Starpulp

Catch up on the Jax Brew Bus Tour:

• Jax Brew Bus Stop 1: Engine 15
• Jax Brew Bus Stop 2: Green Room Brewery

We loaded up after Green Room and headed on a “long ride” across town from the Beach to riverside.

I wanted to be prepared for the long journey ahead, so I popped open one of my roadies to pass the time.

One great thing about our trip was we got to meet some fun people. We ended up chatting with this couple (I forgot their name :/) while at Engine 15, and it really made the whole night more fun.

Knowing we had a long ride, Mike gave us a presentation on how one actually brews beer complete with visual aides.

I thought he did a good job with the overview and found it interesting. I learned a thing or two. OK, ok. I know nothing about brewing beer, so the whole presentation was a learning experience for me. Buuut if you want to know anything I learned, you’ll have to get on the bus and see for yourself.

The intracoastal is absolutely beautiful at sunset.

So is downtown. I was so glad I was sitting on the left side of the bus, because I got to see both great views.

We arrived at Intuition,and thanks to the stimulating views, the educating presentation, and the decent buzz I had going on, it really didn’t seem to take that long!

If you’ve never been to Intuition, this is what the outside looks like. This is their brewery area. It’s open on Fridays & Saturdays except in the summer because it’s an open-air bar, and blazing hot then. Other months, it’s pretty nice.

We headed to check out the Tap Room first, which is where I usually relax when I go there.

Turns out Intuition is dog friendly too! I had no idea! What a cutie, eh?

Their tap room has several tables setup for groups of 4-6.

And a long bar at one end where you order from. Typically there isn’t anyone that goes to the tables to take orders, you just go up to the bar.

Heeeellooooo darlin’!

Next we headed to the Brewery for our Brewery tour. A tour isn’t available at every location on every stop. It’s all determined by availability and timing, but we were lucky to have several on our Jax Brew Bus tour.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of what was discussed here either, because.. you guessed it. You gotta get on the bus yourself, but this was probably the most interesting brewery tour of all of them.

We learned a bit about hops.

And even got to crunch on a few. I prefer mine fermented, thanks.

This part was awesome. I have no idea why, but I just thought their canner was absolutely fascinating.

It looks like something you’d see on Mr. Rogers after the “how crayons are made” episode (which was an awesome episode!).

Everything slides along in a line and at different stages has different things happen to it. It was fascinating to see how the cans are actually built around the beer and not just poured in.

I’m just going to take this stack home.. mmmkay?

Next was the tasting.

FYI, if you run the gate river run, you get a free pint if you turn in running bib. I absolutely love to collect mine, so I just don’t think I could trade it in for a free beer. Could you?

We tried several of their beers here in small cups. We had several, so the small cups were probably a good idea here.

For some reason, my camera was drunk at this point and every picture looks distorted.

What a surprise! Tracy dot com in the house!

After that, stop 3 was complete. We all loaded back on the bus and headed across town to the next stop… Bold City Brewery!

** Jax Brew Bus provided me with two passes so I could share my trip with my readers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Catch up on the Jax Brew Bus Tour

• Jax Brew Bus Stop 1: Engine 15

After we spent about an hour at Engine 15, we all loaded back onto the bus with a bit of a buzz and a full stomach en route to Green Room Brewery.

On the way there, Mike gave an introduction to the group about Green Room and a brief overview of the history of Jax Brew Bus and how they got started.

All smiles! I’d say everyone was having a good ol’ time.

Yes, they have the official, necessary paperwork on board at all times.  If you have any questions regarding this, feel free to ask them when you setup your reservation.

After a short 10 minute drive, we arrived at Stop #2!  From the outside, it’s very deceiving. It really doesn’t have much curb appeal, so you don’t really realize it, but there’s exciting things behind those doors.

First thing I noticed wasn’t the beer, it was all the puppies!!! (Yes, I call all dogs puppies… big, little, young, old.. it doesn’t matter. They’re all puppies)

Since they don’t serve food, you can bring your fur baby with you! Plus it’s indoors, so you don’t have to sweat in the Florida heat just to enjoy a beer with your pup.

