This is my Happy Place (Part 2)

The Foodstands.

So, we shake off a couple of Bloody Marys while laying on the beach, and then hang around until our wonderful Enabler prepares a fabulous dinner at home. 

Seaside has an excellent assortment of beach food options.  I'm talking about the airstreams and small beach front joints that you walk up to and take away some great lunches - we've got Meltdown on 30A, Bud & Alley's Taco Bar, Bud & Alley's Pizza Bar, Amavida, the Shrimp Shack, or Pickles and the previously mentioned Barefoot BBQ. 
So this is the best part of the menu at Meltdown on 30A.  Its a little blurry, but it definitely says "Brie and Bacon on Cranberry Walnut Bread."  Yes it does.  And that's all I was interested in eating at this airstream food stand.  We actually had to make a special trip over there on the day we were leaving to make sure that  I got to try this.  Brie is just so creamy, and everything is better with bacon.  So now we have creamy, salty, savory, so what else do we need?  Let's add sweet & nutty - Cranberry Walnut bread.  Yay!  The perfect grilled cheese.  I will try this at home. 

Bud and Alley's is a known name in Seaside.  We spend quite a few nights (less now that the kids are involved) sitting upstairs at their rooftop bar - The Tarpin Club (now called the Roof Deck Bar??) - eating crab claws and smoked tuna dip!  Never disappointing.  Bud & Alley's Taco Bar is down with the shops, so I decided to swing by for lunch because BigBrother wanted his usual quesadillas, while IPA-hole & FrontloaderB headed back to Barefoot BBQ.  We have eaten pretty much everything on this menu.  I'm all about the tacos and will change it up based on the mood.  This time was a shrimp taco and a pollo taco, with a quesadilla for BigBrother.  Good stuff, nice, fresh flavor, great for a quick lunch.  And, inexpensive for Seaside's standards.  You can grab something quick, easy, and light with a margarita.  Yum.  Dumb move on our part: we missed the Cinco de Mayo party. 

So, besides the Taco Bar, Roof Deck Bar, and the original Bud & Alley's, they also have the Pizza Bar.  It used to be some Italian place with a fancy name, and snobby wine selection, but now boasts the Bud & Alley's name, with a much more relaxed atmosphere and some fun pizza.  We didn't stay to eat at the Pizza Bar, but ordered to go to enjoy as a family on our own deck.  Always arguing about which pizzas to order, this time was a Funghi for FrontloaderA, Margherita for Enabler & the kids, and Prosciutto de Parma for the rest of us.  There is something to be said for leaves on a pizza:  Its good!  Weird looking, but good.  Add some prosciutto and we are in business.  This was all followed up by some beers on our  top deck and lively politcal discussions.  Thank you, North Carolina, for your debate-stirring decisions right around vacation. Ain't nothing like debating states' rights, civil rights, and the role of government with a New Yorker, a southern girl, and 3 very opinionated Pittsburghers while sipping Sweetwater & Corona overlooking the beach as the sun goes down...  our neighbors hate us and we came to no solid conclusions.


In the morning, after we'd argued into the wee hours (and by wee hours, I kinda mean 10pm), we roll out of bed, throw on some beach attire, and walk down to Amavida.  All I can say here is, thanks for the coffee, gentlemen. You hit the spot.

The Shrimp Shack is owned by the Dawsons, who provide all of the ice cream in Seaside.  Another joint we'll hit for a quick lunch.  IPA-hole again hit Barefoot BBQ, again, and  I had to have a shrimp roll. Very good. Also good are the lobster rolls.  I usually end up popping in only once on the trip for 2 reasons: 1.  They take FOR-EV-VER.  2.  Its kinda expensive for lunch.  Its good, the atmosphere rocks, don't get me wrong, but not anywhere near the favorite.  I just can't pass up shrimp rolls or lobster rolls anywhere.  Not even at McDonald's in New Hampshire, but that's another story for another day.

And lastly, let's talk about Pickles.  Pickles Beachside Grill is the only fried food & burger stop in the whole town.  BigBrother refers to this as "the dirty restaurant." While he and IPA-hole are up ordering food, the grill master decides to start swatting flies.  I get it, its an outdoor, beachside snack stand, but let's not start batting down those little dirty creatures above the grill where you're cooking our food, please.  That and I had to take my dacquiri back twice because the kid doing the mixing had no idea that she needed to add something like strawberry mix to the rum & ice.  Again, don't get me wrong, I appreciate a stiff drink, but please try not to kick my ass over lunch with the kids.  Fruity is fabulous, rum and ice is for a different venue; I asked for strawberry.  Food comes from a fryer, its basic, and this is always the place to skip relative to everything else around.  Dawsons, you do so much better with your ice cream. 

I guess that'll sum up the Seaside snack shacks.  All together, I just love this place. Unfortunately, I'll leave Seaside alone and head home.

~ CDO