Saturday Night in Gloucester

After an amazing dinner the night before, we all woke up refreshed Saturday morning and headed out for breakfast. We went to the Atlantis Oceanfront Inn and it was delightful. I would strongly recommend anyone to go there if they're in Gloucester. I just had eggs and toast but our group ordered the eggs benedict, breakfast sandwich, blueberry pancakes, and oatmeal, and everyone's plates were licked clean.  After a few more cups of coffee (very necessary after our long Friday night) we made our way back to the house to change for the beach.

We spent several hours soaking in the sun at the beach, and I even learned how to play handball. I know – I probably should have known how to play a long time ago, or should have understood the concept of the game due to its name. But regardless, I learned how to play and I rocked it. After a long day at the beach Chris and I headed back to the house to cook up some pre-dinner appetizers. I would not recommend making these unless you are someone who can practice portion control prior to dinner. My boyfriend and I pretty much stuffed our faces before dinner, and therefore were way too full to truly enjoy anything we attempted to eat afterwards.

Anyway, I made my buffalo chicken recipe and Chris and I made salsa. For our salsa we used about five big tomatoes on the vine, half of a large red onion, 1 green pepper, 1-2 jalapenos, a hand full of cilantro, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, lime juice and garlic salt. We also add a little chipotle hot sauce as well.  Salsa is so simple – you just chop everything up and let it marinate together for a few hours. Note: We roasted the pepper and jalapenos on an open flame on the stove first. It really gives the salsa a great smoky flavor. Just slice the peppers in half, take the seeds and everything out, and let them sit over the flame until they become browned.

After our award-winning appetizer session we headed to another local favorite for dinner, the Rudder. For some reason we decided to take four cars to dinner – this was a poor choice since the parking lot was completely filled. We had to park on a side street nearby, which wasn’t too far of a walk for my boyfriend, but I was wearing four inch wedges and had already consumed two glasses of wine prior, so it was slightly more challenging for me. Anyhoo… We arrived at the Rudder and entered. You would have thought that it was the only restaurant within a 50 mile radius because to say the place was packed would be an understatement. It was honestly a little overwhelming – I don’t do well in crowds. Our wait wasn’t too long, maybe 35 minutes or so. We were truly packed in like sardines so I really wasn’t sure how dinner was going to go – I figured slow service and mediocre food – I was proven very wrong. Once we were seated our waitress was incredible attentive and friendly. The drinks were delicious! Definitely order the ruby red! My boyfriend’s mother ordered it and I wish I had! Like I previously mentioned, I was grossly full with buffalo chicken dip and I opted for a vodka with club soda (I assumed the soda would help settle my stomach – logical, right?).

Greek Salad

For appetizers we ordered like it was our last meal – calamari, spinach dip, eggplant napoleon, Greek salad, and fried clams. We like to eat. The eggplant was my favorite, it had fresh ricotta cheese on top and was flash fried and not greasy at all.

For entrees I ordered fried clams, and Chris ordered fried shrimp. Both were surprisingly light for fried food, and my clams were super tender and moist on the inside. 

Fried Shrimp

Fried Clams

Chris’s mom Jan ordered the seafood risotto. She got the half portion which was still big, so I’d definitely recommend only getting the half portion, especially if you’re ordering apps as well. Regardless of the food, the view was simply picturesque. And surprisingly the noise level was not bad, especially considering the amount of people in the place. Overall it was a very pleasant dining experience (despite Chris and I being physical ill the entire time).

Seafood Risotto

Another great dinner option in Gloucester! 

Simple Salsa Recipe:

5 tomatoes diced

1/2 large red onion diced

1 green pepper diced (and roasted)

2 jalapenos diced (and roasted)

1 lime (just the juice)

1/4 cup at most of cilantro finely chopped

salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic salt to taste

Optional: hot sauce (chipotle)

Mix everything together and let the flavors marry with each other for an hour.