Time for Vacation

John and I arrived in Seagrove, FL early Sunday morning to meet my parents for our beach vacation that I have literally been counting down the days until. My dad knows where my heart lies when one of the first few things he asks me is where do I want to go to eat this week? Now normally we hit up a few of the same spots throughout the week such as Great Southern, Red Bar, Cafe Thirty A, and Thomas’s. Surprisingly, we only went to two of them and tried out a few new spots that have recently opened up on 30 A.
We started at V. And it quickly became my new favorite spot! For an appetizer we got our first set of oysters on the half shell (and trust me as you will find out later, many oysters were consumed throughout the week) and fried green tomato and blue crab remoulade. Both were polished off quickly. Now before we ordered our entrees I had already done my research on what I wanted but waited for the waiter to tell us the specials and his favorites and mine was one of them- Cornbread Crusted Mahi Mahi over corn grits, fresh chevre, sauce creole verde, scallion aioli, and smoked corn chow chow. This was my favorite dish of the entire trip! Maybe I can get the secret recipe for it like I did last year at Cafe Thirty A for the Quail and Grits. We also found a new beer called Supper Club (fitting since we have so many supper club parties) that is brewed up in Wisconsin that we decided we would try and find in Indy once we return.

Next stop was the Great Southern. This is the spot we always go for a break on the beach for lunch. I always order the Baked Oysters Trio (round 2 of oysters). This consists of Rockefeller—Baked with spinach, bacon, and Pernod; Bienville—Shrimp, mushrooms, shallots, garlic, cayenne seasoned béchamel sauce, Romano cheese and bread crumbs; Arcadia—Topped with a spicy Cajun sauté of crawfish, blue crab, sweet peppers, andouille, and smoked Gouda cheese. Oh ya they are as good as they sound. If I lived closer to the water I would definitely attempt to make these. Then John and Dad ordered a dozen oysters on the half shell (round 3) since I pretty much devoured the other ones. Normally being a creature of habit I would have ordered Grits a Ya Ya their famous dish of Smoked Gouda cheese grits smothered with a sauté of applewood-smoked bacon, spinach, shallots, garlic, portobello mushrooms, and cream, finished with spiced shrimp and sweet potato hay but decided to branch out and get the oyster po’boy with a side of their grits and fried green tomatoes.

And because my husband knows I have not been able to find a great sushi restaurant up in Indy we sought one out in Seaside and had a sushi lunch date…and everyone knows how much I love my sushi.

We also went to Back Porch later in the where John and Dad proceeded to order about 2 dozen oysters on the half shell, eat a Seafood Pizza at Bud and Alley’s for lunch and finish with more oyster po’boys at Thomas’s on our last day.

Let’s tally it up: 5 dozen oysters (at least), a ton of fried green tomatoes, and plenty of oyster po’boys…did I mention it was hard to get back into my work pants Monday morning?A lot of Spinning, yoga, and running for the Halls is what the doctor orders!!