While the kids played in the sand and surf at the beach on our recent vacation, I sat in my flimsy little $12 beach chair with my Kindle. Between finishing up the Stieg Larsson series and keeping my eye on the kids, I watched shrimping boats in the distance.

And I started craving shrimp. Imagine that. Luckily, the eastern coast of Florida is a happening spot for seafood restaurants, like the one I wrote about earlier in the week. Some friends had mentioned that we should try the Flagler Fish Company in Flagler Beach, just a 15 minute drive or so from our beach condo. I am so glad that we did. It was such a great place that we actually went back a second time the very next night.

Flagler Fish Company is a combination fish market and restaurant. We were there on a Friday and Saturday night, and it was understandably crowded. The wait was a bit longer on Saturday than Friday, but the young guy in charge of seating guests was fabulous and brought us out some drinks for the kids — and a lovely glass of wine for me and beer for my husband. The drinks, along with some delicious clam dip, made the 30 minute wait much more bearable.

The restaurant offers to cook anything that’s in their display cases, and there was a lot of fresh fish to choose from. The prices are very similar to those that we find in our local fish market. Of course, that’s not terribly surprising since we live less than two hours from the beach.

I know I’ve said this before, but I am a huge fan of grits. And shrimp and grits? Well, now you’re talking. On the menu at Flagler Fish Company, the shrimp and grits is called “redneck scampi.” And, oh my. This was one incredible dish. The grits were nothing fancy – Quaker (I asked) – but they were creamy and had bits of corn and tomatoes blended in. The shrimp were perfectly sauteed.

The second night I ordered one of the other items that caught my eye on their menu – the fish tacos. At $5 each, I ordered one of the “North Side” tacos and one of the “Red Light” tacos. The North Side was filled with tomato, avocado, shredded cabbage, and a spicy chipotle salsa. And, it was indeed spicy. I was thankful for my glass of water. The Red Light taco was milder, with a similar filling but with a mild salsa verde and sour cream instead of the spicy chipotle salsa. The fish was cooked just right in both tacos. And, of course, I ordered a side of grits. Because – have I mentioned this? –  I love grits.

We’ve officially added Flagler Fish Company to our Favorite Places To Eat At The Beach list. Hmm….it might be time to plan another beach vacation…

After spending three nights at Disney World, we packed up our overtired children and headed to the beaches of the eastern coast of Florida. We stayed in a beautiful condo in Palm Coast, just south of St. Augustine. My parents drove over and spent a couple of nights with us, and the first night they were there, we ate at a long-time favorite restaurant of ours, Salt Water Cowboys.

Just outside of St. Augustine, Salt Water Cowboys sits at the dead end of a two lane road, and the restaurant itself juts out over the marsh. The food is always good, but the thing I like most about the place is it’s location. It’s just stunning, really. And if you happen to go at sunset, you’ll never forget the experience.

When we first arrived, my common sense flew out the window and my 21-year old inner self got the better of me. After reading the drink menu, I ordered a Cracker Coolade.

Now, really. What grown-up woman – a mother of two, no less – who professes to be a foodie does that? Seriously? This is the type of establishment where you order a beer. And sweet tea. I’ll chalk it up to heat stroke or something, but regardless, I started a trend that night. We all – my parents included – ordered this frighteningly blue drink served in a mason jar with a maraschino cherry poking out the top.

One of the highlights of dinner was the basket of cheesy garlic toast that always starts the meal off.

The house salad is a typical salad, but it’s topped with a creamy vinaigrette with a bit of a kick to it. I didn’t hear our waiter tell us what type of vinaigrette it was – or perhaps my head was in a fog from the Cracker Coolade – and I forgot to ask, but it was delicious. It was sweet, tart, and had a spicy kick at the end. I was guessing it contained horseradish, but I could be totally off.

The menu at Salt Water Cowboys is your typical Florida fish camp type menu. It’s got just about any fried local fish or shellfish you can imagine, and they serve frog legs and alligator tail too. I’ve had the gator tail before. And which, when fried, tastes like…well, like anything else fried. I tried to stay on the somewhat healthy side, so I ordered the broiled shrimp stuffed with blue crab and served with a red pepper sauce.

Um, yeah. Nothing healthy about that dish. But darn tasty.

Jane and Michael Stern reviewed Salt Water Cowboys on their Roadfood.com website, and since I am a huge Splendid Table fan and love the roadfood segment the Sterns do on that show, I was tickled to see it there. Salt Water Cowboys is a really unique Florida seafood restaurant, and honestly, it’s a toss-up between which shines brighter – the food or the setting.

Guess what? I’m home! We’ve spent the last week at Disney World for a few nights and then at the beach at Palm Coast, over on the eastern coast of Florida. I have lots and lots of photos to share with you, but first things first. I have a sangria recipe that I simply must share. Right now.

We stayed at a lovely condo at the beach – three bedrooms, washer and dryer, beautiful kitchen. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring many of our pantry staples, and there really wasn’t much already there beyond salt and pepper and some paper towels. Not wanting to restock the fridge and pantry for such a short time, I was limited on what I could prepare. And then, in a moment of brilliance, I thought of it. Sangria. I could make sangria! Sure, it’s not really FOOD, but hey – who cares?

So, sangria it was. It was very good the first day – cool, refreshing, with just the right amount of sweetness. Not so good the second day. From the sangria-making experience I learned two lessons. First, this sangria shouldn’t be made more than one day in advance. Second, we clearly don’t drink all that much since we had leftovers on day two.

Sangria

For the red wine, use something inexpensive but tasty. I used an under-$10 bottle from the local grocery store - Red Truck California Red Wine. For the orange liqueur, you can use Cointreau or triple sec. I used triple sec for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lime
1 lemon
1 orange
1 Granny Smith apple
1 750 mL bottle red wine
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup orange liqueur (I used triple sec.)
12 ounces lemon lime soda (I used Sprite.)

Directions:

Slice the lemon, lime, and orange into thin slices and then cut the slices into wedge-shaped pieces. Core and slice the apple into wedges. Add the fruit to a large pitcher, then add the wine, orange juice, and orange liqueur. Stir and refrigerate well until chilled. Just prior to serving, add the lemon lime soda. Can be made up to 1 day in advance.

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