When you first walk in the front door, you step into the tap room with a long bar and high-tops to your left. and more high-tops to your right.

There’s definitely plenty of room to let your hair down.

I fell in love with this painting. I have no idea why, but I just love, loved it. On a trip later on with friends, this painting was gone. Sad panda. But really? Does that say $400? Yikes.

If you pass right through the Tap Room and through those doors…

You’ll end up in the Brewery Room. The right hand side is blocked off from guests and holds all their brewery goodies.

The left hand side has a ping pong table and two life-sized Jenga games!

We enjoyed a tour of the brewery and learned about the entire process from Green Room’s perspective.

And each got a beer of our choice.

And then it was game time.

Oh yeah. They are serious.

And before we knew it, stop 2 was complete. We all loaded back on the bus and headed across town to the next stop… Intuition Ale Works!

** Jax Brew Bus provided me with two passes so I could share my trip with my readers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Josh (left), Mike (right) and Glenn (unpictured) make up Jax Brew Bus.

I was antsy all day at work knowing I had a fabulous happy hour  evening ahead. At the first Jax Truckies Food Truck event, I ran into Josh, co-owner of Jax Brew Bus, and we chatted a bit. Later when I ran into him at the Folio Weekly Beer Festival, he invited me to come out one night to see what the Brew Bus was all about. That is definitely an offer I couldn’t refuse.

Knowing I had a long night of beer drinkin’ ahead of me, I brought some staples. Two waters for obvious necessary re-hydration, two bags of Cheetos in case I need a bit of sustenance after a few too many brews, and a 6 pack in case I end up too sober on a beer bus. That would be ugly, but it could happen. The bus is nice because they have a large cooler aboard that you can use.

Here’s our group before we set out. Wild crowd! When you sign up for Jax Brew Bus, they try to fill the bus with as many people as possible. You can either convince 13 of your friends to do it with you, or enjoy being paired randomly with new people. We also had two additional beach dwellers meet us at Engine 15 instead of driving out to Tinseltown.

Jax Brew Bus costs $50 per person, and are typically on Saturday afternoons. The bus picks everyone up in Tinseltown behind Seven Bridges which is a good central location. A group brewery tour is $600 and includes up to 14 people. If you do reserve the entire bus, you can arrange a custom tour including the day and time as long as the breweries are available.

This was the article from the Florida Times Union where I believe I first learned about the Jax Brew Bus. Since then they’ve been on my radar.

In case you’re wondering, they take turns driving.. one drives on one night out.. the other drives on the next night out.  Whoever is driving obviously doesn’t drink.

You can purchase growlers of beer at the different breweries.  If you plan to just drink everything you purchase that evening on the bus, you can sometimes borrow the Jax Brew Bus growlers. This would come in handy if for some reason you just don’t like the beer served at one of the stops.  (Who is that person and why did they get invited?)

Ahhh. We made it to the first stop, Engine 15.

It’s a long and narrow style bar. It was pretty busy for happy hour on a Friday.

They offer some delicious bar munchies and more.

I’m definitely coming back to relax here with friends at Happy Hour.

Engine 15 has quite a selection of brews.

And quite a selection of taps!

We were invited to try the Black IPA and the Summer Session. I really enjoyed the Summer Session (and have since ordered this on trips since this one).  The Black IPA is just not my thing, but several others enjoyed it.

We found this QUITE hilarious.

One great thing about going on the Jax Brew Bus was we got a tour of the brewery at each stop (when available). This is not a part of the brewery you normally get to see in detail on a normal visit.

Ahh a good throwback.

If anyone has an idea what game this is, message me! I’ve seen it there, but have no idea what it’s called so I can’t look up how to play!

They have the ring toss game in the back.. but someone broke it. :(

If you happen to stop in around happy hour (after 4:30 p.m.), you’ll most likely have the privilege of meeting Herb & Nona.  They’ve been coming to Engine 15 since the beginning and sitting at the same table. Herb always enjoys a brew, Nona enjoys a water.

