Spring Break 2017: Tallahassee Eats

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to try out new places to eat. Our recent trip to Tallahassee provided several great opportunities to do this. Thankfully the kids typically do really well in restaurants and this trip was no exception.

Our first opportunity to eat out, my sister and her family took us to one of their favorite pizza joints: Momo's Pizza. Their tagline is "slices as big as your head" and they really were huge! You buy your pizza by the slice. I chose a supreme slice for myself and a four-cheese slice for the boys to split. It was so much pizza! And so delicious. We could have split one slice between the three of us. The leftovers were great too, though.

Second up was Angelo & Son's Tropical Shrimp Trader Company. This restaurant was in Panacea not Tallahassee, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. This was our big seafood day after an afternoon of beach play.

Angela and I both picked a seafood platter to split with our kiddos. I also ordered an extra order of hush puppies for Jack. We managed to finish it all. Fried seafood at the beach is one of my faves!

Our third opportunity to eat out came in the form of brunch on Sunday after church. We attempted to eat at two different Canopy Road Cafe locations but they were slammed. As a back up we ended up going to Jenny's Lunchbox  and it was a big hit (even if we were crammed around a tiny table).

As a bonus we let Jack and Levi sit at their own table and they were perfect little gentleman. They even ordered their own food (pancakes) and didn't bother anyone (us or any other customers) for the duration of brunch. It's hard to believe that these two little 5-year-olds are capable of eating on their own at a sit-down restaurant!

I am a sucker for breakfast out and Jenny's Lunchbox did not disappoint. Jack had pancakes and I had fried eggs with ham and toast and also a side of biscuits and gravy (that I shared with Isaac). This little dive is worth a visit if you love a good home-made breakfast that you don't have to make yourself.

Finally, on our last day we drove up to Thomasville, Georgia on our way home so that we could go to Jonah's Fish & Grits. My sister had been raving about it, so we thought it would be a good way to end our trip.

Angela and I both had a grouper sandwich and it was out of this world. Their hush puppies really were the best ever, and the chowder I tried was divine. It's hard to find chowder in the south and man, this was good soup. It was a perfect way to end our trip.

Before leaving town we walked the kids down the block to The Mix for frozen yogurt.

If I'm being honest, this was probably the top pick for the kids in regards to food for the entire weekend. We let them pick ice cream and a reasonable amount of toppings and they were in kid heaven. Perfect way to end our spring break trip to see cousins!

Cayman Islands Eats

I've been home from my girl's trip for a little over a week and I wanted to share a bit about the food we ate, and some additional information about the Cayman Islands. For me food is an important part of vacation, and being in a new country means trying new foods.

The Cayman Islands are a British territory, encompassing three islands in the western Caribbean Sea (next to Cuba). Grand Cayman, where we stayed, is the largest island and is known for its beach resorts and varied scuba diving and snorkeling sites. 

In the Caymans, you drive on the left side of the road and road signs say things like "Reduce Speed Now" and "Give Way" instead of yield. These islands are a fairly expensive place to visit and the US dollar is not strong: $1 CI is equal to $1.20 USD. So when the menu says an item costs $10, it really costs $12. And drinks (which we partook in, because we were in the islands!) were expensive.

While breakfast is my favorite meal to eat out when traveling, we only managed to eat one breakfast out on this particular trip. Even so, we still managed to have some really excellent meals. Due to the cost of everything, we chose to only eat out for two meals each day to offset some of our costs. Following is a look at where we dined on this trip...

TORTUGA BEACH GRILL & BAR

When we arrived at our resort on Friday, we ate lunch al fresco at the Tortuga Beach Grill & Bar (#85 on TripAdvisor). The weather was amazing and I couldn't get over how blue-green the water was. The Tortuga had amazing wraps with fries and we both had a Pina Colada for dessert. While we dined, I noticed a fairly large iguana propped on a tree next to our table. I also noticed that the birds in this country were different from home – no seagulls on the beach here.

