Furlough Field Trip #2
Prior to the shutdown, ES and I had planned on taking this past weekend to go to the beach. With there really being no reason not to go, we hit the road Friday morning to Atlantic Beach, FL - just outside of Jacksonville - where ES's boss has a vacation home that employees can use. One 6.5 hour drive down I-75 south to I-10 east and we were there. (Aside - we had lunch in Valdosta, and the headline of the local paper was focused on this story).
Life at the beach, while somewhat predictable, is also incredibly relaxing. The days were filled with walks, people watching and frisbee tossing on the beach (yes, we did see at least one person wearing knee pads who was holding a metal detector), playing in the waves, sitting out on the patio reading, watching classic movies at night (Rebel Without a Cause; Psycho) and visits into the cute town center area. On Sunday, after my long run of 17 miles, we went to the coffee shop and played scrabble while eating our lox and bagel plates and trying to guess who was a local and who was a visitor like us. Our best find, though, was a restaurant called North Beach Fish Camp. On the surface, it looks like a regular fish restaurant, but they had something on the menu that neither of us had seen in Atlanta - and that was a low-country boil for two.
I've had low-country boils before - mostly as part of a house party or other large gathering. Essentially, it's a seafood boil with sausage, corn, shrimps, mussels or clams, and potatoes - and lots of spice. Naturally, we ordered it. This particular version also came with crab legs and broccoli, so it was "fancy." This is a meal that requires a lot of energy, as it's pretty much entirely eaten with your hands, and you will get messy. Melted butter and cocktail sauce with horseradish accompanied the meal for dips. It was quite delicious, just the perfect amount of spice - and we definitely did not have room for anything else!
We came back to Atlanta yesterday - all in all, it was a great quick getaway. Here's hoping that by the time I go to DC, I won't be able to call that trip a Furlough Field Trip......
Life at the beach, while somewhat predictable, is also incredibly relaxing. The days were filled with walks, people watching and frisbee tossing on the beach (yes, we did see at least one person wearing knee pads who was holding a metal detector), playing in the waves, sitting out on the patio reading, watching classic movies at night (Rebel Without a Cause; Psycho) and visits into the cute town center area. On Sunday, after my long run of 17 miles, we went to the coffee shop and played scrabble while eating our lox and bagel plates and trying to guess who was a local and who was a visitor like us. Our best find, though, was a restaurant called North Beach Fish Camp. On the surface, it looks like a regular fish restaurant, but they had something on the menu that neither of us had seen in Atlanta - and that was a low-country boil for two.
I've had low-country boils before - mostly as part of a house party or other large gathering. Essentially, it's a seafood boil with sausage, corn, shrimps, mussels or clams, and potatoes - and lots of spice. Naturally, we ordered it. This particular version also came with crab legs and broccoli, so it was "fancy." This is a meal that requires a lot of energy, as it's pretty much entirely eaten with your hands, and you will get messy. Melted butter and cocktail sauce with horseradish accompanied the meal for dips. It was quite delicious, just the perfect amount of spice - and we definitely did not have room for anything else!
We came back to Atlanta yesterday - all in all, it was a great quick getaway. Here's hoping that by the time I go to DC, I won't be able to call that trip a Furlough Field Trip......