They come so often, their seats are reserved.

Herb is a proud participant of the Mug Club at Engine 15.

Mmmm, more Summer Session.

Since this was the only stop of the night that offered food, everyone got something to enjoy.  Food orders are extra and not included in the Jax Brew Bus price.  These were the Pigs in a Blanket which were really tasty.  The pigs had a nice sausagey spice to them.  The wrap was just regular ol’ crescent roll type wrap. They were fairly bland, but that was ok (and probably good) since the sausages had a lot of flavor.

Adam ordered the Gyro that (obviously) came served with an entire salad on it. It also came with diced tomatoes and red onion and a creamy cucumber yogurt.  This order comes with two gyros, so if you’re hungry, this isn’t a bad option.

The last time I ordered food at Engine 15 was about two years ago.  I remember having a few bites of their Frito Pie and being in heaven. Then I walked outside briefly to take a quick call (it can get busy inside).  When I came back, they were all gone. So I knew I was ordering this before I even arrived. It was just as good as I remembered it.   Their Frito Pie is fritos (duh), queso chili cheese, red onions & sour cream. Even if it’s hot out, this is a tasty splurge.

So after stop 1, I’d had three beers and was having a great time.  Josh and Mike are great hosts, and I couldn’t wait for the next st0p… Green Room Brewing!

** Jax Brew Bus provided me with two passes for the bus in return for my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

This past Saturday there was an event in Mayport Village to help raise funds for the Mayport Ferry called Ferry Fest.

THE ST. JOHN’S RIVER FERRY SERVICE is a vital part of Northeast Florida’s local transportation system, connecting State Road A1A between Heckscher Drive and Mayport Village. The Jacksonville Port Authority has voted to stop supporting ferry operations. Discontinuing this service will have profound impacts on the First Coast’s economic, transportation, and environmental interests.

You can help by signing the petition, writing your Councilors, Representatives, and Senators, and spreading the word about the Ferry to your family and friends.

There was music, dancing, food trucks, caricature artists, and food vendors.

Why was I there?  I was there for the food trucks: On the Fly Sandwiches and stuff, Driftwood BBQ, Brucci’s Pizza, Super Food Truck, 3 Moms Ice Cream and more!

I’d say the word got out just fine about the event because it was packed!  There were fairly long lines for all the food trucks. I thought we were being proactive by arriving pretty much on time. I can only imagine how bad it was later on in the day!

More people, more lines, more sun, more heat.

We didn’t waste much time. On The Fly was there which I”m a HUUUUGE fan of. We ran into Caron who was waiting in line there and mentioned they were serving the Sweet Potato Planks (oooohmmeeegee).

I forced myself to keep walking and try a different truck.  I’d never been to Driftwood BBQ before, so we settled into line there.

It was only about 1:20pm and they were already crossing off items on their menu! They’d already run out of the Brisket Skewers before we’d even arrived.

While we were waiting in line they crossed off the Ribs too.  I knew I wanted the Pulled Pork Sliders, so I was really hoping that didn’t get crossed off too!

They were also having a food truck competition.  The food truck with the highest amount of “tips” would win, and that tip money would go to the “Keep the Ferry” foundation. Interesting  The signs were hand printed, making me think this was an after thought?  I’d love to know which truck won, as I couldn’t find it posted on their website or Facebook page.

Yes! They didn’t run out (at least before I got to them…) I quickly squeezed some sweet BBQ sauce on mine and headed for the trees and cover. Personally I’m on the fence with BBQ style foods like pulled pork, brisket, and chicken.  It always seems sorta dry.  This, my friends, was NOT dry at all.  It practically melted in my mouth. The bun was perfectly toasty too.  It also had a nice thin glaze of butter on it. The sweet BBQ sauce was definitely necessary as it added a great flavoring to the sliders. I wished I’d ordered 4 instead of 2, but I had no interest in getting back in line! (Nor did I really need 4 of these suckers).  If you’re a fan of BBQ, I definitely suggest you give Driftwood BBQ a shot.

