RocknRick

Time for another Road Trip. Wife and I are heading down to Marathon Key Florida. We're meeting up with some folks in Knoxville, then heading down to Titusville Florida for the first stop, then on to Marathon. 21 hours from Indy to Marathon. I'm looking forward to spending some time with the wife(no kid trip) It'll be good for us. We plan on doing some drift diving off of 7 mile bridge. Hopefully no storms and good visibility. Hoping to come back with a cooler full of Lobster, Wahoo, Yellowtail and whatever else crosses my spear/pole. I'm looking forward to another trip in the CTD. Just put new tires on her and ready roll. Diesel will cost me less than flying down, even at $4 a gallon. Anybody spent anytime in the Marathon area?

Spooler

Be careful of the lobster limit. Only so many allowed per person a day. Co-worker of mine usually goes every summer. He didn't make it this year.

Bark

We were supposed to make the trip down the east coast last year but got sidelined by weddings, deaths and such.
Meanwhile, they had some of the lowest prices in years for lobster off the boat $1.00 to $1.20 a pound in some parts of Maine.
By the time we get there it will probably be back up to over $4.00 bucks a pound (off the boat).
The really sad thing is the only person I knew in Maine who had access to lobster off the boat has moved to the Philippines.

RocknRick

We are allowed 6 per day per person, so 8 of us going=48 per day! We have a freezer at the place we're staying, so we freeze everything and put in the Max cold cooler with dry ice for the trip home. Back in the late 70's I can remember being on big dive boats with the whole stern full of lobsters. I don't think anyone worried about limits then, probably weren't any? Bark, that's better than 80's prices for Maine lobster. Mom moved to Bangor in 1982, we paid $1.35 lb. back then. Lobster for Thanksgiving. A boy from Indiana was in heaven.

Bark

Mmmmmm. Recently saw a Seinfeld rerun that involved lobster in scrambled eggs. Don't know why but that sounds like a good combination.
Hope you have a great trip.

RocknRick

Lobster and eggs, may give that a try. I'll tell you what's not to appetizing. My Mom didn't want to waste the butter we used for Thanksgiving lobster, so she saved it. Next morning she decided to use it for our breakfast toast. Let's just say that's a taste I'll never forget. BTW I only grill Florida lobster, since they don't have claws like the Maine lobster, I prefer the taste of the Florida Spiney lobster tail grilled. MMM Good!

Totallyrad

Watch for cheap fuel just as you enter Tennessee. I got diesel off exit 11 on I-75 for $3.55 this past Sunday, gas was $2.97. Expect it to run $3.68 and up most other places.

FiverBob

wow - - have not had time to look around at fuel prices since hitting the lower 48. My son has had be buried working on his house.

Lobstering in the Keys is fun. Likewise, all the way up the "gentle" side of the state. We have a spot about 18 miles out of Tampa Bay in about 90' of water we call Heaven. Always get a bug bag full of lobster from that area. And lobster in the scrambled eggs is the best.

Bob

RocknRick

Update of our trip. 2980 miles in four days of driving, whew I need another vacation to recover. I managed to get 22 mpg on the way down, while cruising 70-75 mph. On the way back I got about 17 mpg. We kicked it up a notch. I caught plenty of bugs, problem was too small. A fishing boat captain told us that it's been so hot down in the Keys that the bugs and big fish went to the deep water about a week or so ago. We still got about 30 bugs and plenty of Mangrove snapper, Yellowtail Snapper and speared a 24" Grouper. So, we ate very well down there. I stopped at a couple of Fish Markets and picked up some Dolphin (Mahi) Yellowtail Tuna, Scallops and some more bugs for the freezer at home. It all stayed frozen on the trip, the Max Cold cooler came through, with just 50lbs. of ice in the bed of the truck. We had a Blast! I may of found my retirement home! The trip reminded me of just how much I love the ocean. We're already planning next years trip. Definitely going to take more time off next year for the trip and may go a little earlier. Thanks for all of the replies. Take Care. Rick