The Publix Sub

I have to tell you about the Publix sub, as in sub sandwich. Its status, while not legendary, is nevertheless well known in Florida, and has even been the subject of many Florida travel guides and blogs as one of the best meal bargains around if you are in search of cheap eats.

Basically, what you have here is a fresh, made-to-order sub in the deli department of most (probably 99%) of the Publix stores throughout Florida. There are four "standard" subs, but my two favorites are the "Everything" (with ham, turkey, and roast beef), and the "Italian" with the usual cold cuts (prosciutto ham, salami, and capicola). You get your choice of fresh bakery roll, and can add condiments/dressings to your liking, This Saturday, I had an half-size "Italian" on a multi-grain bun, with a thin swipe of brown mustard on one side and mayo on the other. Lettuce, tomato, green pepper, and onion. A splash of oil and vinegar, and a shake of oregano completed my masterpiece.

This bike-saddle size sandwich runs $5.19, or for 50 cents extra they use premium (Boar's Head) cold cuts, and I recommend you go with the Boar's Head. So for under six bucks, you have a meal that will stick to your ribs, and not leave you hungry after an hour like one of those wimpy Subway subs, which the Publix sub puts to shame by the way. The bread on the Publix ... well let's just say there's no comparison. The meat is real, and you can actually taste it, rather than the Subway mystery meat that is made and presliced paper thin in Paramus, New Jersey, and shot through an underground network of pneumatic tubes to Subways stores nationwide in order to maintain that consistent "what-the-fu**-is-this" blandness that is the Subway hallmark. In fact, if Subway spokesman Jared Fogel had eaten two Publix subs a day for a year rather than the two Subway subs he reportedly ate, it's doubtful he would have lost any weight.

The sub can be eaten on premises (there's usually picnic tables outside most Publix stores) or taken to your hotel room or (in my case) apartment, or thrown into a cooler for later enjoyment, though I recommend consumption within an hour (or two at the most) before the bread gets soggy. If there's two of you, you can order a whole sub, but otherwise a half sub is plenty if you're on your own.

So anyway, if you're ever in Florida, you'll never be stuck optionless for a good, cheap meal, because you're never far from a Publix supermarket, unless you're in middle of the Everglades or something.

OK, Sunday I drove to a watch show in downtown Miami, which was interesting on several levels. First, the drive along the section of Interstate 75 through the Everglades known as "Alligator Alley" is quite interesting. Nothing on either side of you but unbridled wilderness for 75 miles. As for the show itself, most dealers who were set up were high rollers, and operate at an entirely different level than I do. There was an incredible amount of Rolex (clearly the dominant brand), but also a lot of designer and jewelry store brands such as Bulgari, Cartier and others. None of which I deal in/collect, or care to. The vintage end was clearly dominated by Omega, which is very hot and overpriced right now, and many of the Omega watches I saw appeared to be doctored and/or mated to wrong bracelets and/or molested in some way, or in just plain crappy shape. There was little for me to buy in my moderate range, but I did find a nice Eternamatic, and a beautiful Ollendorf (Swiss) large Art Deco watch from the early '30s. I also found a guy at the show who's from Wisconsin and with whom I've done some trading in the past. Turns out he and his wife are wintering in Fort Myers at a high-rise condo downtown near the Ford/Edison estates. We exchanged phone numbers, and hopefully will get together and maybe do a little trading in the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, I'm confident I will make enough on the two watches I bought to at least pay for the show admission, gas for the 300-mile round trip, and parking ($9) in one of the more bizarre parking ramps I've ever been in. Bizarre because I don't think I've ever been in a parking ramp that was so incredibly cramped. Clearances everywhere where tight, and numerous scrape marks on the concrete walls told the story of many a truck and SUV that failed to clear the corners. Stairwells leading to the elevators, meanwhile, were so narrow as to allow just one person at a time to pass, with a low overhang to boot. The Hyatt hotel in which the show was held was lovely. Getting in and out of downtown Miami, meanwhile, was downright challenging because they had some kind of frickin' running marathon going on, with streets closed off and cops whose patience levels were clearly exceeded trying to reroute vehicular traffic. Of course, Gretchen (my GPS) was trying to route me along the marathon course, and finally I had to turn her off and just drive for about a mile away from the madness, then turn her back on in the hopes she would glom on to an alternate route to the main highway (I-95) that didn't involve turning back to the heart of downtown. It worked, and I was finally on my way back to Fort Myers.

Back in town, I was hungry as a lumberjack coming off a double shift, so I immediately headed to Mel's Diner, clearly one of the city's biggest bang-for-your-buck restaurants. I ordered the fried grouper sandwich with fries and slaw, and I must tell you that Mel's has what I think is the best fried grouper sandwich in town. It's $12.99, which ain't cheap, but you must keep in mind grouper is one of the more expensive fishes around, and the state of Florida actually sets limits on the amounts that may be commercially fished. But, along with your fries and slaw, you get a big 8-ounce fillet (fresh, not frozen) on a good bakery roll, topped with lettuce and tomato and tarter sauce on the side.

After Mel's, I stopped at the Walmart grocery store for cat litter, and gave Abby a complete changeout in her litter box. I also bought fixins' to make a blueberry cake with lemon glaze, the recipe for which was contained in the  "Fasta Pasta" maker recipe book. It turned out delicious. The only caution I would make is that after you flip the cake from the pan and let it cool, lop off about 1 inch from either end of the "loaf," for these areas of the cake turned the consistency of cookies, though I saved them and dunked them in coffee later on. But the majority part in between the two ends was delicious, especially drizzled with the lemon glaze made from the juice of two fresh lemons and about a cup of powdered sugar. Mmmm.

That pretty much brings you up to date. Today (Monday) started rainy here, but now is sunny with a pretty strong wind blowing, presumably the tail end of that monster front that's hammering the Northeast today. Glad I'm here!

Bruce