My next goal was to cool down. The hunt for ice cream began.

I saw Wiki Wiki, but all I saw people bringing away from there was shaved ice.  I’ve never had a shaved ice that I really liked that wasn’t served by Snoopy, so I pressed on in my search for ice cream.  Another day, wiki wiki.. another day.

Ooh.. This looks interesting…

3Moms Ice Cream had a smallish crowd around it. In all honesty, they kinda had bad placement. I had to walk away from all the food trucks to find them. This made the line a lot shorter, so that was fine by me (but possibly not good for them).  At first glance, it looks like one of the old ice cream trucks I would chase down in my neighborhood when I was 8.  Thankfully there was no loud speaker belting “I’m a little teapot”.

They even have their menu on the side like traditional ice cream trucks do, but this one was a bit more modern.  Adam pointed out that they have Diana’s Banana Babies. Yum!  I wanted something a bit different though.

(source)

I settled in on the Magnum Double Caramel.  I plowed through this too fast for a picture. (Hey! I was afraid it was going to melt!) So I’ve borrowed a picture from the interwebs to show you how delicious this was. It was like a Taco Bell Gordita, only with a filler of ice cream, covered by a layer of chocolate, then a layer of caramel and then another layer of chocolate. Oh my! Yes, this was a good decision.

Oh.. and don’t worry.. if traditional ice cream truck is what you want.. look at the 4th row, 6th item from the left.. the Red, White, and Blue firecracker is there.

I’d say the event was a lot of fun.  A bit out of the way since it was all the way in Mayport, but when we went traffic wasn’t a hassle at all.  We got in easily, found parking easily, and left just as fast.

This weekend I’m running the Tour de Pain.  It starts with a 4 mile beach run Friday night, a 5k (3.1 mile) road race Saturday morning and concludes with a 1 mile fun run Saturday night.

It’s going to be a LOT of fun and a lot of running. I know from experience because I ran this race last year.  I also know there’s going to be a lot of fueling needed.  I’ve already started secretly drooling over the different things I’m hoping to make at home (Banana Bread Muffins, finally?) and a few of the restaurants I’m hoping to go to!

Saturday mornings race is near Baymeadows Rd and San Jose, so it may take some persuasion techniques on my part, but I REALLY want to go to Bagel Love for breakfast after the race.

Bagel Love is actually located near Riverside (4114 Herschel St. Jacksonville, FL 32210), so it would be a bit of a hike to get there from the race, but totally worth it especially if you’re already in the area. A group of us headed here straight from the finish line of the Gate River Run and it was deeelish!

When you first walk in you see this cooler case and the menu board above. You can see there are several beverage options if you aren’t in the mood for coffee.

A quick right from there takes you to the bagels and where you place your order!

Saw this and it make me smile. Convenient given that I’d just ran a race.

My favorite beverage after a good run is iced coffee.   Bagel Love does an excellent job with their iced coffee. Not only is it tasty…

They go the extra mile and make their own coffee ice cubes! This prevents your coffee doesn’t get watered down. Other places (like Starbucks) actually make special coffee for the iced coffee which is actually stronger. Same idea – to prevent it from getting watered down as the ice melts. The coffee cubes are nice because I was able to refill my coffee on the way out with the coffee they had sitting out, and it tasted exactly the same as my initial coffee order.

FYI you can totally make your own iced coffee at home too. Just pick up some cheepo ice cube trays at walmart. Next time you make a pot of coffee, make a little bit extra, let it cool, pour into the trays and freeze!  Makes a great Sunday morning treat!

Bagel Love’s specialty is sandwiches made using their bagels. I have a personal love for their open faced melty cheezy sandwiches, but you can get sandwiches with a top and a bottom as well. I guess I prefer mine topless. What works so well with their sandwiches here that doesn’t typically work at most other places is their bagels are light, fluffy and NOT chewy. There’s nothing worse then getting a bagel sandwich only to fight through the bagel to get to the good stuff.  Not a problem at Bagel Love.

