Post #542405 by TikiHardBop on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 10:18 AM

Try coming up Brevard-ways. The wife works as lifestyle reporter as well as a restaurant reviewer for the local paper, so I don't have much choice but to visit a lot of these places. We've had five, count 'em, five new places open up or re-christen themselves as "tiki bars" in the last two months alone. They all look like Margaritavilles with a couple of tikis and maybe some palmetto thatch (which is technically "chiki" or "chickee"). Throw in some surfboards and a parrot or two and voila! Oh and some NASCAR memorabilia as well...

And when I go down to the Keys, I usually stay in the Marathon to Big Pine area, occasionally up to Islamorada. Stopped by Key West a couple of years ago and couldn't believe how it's changed. Did the whole "Duval crawl" and I didn't see a single sex shop! I also heard that they don't allow you to take your dogs in the bars anymore! And yes, there are a few places you can go to escape "the man" down there (the Rhino, the No-Name), but it's getting harder and harder. Thank god they saved The Brass Monkey in Marathon!