Ape caps, bumper stickers, and hunt-permit T-shirts. Out back, a boardwalk animal exhibit with a reticulated python longer than most bikes, resident gators, and handling sessions where staff will drape a snake or a young alligator across you for the photo. Pure Tamiami roadside Americana.

Sweet roadside pause for key lime pie, cookies, gifts, and a garden-style break that feels built for road-trip pacing.

Florida's first luxury shopping center, opened by developer Stanley Whitman in 1965 on the site of a WWII army barracks between the Atlantic and Biscayne Bay. The open-air, two-level layout is planted with palms, orchids, and koi ponds — a landscaped promenade rather than an enclosed mall. Neiman Marcus arrived in 1971 as its first store outside Texas and still anchors the south wing; Saks Fifth Avenue holds down the north end. Between them sit Chanel, Hermès, Valentino, Versace, Celine, and dozens more designer flagships. The garage fills fast on weekends; valet handles overflow. Walking the shaded loop is free — even in mesh gear.

Open-air village of galleries, handmade goods, tropical retail, and the giant lobster photo stop that makes it impossible to miss from US-1.

Greenhouse store on US-27 in Venus growing and selling Money Tree plants (Pachira aquatica), plus state-of-the-art greenhouses and handcrafted clay pots. Wholesale + retail. Family-owned since 2022. The unlikely "they grow that here?" stop between Gatorama and Lake Placid.

Sunday market stop for local vendors, produce, gifts, live music, and easy snack browsing near the middle of Islamorada.

Big Islamorada browse stop for fishing gear, boating goods, Keys apparel, the Zane Grey lounge, and Islamorada Fish Company next door.

Delray's original main drag and the spine of downtown — a straight shot from Swinton Avenue east to the Atlantic, and one of the longest Main Streets in Florida. Old School Square anchors the west end at the Swinton crossroads: the 1913 schoolhouse complex, on the National Register since March 1988, that catalyzed the downtown revival and helped Delray win the All-America City title three times (1993, 2001, 2017). Between there and the A1A pier, low-slung storefronts, banyan-shaded sidewalks, and a dense weave of galleries, cafés, and bars. Pineapple Grove and its Dancing Pineapple mural sit one block north of the avenue — worth the detour on foot.

Marathon shop for local art, island gifts, Florida Keys apparel, and a lighter browse between bridge and marina stops.

Craft distillery in the same restored 1927 ice plant that houses the Ice Plant Bar next door — one of the first legal distilleries in Florida since Prohibition. Free daily tours walk the mash tuns, still house, and cooperage before ending with tastings of the core lineup: Florida Cane vodka, New World gin, Florida Double Cask bourbon (finished in Spanish sherry casks), and Pot Distilled rum made from cane grown at U.S. Sugar in Clewiston — the same fields the Sugar Express steam train (on The 27 Run) runs through. USA Today readers named it the country's best craft distillery tour in 2023. Bottles available at retail on site.

Established 1919 as the original commercial spine of Old Naples and now on the National Register of Historic Places — this is where Naples was Naples before Fifth Ave got fancy. Four walkable blocks of low-slung storefronts, courtyards, and banyan-shaded patios: galleries (more than anywhere else in SW Florida), independent boutiques, jewelers, and a cluster of long-tenured restaurants around Broad and 13th. Two blocks from the pier, two blocks from Naples Bay. The Saturday farmers market lays out along Third Street itself November through April, then moves to the Neapolitan parking lot for the summer months.

A Plant City farm-market landmark for strawberries, citrus, shortcake, and road-trip snacks before SR 60 opens up toward Polk County.

A roadside citrus stop with groves, local goods, and enough Florida color to make the Orlando-lakes leg feel like a real detour.