Here’s some of the sandwiches we’ve ordered (or our friends have ordered) on past visits. (Yes, if you dine with me, you may not make the blog, but chances are your food will!!)

One Love Club – choice of bagel or bread, ham, turkey, bacon, swiss, lettuce and tomato.

Mi Amore Pizza Bagel – choice of bagel or bread, tomato sauce, provolone cheese and pepperoni.

This was soo stinkin’ good!!  If you like pepperoni and pepperoni pizza, you’ll want to try this one. 

Tomato Melt – choice of bagel served open faced with choice of cream cheese, tomato & cheese.

I also really enjoyed this one. It was light, not over powering. The cream cheese and melted cheese combination was really creamy together.

Here’s what it looks like from a cross-section view.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a plain bagel.

My friend ordered this, so I can’t personally say whether it was good or not, but it was devoured in seconds.  

Bacon, Egg and cheese on an everything bagel. (Hope you got your floss for those seeds!)

My friend ordered this, so I can’t personally say whether it was good or not, but she did say she enjoyed it. 

So hopefully a certain someone “gets the hint,” and we can head to Bagel Love this weekend! Fingers crossed!!!

On one of my usual web surfing sessions recently, I stumbled upon a new website for downtown commerce: http://digdowntownjax.com.    I was scanning the posts when I came across the brief post “Time to Go Off the Grid” by Tony Allegretti.  It described a little sandwich shop located in an old bank vault in downtown Jacksonville.

Lunch in a bank vault? I was instantly fascinated and knew I had to check it out as soon as I could, so Adam and I met up for a lunch date to hunt this place down (the blog post was pretty vague.

Benny’s is located downtown just north of the Bank of America building in the bank vault of the old Atlantic National Bank.

They have an outdoor sandwich sign to help draw some outsider business in. Funny, I recall having passed this before, but never really thought to check out what Benny’s Sandwich Shop actually was.

So, how do you get there? You enter the building, and walk down the hall.

Turn left at the first set of stairs on your left.  This takes you to the tunnels. Maybe that rumor of Jax having an underground tunnel system is true?

So glad there’s that teeny tiny sign on the wall to help direct us!

Along the way, you get a special treat displaying several photos comparing Jacksonville now to Jacksonville then.  Even if you’re not hungry, it’s worth stretching the legs to check these out for yourself.

The skyline.

Main Street Bridge.

Suddenly among all the hallways and doors, Benny’s Sandwich Shop appears.

We were instantly greeted by Sarah who was really friendly and happy to see us. Really, she could NOT have been more friendly and inviting.

We snuck a peek over the counter at Benny himself, who was relaxing reading the paper in the corner. He was also answering any phone calls that came in.

Their menu board.

They proudly display previous news coverage on the wall.

Just as their sign says, “…so much more than a sandwich shop. Gourmet Chocolates, Gifts & Cards.”  If you work downtown and find yourself in a bind for a last minute card or gift, they have a wide selection here! Just run over, quickly get what you need and maybe even grab a bite to go.

They also have another employee (seen here) but I forgot to get his name. He was super helpful as well.

One of the one things I KNEW was I had to try Sarah’s hummus. It was the lone tip on Urbanspoon. It was really good. Thick, creamy and tasty. They provided pita bread that was warmed up too. I love hummus with warm pita bread. This hummus would be REALLY good with green and red peppers and veggies too.

Since I had to haul a** to get downtown on my lunch break (I don’t work downtown, AND I only get an hour for lunch. Lame.), I ordered the Tuna Melt for a quick option. I didn’t really have time to be picky and scan the menu. They asked if I wanted anything else in it like Tomatoes.  I love tomatoes but not in my sandwich, so I asked for it on the side.  They were really fresh.

