Dining around the Gulf of Mexico

We just took our spring break in Perdido Key, Florida, where we traveled around Pensacola as well as Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in Alabama. We visited three waterfront restaurants.

The first was our resort's beach club, Lost Key Beach Club. We went there on Sunday after sitting on the beach a while. It's a cozy place with a small swimming pool out front.

This was one of my favorite meals of the week. It was just shrimp tacos and onion rings, but they were really impressive. Those were some of the best onion rings I've ever had. Our friends thought this one looked like a treble clef. All I know is that it was delicious.

Photo courtesy of our friend Natasha Jones.

The next day was my birthday. I had chosen The Crab Trap on Perdido Key for that evening, but when we got there it was roped off for renovations. It looked busy a couple of days later, so that seemed strange. Looking now on Google Maps, it says it's permanently closed! Not sure what's going on there.

We ended up going all the way to Orange Beach, to a place called Coastal. 

This is a really fun place with a huge bar and even bigger lawn full of tables just off the beach, on the Gulf side. There's live music and a very large shop.

We ordered a couple of appetizers, and our kids learned they like fried crab claws. Then they brought my birthday dessert, which was probably a mistake, but I didn't mind. I forgot what it was, but it was delicious.

I think I had fish tacos for dinner, and they were just ok. But I loved the appetizers and dessert, and certainly the atmosphere.

Neither of those had been on my list to visit, so they were pleasant surprises. On Wednesday we played mini golf and then looked for a place to eat. Most places were beginning to close by the time we went looking. Lulu's Gulf Shores, named for Lucy Buffet, couldn't seat us within the hour. That place is on Portage Creek and is therefore a waterfront restaurant, though I hadn't noticed it on the map before.

Finally we found a place that was open and had tons of seating available, and it was on my list though I didn't realize it until later. We ended up eating at GTs on the Bay, which has a long dock extending into Wolf Bay that you can walk out onto. So we visited some sleeping pelicans out there while we waited for our food. It has a large sandy playground that our kids enjoyed. The restaurant is really huge and has a very large patio. They had live music also. It was amazing. I forgot what I ate, but it was really good. I highly recommend GTs.

My wife took this lovely photo from the dock looking back at the restaurant.

Of those three restaurants, I liked Lost Key Beach Club best for the food and GTs for the atmosphere. Coastal had pretty great atmosphere too, as well as good apps and dessert.

Three restaurants in as many days!

Waterfront dining is back for 2023! I visited three waterfront restaurants in the past week, in a span of three days.

A week ago I took a day for myself because my wife was about to leave for Australia for a week-and-a-half, and it's harder for me to get out and do what I like when I have three kids to myself. I found a live music event happening in Cumming, Georgia, and decided to take the opportunity to see what Lake Lanier is like.

I had a lovely three-hour drive to the Gainesville Marina on the east side of the lake, where I had lunch at...

Skogie's Lakefront Restaurant

This restaurant had just opened for the 2023 season a week prior. While the food is very good and the view is nice, it turns out the main attraction at Skogie's is the people. They're extremely friendly and will give you their life story if you let them (which I did). It was March 11 and not warm yet...in fact, by the time I left I was shivering more than I have in many years. I was sitting at the bar in their large covered porch, which wasn't great shelter from the cold. I was already a bit under the weather, so I probably had some sickness chills going on, too. 

But the people I met at Skogie's kept me entertained while I had an amazing Asian grouper sandwich, along with some of the best hush puppies I've ever had, including some tasty Skogie's sauce.

I'm just realizing I'm writing a lot about the people but they don't show up in my photos. Woops.

I took a short walk around the marina after I ate, until I just couldn't stand the cold any longer. I bet this place is a lot more fun in the summer, though they did tell me it gets very hot there. Maybe April to June is better, and September to October.

Then I drove to the music event in Cumming, which wasn't near the water but at a fascinating place called Freedom Mill, west of the lake. This place is Heaven on Earth for right-wing types. There's a Christian book store, axe throwing, a brewery, and a gun store and shooting range, all in one building! I had to see that for myself. Probably not much like it anywhere else. Oh, the musician was good too.

