Y'all God is sooooooo good!
Our last full day at the beach was about as perfect as it could have been.
We had blue skies and not a threat of rain at all.
We had an entire day to enjoy, sunning, napping, reading, dipping in the pool...it was awesome!
Perfection!
This little guy was fearless and very bold, he hopped around in the sand just a few inches way from my tootsies looking for birdie tid-bits in the sand.
I tossed him a grape and he was less than enthused, apparently ocean fowl don't eat grapes.Later a seagull swooped in and snatched it up and then promptly dropped back down on the sand.
Whooo knew....
We had most of our meal at the condo, I had planned very well and spent minimal effort, kept it very simple, mostly fruit and yogurt for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, big salads for supper.
But on our last night we went out for dinner.
A very dear friend suggest The Indian Pass Raw Bar.
HAVE MERCY!
Y'all, over the course of that last few months I have been really trying to expand my pallet. I have never been a HUGE seafood fan. With the exception of oysters, weird I know, but I have always like them.
Funny story, when I was pregnant with my son, back in the dark ages, I craved oysters and sushi. The odd thing was I had never eaten an oyster or sushi but suddenly started craving them. There was a sushi place right across from where I worked at the time so when the craving would hit, I would indulge from time to time. It was probably horribly bad for me, so much has changed in what they allow pregnant women to eat, but my docotrs told me certain foods to stay away from and such and oysters were not on the forbidden list. Go figure.
But I digress.
Anywhoo...
The best way to describe this place is incongruent.
It si a major hole in the wall. It used to be a gas station.
The reality, it's not much improved from it's origins. As far as I could see they had invested little in the way of upgrades. The removed the gas pumps and that's about it.
They had live music outside, the beer cooler was self-serve and on the honer system. You were given a sheet of paper and a pencil, you were relied upon to accurately register how many beers you consume over the course of the eveing., Fortunately, the Hubs and I are not big beer drinkers, we are also honest so we restrained outselves.
The inside seating was limited to cheap plastic library tables and cheap plastic lawn chairs.
You wrote your name down on a waiting list and then when your table was ready, which you also had to share with another couple, someone would stand at the front door with a piece of paper with your last name on it. They had it down to a science. The menu was on the back of the piece of paper that they held up.
Even that was self-serve.
The menu with a series of boxes, you went down the list and entered how many dozen of each item you wanted. The waitress would come back and take you list and then the eating began.
My only complaint, it slightly offended my sensibilities when the food was presented. I am a huge believer in the statement "We eat first with the eyes!"
However, even with there complete lack of presentation, the oysters were presented on a plastic cafeteria tray with plastic forks, horseradish sauce and lemons. There was a box of saltine crackers on the table, a roll of paper towels and a big bottle of cocktail sauce. No fuss, no frills!
Even with the lack of presentation, they were the best raw oysters I think I have ever had. Not trace of grit and they were fresh, basically perfection on the half shell.
The seasoned steamed peel and eat shrimp were not to bad either.
But the star of the meal was the baked oysters.
Very simple, served steaming hot with a sprinkling of parm, served with a bit of crusty bread to soak up all the deliciousness.....ya know those meals you have, that linger in your thoughts. Well I am still thinking about those baked oysters.
One dozen raw, one dozen baked, steamed peel and eat shrimp and steamed crab legs. By the time the crab legs got to the table I was so involved in the foodgasm I was experiancing that snapping a picture was the last thing on my mind.
The Hubs was skeptical that we were going to be able to make our way through the meal!
"We're gonna need a doggie bag!" he said!
Well doggie bag my bohunkious....we were victorious!
Fortunately, our server made it out alive.We managed not to confuse her appendages with the pile of crab legs before us.
I am also thankful that there is no hidden footage of our feeding frenzy, that I know of anyway!
It was soooooooo gooooood!
My one observation: I have never paid that much for a meal served on a plastic cafeteria tray in an old gas station in my life, and I had to fetch my own beer too boot, well to be completely honest, the Hubs fetched the beer.
However, the meal was outstanding so it was money well spent!
We made it back to the beach in time for a blue sunset. The cloud came in so there was not much color, but it was wonderfull cool and breezy.
We leiserly enjoyed our last evening on the beach. I was secretly trying to figure out how textend our stay on an indefinate basis...but reality was just a few hours away.
Say ti aint soy'all!
Blessings
R