Now I’ll admit the sandwich wasn’t anything AMAZING. It’s a regular ol’ tuna melt sandwich. It came out super quick which was great, but could have been more cheezy melty. I was so starving I could have eaten two of these! I really liked that this was very tuna-y (Is that even a word?) and not loaded down mayo-y.  It was just the right balance.

We asked what their most popular item was, and was told it was the Steak in a Sack, so that’s what Adam went with.  The Steak in a Sack is more than just that. It’s sliced sirloin, cooked with onions, spices and stuffed into a pita served “all the way” with lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, pickles, banana peppers, and house dressing.  Adam said it was really good, but he felt he could have eaten 2 or 3. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people DID order two.

Adam DID say one thing he REALLY enjoyed about eating there.  Although I was taking an occasional picture, he got my full attention because there’s no internet service! I had half a bar the whole time and the phone was very sluggish.  Why would this be?  The whole shop is inside an old bank vault (not to mention underground)

If you’ve been to Benny’s or make it there to try it out, let me know what you thought of it!

The Friday before Memorial Day weekend, Adam got his wisdom teeth taken out.  All 4 of ‘em. 3 were impacted. We spent all of Friday relaxing on the couch while he enjoyed his meds and drooled in his pudding.  The next day, he bounded out of bed looking for something to conquer after being cooped up for an entire day.  There’s really no other way to describe his desires to get.out.of.the.house.asap. He was like a new man… he just couldn’t drink from a straw.

I’d been dying to check out a restaurant in St. Augustine so we jumped in the car and headed that direction.  On the way down, he pulled up their menu and realized he couldn’t actually eat anything on their menu.  He’s not a picky eater, but the problem with wisdom teeth, or the lack of wisdom teeth, is chewing is a b#@$%.

Dang it.

So since we were almost to St. Augustine, I told him just to pick some place and QUICK. Oy. What WAS I thinking?  He found a place scary quick using Urbanspoon. It was called Back 40 Urban Cafe. Uh.. what?

Me: “Honey.. babe.. maybe it’s your meds.. you want to go to an Urban Cafe”?

Him: “100% of the people like it on UrbanSpoon”

Me: “So… the owner, his wife, his girlfriend, and his relatives all clicked ‘like’. Big woop”

Him: “Uh.. so he has 280 relatives because that’s how many reviews they have, and it’s still at 100%”

Me: [internal voice] Crap… we’re really going to have to go to this place…

So we navigated away from downtown and even farther away from the beach which was where I wanted to go..[major pouting going on here while I drive].

We turn down some side street into houses and drive past this.

Yes, we drove past because I was panicking.  ”That’s where you want to go??? What? That little shack??” (Ok seriously, I was being a butthead, because it’s totally cute in the picture.. but let’s continue…)

Adam stuck to his guns (as he SHOULD).  I swung the car around, and we headed back to the “urban cafe”. (From the other direction it seemed more inviting. Maybe it was the big parking lot on the one side..)  I pulled around back.  Gave myself a mental pep talk, turned off the car, stepped out…and was surprised.. it actually looked…cute?  I may have been swayed by the cute menu board stating $2 tacos and Coronas..

Then we walked inside. Immediately I saw the cutest 3 chair bar.  It instantly reminded me of a cute restaurant/bar in a house I used to enjoy back when I lived in Indianapolis for that hot second. (It kills me I cannot remember the name of this place!) Such a cozy feel. I could see Adam and me and maybe a friend just relaxing there.

We took a quick scan of a few of the rooms and picked the middle one because it was empty.  All the rooms are different colors with different paintings on the walls.

This is the part when my day got flipped-turned upside down and all delicious. $2 Corona? Yes, please.

We scanned the menu. They were offering a specialty menu for the holiday which meant I couldn’t try the Pineapple Jerk Chicken Quesadilla Adam had read from Yelp & Urbanspon. Aww shucks. We have to come back again? Twist my arm.

Waitin’ for some fooood..

Then the delicioiusness happened.  Adam having not really eaten anything but mashed potatoes, smoothies-in-a-bowl, and mac n cheese for the past day of COURSE ordered the Wet Burrito.

