We recently took a trip to St. Augustine. Our oldest daughter, Ashleigh had been there when she was in the fourth grade, but when Steph was in the fourth grade her teachers decided to go on a couple of different field trips to study the history of Florida. So, since she hadn’t been we went.

It was a great trip. We stayed at the Hilton Historic Bayfront hotel. It is within walking distance of nearly everything, Castillo de San Marcus Monument, Spanish Quarter Village Museum and Flagler College. The Hilton has a restaurant but, it was suggested to us to try Mary’s Harbor café for breakfast. It is a quaint little restaurant the serves breakfast and lunch. We really enjoyed the food there and went back every morning while we were there. My husband sometimes teases us about going to Mary’s for breakfast; mind you we live about 2 hours from St. Augustine. There are several really nice restaurants along Avenida Menendez; we tried Harry’s seafood bar and grille. The food is New Orleans style. It was very good and since not everyone likes seafood in our family, we all were able to find something on the menu we liked. Another restaurant that is very good is OC Whites Seafood and spirits. My husband and I have eaten there and we really like the food.

Here is a recipe for Cocoanut Shrimp that you might like; it is pretty close to what they serve.

Coconut Shrimp
1 cup flat beer
1 cup self-rising flour
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt 1
2 jumbo shrimp
oil for frying
Combine flour, beer, 1/2 cup coconut flakes, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well with electric mixer, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Prepare the shrimp by deveining and peeling off the shell back to the tail. Leave tail as a handle.

When the batter is ready, preheat oil in a deep pot or deep fryer to about 350 degrees F. Use enough oil to cover the shrimp completely.

Pour the remainder of the coconut into a shallow bowl. Be sure the shrimp are dry before battering. Dip one shrimp at a time into the batter, coating generously.

Drop the battered shrimp into the coconut and roll it around till well covered. Fry four shrimp at a time for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp become golden brown. Flip the shrimp over halfway thru cooking time. Drain on paper towels. Serve with the Marmalade Dipping Sauce below.

Orange Marmalade Dipping Sauce #1

1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 dash of salt

Combine in a small bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

While we were there we went Castillo de San Marcus, Ripley’s, Fountain to Youth and Flagler College. Castillo is a wonderful fort; they have people dress in period clothing and demonstrations going on all day. My girls really enjoyed Ripley’s museum, it has all the oddities that Mr. Ripley collected from all over the world. Some stories might be a little untrue, but it is worth seeing. I like the Fountain of Youth. There is a cross placed there is 1513; they have a nice garden area and lots of peacocks. The best part is you can actually try the water from the Fountain of Youth, if you dare. My husband and I have been to St. Augustine many times before but we never visited Flagler College. It is the most beautiful building in all of St. Augustine; Mr. Flagler was way ahead of his time. It definitely is a must see. The architecture, the art work, stained glass by Tiffany and so much more. Make sure this is on your list the tour is wonderful.

Here are some things to do in St. Augustine:

Wed, Jul 29th – Aug 2nd Pub Crawl Ann O’Malley’s Pub, 23 Orange St.

Friday, July 31st Friday Night Fiesta Sea Oats Caffe, 1075 A1A Beach Blvd

Saturday, August 1st Fort Matanzas’ Living History Day 14 miles south of St. Augustine on A1A South

If you can’t make this summer try to make it for the Holidays. The city St. Augustine is beautiful this time of year, with all the lights down town and the Christmas festivities. Go to www.augustine.com for more info on St. Augustine.

As this is my first article after taking some time off, I am going to write about what I know a little about, Florida the best vacation spot. We are so lucky to live right here on the east coast. We have Kennedy Space Center is just 20 minutes north, Disney World is 45 minutes west and according to Southern Living magazine “Cocoa Beach the best beach in Florida for surfing”.

If you are coming to Cocoa Beach, I recommend the Cocoa Beach Pier. They say it isn’t just for fishing although you can certainly do that. They have restaurants, gift shops and beach rentals. You can always catch or participate in a friendly game of beach volley ball and of course surf. Just south of the pier is the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop. It is a two story surf shop, with everything you could possibly need to enjoy your visit. While you are here visit Florida’s Seafood Bar & Grill. It is a personal favorite of my family. They have all the local favorites; corn fritters, shrimp bisque, fresh fish and rock shrimp. As well as steak and chicken dishes.

Until you can come to Florida try out this Corn Fritter recipe from Florida’s Seafood Bar & Grill:

Corn Fritters

Heat the cooking oil to approximately 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Combine eggs, milk, and butter blend. Fold the egg mixture into dry ingredients. Add corn last. Drop by tablespoon into hot oil – deep fry about 5 minutes, turning periodically – or until they’re golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Things to do in July:

7/4th Cocoa Beach Fourth of July fireworks
7/4th Cocoa, River Front Park Fourth of July celebration and fireworks with Brevard Symphony Orchestra 8:00pm
7/16th 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 Kennedy Space Center 11:00am (included in the price of admission)
July 11-12: Eastern Surfing Association Surf Contest, Melbourne Beach, at Sebastian Inlet State Park

Remember in the 70’s and 80’s you couldn’t go to a family reunion, pot luck supper or a company picnic and not have someone bring Watergate salad.  It was a staple at those functions.  I love Watergate salad, pudding, pineapple, pecans and those little marshmallows.  Oh so yummy, I always thought of it as a dessert on the salad table.

It was originally called Pistachio Pineapple Delight.  How or when the name changed is a mystery, no one knows for sure.  Some believe it is linked to the political scandal of the time.  Others believe it may have been served at the Watergate Hotel and they changed the name.  I think it may have been a little of both.  Of course it doesn’t really matter how it got its name, what matters is it is simply delicious and easy to make. Here is the recipe for Watergate salad:

WATERGATE SALAD

2 pkg. (4 serving) Jello-Pistachio instant pudding

2 cans (20 oz.) crushed pineapple undrained

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup chopped pecans

3 cups (8oz tub) thawed Cool Whip

Mix dry pudding mix, pineapple, marshmallows and pecans in a large bowl until well blended.  Gently stir in the whipped topping; cover.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.  Garnish with additional Cool Whip and chopped nuts, if desired.

Makes16 servings, about 1/2 cup each.