I was feeling pretty rough by the time I left Freedom Mill, but I was motivated to complete my journey. So it was off to the south side of the lake, to Lanier Islands, where sits a fun place called... 

The Twisted Oar

The Twisted Oar lies on the grounds of a very large marina. I couldn't believe the crowd at this place, in mid-March. I arrived just before dusk and barely found a bar stool to occupy. The Oar is extremely pet friendly--there were dogs all over the place. A fight broke out near me, and that's always awkward. My server got involved and kept the guys from really injuring each other, which was nice to see. He never did give me my food, but someone put it close enough to me that I could grab it myself.

I forgot to take pictures outside the place...again, I was sick.

I ordered a pizza at the Oar, which isn't like me when I'm at a waterfront place. Chalk it up to my sickness. But it was impressively good pizza. I only ate a couple of slices and took the rest home. I enjoyed that for a few days. I bet the seafood is great there...I'll have to go back someday. My gosh, if it's that crowded in mid-March, what's it like in the summer?

A couple of days later, I took a certification exam for which I had studied for several weeks. The place where I took the exam is on the same road in Chattanooga as my favorite restaurant, so I treated myself--I had earned it! And that restaurant is...

Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar

This was my third visit to this nice place on the Tennessee River, and the second time I sat at the bar alone. I still haven't eaten on their porch because it's been either too hot or too cold when I'm there. It's going to happen eventually. I definitely didn't feel like shivering through my lunch again like I did at Skogie's. 

I ordered the same lunch as the previous time I went there, a half dozen Chesapeake oysters (the Monday special, half price) and a fried catfish po' boy. It's truly delicious.

I'm not the type to take pictures of my food. For me, waterfront dining is more about the experience anyway. And, of course, the views.

Boathouse is also right next to the Tennessee Riverwalk, which extends for miles in either direction. After my previous visit, I walked a few miles westward and back and had a really fun day, though it was very hot. But this week I needed to get to work, so I only walked a short ways to the east. I watched a large bird, maybe a hawk, break a big chunk of a dead branch off a tree right in front of me.

So I hit three waterfront restaurants in as many days, and though I wasn't in great health and the weather wasn't super cooperative, it was fun and got me excited for more waterfront dining this year! I've planned a big overnight trip to Watts Bar Lake later this spring or early summer. I'll hit a lot of restaurants on that one, and I'm pretty sure I won't freeze!

Scottie's in Chattanooga

Last night I finally took my wife Tara to Scottie's on the River, a fun little restaurant in a hotel overlooking the Tennessee River, just outside the busy section of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's on the south side of the river and just a few blocks downriver from the distinguished-looking Tennessee Aquarium that is an iconic landmark in this city.

We had previously thought Scottie's was a bit fancy, which probably accounts for us taking so long to check it out. We didn't think our kids would like it. Yesterday we went on a date to see the new Black Panther movie, and we decided to finally try Scottie's after the movie. It was a strange time to go there, as it turns out. Not only was it a really cold night to go to a waterfront restaurant, but it was also a Sunday night, and that's a very dead time in Chattanooga. We arrived a bit before 8 PM, and the place was nearly empty. They started closing down as we ate.

Still, we found the place charming. The food was good; not fancy at all, but worth the trip for sure. Until this year, we had always assumed that Scottie's was the fancier waterfront place in Chattanooga and that Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar was less fancy. It's actually the other way around, in terms of the venue, menu, food quality, price, and atmosphere. Scottie's is in a Springhill Suites, which really should've tipped us off.

But that's not to knock Scottie's at all. If you're looking for a good meal at a fun place with a great view, this is it. We didn't have a great view since we went there on a cold night, but we could see the potential and definitely want to return in warmer weather, with the kids! 

We sat next to one of a few large doors that open up like garage doors, which we were told converts the riverside room into an outdoor patio. My phone was able to capture a view from one of those doors better than my eyes could under those conditions. It's too bad we couldn't actually see this very well while we ate!