SUNSHINE GRILL

For dinner, we walked across the street to the Sunshine Grill (#8 on TripAdvisor). I tried the Tres Tacos which included Cuban, Shrimp and Fish tacos. All three were excellent but I had to get used to the spiciness of the Cuban taco. Spicy foods normally give me heartburn and I was worried about this spicy taco. Surprisingly it didn't bother me at all. Unfortunately, though the food was excellent, our glasses of ice water tasted dirty. The water in the Caymans is safe to drink so we were surprised at the water here. Thankfully it didn't make us sick. We paired our tacos with the featured Rum Punch (when in Rome the Caymans...) and finished the evening with a small Pina Colada ice cream cone on the house. It was all delicious and our bar tender was super friendly.

BEACH HOUSE

Our only sit-down breakfast on the island was Saturday morning. We had been told about the great breakfast buffet at the Beach House (#26 on TripAdvisor) – one of the two onsite restaurants at our resort. Unfortunately for us, their really good buffet must have been on Sunday, not Saturday. We both thought it was ok, but not fantastic. My favorite thing were the coconut pancakes and the made-to-order omelettes.

We skipped lunch and got massages instead, but did grab drinks to take down to the beach from Tortuga Bar & Grill – a Pina Colada for K and a Mud Slide for me.

EATS CAFE

We were on a time crunch to make our bioluminescence excursion so we had dinner across the street at a small dive called Eats Cafe (#34 on TripAdvisor). I had a truly amazing burger – the only thing that would have made it better would have been to have a fried egg on top, and K had the fish ad chips. This ended up being our cheapest meal by far (no alcohol!). 

On Sunday I grabbed a latte and croissant from the small cafe inside our resort before heading to the beach for our Snorkel Safari.

THAI ORCHID

For lunch we took a cab to the Thai Orchid (#22 on TripAdvisor) which had been recommend by our spa concierge, Sarah (she must love Thai places!). Both the massage and lunch were great. At Thai Orchid we had a buffet that included fresh sushi and Thai food.  I had been hoping to grab breakfast for lunch, but the Thai food was worth the visit.

CATCH

For dinner we followed another recommendation by Sarah and hopped in a cab to Catch in West Bay (#37 on TripAdvisor). Kristalynne had originally booked Wharf but we changed our reservation based on Sarah's suggestion since she had yet to fail us. We enjoyed our meal at Catch. 

We were on a northern tip of the island, so we didn't see the sunset, but it was lovely to sit overlooking the water. We started our meal with Cracked Conch – which was amazing. The Caymans are known for their conch, and it was so good! I tried the Snapper and Shrimp plate while K had the Crusted Mahi Mahi. We finished our meal with a Molten Chocolate Cake. It was an excellent meal to end our lovely weekend in the Caymans.

AIRPORT FOOD

As honorable mentions, while traveling home on Monday, we stopped at Einstein Bagel in the Miami airport where I grabbed a cinnamon sugar bagel and a latte. 

I ended up spending most of my day in the Miami airport (with flight delays, it ended up taking me 20 hours to get home!) so I went to the Islander Bar & Grill for lunch and tried the Fried Shrimp and Mahi Mahi with a Mojito. 

For dinner I was in the Charlotte airport, so I savored an amazing barbecue plate from Carolina Pit BBQ. It was all excellent food, even if I was stuck in an airport!

Girl's Getaway Recap

Taking a Break from Motherhood ⎮ What We Did ⎮ The Food We Ate ⎮Waverunner Snorkel Safari

Breakfast Joints in Saint Augustine Beach, Florida

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to find the best breakfast joints in a particular local. Thankfully Daniel doesn't mind this tradition, and our boys are always down with more pancakes or scrambled eggs!

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We typically manage the breakfast thing by having breakfast at our condo so the little ones (and Daniel) are not hangry, and then we grab breakfast for lunch. On our recent visit to Saint Augustine we didn't have enough time to make a grocery run so we actually went to breakfast for breakfast. Visiting the beach during the off season meant that we didn't have to worry about long waits, so it worked for us this time.

Our first full day at the beach, we found ourselves at Redfrog & McToad's, which is located in Saint Augustine Beach and rated as #11 for breakfast joints on Trip Advisor. We were surrounded by snowbirds and a couple at the booth next to us asked our boys if they were visiting grandparents. I guess that is the only reason to visit the beach in February!

