Back from Florida - Considering a Seafood Diet

Just got back from a trip down to the Ft. Walton area. It appeared as though most of the damage from Ivan has been cleaned up, although I noticed that there were a few hotels on Santa Rosa Island that were still closed. I suppose that could just be because winter's the slow season. Who knows. As Mr. Maslow says, food is more basic to life than shelter, so I'd much rather talk about that.

For me, culinary attractions are always a major part of any trip. And, this time was no exception. I went to the Old Bay Steamer on Santa Rosa Boulevard in Ft. Walton Beach last night. If you like seafood and you're ever down that way, you've got to go there. You certainly won't be disappointed. I started off with an appetizer of a dozen raw oysters...then had the "Little Steamer" plate. One thing's for sure about the "Little Steamer"...there ain't nothing little about it. It has clams, oysters, mussels, royal red shrimp, snow crab, king crab (for a couple of bucks extra...a small price to pay), red potatoes, and corn. Eating all that was a LOT of work. I was the last one at the table to finish, since I'm not too skilled at peeling shrimp and cracking open crab legs. I guess that means I'll have to get more practice. Anyway, I managed to get out with no major injuries, although I had a couple of close calls. Some words of advice: be careful with the king crabs, and say "yes" to the bib.