There's some variety in the food at Scottie's. I wasn't sure they could handle the fancier side of seafood well, so I went with a blackened mahi po' boy and a cup of she crab soup. Tara was in the mood for something more substantial, so she went for the stuffed shrimp. She couldn't finish it, so I had one of those shrimp. It was very different from my sandwich, but I could see myself ordering that in the future, if the mood strikes. All the food was pretty good.

We look forward to taking the whole family to Scottie's when things warm up next year.

Intro and recent waterfront dining

 Hello, and welcome to my blog about waterfront dining. This is a new hobby of mine, where I find waterfront restaurants on Google Maps and visit as many as I can, because it's really fun for me. My wife became a travel advisor a few years ago, and I think that has probably influenced this hobby.

For context, I live near Chattanooga, Tennessee, so many of my experiences will be around that area. But I certainly don't intend to limit myself to this area, since we travel a lot nowadays!

Since I just started doing this recently, I didn't think about taking pictures and sharing my experiences. So here I'll just describe a few and share what photos I have.

My recent love of waterfront dining started this year at Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar here in Chattanooga, beside the Tennessee River. I took my wife there on a date and returned on my own not long after. I still haven't eaten on their patio, but their food is so good, and the view is so nice, that I fell in love with the place. That experience kicked off this hobby, for sure.

A place I've taken my family a couple of times is literally right on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, and that's the 3rd Deck Burger Bar on the Southern Belle Riverboat. That boat never moves, but it's always on the river. Twice was enough for my wife, because the service is a little off there. But I like the food and atmosphere enough that I might go back some time.

In August this year, I took a day trip to Helen, Georgia on my own and had a wonderful day. I had dinner at a cool place called The Troll Tavern, which serves really yummy German food. It's on the Chattahoochee River, and people float in tubes on that river all day long, which is fun to watch. There are many shops and other experiences all around.  I didn't take a single photo that day, but of course you can find many pictures of The Troll on the Internet.

It was after that day that I decided to seek out waterfront restaurants. My next trip, in September, was to Dockside Cafe in Harrison Bay State Park, outside of Chattanooga and just off the Tennessee River. It was their final weekend open, as I discovered when I got there. That's when I realized this is going to be a seasonal hobby! I was really glad I decided to go there on that particular weekend. I ate a fish sandwich at sunset, and it was beautiful. There were a few families there enjoying the deck with me. I didn't take a picture there, either!

I've already been a couple of places in October. A few weeks ago, I drove out to Cookeville Boat Dock in Baxter, TN, on Center Hill Lake. I had to drive around to the north side of the lake, and it was an interesting trip. That was the last weekend open for the season for that restaurant too, so I was really catching these just in time. I called that place before I went to be sure they'd be open, which is always a good idea for these waterfront restaurants in the countryside. Cookeville Boat Dock is mostly run by kids on their summer jobs. But they do good work, and my fish sandwich there was amazing. It was quiet, but there were a few other diners there. And I took a picture! Not of the restaurant, but from my seat.

I also drove to Manchester, TN, that day and caught a lot of live music in various places around town. It was a great day.

Over fall break, I went to Mexico with my family. We stayed at Dreams Riviera Resort south of Cancun, on the Caribbean Sea. They have several restaurants, and one we enjoyed the most is right on the beach and next to large swimming pools. It's called Oceana. I had some of the best fish tacos I've ever tasted there. The only pictures I took were of a falcon being carried around by a falconer. I rushed out of the restaurant and took these pictures for my wife and kids.

So I've not done great with the photos, but now that I had the idea to start a blog on this topic, I'm sure I'll do a better job.

Many of the waterfront restaurants have closed now that it's fall, but I do have some future plans. We'll be going to Perdido Key, FL, for spring break next March, and of course there are many waterfront restaurants in that area. And I'm planning to hit a bunch of Tennessee restaurants in one weekend next May, when they start opening back up. 

Until then, we'll just have to see! We'll be traveling to Missouri for Thanksgiving and Alabama for Christmas, and my wife is happy to support my new hobby. I also want to take my wife to Scottie's on the River here in Chattanooga, as well as River Drifters, which I visited once but only for picking up food. I must have hundreds of waterfront restaurants marked on Google Maps already, so this is a hobby that can last many decades!