Redfrog & McToad's had quick service and decent food that was reasonably priced. They were a little touristy with a huge wall-sized sign pointing to their location, and it was technically a bar that happened to serve breakfast, so the beer signs in the windows felt weird at 9am, but overall it was a good experience! The boys split a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage. Daniel had his go-to chocolate chip pancakes and I had my typical fried egg with country ham and a pancake.

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On Sunday, we had plans to visit the Castillo de San Marcos fort with Daniel's dad and his wife. So they met us at our condo and then rode with us to the World Famous Oasis Restaurant as it was on the way to see the fort. This dive is also located in Saint Augustine Beach and rated as #9 for breakfast joints on Trip Advisor.

We joked with Daniel's dad that we were surrounded by q-tips, but the food and atmosphere were great. Again, a little touristy with the name and signs, but good food. We had to sit upstairs since the downstairs dining room was full. The only complaint about this for us was that upstairs only had counter height tables and stools. This was a little challenging with Isaac, but he handled it quite well.

The kids had a eggs, sausage, fruit and toast. I had eggs, fruit, a biscuit with a side of gravy, and sausage. It was good but not what I expected. The side of gravy wasn't super fresh and I was expecting sausage patties and received something more like kielbasa. I think Daniel stuck with his usual chocolate chip pancakes.

By far, my most favorite breakfast place for this particular trip came in at #5 for breakfast (#8 overall) in Saint Augustine Beach. Cafe Eleven is located in an old Seven-Eleven store that has been converted into a coffee shop/diner. The breakfast was amazing AND we had the luxury of sitting outside.

Daniel tried the biscuits and gravy, while I had the Cafe 11 Eggs Benedict (awesome!) and the boys split a breakfast plate. All of it was delicious and this place is certainly worth a visit.

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As honorable mentions, we had lunch on Saturday at Gas Full Service Restaurant (ranked #9 for all restaurants in the area). The name almost turned us off, but it was worth a visit. They had fresh, farm-to-table food that was quite delicious. Both Daniel and I had a fish sandwich (catch of the day) with homemade chips. Jack and Isaac split a cheeseburger.

They had the most amazing-sounding desserts, but we were too full to try them. Daniel and I were tempted to go back later but we ran out of time and they are closed on Sunday and Monday. I loved the atmosphere of this little restaurant.

Daniel and I had a great date night on Saturday but unfortunately a mediocre dinner. Sunday for lunch we were able to go to Columbia Restaurant (#34 for the area and one of the restaurants with a long wait on Saturday night). Daniel and I split tapas, his dad and his wife had amazing sandwiches and the kids split mac-n-cheese. The best part was the chunk of bread loaf each person received.

After Columbia, Jack and I popped into Tedi's Olde Tyme Ice Cream for a cone. Of course he picked blue!

Overall we had a really good dining experiences during this quick trip to Florida.

2016 Canadian Vacation: Good Eats

This will be my final vacation post. Besides spending our time biking, paddling and visiting with family, Jack spent a lot of time swimming (more specifically snorkeling) and of course no vacation would be complete without checking out the best local restaurants.

FRIEND's DINER

On every trip, my favorite thing to do is find the best breakfast joints. So on our first day in Orillia, that is what we did. First up was Friend's Diner (ranked #6 on TripAdvisor for restaurants in Orillia) and it was my favorite breakfast place on this trip. Located in an old shopping center, it isn't much to look at, but man was it good!

Coffee comes with your meal and the huge plates of food satisfied all of us – even our growing boys! We arrived in the nick of time, because shortly after we were seated, the place filled up and had a 30-minute wait. The food was delicious, and served quickly. Jack's favorite part was the phone booth outside... Evidently these are still a thing in Canada. He quizzed us, "Why is there a phone in a box, outside?"

HASTY TASTY

Our other diner to visit was Hasty Tasty (recommended by my aunt and rated #60 on TripAdvisor). I have to say I liked the food at Friend's better, but Hasty Tasty was unique in it's own way. Built in an old house and a true, old-time diner, harkening back to the 1950s, it's a special place. My aunt says a lot of old-timers eat here and it's a great place to people watch. You can squeeze into a booth or at the bar up front, or like us, you might end up at a table in the back.

