Mrs. Irish recently went down to the beach for a few days to check on our property and to hire a contractor to clear the land and level it off. We ended up staying a few chilly days and it's always kind of of a crap shoot when you get down there to see what you have to cook with. Being a cast iron and gas stove kind of guy, sometimes that's a challenge. We somehow managed anyway...

First off it was homemade spaghetti with a slow cooked Ragu. All we had were these two pots, but we made it work. Mrs. Irish mad a fine salad.







Not bad...



Next night it was some nice sirloin steaks seared in a Teflon pan...

They turned out pretty decent too...



Mrs. Irish contributed a nice salad and some fantastic twice baked potatoes...



Mrs. Irish whipped us up some BAELT sandwiches. Bacon, avocado, egg, lettuce and tomato. Pretty damn good. I only toasted the inside of the bread in butter in the skillet. Really good breakfast...



Yes we did go out to eat some. Had to stop by Apalach and get some beers at Oyster City Brewing and grab some raw oysters.

Yes we did go out to eat. We usually always stop by Shipwreck Oyster Bar and get some grub. These are oysters from Cedar Key...



And since we don't normally eat fried foods, we decided to split a seafood platter. The Mac and Cheese was underwhelming, but the rest was spot on.



To get home we basically took, 98 to 231 to 431 to 9, and the trip from the beach to the cabin after stopping for lunch and several pee stops it took about 7.5 hours on the road. Needless to say we were pretty tired from the road when we got home, so I took the leftover noodles, warmed up the sauce, mixed up some ricotta, egg, milk and parmesan and layered everything like a lasagna before topping with some thick mozzarella slices and baking. Not bad for a post trip meal.

Fine eatin

The skruggle is real

Have y’all got any immediate plans for the beach property?

It all looks fantastic, brother.

Well... We have considered selling, but we are also considering going ahead and building too. The problem is that building prices are about $300 a square foot down there right now. Before the hurricane the prices were about $130 a square foot.

What we are considering after we get it cleared is for me to draw up a set of plans, act as our own general contractor and work with this new friend we met down there. He's the guy who is clearing our land, and he built his own beach house, and of course has met several contractors he trusts and wants to help us out.

So after the plans the next step would be to buy a small camper and put it on the property, and build an elevated slab. Pay for all that in cash and then sit on it for a while. Then when we have some more money go ahead and get it all framed up and blacked in. Once we have done that, then we can work on the plumbing and electrical rough in, go ahead and finish the outside and lastly take our time and finish up the inside.

I would love to be able to do all that over about a 3 year period, dragging our feet and renewing permits and hopefully get it built on the cheap with only a minimum of a construction loan.

Not sure if that's all going to be possible, but we are going to try, and see what the city will let us get away with time wise.

If we decide to sell, our real estate lady told us to put it on the market for $86,000. It's three nicely walkable blocks from the lot to 30A and about 2 miles of city owned public beach. So even though it's not on the water, it's a nice level lot with an easy walk to an uncrowded beach. It has garbage service, water, and sewer all for a small $117 a month fee to the city. It has natural gas too..

Sounds like a well thought out plan, I look forward to updates on aldeer.

Well... If I had money and any sense, I'd just hire a contractor to build us something. Unfortunately the Scottish in me can't see spending $300k on a 1200 square foot beach cottage.

It all looks delicious!

You going to rent it out Irish when your not using it?

We don't know yet. Hell, we don't know if we have the idiocy to even build another house, much less the money.

Good lookin food

The Hole in the Wall, next to the Oyster City Brewing, has some good grub too......
We were down at Mexico Beach when the storm came through back in September and ran over there for lunch one afternoon.

We were going to grab some oysters there, but it was packed out. So we ended up riding up to Port St. Joe for lunch that day.