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Jun
17
The Wreck.
Filed Under Uncategorized
The Wreck of the Richard and Charlene, to be exact. A boat, a hurricane and, ultimately, some salvagers to clear the lot left space for one heck of a restaurant. It may not look fancy, but the parking lot is always full. And who does fancy at the beach? Not the Shop Tart. She barely manages to put on shoes. Shocking, just shocking.
Although the Shop Tart will go to the Wreck any day of the week, she particularly enjoys it with large parties, children even. The tables are covered in paper and the boiled peanuts are free. The wine is not the best, but it’s cheap and if you don’t like it just fine, you are (maybe, just maybe) a little too uptight for the Shop Tart’s taste.
The second wine, by the way, was better, although not necessarily in taste. But it was only $12.50. What’s not to love? The fried green tomatoes are lovable, too. If your best friend - the one who is also an excellent cook, the one who always has a bottle of nameless but crisp, white wine at the ready - made fried green tomatoes at home, this is what they would be. The tomatoes were firm, yet easy to cut with a fork and the coating was just right - not too thick, not too greasy.
While they waited for dinner, most of the party took a drink out on the dock to watch the sunset and let the children run around a bit. Shop Tart Tip: Always let children run around - outside, please - until the very last minute at a restaurant. You might even get to sit through a meal. Maybe. On a good night, when all the stars are aligned. Sunsets, by the way, are pretty, but they are particularly pretty on a dock with a glass of something lovely after a long day at the beach and a cool shower.
Also? Kids like looking at boats and there are cool boats out there.
And these oyster shells made for a nice, brief conversation (About oysters, of course. And oyster roasts. And Daddy, who loves both oysters and oyster roasts. And the fact that it is June, a month without an “r,” which means we shouldn’t enjoy oysters at all, if you believe the hype.)
So, the food arrived and there are no pictures. Why? Because there were too many people and the Shop Tart wanted to eat, eat, eat. Her children had broiled grouper and fried flounder. There is no children’s menu at The Wreck, but her boys are big eaters. Which gets expensive. The Shop Tart occasionally wishes she had fed them nothing but chicken nuggets and fries, then they wouldn’t be such food snobs. Too late now, but she’s happy for them. She enjoyed scallops and a deviled crab à la carte. Sides with meals include rice, a hush puppy, some of the best slaw you’ll ever eat and a small fried grit cake. Yup. Ordering at the Wreck is fairly simple - choose your seafood, broiled or fried - but the choice is difficult, because there are so many good ones. The crab cake over fried green tomato is delicious (as was a little fried green tomato chopped up and mixed in with deviled crab.) The shrimp are divine. The Shop Tart deeply regrets not ordering a small plate of fried oysters. She was counting on someone else at the table ordering them and had plans to steal one. Looks like everyone else had the same plan. *sniff*
There are three choices for dessert: Key Lime pie, banana pudding and Key Lime bread pudding. Guess what? They are all good. Also, you think you don’t have room, but you do, so eat up, little trucker. The Shop Tart was thrilled with the remains of her sons’ Key Lime bread pudding.Don’t forget, when it’s time to settle up, you must have cash and a friend who’s good at arithmetic, because they don’t do credit cards or separate checks.
They rode home with one of their housemates for the week, who was impeccably sober (Shop Tart Tip: Driving under the influence is bad, really bad. But with children in the car? That’s so far beyond tacky we can’t even contemplate it.)
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Shop Tart must slap on a bikini and head to the beach to work off that meal. Which one will she rock today? Yesterday, it was the lavender Loeffler mesh from VanJean with chrome-studded black flops from last year at Kicks, black Billabong cotton pants from Surf the Earth on Pawley’s and a gold hobo (Cloth, of course. Did you really think the Shop Tart would carry leather on the beach? Who do you think she is? Paris?) Today, she’s feeling a simple black bikini with Tracy Feith for Target hoodie, gold flops and a white canvas nautical bag (vintage.) Discuss. Or not. Mwah!
In other news…
- Please welcome new sponsor Finleaf Gallery. The famed Dock Walk at Finleaf is coming up on June 24th (next Wednesday) from 6 to 8 pm. This is the perfect opportunity for artists and lovers of local art. Anyone can bring and sell work, which should be pre-priced. If you sell a piece, you keep 80% of the cost. Love local art? This is the perfect way to explore new artists and enjoy great prices on beautiful work. See you there!
- Check the calendar for other events and do forgive the current wonkiness of the calendar; should be fixed soon.
Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
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The Shop Tart Loves...
The “r” month thing applies to Gulf oysters, I believe. Ours are fine year round.
Thanks for the wonderful pix. I need to go snort some seawater to complete the effect. Mwah!