Anne O'Malley's - Where the Locals Eat

Today we had a long lazy day at the beach.  The weather has been spotty so we grabbed our sunny day while it lasted.  Knowing we had 7:30 tickets for the Ripley's Ghost Train we headed into town at the last minute for a bite.  We were hoping for a pub with fish and chips but when we sat down at Anne O'Malley's we realized it was sandwiches and beer.  Oh well. We are suckers for any place playing Celtic music as we are a family descended from strong Anglo stock and love anything Celtic!

The service was casual - so don't be in a hurry.   I ordered a corned beef reuben with homemade thousand island dressing.  My hubby got the turkey club and my son ordered a pastrami on white.  They were all great and quite filling.

While we ate, the pub filled up with locals as it was Thursday's trivia night.  We knew they were locals - young and old - by how they greeted one another.  The pub is perfectly located at almost across from the Fort so we were able to quickly walk down the street to Ripleys.  We could have easily strolled the Old City from there as well.

Hoping to come back to St. A's next year we will come in on a Thursday night when we have more time!


 

Pizzalley's St. Augustine

After a day of sightseeing in the Old City in St. Augustine, we gave in to our children's pleas of pizza. I am not a huge fan of pizza (tasty but harsh on the tummy) and so at home we only order it about once a month. Having already spotted Pizzalley's and seen the Chianti Room reviews online, we asked the park rangers at the Castillo de San Marcos what they recommend. Pizzalley's.

We arrived just in time for happy hour and music. We did not take part in any happy hour specials, but I must say they were good. BOGO on all drinks plus a slice of cheese pizza for all partaking of the drink. In addition, if you are having alcohol, you get $5.00 off a large pizza. Not bad!

The kids each wanted their own pizza and our little one had a kids pepperoni ($4.99) and we ordered the 10-inch personal pizza for our 12 year old. The kids pizza (which we could have ordered for the 12 year old) was quite large and we regretted ordered the $10 individual for him when he could have eaten the kids portion. The hubby and I ordered the Garbage Can with pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms and black olives. Normally we go in for a Greek or Margarita, but we went all out. Oh my! The pizza was delicious, the crust just the right blend of think and thin and slightly crunchy. The toppings were numerous. In addition to the pizza we ordered breadsticks while we waited as this was a late lunch/early dinner for our family and we knew we would not eat again that day. The breadsticks and olive oil were perfect as was my sweet tea!

Our son (remember the 12 year old) reminded us that we never order dessert and that we are on vacation. And, our 8 year old was entranced by the singer setting up shop in the corner. So.....creme brulee, chocolate toffee mousse cake and another glass of sweet tea were ordered. We heard a few songs, ate dessert, boxed up our leftovers and headed to St. Photios to finish out our day.

Sunset Grill - St. Augustine, Florida

While we are definitely eating "at home" for most of our trip, we are eating a few favorite local/tourist spots this week.  Last night we headed to Sunset Grill.  It had great reviews by both sets (locals and tourists) and we had a few folks who are regulars to this beach tell us eat there.  After a long day at the beach we dressed in what I am calling "upscale beach" and headed into town.  Sunset is a delightful restaurant and due to our off-season travel, we were able to get a covered seat upstairs. Oh!  We went on a Monday night, so again, great seating.

We started the meal with appetizers, which we rarely order as we are, well, budget conscious. Mozarella sticks and coconut shrimp were tops on our list.  Our daughter was allergic to most of the options and the Mahi was only served rare, so these were what we decided upon.  To be honest, they were both pretty standard though they were reasonably priced.  My hubby and I ordered sweet teas while the kids ordered sodas.  The teas were good but not the best I have ever had (if you've ever read my blog you know I'm a sweet tea snob).

The orders were placed as follows:

Our 8 year old had fish bites and fries which she very much enjoyed.  The portions were ample and she now has a second meal for lunch tomorrow!

The 12 year old got All-American burger with a loaded baked potato.  The cheese sauce on the potato looked as if it came from a can but the meal itself was large and he has leftovers for lunch as well.

My husband ordered the Grouper in the seafood cream sauce with a grit cake and corn.  He very much enjoyed it I would say as he left nothing on his plate but we both agreed the grit cake was somewhat bland and the grouper would have been better with a lighter hand on the sauce.  It had a great taste but was a little too much.

I had the fish and potato wedges.  The fish was GINORMOUS!  It was a tasty piece of fish.  The wedges were hand cut and fried.  The tartar sauce was just right.  Not sure if it was made in house but it seemed as if it was.

The service was excellent!  I don't know that we would come back here but for a newbie to the area, it's certainly a place to try.

South Beach Grille - St. Augustine, Florida

We headed down from Nashville last Saturday to Crescent Beach in the northwest corner of Florida.  After a long drive and many hours to determine where we wanted to eat dinner once we pulled into the St. A area, we settled on South Beach Grille which was 2 miles from our condo.  Nashville is a major foodie town (according to every major magazine and newspaper in the country and from persona observations).  And I consider myself a fairly skilled home cook, so it has to be great to impress us (especially my husband who I can assure you is quite spoiled by my cooking).