Here’s another angle. Trying to demonstrate just how monstrous this was. It seriously was huge.

I went with the Island Bowl which was avocado (you can also get jerk chicken) over a bowl of black beans and brown rice with shredded cheese and tomatoes topped with a dollop of sour cream, green onions, cilantro and jalapenos served with a side of fresh house salsa.

It was like all my favorite things all in one.

This is what it really looked like once I dove in!

We were starving when we showed up and The Back 40 Urban Cafe did not disappoint. True, I had to get over my fears of going somewhere “off the beaten path,” but I survived, left stuffed, AND found a cute little place we’ll definitely visit again and again.. especially so we can try the Jerk Chicken Quesadillas!

Saturday was quite a delicious Saturday.  The highlight of the day was the Jax Truckies Food Truck Rally.  If you live in Jacksonville and haven’t heard of Food Trucks or Jax Truckies, become a fan of theirs on Facebook.  They post daily the various Food Truck locations as well as highlight the various food options at each truck.  In addition they’ve begun to put together events every few months so that everyone has a chance to try a little something from each truck.

This past Saturday, Jax Truckies coordinated a Food Truck Rally.  This meant that there were 10 trucks in the parking lot next door to Burrito Gallery.  A $1 donation to Second Harvest got you a wrist band and entry to the event.  The trucks were serving their regular full-sized menu so I only hit up a few places.  The 10 trucks on site in no particular order were:

• Corner Taco
• Driftwood BBQ
• Gourmet Aviator
• Mike B’s
• Monroe’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Q
• Mother Fletcher’s
• On The Fly Sandwiches and Stuff
• Sprockets 
• 3Moms Ice Cream
• Super Food Truck

My first stop was Corner Taco for their All Natural Nachos (GF) which were Brie and White Cheddar, Tomatoes, and Roasted Peppers on top of chips.  I’ve wanted to try these for a while.  A few months back I caught Corner Taco in Southpoint and they were already sold out of these.  These were good, but not awesome.  I loved the addition of the red pepper and I can’t wait to make nachos at home.  I’m definitely adding red pepper to mine.  The cheese was a bit too runny and liquidy.  It could have just been fluke day.  Regardless, they were really tasty with the peppers.

I have to note that I HAVE had their tacos and they were delicious.  I definitely will get a taco or two the next time I visit their truck.

My next stop was On The Fly Sandwiches and Stuff.  I love how many of the food trucks are taking advantage of Square.  It let’s them swipe your credit card with an adapter on their iPhone.  I rarely have cash on me.  I was glad I didn’t need to make an extra stop at the ATM on my way to the event.

I had their BBQ Pulled Pork Sweet Potato Planks at the last event, and knew I definitely wanted these again.  These are topped with melted gorgonzola cheese and scallions.  I never would have ordered them at the last event but everyone kept raving about them.  Plus, this past saturday they were only $3!  After spending $8 on the nachos at Corner Taco, these definitely didn’t break the bank and filled me up!

I also splurged on On The Flys Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars.  (Someone needs to create a crazy creative name for these puppies. That is way to long to type.  These were great.  It looked like fudge, but it was surprisingly light.  Not dense like fudge at all.  The peanut butter base was crumbly.  The Caramel and Pretzel definitely stole the show.  

While I didn’t visit Monroe’s on Saturday, I have previously and you can check it out here.  Definitely good as well, just could only visit so many places on Saturday!

I can’t wait for the next chance I get to visit a local Food Truck in Jacksonville (or St. Augustine).  There are several I am still needing to try.   Do you have a favorite Food Truck in town?  What do you recommend?

