The Salty Oyster

On Wednesday evening we had the opportunity to go out along the coast and do a little fishing for a few hours. 

We had an absolute BLAST!! Although Russell and I caught a few, we had to throw them back-either to small or not eatable. Ellie caught a white trout and a whiteing-we gave them away-we didn't want to have to keep them on ice until we got home and we only had two. 

After our fishing excursion it was already pretty late but Ellie's a trooper so we went out for a late dinner. 

Originally we were going to go to a place called Shaggy's, however there was a place attached to Shaggy's that was less busy and no wait called The Salty Oyster.

This was a pretty cool building because there were 2 restaurants attached together with a bar in between. They were all owned by the same person.

It was mostly outside dinning on a HUGE deck facing the Gulf. They also had a play area for all the kiddo's in the shape of a pirate ship and other games to play. Ellie felt right at home here....she even made a friend and choose to eat with him. 

While Ellie was enjoying talking with her new friend, Russell and I were enjoying ourselves with an adult beverage.  Russell had a flight of Mojito's....a traditional, a coconut (our favorite), and a strawberry. I was REALLY wanting a Sangria but they didn't have it on their menu but after making friends with Gio, the general manager, he graciously made me one. 

Gio also made a few suggestions on what to eat and he also sat with us and chatted during our meal.....mostly about food. He is or was a chef in New Orleans who brought some of those inspired flavors to his home along the Gulf Coast.  We had an awesome time talking with him....he gave us a few other places to try and we told him of all the places we've been. Russell even told him about our blog.....maybe he'll check it out!!! Hi Gio. 

Now, on to the food......

Ellie, once again, got chicken strips and fries.....BORING!!! But she liked it......plus she had her new friend so she was one happy little girl. (Didn't get a pic of the chicken strips.....didn't want to disturb her and her friend). 

I got the Chargrilled Oysters on the half shell drizzled with butter, garlic and kissed with fresh herbs with a side of French Bread. AMAZING!!! One of the star dishes on this trip!!! 

Russell went with the fried shrimp & oyster basket.  WONDERFUL!!! Cooked to perfection and seasoned beautifully.

This evening was one of the best of our vacation. Fishing, beautiful scenery, great conversation and great food!!

Until next time!!! XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie

Ciao a tutti

Ciao a tutti......which means Hello everyone in Italian!!!

While in the beautiful Gulf Port, MS we had lunch at a seafood Italian resturant called Salute.  The beauty of this place, it was right next to our hotel.....BONUS!!! It was located in a absolutely gorgeious building.......and when we walked in they were playing one of my favorite songs.....Witchcraft by ole blue eyes himself Frank Sinatra....then a Dean Martin song came one.....I knew we were in the right place.

We started our meal with some very yummy garlic bread dipped in a pesto sauce.  The pesto was delicious!!! 

Russell and I both had a very hard time deciding what to order......while Ellie new exactly what she wanted.

Ellie was "dying" for some spaghetti & meatballs....but she didn't really care of the sauce.....she said "it was too chunky".....but she did like the meatball.  
 

I was between the Seafood Risotto and the Shrimp & Crawfish in a Garlic Alfredo.  The Alfredo won out only because the shrimp & crawfish are local......probably caught that very day or the previous day. I made the right choice!!! SO GOOD!!!  We also got to choose between soup or salad....I got the basil tomato bisque (only because Ellie wanted to try it-she didn't like it). Russell got the salad. 

Russell was between the Eggplant Gondola-the description-Fresh eggplant sliced thin, fried in Italian bread crumbs, topped with shrimp & crawfish sautéed in a roasted garlic alfredo cream and the Catfish Supreme-the description-Fried farm raised Mississippi catfish cooked until golden brown topped with fresh Gulf shrimp, crawfish, bacon, sliced mushrooms in a spicy roasted garlic alfredo cream. He went with the Catfish!!!  This was ONE of his favorite meals of our entire trip.

Salute was MAGNIFICO!!! 

And I have to give a shout out to all the sweet tea down here in the South......it's SO FREAKIN GOOD (Russell doesn't appreciate the sweet refreshing liquid gold....hehe).

