On our way to points north, we stopped back in at Lazydays, Tampa. While there we met two couples that are bound to become long term RVing friends. Paul and Anna are originally from Australia, now full-time RVing in North America. We hit it off with both of them immediately. Paul is charismatic and quite social. Anna is soft spoken and angelic. One the ying to the other’s yang. We met Jerry and Linda through Paul and Anna. Both couples had already struck up a friendship prior to our arrival. Jerry and Linda each have their own coaches, currently traveling together. Jerry is a wealth of knowledge for all things RVing, and Linda is upbeat and friendly. The six of us shared lively conversations, be it while going on a walk, sharing a meal, or evening cocktails and appetizers. We all exchanged contact information prior to parting company, with the hope of meeting up again sometime.
While in Tampa, I had some errands to run, so off I went. Steve stayed back to hold down the fort. Not too far away in Brandon, I stopped for lunch at an AMAZING Cuban place, Moreno Bakery.
All decked out for Easter.
This place serves authentic Cuban dishes, comfort food, and a bakery with the longest display case I have ever seen in my life.
This is as much of the counter I could fit in the photo. WOW!
They make deli sandwiches, but with a hot bar like this, why would I eat just a sandwich? I will admit I did consider getting a Cuban sandwich, and I’m sure they’re delectable.
What did I choose, you ask? My goodness, it wasn’t easy. When I was in my early 20’s, I worked with a girl from Cuba that introduced me to picadillo, empanadas, Caldo, and many other traditional Cuban dishes. Here I was, faced with so many choices that I love, and many I hadn’t tasted in years and years.
Picadillo, Caldo with Portuguese sausage, and a guilty indulgence, Gouda mac & cheese. And my usual iced tea.
My lunch was so filling, I saved the rest for another meal. I couldn’t resist a couple items from the bakery. In the little white box you see in the above photo there were a couple chocolate chip coffee cakes, and a couple snickerdoodle cookies. My sister-in-law Kim calls them “man cookies”, because you’ll never meet a man that doesn’t like snickerdoodles.
We ate in most of the time in Tampa, but we did go to lunch at a place featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, Danny’s All American Diner and Dairy Bar. I wasn’t exactly sure what a dairy bar was, and come to find out it’s milk shakes, ice cream cones and sundaes.
From a distance, Danny’s looks adorable. The quintessential roadside diner. A little closer, however, the place is kind of a dump, I mean, it fits the dive category.
The kitchen was clean, and if the food’s good, that’s all that really matters.
If the window’s closed, go order inside.
Pretty sure the window has to open if there’s more than 6 people, since that’s how many would fit inside without a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Out back things get a bit dicey. Sure, there’s a fresh coat of paint on a couple sets of chairs, but the rest has definitely seen better days.
Not sure what the pool net is for, there’s no body of water on the property. The paint tray will need to be moved if you want to sit down.
Photographs way better than it is. Furniture is filthy, but who’s got the time to clean it up?
The stage for live music.
The back patio. See the map on the left?
Closer look at the map. There’s a box of push pins and a couple markers and pens to leave your autograph.
We left our mark 😊
Well, our food arrived, and we dove in. So good. SOOO GOOD!!! So what if the place out back is a junkyard. Who cares if the PVC furniture leaves white powder on your shorts? The food makes up for EVERYTHING.
Steve’s Guy Fieri’s Triple D Triple Play Burger.
Danny’s All American is an homage to baseball. Every week a burger special features one of the many burgers created honoring various MLB players. While filming at this location, Guy Fieri couldn’t help but create a signature burger of his own. This monster is a regular Danny Burger topped with mojo pork, pastrami, Swiss cheese, American cheese, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, french fried onion rings and mustard on grilled sourdough bread. Steve got his with no tomato or jalapeño, since, well, fresh produce is out of the question.
Burger, pork, pastrami, oh my!
I went with the Cuban, but their twist is to through in a ham croquette. DELICIOUS!
On our last night in Tampa went went out with Paul & Anna. Jerry & Linda had already left earlier in the day. We went to a little place known as the Tiki Bar. It’s definitely a local joint, where the music is loud, the drinks are strong, and the food is nothing special, but it’ll soak up the alcohol, and by the looks of the place, that’s all that’s needed.
Until we meet again, Paul & Anna
We did a little souvenir shopping at Lazydays before we hit the road, bound for Cape Canaveral.
Keep looking up ☺️