LOCAL FLAVOR: KIMOS Hawaiian Style Food – Food Truck in Beverly Beach, Florida – Restaurant Review by Full-Time RVers

Kimos Hawaiian Food Truck Flagler Beach Local Food Truck Review

You guys know how much we love finding the local food and one of our favorites this stop in Flagler Beach was actually a food truck with a permanent location INSIDE our campground (um, hello – why isn’t every campground renting out a front spot to local food trucks!?!). Such a delicious and unexpected treat when we arrived to Beverly Beach Camptown Resort in Beverly Beach, Florida (basically Flagler Beach). KIMOS Hawaiian Food opened in July 2017 after Jennie and Craig purchased the food truck and began their adventure in the food business.

We frequented this place so often that I didn’t want to just provide a normal review so this time, we did a mini-interview with the owners of KIMOS Hawaiian Style Food Truck to find out a little more about them and their cuisine. They’re an absolute gem of a family who moved down to Flagler Beach to open their food truck. Much like how we’ve picked up our life and completely changed it by living full-time in our RV, the Garris family took a chance and started a new life in Flagler Beach. They moved from Massachusetts 3 years ago for a simpler life out of the cold where they could enjoy being outside, at the beach, in a small town with family. Hard-working professionals working as an Optometrist and a Golf Pro, moved themselves along with their 4 children (ages 10-25) to Flagler Beach.

After high school, Craig moved back to Hawaii where he learned everything about his heritage and the food. When it was time to start a family, they moved to Cape Cod where they resided for 20 years prior to selling their home and belongings to make the trek down to Florida.

Jennie was always a good cook and between that and the recipes passed down from Craig’s family in Hawaii, they started this food truck serving up all the foods they’ve been cooking in the family for years – everything from shrimp tacos to my personal favorite, SPAM fried rice.

Listen, I know right now you’re thinking SPAM fried rice – really? Yes, really. It. Is. DELICIOUS. It is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. This combination of fried rice, fried SPAM, and vegetables provides a unique flavor palette that makes the soul happy.

When you ask Jennie what the best part is about running a food truck in a beach town, she quickly responds with the people. KIMOS has regular customers who stop by just to say hello then come back later for a bite to eat after they hit the beach. Meeting the people and hearing their stories is such a special part of the food truck business and this town doesn’t disappoint. Craig and Jennie are well known in the area and many other restaurant owners show up to get their food at both KIMOS Hawaiian Food Truck and at Farley’s Irish Pub in the European Village (more on that below). The community loves them and they love their community and that’s what makes this place so special.

PS. As a bonus, they’ve now taken over the menu at Farley’s in the European Village. They’ve revamped the menu and are serving all their specialties plus more! It’s an Irish pub with a little Hawaiian flare! On weekends, they often have specials like Poke Bowls and Guinness Stew to go along with all the drinks the pub serves.

Full-Time RVers – Campground / RV Park Review: Heartland RV Park – Hermosa, South Dakota

Heartland RV Park Campground Review Hermosa South Dakota Near Mount Rushmore

Settling in the Black Hills of South Dakota made it difficult to find a campground that was centrally located. We planned a two week stay so we knew we wanted to be in a good location and that was most important for us. The area is gorgeous and has so much to see and do: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, too many lakes to count (including Sylvan Lake and Legion Lake), and so much more.

We settled in at Heartland RV Park and Cabins in Hermosa and on night one, we got a little worried. We pulled in at dinner time with nothing in the RV to cook. There are no grocery stores nearby and at first glance, no restaurants. Luckily, the nice ladies working the front desk at Heartland told us about a little pizza place right down the street. I went in assuming I would need to order a salad, not thinking a small local pizza shop would have a Gluten Free option. I. Was. Wrong. And, it was the best Gluten Free pizza I’ve ever eaten. I ate the Buffalo Chicken Gluten Free Pizza and it was mind blowing. The combination of celery, Frank’s hot sauce, and ranch was perfectly balanced and I loved how big the chunks of celery were. Most buffalo chicken pizzas say they have celery on them and that’s a lie. You can never taste it. There’s never enough. They used large chunks of celery that you could actually taste and know you were eating. It was phenomenal.

