Day 3: Destin, Florida Family Vacation

Day 3: Destin, Florida Family Vacation

On day 3 I began the book I had been waiting on for months, Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews! I love her books! This one was great! I really enjoyed it from the little suspense to having me laughing out loud on the beach! I highly recommend this book! It is a great beach read! I tried to read really slow as to savor every page but I will still done faster than I wanted. Now to wait until next summer.

For dinner that night we went to one of our favorites that a lot people still do not know about or just have not tried. Kenny D's they have the BEST gumbo (in my opinion). It has that cajun, New Orleans flavor that just sets it apart! You cannot miss this place it is small but so good!!!

 The Gumbo

 My mom and I both got the appetizer shrimp with a side salad. The gumbo always fills me up.

 Caleb got the Spicy Mahi Melt

It was so good! He is always the one to try new things and I always wish I had ordered it too!

 Dad got (no suprise) the fried grouper sandwich. He sticks to things he knows he will like.

We had a great meal as we are never disappointed in Kenny D's.

Let me know if you have ever tried it.



Day 2 - Destin, Florida Family Vacation

Day 2 - Destin, Florida Family Vacation

Well the next day we were back on the beach. I love the beach! Everything about it well.... maybe not the sand that gets in everything. Haha! I have to say it was HOT! I mean really hot the thermometor and tv said that it was over 100 one day. Now that combined with the humidity makes for a real scorcher but that's what the ocean is for to cool off in. :)

I was reading The Lost Hours by Karen White the first two days. It was a great book. It was a little slow starting off but well worth sticking through. I really liked it and would highly recommend it!

You know me I am all about the food and where we are eating! :) So that night we ate at Dewey Destin. Several locals had recommended it to us and we had planned to try it last year but decided to wait.

Waiting Area

 Back Deck

 View from Deck

 Appetizer: Tuna Dip

It was really good! Many people say it is the best but Pompano Joe's is still my favorite!

 Dad got the blackened Grouper and all grilled or steamed entrees come with Corn, Potatoes, and Slaw.

We all switched something out and they were fine with that. Like I got hushpuppies instead of corn. I know I am the healthiest eater ever! :)

 Caleb got Steamed Shrimp

**Excellent and lots of flavor!

 Mom got grilled Grouper

**Very good!!!

 I had the Mediterranean Mahi Mahi.

I normally get Grouper and he offered to change the fish but I also like Mahi with something like this. It was delicious and something different than what I would normally get.

Our food was amazing!!! So good that we actually went back the last night! I will share about that one later. :) I definitely recommend trying Dewey's if you are in Destin! The food is delicious and both times we were there we had excellent service. Plus, being able to eat outside is a great! They do have indoor seating but when I'm at the beach I love to be outside and enjoy the scenery. Plus this area was well shaded and was not hot.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday! What have you been up to these past two weeks?



Day 1

Sorry for the delay blogger was not cooperating with me for the first part of the week.

The first day is always great!
When we go to the beach we are the type that gets up early packs a cooler for the day and stays all day! Oh add a great book.

For lunch on the first day we had not bought our sandwich stuff yet so we walked up the beach to Pompano Joe's. They have my favorite Smoked Tuna Dip! I have tried it everywhere we go and it is my absolute favorite. It's different and has more of a sweet flavor plus they serve it with this flat bread and cucumbers. So yummy! And that is the perfect lunch on the beach!

That night we ate at the Back Porch another long time favorite. One thing that makes this place so nice to me is that it's right on the beach and they pull the windows up and you get that ocean breeze. It's perfect! We have had most of the things on the menu but my favorites are as follows. For an appetizer here I just like their hushpuppies with honey butter. Delicious! We also tried their shrimp and corn chowder and it was really good too! That night I got a Po Boy (Shrimp) Sandwich with onion rings (another specialty here). Now they have the more sophisticated fare here but I wanted the thing that I am always craving when at home and that is exactly what I ordered. :) Now Caleb got another favorite which is the Seafood Nachos. Mom had the Grilled Grouper Sandwich and Dad has the Fried Grouper Sandwich.

View while eating

I'm getting hungry just looking back at these. You can't get food like that here in our part of Georgia.