We like to vacation in the off-season and are at the beach in late September (another benefit of homeschooling).  So, there was no wait at 8PM on a Saturday night.  We asked to be seated outside and were quite cozy despite the lower evening temps and storm that blew in that evening.

Sweet teas were ordered all around which were really just okay (sweet teas snobs) and proceeded to order our entrees.   They were as follows:  our 8 year old had the fish bites (fresh and breaded in-house) and apples (which were also sliced fresh btw); 12 year old ordered an adult burger and fries (the burger was hand-patted and substantial and the fried delicious, though probably not hand-cut); my husband had the fish tacos which did indeed have a fresh made salsa (which he loved) and I had the crab cake dinner (crab cakes where house made and though different from a Maryland crab cake and I would definitely order them again).   The entire family thoroughly enjoyed their meals!

The service was great and the meal was only around $65 with tip.  We are hoping to go there again on our final night here.

Candy Hearts (2-12-13)

Can it be true that we are four weeks away from Valentine's Day? (4) Four weeks away from cards, candy...in other words....stress for me. Add to that the pressure (you may remember last year's post) of making hand crafted cards for my son's party as we are in a Waldorf School and cards with Superman, Batman, Pokémon or Frodo Baggins are not kosher. That's okay. To be honest, there is nothing more delightful than sitting down with my children every Valentine's evening and sorting through the beautiful cards made by small hands. This year I have one in Waldorf and one that has transitioned to public school. I am a little sad that she will most likely be receiving said Walgreens cards but still wanted to create something special for her to give to her classmates. And....I had a $20 off coupon from Shutterfly....so......here's a sample of Arwyn's cards of love for her classmates. Get to gettin' folks because Cupid will be on your doorstep before you know it and if you are not careful you'll find yourself making a last minute dash to Kroger for candy hearts to tape to an index card!

Croys Go to China - Another Photo Book!

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Disney Slide Show

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Just One More

Father and Son

More of Meijer Gardens

Rolling Stone

Owl Family at Meijer Gardens

Meijer Gardens

Before actually leaving for Grand Rapids, I did some web surfing and found Meijer Gardens. MG is a botanical and sculptural garden in GR. We had such a wonderful time there. Nathan and Noah both loves sculptures. I'm more of an art girl and love folk art especially, but Nathan loves dimensional form. Noah, thank the Goddess, is an art lover of all kinds. He also loves sunrises and sunsets, stars, the moon, flowers and just beauty of all kinds. Here are a few of our photos from our visit. These are just a couple of the sculptures we saw.

BFF - Best Family Forever

I don't have time right now to get all of our Meijer Garden photos up, but here is our family photo that a kind lady took while we were in the Botanical part of the gardens.

BFF - Best Family Forever

I don't have time right now to get all of our Meijer Garden photos up, but here is our family photo that a kind lady took while we were in the Botanical part of the gardens.

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble @ the Chldren's Museum

Untitled Album

I'm having problems with my slideshow on this one. Click on the photo and when it takes you into my Picasa album, click on "slideshow."

Children's Museum Slideshow

Children's Museum

On our first night in Michigan we headed downtown. We were all starving as we had not stopped for lunch on the way up. So, we found a great Chinese/Thai place and quickly had dinner. Lucky for us it was family night at the Children's Museum in downtwon GR and the museum was scheduled to be open until 8PM. So, we headed there next with our reciprocal ACM membership...very valuable and practical when traveling I might add.

We had so much fun. And, we got to talk with some locals about the area and other fun things to do. Here are some of the photos. I am not sure who had the most fun - Nathan or Noah. Nathan would like to put a couple of the exhibits in our home just for fun.

Lake Michigan-the Slides

Lake Michigan

While on our trip we journeyed to Lake Michigan and spent part of the day there. Wow. It is so much like going down to the gulf. The water is very calm and you can see right through it. When we arrived there were only a few brave souls there. The water is very cold. It never really warms according to those in the know....our Wisconsin neighbors. But, being from the South and not knowing any better, we jumped in. Well, Noah and Nathan got in. It took me a while but I finally ventured in up to my knees. By the time we left, the day had really warmed up and the beach was quickly filling up. It was a Friday afternoon and the weather was predicted to change on Sunday, so the locals appeared to want to get in on the final days of hot sun. It apparently was unseasonably warm while we were there. Imagine that. Nathan and I going somewhere and the weather being at an extreme.

We rounded out the day with a drive up the coast to a cute little town called Grand Haven. If you ever get to the West Michigan Coast, make this a stop. It reminded me of some of the towns we visited in New England. A typical coastal town which has really remained true to its roots and has a fabulous downtown.

So, I've included a few of my favorite photos from the day as well as a cute slideshow of our beach fun.