Wow, there’s something about that picture of Mr. Handsome standing next to his ocean fishing rod that makes him look like a giant. During our weekend trip to the Florida Panhandle earlier this summer, he spent a couple hours fishing off the shore one evening. Mr. Handsome is an avid angler, but he has very little experience in saltwater. With waves and the tide to consider, it’s a whole different ballgame than fishing in lakes and rivers.
While we were on our trip, we made about half our meals in our tiny condo and ate the other half at restaurants. Fresh Emerald Coast grouper cannot be beat, so we indulged in that a few times without any ounce of regret. Sauteed grouper with a savory butter sauce is probably my favorite meal ever. Sadly, the fish found in Nashville doesn’t hold a candle to the stuff you can find on the coast. Nothing beats freshly caught, and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get it. Santa Rosa Beach is filled with locally owned, ocean-view eateries that serve incredible fish.
Our hope with Mr. Handsome’s fishing excursion was that it would yield a prize fish that we could cook in our condo, but sadly it did not. He caught one small trout that had to be thrown back, but that was the extend of his return. Boy did he make a good effort, though!
Little Buddy giggled as Daddy waded out into the choppy waves with his 10-foot fishing pole. He was less than 30 feet from the beach, but the water was so deep that he had to start swimming to make it to the sandbar. He stayed out there for a while and came back with blue lips.
Do you like eating fish? Have you tried freshly caught?