Our experience would have been better if we had managed to get a booth up front – a regular came in and snagged the booth we were waiting for. I guess he didn't notice me sitting there with two kids (Daniel had run to a bank next door because the establishment only takes cash). The food was good and the name is fun to say!

The other days, we ate breakfast at our cottage and I always ran into town to grab a large triple-triple coffee at Tim Horton's – a mile from our house.

For our other meals, we tried to bike to dinner as often as we could. Of the four restaurants listed below, we biked to three of them. The fourth was a day that our kids were exhausted, so we chose to drive.

THEO's EATERY

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Our first bike-to-dinner option was Theo's Eatery (ranked #1 on TripAdvisor), located about 2 miles from our cottage. This was a nicer, sit-down type of restaurant, but still kid friendly.

The food was Mediterranean style and good, but a little pricey. This was not our favorite restaurant, but the food and service were both good. The boys split a huge plate of spaghetti, Daniel had lasagna and I tried a Shish Kabob.

Our experience at Theo's (and then most other restaurants) was that the kid's meal comes with dessert. Is this a Canadian thing? Jack LOVED getting a scoop of ice cream at the end of the meal, and it was a great way for us to bribe him to finish up his food.

BREWERY BAY FOOD Co.

The next day we biked to the Brewery Bay Food Co. in downtown Orillia (ranked #11 on TripAdvisor). Located 3 miles from our cottage, we were ready to eat when we arrived. We were able to get a table outside and had a friendly waiter.

The food was excellent, but we were all caught off guard when the power went out unexpectedly (I'm glad we were sitting outside instead of in). I don't know what was going on, but power on the whole street was out for about 20 minutes. We finished up our meal and the power came back on just in time for us to pay! Which was a good thing because I don't think we had been to a bank to get Canadian money yet and we were too far north to pay with American! Brewery Bay is definitely worth a visit – it has your typical Pub food. Jack had chicken fingers and a salad. I tried an amazing burger (that I shared with Isaac) and Daniel went light with a Greek salad.
 

MARIPOSA MARKET CAFE

During the middle of the week, we grabbed lunch at Mariposa's Market Cafe (ranked #1 on TripAdvisor). We almost didn't go here because I thought it was strictly a bakery.

We ran by to order cakes for my parents and aunt and uncle's anniversary celebration (the cakes were amazing and fairly inexpensive!), and then we realized they also served lunch. So we knew we needed to go back.

This place is really cool. I wish we had had more time to explore. Besides making amazing cakes and cupcakes, they serve sandwiches, and a variety of hot lunch pastries, AND ALSO lots of specialty items and souvenirs.

Daniel and Jack both tried a turkey sandwich while Isaac and I split a spinach quiche and a meat pastry. It was all delicious. Jack also tried his first sip of coke (from a bottle). He loved it. We told him it is only for special occasions!
 

TOR's FISH & CHIPS

Being in Canada, I knew we needed to grab fish and chips one night. This was our only dinner out that we didn't bike to. Our boys were wiped out from the busy week and both fell asleep on the 5-minute drive to Tor's Fish & Chips (ranked #29 on TripAdvisor).

We arrived 15 minutes before closing, and we asked the ladies if we were too late. They looked at our tired boys and told us to order and take a seat.

Jack was cracking them up because he literally laid across the chairs and slept until our food arrived. We decided to split the Haddock Fish and Halibut Fish. These plates were huge and between the four of us, we didn't come close to finishing the fries!

THE SHACK EATERY

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We finished out our week by trying something a little bit different for us. The Shack Eatery (ranked #13 on TripAdvisor) is fairly new to Orillia and serves slow-cooked Portuguese style food. And it was delicious. The flavors were a little spicy, but really great.

We picked out two plates and the generous portions were way more than the four of us could eat. They also brought out mashed potatoes (not part of our order) for our boys because they thought the food might be too spicy. They were so considerate!

We enjoyed sitting outside and eating their fantastic food. The boys had fun climbing in the old firetruck parked outside. I hope The Shack had continued success in Orillia!