Until next time!! XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie 

Waffle House

We have introduced Ellie to the FANTASTIC establishment that is called the Waffle House!!! She is now "in love" with the Waffle!!! 

I kinda wish that Wichita had one.......but I'm kinda glad we don't. Because it wouldn't be a special treat for us!! Ya know what I mean???  

The Wilkins' all LOVE the Waffle!!! 

Until next time!!! XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie

Burger's & Beers

I think Russell was missing his red meat.....you can the boy out of Kansas but you can't the the Kansas out of the boy!!!  He wanted to try this burger joint called MugShots Grill & Bar in Biloxi. It was started by two college friends back in 2004 in Hattiesburg, MS.  Mugshots has won the "best burger" award in Mississippi for the last 8 consecutive years......so of course we had to see if they can "meat" our beef expectations!!!

We started out with a couple of beers-I had a Snake Bite (if you don't what that is....it's a combination of Angry Orchard Cider and Guinness-SO GOOD) and Russell went with a local brew called Southern Pecan made by Lazy Magnolia-which was also very tasty!!!  Our appetizer-which had, chips & guacamole (chips were good and warm the guac was missing something maybe a little garlic and cumin), hand cut mozerella cheese wedges (AMAZING-you can definitely tell between fresh mozzarella and frozen cheese sticks) and boneless chicken wings with a jerk sauce called Chuck's Clucks!!!  

The thing that makes MugShots a unique burger joint is the unconventional toppings they provide on some of their burgers. For example-The Mac & Cheese Burger-it starts with 2 grilled cheese which serve as a bun, with a grilled beef patty, hickory smocked bacon and mac & cheese sandwiched between.....WOW-I cannot imagine eating this.....but if I'm honest....I would want a bite of it!!!  They also had a burger called Anthony's Peanut Butter Burger-an 8 oz beef patty slathered with your choice of smooth or crunchy peanut butter.....EEEKKKK-I don't know about this one.  Some other burgers were-the Pizza Burger, the Huevos Rancheros Burger, the Country Fried Steak Burger and they also had more traditional burgers like-mushroom & swiss, bleu cheese and bacon burgers.

Russell went with a burger called the Gamble-this burger comes racked with beef chili, housemade rotel, sour cream, jalapeños, and lettuce......it's basically nachos on a burger!!  Russell's quote "delicious".

I chose the Breakfast Burger-an 8 oz beef patty topped with bacon, a fresh fried egg, American cheese, with lettuce, tomato and mayo-I am a complete sucker for a fried egg on a burger.....its just so darn good....YUM!!!

They had a basic kids menu-burger, chicken strips, mac & cheese, etc.....she went with a penne pasta with marinara.......Ellie's quote "it was delicious......I really liked the sauce".

MugShots could definitly compete with the burger joints we have back in Kansas......they get the seal of approval from us!!!

Oh....I almost forgot!!! Their fries were excellent too......beer battered!!!

Until next time!!! XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie

Newk's Eatery

After sleeping in a bit and having a quick continental breakfast at the Hotel we took the quick drive down I-10 to Gulf Port, Mississippi.

We got settled into our Hotel room and relaxed a bit then headed off to lunch before we hit the beach.

We wanted a local inexpensive "regular" ole place to eat.  So, Russell found a place called Newk's Eatery.  Apparently, there are several locations throughout the south but we've never heard of them.  Newk's is a basic soup, salad and sandwich place-it was a nice change of pace, we all wanted something on the light side.

Ellie was UBBER excited that they had pizza.......cheese of course!!!

Russell ordered a soup and sandwich combo-a grilled shrimp Po-Boy and a cup of their lobster & crab bisque........the bisque is delicious!!!

I ordered an avocado and shrimp salad with a yummy vinaigrette and the lobster crab bisque sounded so good.....I got a cup too!!!

My favorite thing about Newk's was their pickle bar.  They had the bar full of pickles, peppers, cheese, roasted garlic, capers and an assortment of items to top your salad or sandwich with.  Or you could just eat them.....like Ellie and I did.

There are a lot of good restaurants down here along the coast of Mississippi......we are excited to try them!!!