Other Event Recaps:

• Carrie from Carrie With Children – “What I Saw This Weekend…. Food Trucks!“
• Caron from Folio Weekly Bite Club – “Jax Truckies Food Truck Rally 6/9 at Burrito Gallery“
• Caryn of icaryn “Inaugural JAX Truckies Food Truck Rally“
• Devon Stiles from The Food Bitch Blog – “Jax Truckies Food Truck Rally“
• Jax Brew Bitch – “Jax Truckies Food Truck Rally to Benefit Second Harvest Food Bank“

Mmm. Over the weekend, Adam had the misfortune of having his wisdom teeth removed. As a result he couldn’t eat any solid food. I secretly planned to use this to my advantage and made mental plans for froyo that night. That was until I heard that a Dreamette had opened a second location in Mandarin just the day before which is not too far from our place. I’ve never made it over to the original location in Arlington; even though, it’s been open 60 years! We switched gears and decided to head there. Dreamette is good ol’ ice cream NOT froyo. It was so good, it brought back memories of the old ice cream place back in my hometown.

Since they just opened they still have a few last minute details to get to over the next few days including their menu boards. It didn’t matter though because we could easily see what to order. No fancy board needed.

We asked how thin their shakes were because Adam can’t yet drink through a straw. They said their shakes were so thick the spoon stands straight up. He ordered the peanut butter chocolate shake. I’d say they were pretty accurate about the spoon bit. Let me say this was so freakin delicious. Wow. When you take your first spoonful, it is a peanut butter chocolate smack in the face.

I couldn’t make up my mind, so I went with the good standby of a brownie sundae. They heated the brownie up before they put the ice cream on top. Then smothered it in warm chocolate syrup. Of course with a cherry on top. The brownie was even still warm and delicious after I slowly made my way down to it.

I admit, this was really good, but I was kicking myself the whole time wishing I’d gotten the Peanut Butter Chocolate Shake. I hate it when I order something, only to be wishing I had ordered what someone else had ordered.

Step aside brownie sundae. You’re good, but that Peanut Butter Chocolate Shake should be front and center.

When we first walked in, there was a table full of chatty highschool girls having a good time. As soon as we got our food, they left so we were able to spend some time talking to the new owner, Kim Pennington, about the new store. She and her staff were super nice and generally friendly to talk to. I highly recommend a visit to either Dreamette location if you need something sweet!

This is my favorite restaurant. Seriously. Absolutely

We had several friends tell us how great this places was so we FINALLY had to try it. I managed to get a Restaurant.com certificate for the place which has been extremely difficult since then. It was a good thing we got one though, because we’ve gone several times since without the coup.

If you plan on going, MAKE A RESERVATION. They have a smallish bar you can grab a drink and get food at, but it’s usually packed too.

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When you sit down, you notice the chalkboard door that displays the days featured items and specials. I pretty much just stick with the fish special when we go and haven’t strayed since. They also hand you a menu which you can also check out on their website.

We really like their Steamed Gulf Coast Oysters. These come in 3 or 5 lbs orders. This is the 5 lb order.

Oooh look. A wee little oyster. Don’t worry. they didn’t actually serve this to me. It was attached to one of the real oysters.

Mmm I like mine on a saltine w/ some buttah, and a dollop of cocktail sauce.

Now this is drool-worthy. This is their Blackened Mahi Mahi with Collard Greens and Creamy Grits. Everything on this plate is absolutely amazing. The Mahi Mahi is seasoned perfectly. The Collard Greens are moist and delicious.

And then there’s the grits. These are seriously melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I previously had reservations about grits, but these are creamy, not grainy, super tasty grits. Don’t entirely write off grits until you try these. These are unlike anything else you’ve most likely ever had.

I couldn’t even finish, so they were nice enough to pack it up for me. I liked that they put the date on it and where it was from so I wouldn’t have to open it up and do the “sniff test”. Plus, 5.1 was my birthday! We chose to go to PVFC to celebrate!

And of course, we couldn’t leave without trying the Cranberry Bread Pudding. This was amazing. Warm, sweet, and gooey. I thought it was going to be really cranberry-ey, but it wasn’t. It was just a hint of cranberry sweetness.

Price-wise Palm Valley is a bit out of my regular price range, so we typically save it for a special occasion or when we can find a Restaurant.com special. This place is definitely worth it though!