Eating by the sea
Photo courtesy Stephen Edgar-Netweb/Flickr
I can’t believe it was already 80 degrees before 9 a.m. this morning. I mean, I’ve lived in Virginia for decades, so it shouldn’t surprise me, but the first heat wave of the summer always does.
This kind of weather makes me want to let my wet hair air dry, to put on sleeveless shirts and press my face into the air conditioner. It also makes me dream of the beach, but since I’m the type who has to sit under 70 SPF, a wide hat and an umbrella at the beach, I spend a lot of time dreaming about my next meal.
I’ll bet we all associate certain foods with fun beach vacations of the past. Seafood, certainly, but families all seem to have their own little food rituals when they go on vacation.
From my childhood vacations in Myrtle Beach with my best pal, Samantha, I remember the Pop-Tarts we got to eat for breakfast and the clam chowder I had to order at every restaurant, just to see if it was better than the last cup or bowl. Clam chowder is my favorite soup of all time, and it’s interesting to see how much it varies in consistency and flavor. I have never quite made up my mind whether I like bacon in clam chowder because it kind of takes away from the clam flavor, but I do know I prefer clam chowder at a medium thickness – not too watery or too thick.
From my childhood vacations to Chincoteague with my family, I have fond memories of all-you-can-eat steamed shrimp (a boy I dated had never had it before, and he ate the first one shell, legs and all). And then we used to sit out on the pier behind the hotel, at a picnic table covered with newspaper, and pick our way through a passel of steamed blue crabs, throwing the shells in the water for the seagulls.
As an adult, my beach vacations have been spent at the Outer Banks, where my in-laws live. Whenever we go to the beach there, we pack the cooler with BLTs and boiled peanuts, and snack on Cheetos and Pringles. I don’t like to drink beer on the beach – it gets hot too fast and makes me sleepy. But an ice cold Coca-Cola always hits the spot with salty boiled peanuts.
As an adult, I find myself reprising the beachy meals of my childhood, steaming shrimp and crabs for dinner and serving them with a new favorite of grilled potatoes and veggies. At night, after we’ve cleaned up the mess, we put on Andy Griffith DVDs (NOT color, ever!), eat Nutty Buddies, and then lay on the floor with our full tummies and “make floor art,” as my nutty buddy Mike calls it.
I’m sure some of you have already been to the beach once this season, and I hope to make it there myself later in the summer. What favorite foods do you associate with this hot, beachy weather?
June 1, 2011 - 9:52 AM
RSS feed 
Crab legs! I swear that is why my husband goes to the beach! And as a child I remember the frozen lemonade carts that people pushed on the beach. I loved those and wish every year as I sit baking in the sun that one of those carts would come by!
Crabs three ways! Steamed blue crabs, the small wooden mallet and a picnic table covered with either newspaper or brown paper. Afterward, all around your mouth burning from the seasoning. Crab legs cooked just right that you can snap in half with your hands and pull out the entire section of meat and pop into your mouth. Last, but not least, she-crab soup that my granddaughter starts asking for before we’re 50 miles from home heading for the beach! And you can always throw in side orders of oysters and shrimp!
She crab soup = heaven!! Here’s another memory: hushpuppies. Some restaurants have savory hushpuppies and some have sweet ones. I remember a place in Myrtle Beach that served them with honey butter. They were soooo good. But I’ve heard some folks say they don’t like sweet hushpuppies.
We go to OBX too, and a couple of years ago we bought a rolling Coleman grill to take out on the beach with us.
But when we go to Myrtle, I make everyone mad by insisting we eat at one of those scary huge buffet places at least one night. And I’m the last one eating, sitting there cracking crab legs until my fingers are all cut from the shells.
I’ve never made crab legs at home because I have no idea how to even go about it. So it’s strictly a vacay activity.
I prefer savory hushpuppies but I’ve had some that were a little sweet that were still very good.
Barbecue joints have the best hushpuppies, it’s a fact.
Seafood at the beach? Well, soft shell crab works well, but grilled scallops and fried oysters (lightly battered) in the Calabash style are money.
For those not heading to the beach any day soon, remember we have a source in Roanoke & onein Floyd for absolutely fresh seafood from the NC coast. Don’t forget these merchants.
You too can have crab, shrimp, oysters, scallops, fish, et.al straight from the ocean, and you can cook them on your deck or patio. All without driving eight hours to do so.
Lindsey, now that hushpuppies have been mentioned I have to ask…ketchup or no ketchup??? My brother and I can’t be the only people out there who insist on ketchup with our hushpuppies?!
And Kristen…if you are willing to learn the ‘right’ way to prepare crab legs at home, you will save yourself SOOO much money! We started the tradition at home for Christmas dinner and once we determined the best way to prepare the crab legs (thanks to Alton Brown on the Food Network) we were in heaven! And really, it couldn’t be easier. All you have to do if buy the crab claws (which are always cooked when you get them anyway) let them thaw and pop them in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel. 3 claws at a time (all wrapped together) 2 minutes on high in the microwave and that’s it!! Perfectly steamed with no soggy shells that are impossible to open. YUM!!!
I know my husband’s favorite memory is of Seafood Buffets! His family does not have a lot of cooks.
The summer I turned 18 I worked at Ocean City Md – right off the rural southern farm where meat and potatoes were king (Sunday we had fried chicken, and the only “ethnic” dish was spaghetti, with meat sauce).I learned to eat steamed clams, crabs described above, crab cakes, you name it. We worked, partied, laid on the beach and ate. Heavenly!
Every year I spend a couple of weeks at my sister’s place. She lives near the beach. We wake up all the kids by 5:30am, make a thermos of coffee for us, chill juice and water for the kids, and bake muffins. We get a great parking space, have the pick of great spots on the beach, and watch the sun rise. By noon, we’re crispy and leave to head home while the crowds are waiting in mile-long lines for a spot to park.
The rest of the day’s spent showering off the sand, changing into another bathing suit, and lazing away at my sister’s pool. Nothing’s better. Nothing.
So simple coffee and homemade muffins. A real meal, though? She-crab soup. There’s a great place in Pungo that has me addicted to the glorious stuff. Crab legs – summertime love! I abandon all sense of manners when I’m eating those suckers!
We’ve been going to Ocean Isle Beach in NC for over 20 years and my favorite foodie memory/association is the restaurants in Calabash, NC. ALL of the restaurants on River Road and Oak Street are DELICIOUS and the best seafood in the Coastal NC/Myrtle Beach. You must check it out
Is there a restaurant near Holden beach where I can get steamed blue crab?