How was it? Heading there this Saturday…
We’re back in town – and the trip was near-perfect. Thank you to everyone here for the invaluable recommendations. We used many of them. Here are some quick-hit, stream-of-consiousness impressions:
We stayed in a spectacular house on Western Lake in WaterColor. It was more than we needed, but with a 1- and 3-year old, the space was appreciated. We also found the price to be eminently reasonable (a steal compared to luxury resorts) given the home, location, amenities, etc.
We drove from Houston and I’m not sure what we’ll do next time. It was nice to have our stuff, but it’s a long drive. We broke it up on the way there with a night in NOLA. We went straight through on the way back. Would be easy with older kids. Harder with a 1-year-old crying in the back.
The location of the house was key (right adjacent to the footbridge over Western Lake). It allowed us to walk everywhere. We walked to the beach, the pools, Seaside, etc. multiple times daily. No need for a golf cart, and we didn’t even bike much.
At least with kids, WaterColor was perfect. We spent as much time at the pools as we did at the beach, and the kids loved the various playgrounds, lunch and smoothies poolside, etc. It was busy, but not too busy. Not overrun at all.
The weather was predictably hot and muggy – the biggest downside from me, given that I’m from San Diego – but on balance it was not bad compared to Houston. Just hard to escape the humidity. And on the upside, it was sunny every day – probably a total 10 minutes of rain all week, which was surprising given the mixed forecast.
In terms of food, we really appreciated the recommendations. The highlight was Cafe Thirty-A. Great for kids, excellent service, tasty food, fun atmosphere. It really hit the right notes. We also had a great time at Bud & Alley’s despite the so-so food. The biggest surprise to the upside was Bud & Alley’s pizza place: tasty pizza, fun atmosphere, good beer, excellent Brussels sprouts dish. I thought Fish Out of Water was good but not great, and awkwardly proper and staid for the location. The service, however, was superlative (as was the ceviche). We hit the wine bar in Water Color twice. It’s very satisfying but the food, while tasty, is pretty generic wine bar fare. We never made it to Great Southern because the waits were too long.
In terms of the food trucks/shacks, Shrimp Shack was the clear winner. Surprisingly delicious lobster roll. We hit the smoothie cart every day after morning runs, which was a great routine. The grilled cheese place was eh.
Of course, everyone loved Heavenly Gelato and Frosty Bites, which were a nightly tradition.
All in all, a screaming success, and a great bang for the buck. We’ll likely be back next year.
Had a great dinner at cafe 30A tonight. Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Spied the 09 Lamarche VR Croix Rameaux on the list for an absolute steal - slightly over half retail price! Happily bought a bottle to take home and try before going back and cleaning them out if it’s as good as the reviews indicate.
Damn - I should have looked at the list more closely. I ordered a '14 AOC Chablis (producer forgotten) that was inexpensive and nice with the food.
It was on the separate reserve list.
Glad it all worked out, you did get lucky with the rain as it has been brutal here the last week. Real streaky and torrential. An hour of sunshine and inch of rain in 30 minutes, then repeat. I didn’t want to say much about fish out of water, but my opinion is same as yours. Sorry you couldn’t make Great Southern, we have never waited even a third as long as they told us, but the key is to get there a bit early. With your kids as young as they are I can understand avoiding the long wait. Again we agree on the Bud and Alley’s experience, pizza over regular, but the sunsets are pretty spectacular.
Yep, the rain this week has been a pain. First time we’ve had a bout of rain like this in 20 years coming here. Got lucky today with weather for fishing though! Lots of tasty white snappers, vermillion snappers and King mackerel to eat when get back to the dock shortly.
Tried perfect pig tonight based on recommendations from some locals and enjoyed it a lot. It’s about a mile east from cafe 30A and definitely worth checking out.
Went to Georges tonight. No issue with service. Food was good but not as good as perfect pig or cafe 30A.