I woke up for my last day in Florida, left Achilles still sore from the prior day's run. We drove west into Lower Alabama, through Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. It was striking to see the level of hurricane damage that had occurred from a month prior. Not just trees being knocked down either. I'm talking about mall signs being blown out, used mattresses still being left by the curb waiting to get picked up by a garbage truck. There were a lot of very nice new apartment buildings on the inlets that were probably designed to hold up in the extreme weather. But for every new building, for every sign of hope and progress, there would be a knocked over trailer or an out of service gas station.
We drove north to the town of Foley, where they have an extensive outlet mall. I have to say I think the gimmick of outlet malls are long over. A lot of times it seems you have to pay the same price you would pay at any other store, it's just that there are a lot more options to choose from.
For days leading into the trip into the Gulf Coast of Alabama, I was searching for a restaurant to stop. I wasn't looking for 5 stars, just something unique and local. Reading through a book I got at AAA, I read a paragraph about the fantastic food at Jesse's and it looked like a place worth trying. As we walked into the dining room, I was struck by the remarkably rustic decor. Old bookshelves, weathered signs, dilapidated musical instruments accented the brick walls.
The server gave me two beer samples from a couple of local breweries, an amber and a pale ale. I went with iced tea. For the app, we got the New Orleans BBQ shrimp, which I order every chance I get when I see it on a menu. This wasn't the best I've had though. We got 5 shrimp for $12, and they were cooked well, but close to overcooked, where they were starting to taste a little rubbery. But I didn't love that sauce, it was more of a tomato flavored fish stock, not as dark in color as I usually would expect. We also were given a pair of warm crusty rolls served in a brown paper bag with a side of honey butter. Truth be told, I could've used another roll or two!
And then the lunch got right! I thought about their pecan pesto salmon, but I was drawn to the beef tenderloin risotto. Hard to say why, I had never ordered risotto before as a main dish. I may never do it again, because I don't think it could live up to this one. Copious chunks of pan seared tenderloin, with mushrooms, tomato, garlic, parmesan, green onions. The veggies were diced so fine that the green onions may have been the biggest one. The beef was seared ask the way around, juicy as can be. The rice was cooked perfectly, a little creamy, but definitely not too heavy, and so satisfying on the cloudy, rainy day that we were experiencing. Fifteen bucks, a complete steal. I think I'm going to start learning how to make risotto and if I can make mine taste half as good as theirs, I'll consider that a success.
For the other entree, we ordered their $16 amberjack special with a feta glaze, a sun dried tomato sauce, sauteed spinach, and served over fried garlic risotto. I really like amberjack, though it's very hard to find. This was a nice thick piece, grilled well and the combination of spinach, tomato, and feta always works well together.
For dessert, we shared the pecan bread pudding for two with vanilla ice cream. Really really good, not too different from other bread puddings I've had but the crunch of the local chopped pecans was a fine addition.
The steak prices are certainly high for dinner, but there are so many great options for both lunch and dinner that don't require spending a ton of money.
After a 2 hour drive home through the rain, we were just going to stay home. I took a nap on the balcony outside trying to take in the last moments of summer before heading back into the stress of every day life. I had the sausage and peppers that we had cooked days prior and watched the World Series.
On my final morning, I lifted weights before Mom dropped me off at the airport. Of course, at the ticket line, there was a guy in Brady jersey and I noticed he hand his wife were having issues with their passports. Put it this way, they looked to be from another country, not that you ever know. As I went through security, the guy was a few yards behind me. The security guy was ribbing me about my Jets hat and I asked security to detain him based off the jersey.
This airport takes some major hits in my book. None of the outlets worked to charge my phones. They didn't have a loudspeaker system to announce the standby passengers. Thankfully, I heard her yelling my name and I got to select my seat, which I'd never been able to do before for a standby flight. After arriving in Charlotte, I got bumped of the 4:40 plane, it was me and one other person getting bumped. So I hung in the Charlotte Terminal E Plaza for a while. Thankfully, they have a Potbelly. Same order as always. Big Mediterranean with chicken on wheat with everything, no mayo, no mustard, extra pickles. Except they had no pickles, so I asked for extra cucumber. And one more Wicked Weed beer for the road. I got home to Newport News around 9:30 pm