Vacation

We just returned from our family vacation in Destin, Florida (my favorite beach). I know I have been slacking on my blogging lately but I am ready to get started again. First I will share some pictures we took and I will be returning later to add some reviews and share what our garden was like when we returned. Who knew veggies could grow that fast!!! :)

 First Afternoon from the Back Porch Deck

 Last Day at Lunch at the Back Porch... We start and end with one of our lasting favorites.

 Me and the hubby!

 My wonderful Family!

LOVE

Flower Garden...

Our flowers are blooming....

I struggle with Hydrangeas. Any suggestions?

Knockout Roses are super easy and so pretty.

I would love to have a Peony or two. Any suggestions for those?

Garden 2011

And so our garden begins...

A little dark on this one but these are our tomato plants and peppers to the side.

 Onions

Squash and cucumbers...

 We also ended up with a cantoloupe. Not sure how that happened. Neither one of us eat Cantoloupe but maybe we will begin to like it. My great-grandfather loves cantoloupe. Maybe I can just give it to him if it grows. I remember he used to eat cantoloupe all the time but my biggest memory was when we would be eating breakfast at their house. My great-grandmother and grandfather made the best gravy and biscuits and dip eggs as I called them then (fried eggs). Sorry just taking a walk down memory lane. I sure do miss those days. My g-grandmother fell this past Sunday and broke her leg where she has already had a hip replacement putting her in the hospital for emergency surgery. She is still not doing real good and it makes me very sad. I have been taking trips down memory lane a lot this week. I am blessed to still have my great-grandparents. As they are in their mid 90's. I have some wonderful memories of them and I will always treasure those.

So far we have planted: Tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, poblano peppers, cucumbers, squash, one zucchini, watermelon, cantoloupe, cilantro, and basil.

What are you planting this year? I have never been successful with watermelon any suggestions?

The cilantro did not survive last year and I have never tried basil. Let me know if you have any suggestions. 

A Suprise...

I came home last week to find our new pet. Caleb had brought home the cutest kitten. While he is the cutest little thing the reason that we did not have a cat before is because I am extremely allergic to them. Caleb insisted that the man ask him to bring it home and maybe he could find someone to give it too. Caleb thought he would just be able to find someone to give it to with no problem. However, what I saw was that Caleb really liked this little guy and no matter how much he said he didn't he really wanted to keep it. So.... meet our new family pet Tigger as Caleb calls him.

Yahoola Creek Grill

We recently tried Yahoola Creek in Dahlonega, GA we have been stuck on Dahlonega lately. We have wanted to try this restaurant for over a year but just never did. Well we decided why not so we went on a Saturday afternoon and loved it! Caleb got to eat like Snoop Dogg - Chicken and Waffles. It was delicious!!! I thought it was too weird for me but anything with sausage gravy must be good. :)
I had the shrimp and grits. I have been craving it since Charleston and while I must say it did not live up to Amen Street it was still very good! By the way the people next to us got the chicken tenders and although that is very simple it looked so good! Going back to the beginning we had an amazing appetizer of Fried Green Tomato Stack with Goat Cheese. If you are in Dahlonega this is a GREAT place to try!

Not the best pictures since I took them with my phone but you cannot review food without a picture. :)

I love small independently owned stores and restaurants. I want to see these businesses thrive. I would hope that if I were in business someone would help spread the word for me.

Have you tried anywhere new recently?

The Porterhouse Dahlonega, GA

We ate at the Porterhouse again for Mother's Day and it was fabulous! Dahlonega has a beautiful square with lots of good restaurants and good shopping too! They are always having something whether it be Christmas with the lights or Gold Rush or even a movie under the stars in the summer. You are sure to find something to do. I wish that all towns took such pride in their square!

Now to the food! I ordered the Bourban Steak with green beans and mashed potatoes. This comes with a salad served family style and bread. I took a picture of all the different selections. If you ever visit Dahlonega make sure Porterhouse is on your list of places to eat. Oh and don't forget dessert! We had the brownie with icecream and oh my goodness it was delicious!!!

Bourban Steak this was the smaller portion and still too much for me. :)

Cajun Pasta

I will be trying this next time!

My lighting was bad in this one but it is crab stuffed trout.

Our yummy dessert!

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother!

And I just had to include one of me and the best hubby I could ever ask for!

Have you ate at any good restaurants lately? I always like a good recommendation! :)