After spending 2 weeks here, we definitely picked a great area to be in as it is right near Custer State Park which is the gateway to everything in this area. The campground was very muddy from the rain and our site was washing out underneath our camper (to the point our platform to raise the sewer hoses off the ground floated away). While they can’t totally control that, they could have helped some if the clay dirt underneath was built up more. They do their best to help as best they can by using a softball field drag to level out the clay/dirt/gravel, but it is still very muddy.

The bath house and laundry facilities are both great. I love campgrounds with individual locking rooms at the bathhouse instead of just a curtain to pull. This is a huge perk to me and I’m always excited when campgrounds have personal shower stalls. Water pressure and hot water were both fantastic.

They have a pool and hot tub as well, but the hot tub was always full of kids – kind of a bummer since hot tubs are for relaxing. We never got the chance to use the hot tub and we even waited 45 minutes for some people to get out, but they stayed in even though we were waiting.

While it isn’t quite built yet, it is worth noting for those looking to go here in the future, they have a rec center under construction. They say it will include a fitness center and other amenities. I’m sure this will be great when it is built as their other facilities are great.

Full-Time RVers – Day 2 (and 3) in the Books

Day 2 was officially as exhausting as Day 1, but we’ll get through the long drives by the end of this week. We drove from Noccalula Falls, Alabama to St. Louis, Missouri/Illinois, but it didn’t start off without fanfare. We woke up early, got ready to drive out, and discovered a bubble in our tire. After a 4 hour delay and service coming out to change our faulty tire, we were finally on the road (you can read more about that here including a review of our awesome service).

We went through a few new states (yay RV stickers!) and finally made it to our campsite in St. Louis by about 9:00pm. We pulled into a gorgeous view of the Gateway Arch at sunset from our campsite. Along the way, we saw true America in the Farmlands. Just look at the gorgeous expansiveness of our beautiful country.

After unhooking and getting the RV set up, we ventured out to find some food and came across a great little place called Bailey’s Range. I wish I took more pictures, but we were so hungry, I didn’t even think to take pictures of the food before we ate. I did manage to snag a photo of the amazing old window wall they have separating the dining room from the kitchen. The food was SO fresh. They’re known for their boozy milkshakes, but we had to pass this time because we were so tired – we could barely stay awake.

We took the day off from driving today and stayed in St. Louis. We worked from the camper all day, but now that the work day is over, we’re heading out to explore the city a bit. We’ll be back on the road tomorrow, but we’ll enjoy being parked for the night!

We were still so exhausted on our day off from driving that mid-day, I found Dad down for the count, but when you’ve high-tailed it through 8 states in 2 days – this kind of activity is to be expected. 😉

After a full day of working, we ventured out for some dinner at a great little place called The Fountain on Locust. Let me tell you, the Gluten Free options are endless and they can make almost anything on the menu in a GF option. I’ve been seriously craving a good Cuban Sandwich, but haven’t been able to find a GF version anywhere (let me tell you, I’ve been searching for months…). Well, I found it – and it was so glorious. Absolute juicy perfection and the bread didn’t even resemble normal GF bread. It was soft and toasted to a nice crispy, golden color. Mom had the non-Gluten Free Cuban and I thought mine looked so much better since it was more pressed like a traditional Cuban (but she said hers was delicious too!). Dad had the Grown Up Grilled Cheese with several kinds of cheese, apples, and ham. He loved it and the homemade potato chips.

Regular Cuban on the left with Brussels Kale as the side
Gluten Free Cuban on the right with Spicy Carrots as the side.

The real stars of the show though: The Dill Pickle Soup and the Ice Cream Martinis. The soup sounds gross, right? WRONG. So very wrong. It was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted in my life. It is a potato based soup and seems to have chunks of pickles in it, but let me tell you, it is divine and it makes me sad that Pickle Soup isn’t a more common thing.

But let’s talk about something called an Ice Cream Martini. We started with these before the meal since it was still Happy Hour (PSA: If you get there during Happy Hour, these drinks are only $6 each!!!). We tried the Grand Chocolate, the Espresso, and of course, I had to get the Grasshopper (Little Lalita, Little Lalita, Little Lalita – any Big Bang Theory fans out there?).