Until next time!!  XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie

Nawl'ns Part 1

We arrived in New Orleans a little before noon on July 5th - and our hotel wasn't ready yet - but they let us park and leave our luggage....Thank you Hyatt. So, we hit the ground running as soon as we got here - and our first stop was lunch.

We were given a suggestion from the Conceirge (who just happened to be a Wichita native-Go Shox) to try a place called Huck Finns.

While the ambiance of Hunk Finns was good....we weren't impressed with the food.  I would say the overall conciseness was OK.

Russell and I started the meal with some alligator - Ellie & I both didn't like it - I thought it tasted like a sweet version of catfish (which is NOT my favorite) - Ellie said "it has a funny taste"....I would have to agree.  Russell thought is was OK-"the best thing about it, is the breading".....which in my opinion isn't good.

For the main course, Russell and I chose to split a Muffuletta.  For those who don't know what a Muffuletta is-the Muffuletta sandwich originated in New Orleans by Italian Immigrants in 1906-it is on a sesame seed Italian bread, very simpler to a focaccia.  The sandwich is layered with a variety of meats and cheeses-which include mortadella (an Italian bologna), salami, ham, mozzarella and provolone.  The sandwich is then toped with a marinated olive salad also know as Tapenade.  It can be served cold or toasted.  

The Muffuletta that we had at Huck Finns was NOT good.  It lacked flavor and barley had any olive salad on the sandwich.  Although the sandwich was lacking.....the bread was delicious.  

Ellie ordered the butter noodles-she loved them.  It was a penne noodle toped with butter and parmesan cheese.  

Overall, we would NOT reccomend Huck Finns fi you are ever in The Big Easy-ther are plenty of better options.  

Until next time! XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie xxoo (a few more hugs and kisses from Ellie's fingers)

Nawl'ns Part 4-our final stop

With our final meal (well, beside the continental breakfast at the hotel) in New Orleans we wanted to go to a traditional creole restaurant.....and there are plenty of them around.  With a little help from good ole google and some help from the locals we decided on the The Gumbo Shop.

The Gumbo Shop was by far the pretties restaurant that we've been in.  Part of the restaurant (the place where we were) is set in a garden courtyard and the other half of the restaurant was set inside a building that was build on 1795.....it was breathtaking.  

The one and only down fall to this place was that they didn't have a kids menu.....and being a traditional creole restaurant we didn't know if Ellie could handle the spices of the dishes.  She opted out of ordering anything for her self.....however.....there was some negotiating going on at the table before we ordered (gotta love 6 year old negotiating skills).  If she agreed to try a bite of every dish that Russell and I ordered.....we would take her to Subway (the kid has wanted to go the Subway since we left Wichita and it just so happened that we had one right across the street from our hotel).  Well....lets just say we didn't make it to Subway!!  Everything was FANTASTIC!!!  By far the best place we've been to since we started our vacation.  

Russell and I both ordered a complete creole dinner - which was soup or salad, entree with a side of our choice and dessert.  It was worth every penny of the $25.99 per person.  

Russell started with the chicken andouille gumbo (which Ellie loved and ate about half).....the entree he ordered was the creole combination plate which consisted of red beans & rice, jambalaya and shrimp creole (which Ellie also loved until she found out she was eating shrimp...Ha) with a side of macque choux corn (stewed corn, with onions, peppers & tomatoes).  He finished his meal with a warm bread pudding in a whiskey sauce (Ellie also liked).  There wasn't a thing left on the plate......the french bread got every last drop of sauce.  YUMMY!!

I started out with a nice green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette (I specifically ordered this because I knew Ellie would eat some-and she did-about half).  My entree was the crawfish étouffée (Ellie did not like this....to many spices) with a side of smothered turnip greens (I LOVE greens....and the south makes the best).......DELISH!!  I finished my meal with a praline sundae.......which of course, Ellie ate most of.  

Like I said before.....by far the BEST place we've eaten so far......we highly recommend it.  

Bye Louisiana and New Orleans......you've been nothing but kind and hospitable.....you're also VERY hot & humid.....but we had a great time and hopefully we'll be back.  Now off to the beaches of Mississippi for a little rest and relaxation.  

Until next time!!!  XO-Russell, Lisa & Ellie