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We just got back from our week in Fort Walton Beach/Destin. Unfortunately, Cathi isn't big on my taking a camera to dinner :( So I'll try to describe my experiences to you here.
We left Saturday morning and drove straight there. We arrived at 5:00pm CST, checked in to our condo at the "Sea Oats" and then went to find some dinner. We drove up and down the "Miracle Strip Pkwy" and landed at "The Original Crab shark Restaurant and Marina". It was raining outside and they refused to seat us outdoors under the covered portion of the deck. We later watched someone one else get seated where we asked to sit. The wait staff informed us that they were unable to serve draft beers and we would have to order by the bottle. My wife ordered a Hurricane and ended up sending it back as it tasted of pure grenadine. The food however, was good. I ordered their any two platter with grilled mahi mahi and gulf shrimp and my darling wife ordered the shrimp and grits. My brother in law who came with us but followed us in his car, also ordered the same any two combination. Afterwards we went for a moonlit walk on the beach and played godzilla on whatever sandcastles we could find.
On Sunday, we woke up, watched the umbrella guys set up the umbrellas and beach chairs on the beach from the balcony and sipped on some Community Coffee that we picked up with various other essentials at the publix the night before. We then headed out to play in the ocean and bask in the sun for the day while sipping on Landshark beers. Once the heat ran us back in, Mark (bro in law) and I headed out to find some fresh local seafood. We ended up at "Sexton's Seafood Market" where we bought 3 pounds of of huge head-on shrimps. We made a stop by one of the three over-priced grocery stores in the area and picked up what we needed to make Barbecue shrimps, parsley buttered red potatoes and a nice baguette to eat out on the balcony as we watched the sun set.
Monday was pretty much the same itenirary, we ate dinner at Landry's Seafood House. This place was great. Food was excellent, service was everywhere it needed to be and our waiter was covering an extra station as well. I had the stuffed Flounder, she who must be obeyed's dish oddly enough isn't on their web menu. We can't recall the name of it, but it was shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms in a tomato sauce on penne pasta and she loved it. Mark had the fresh catch of the day which was Tilapia. How can you sit at a table not 300 feet from the ocean and order Tilapia? Its farm raised in guatemala or bangladesh or some other cesspool backwater fish farm. He liked it anyway.
Tuesday we went fishing on the "Sweet Jody"! We caught 3 red snappers and 3 white porgys and a vermillion snapper. the crew cleaned them and we packed them on ice until I could prepare them. All day on a party boat watching a large asian family and most everyone else who came NOT prepared wretch for 6 hours will wear you out, in between reeling them in that is. We were tired when we got back and I crashed for a long noon time nap, after which I woke up craving steak and eggs and there was a Waffle House next door. After dinner, Mark went and picked up his girlfriend at the airport.
Wednesday was more beach time, followed by the most overpriced, undeserving restaurant I've ever had the misfortune to dine at. I guess it was the novelty of a place called "The Black Pearl". Our clique of friends enjoy anythng that is island or nautical related and a major portion of that is dedicated to pirates. So we could not resist. $9.00 for 2 oz. of Gordon's gin in a martini is in my opinion too much. Had it been on the drink menu for me to see they were actually pirates at this restaurant I'd have ordered the $5.00 beer instead. Mark's girlfiend Kimberly and I ordered the wasabi crusted tuna with a soy ginger reduction. The tuna was cooked rare as I asked for, but the wasabi crust was some hard crunchy concoction and I found the sauce bland while the wasabi was from a tube and overwhelming. Maybe that is why I could not taste the sauce. My wonderful bride had the mahi mahi which she liked and Mark had the grilled grouper and shrimp which he did not like, he thought it was not fresh and as he describes it, "Slimy". In any case none of us thought that the meal we received was worth on average $10-20 more each per person than the other seafood restaurants in the area. Two words - tourist trap.
We headed to "The Track" after dinner and had much fun on the go-karts. The wood track wasn't quite as fun as it looked from the road. The small slick track was a blast as the karts were much faster. We followed this up with another moonlit filled evening of what we came to call "Godzilla'ing".
Thursday brought more beach fun, a quiet day at the condo filled with many aloe applications and then my bride and I hit the shops on the strip in Ft. Walton Beach. There is a wonderful pet bakery called "Three Dogs and a Chick" where we picked up some treats for our fuzzy children back home. We also bought some doodads at the antique places and stopped in the Cigar Shop. That evening I prepared the red snapper we caught using the "Red Snapper Basquaise" recipe from AB's Les Halles Cookbook". You just can't go wrong with that recipe. I used Chateau St. Michelle in the recipe and also for libations. Its a $11 bottle of chardonnay that is actually very good for its price. I rate it with Simi as a good comparison.
Friday we stayed in due to rain and then went for a Dolphin Cruise anyways. It was a nice boatride in the bay and we did get to see the dolphins. Afterwards we headed over to "McGuire's Irish Pub"
Cathi, my wife, ordered an Irish Wake for the souveigner glass, Mark followed suite. We poured them in the car later on after they bought up the whole danged gift shop. For dinner I wanted Beef, so I ordered the New York Strip and was glad for it. Mark ordered the Irish Steak and Mushroom pie which he was mildly dissapointed in and the women ordered the fish and chips which appeared to be whiteing, they both thoroughly enjoyed it. We proceeded back to the condo to pack up since the whole day had been very wet. We were feeling the birth of the now present Eduardo in the gulf.
Saturday was check out time and we stopped by a place I had seen on the way in that advertised fresh shrimp on the boat in Vaisparo, Florida. We bought 10 pounds of $4/lb fresh shrimp that had been passing their time in the bay not even 8 hours prior to our arrival. We also bought 10 pounds of $2/lb fresh sea trout that had been caught in the nets with the shrimp. We then drove home unloaded the car and ordered chinese.
Sunday I woke up early and attended to a much dilapidated yard, headed off to the store after calling all of my close friends and inviting them over that evening to a fish fry. I sliced up a 5# sack of red skinned gold potatoes into chips and fried them in the outdoor frier, followed by the shrimp prepared ala *Justin Wilson and the trouts dredged in Zatarain's Fish Fry. We could only eat half of what we brought back and there were eleven of us in total. I also baked the remaining whole Red snapper we had caught. I stuffed/coated it with Boscolli's olive salad after trimming the fins and gills and a good salting. I also cut 4 slits to make it cook even and stuffed lemon slices in the slits as well as in the cavity. It made for a nice New Orleans Style Red Snapper Provencal. A perfect cap to a good week in florida.
* Justin Wilson marinated his shrimp in a highly seasoned egg wash for a few hours and then tossed them in plain flour to fry. It comes out wondamous, I GAYR-on-TEE!
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Veni Vidi Vino - I came, I saw, I drank.