Vacation food

I like splitting up the vacation recap into several posts; it lets me relive my trip a little longer.  This one is all about the food :)

We enjoyed the restaurants at the resort – they had quite a variety to choose from - and also were able to find some places to eat across the street – I love being able to walk to eat!

We stumbled on a seafood place, Snappers, and it was so so good.  I have to brag on their salad and dressing – Kevin cleaned his plate!   He’s not much for salads so this really is saying something.   After we ordered they brought out some long chips and spiced hummus, delicious.  I had to resist eating it all so I’d be hungry for the meal.   I had a lobster risotto with scallops and shrimp – I think it was my first time to have risotto and won’t be my last.   Kevin had a great piece of fish.

We also ate at a Cuban place, Bella Habana.  I have to say my thoughts about this place are mixed.  We ordered tapas (small plates) and the food we got was all good, but I was surprised at how many items they didn’t have  - both for food and drinks (they couldn’t make a mojito for me, which was really disappointing).  They even said they didn’t have chicken…. who doesn’t have chicken?  Then later the only dish that we’d wanted that called for chicken came out so I’m not sure if they did in fact have it…..so confused.    We did enjoy the place and the staff were very friendly.  They only took cash and so after we ate I went to the ATM to get some cash while K stayed at the restaurant and he talked Cuban history with the waiter and I think the cook came out at one point too, made his day.

The place we went to the MOST (besides the beach) was the beach bar right next to our hotel, called the Toasted Monkey.   They had live music almost all of the time and it was really comfortable.  We enjoyed just going over there and relaxing, and their chips and queso were good, and trust me I know good queso!  The people watching was so fun there too!

I had 2 favorite meals at the resort – fish tacos at the Flying Bridge our first full day there, and a Italian food at the Palmetto on our last night.  Totally different food and each time what we wanted – quick and easy the first day and a little fancier the last night.

We spent nearly our whole trip at the beach, but we did want a break from the sun one day and so went to check out a local winery.   Florida doesn't grow grapes so this place, Florida Orange Groves Winery, makes wines from all other sorts of other fruits – you name it, they probably make it.  We did a tasting and were able to taste 6 different kinds – we both tasted their Hurricane Class 5 wine and then were able to taste 5 of our choosing – we chose different ones and tasted each other’s so we actually tasted 11!    I liked the wines (my favorite was the mango) and really liked their ‘smoothies’ – a mix that you mix together with wine and ice to make a frozen drink – really good for the summer.  We bought some (blueberry, cherry, and mango) to bring home.   I especially like the wine pouches they sell – think capri sun for adults!  The wine is in a small pouch, perfect for the beach or anywhere you don’t want glass.   

On most of the drive to/from Florida we stopped at fast food places, not great I know but we wanted to get in and out quickly.  We made one exception and I'm so glad we did.   We debated trying to drive home in one day and when it became clear that was too much driving in one day for us we decided to stop for the night in Baton Rouge.   We wanted something good to eat and so I got to searching on my phone - criteria were local and near I-10 and we found the BEST place, even better than if we'd been searching for it...Parrain's (means godfather in French).   They have all sorts of Cajun food (which I love) and we were seated right at the end of the bar, right next to where they make something called chargrilled oysters.  We chatted with the guys working with the grill and they told us what everything was and let us try one.  I haven't been a fan of oysters, but they were delicious!   It was a great way to end the evening and the trip....we're going to have to think of trips that take us through Baton Rouge at mealtime so we can go back.

I'm a numbers person so here a few numbers from our trip...

miles traveled: 1,985

states we were in: 5

nights away from home: 7
total swimsuits we wore: 4 (2 each so one could dry while we wore the other one)

we won’t count the number of calories we ingested :)