Followed by a quick drive around the city for a few pictures of the Arch.

You know if there’s a casino, Mom and I will find it. There’s always time for a little Roulette!

And for the fellow campers out there: a quick review of the Casino Queen RV Park.

While this park wasn’t spectacular, it provided great views of the Arch, easy access to the city, and a shuttle to the casino next door. It was a little pricy for the lack of amenities (coming in at $53/night with our Good Sam discount), but for a quick layover with easy access to downtown, it was worth it. The office is only open from 8am-4pm and doesn’t have much for sale inside, but the highlight was definitely the fountain Coke machine. There was no cable at the park even though they have cable boxes. I personally think, they should clarify this on their website. It doesn’t mention they have cable, but it does mention full hook ups including Internet. Maybe we shouldn’t have assumed cable was included in that, but we did (lesson learned). They did have a small laundry facility that worked well and we did utilize that while we were there. The view of the arch was gorgeous, especially at night during sunset, but if the park was crowded, most people wouldn’t have that view. There is a playground area as well as a nice grassy area with gazebos, picnic tables, and grills. It was interesting because one side of the park had large trees between lots and one side was strictly gravel rocks between lots. While we like the shade the trees provided, the spots on that side of the park were smaller and didn’t have a view of the arch. We opted for the other side of the park with rocks between sites so we would have a view of the Arch. WORD OF WARNING: The trains are so loud all night. There are a lot of trains going through the area and they blow their horns all night – and I mean, ALL NIGHT. Every 30-60 minutes a train would come through and they all blow their horns right there. They make your RV shake because they are so close. I sleep with a white noise machine very loud so they didn’t bother me. My parents sleep with a white noise machine too, but they don’t have theirs as loud as mine. Dad slept right through the trains, but they kept waking mom up. Come prepared with white noise or earplugs!

Sippin’ on Shakes

“Down to the drugstore, to be with the crowd
A candy sodapop for cyrin’ out loud
All day long, sittin’ on a stool
Drinking milkshakes again, she giggles like a fool.”
– Jerry Lee Lewis, “Milkshake Mademoiselle”

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love milkshakes. This won’t be the last post I make about milkshakes, but let me tell you this is one of the best milkshakes I’ve ever enjoyed. I give to you A. Schwab. This awesome place was founded way back in 1876 and we recently had the pleasure of sitting on a bar stool of the old soda shop to enjoy hand scooped milkshakes right there at the bar. You can’t go to Memphis without visiting this Beale Street staple. You just can’t argue with a milkshake in a glass jar and a candystripe straw.

Smooth as Tennessee Whiskey

“You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
You’re as sweet as strawberry wine
You’re as warm as a glass of brandy
And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time”
– Chris Stapleton, “Tennessee Whiskey”

We’ve decided we don’t find the Moonshine, the Moonshine finds us.

Ok, so maybe we find the Moonshine.

And the homemade wine.

One of my favorite things in Tennessee is all the homemade wines and liquors. While we first discovered Moonshine at The Island in Pigeon Forge, we discovered the true gem of Tennessee driving down a random Pigeon Forge road off the beaten path away from the tourist trap area – that’s where we found Tennessee XXX Moonshine in a red, barn-like building. We pretty much had a personal tasting with the great man running the shop (who is also a talented musician playing in various shows around Pigeon Forge). We tasted. And tasted. And tasted. And tasted. And tasted. Did I mention we tasted the Moonshine? Then we left with half a dozen jars of Moonshine.

So. Freaking. Good.

Then we found a great little place called Tennessee Homemade Wines right on the main street in Gatlinburg. I don’t like wine and saying I don’t like wine is not being dramatic. I don’t like it at all. Red, white, doesn’t matter. I just don’t like it. This is not wine. It is, but it doesn’t taste like wine. It tastes like a kid’s juicebox on steroids. And don’t even get me started about mom turning this wine into Sangria. Holy geez that’s good stuff. You can even buy the wine online (not an ad, just saying this stuff is awesome).

Dolly for President shirt from Southern Fried Designs!