Ryan and I had dinner plans at Latitude 31, a restaurant located on the pier in Jekyll Island.
The restaurant was just as beautiful inside as it was outside.
Check out the view from my seat at our table!
Not too shabby!
Once we started perusing the menu, a bunch of different things popped out at us. The moment I saw the blue crab and brie quesadilla appetizer, I mentioned it to Ryan and he agreed that it sounded fantastic.
The crabmeat was plentiful and the brie was warm and oozing. A great selection! I forgot to snap a picture of the bread basket at our table, but I had two rolls that were warm and slightly sweet and really good. They looked like generic rolls when they were placed in front of us, but they were absolutely delicious!
I arrived at the restaurant hoping for steamed shellfish for dinner and stayed true to my wishes by selection an order of a dozen oysters as my entrée.
My oysters were good, but Ryan’s dinner stole the show.
He ordered the shrimp ‘n’ grits and oooooh myyyy gooooosh. It was so creamy, flavorful and perfectly southern. If we visit Jekyll Island again, I am definitely ordering this dish. The fried block in the middle of the plate was actually the grits, and you had to break into it with your fork and mix it around in the creamy sauce. Unbelievable. I’m seriously salivating just thinking about it.
Before leaving, we asked out waiter for dessert recommendations and he suggested the xango cheesecake, a caramel banana cheesecake, fried, dusted in cinnamon and sugar and served with whipped cream.
We had about an hour and a half to kill before we needed to be at back at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for our nighttime turtle walk, so we ventured out around the island, stopping by the fishing pier to watch the sunset. Since we both have a fifth stomach when it comes to dessert, we also swung by Dairy Queen for a Hawaiian Blizzard to share.
Then it was time for our turtle walk!
Unfortunately we didn’t see any sea turtles nesting on the beach, but we did see a ghost crab and a sea turtle nest. It was nice to simply walk on the beach at night. Most of the hotels on Jekyll Island were built a distance off the beach, so it was very dark and peaceful out by the water.
Once our walk was over, we came back to the hotel and crashed hard! It was a long but really fun day.
Today will also be full of adventure. We’re about to grab breakfast before heading out for a guided kayak tour. I hope Ryan and I get a double kayak, so I can let him do all the rowing impress him with my rowing skills.
Catch ya later, alligators!
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Ok, elaborate on the shrimp and grits please. So the block is the grits, is the yellow stuff below it just the sauce? Either way it looks insanely decadent
Oh my gosh, fried grits AND fried cheesecake? That meal is a winner. And in a gorgeous place, too! Looks like an amazing evening 🙂
Loving your dress, by the way!
GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!
and gorgeous dress…
sounds like such a nice night! i LOVE da BEACH!!
and i so have a fifth stomach too when it comes to dessert!
I like your outfit coordination 🙂
I also have a fifth stomach when it comes to desserts! I don’t hate it though.
I have seen the turtles lay their eggs in FL (Palm Beach) and it’s amazing…it’s gross but i cant stop watching. I hope you get to see some!
Hey Julie! I was wondering what style your Micheal Kors bag is? I just love it.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Oh Ryan’s meal sounds AWESOME. Seafood + fried is always a win. Have a fun time today!
You make me want to take a vacation so badly!!
Those shrimp and grits sound heavenly… have fun today!
Cool! I love sea-side (or even lake-side) restaurants. Sounds like you’re having fun. 🙂
Oh wow, all that seafood looks amazing-
and of course, the blizzard too 🙂
I’m partial to the peanut butter cup blizzard, though!
how nice it must be to take a vacation, i could so use one right about now!
The south just does dessert so much better than the rest of the country!! Woo hoo I vote for the blizzard 🙂
That view is amazing.. and allof your food looks delicious too. I hope that you and Ryan are enjoying your special time together ! 🙂
Ahh how fun! I love kayaking! 🙂
oh dear that food looks amazing!! Especially ryan’s entree, so rich and creamy!
The dessert also looks amazing, although the icecream would always come 1st to me 😉
Icecream rocks!!
Oh woahhh Ryan’s dinner DOES look and sound delicious! I’d do a major trade off 😉
Glad ya’ll had a beautiful dinner and Hawaiian dessert ALL the way – that Blizzard is a childhood fave 🙂
Love the dress, that shade of blue looks great! The whole meal sounds delicious, from start to finish! You guys are such troopers when it comes to dessert- my kinda ppl 🙂
oh my goodness the seafood lover in me is super jealous! Ryan’s dish does look amazing mm mm!
Hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂
You two are so cute, seriously cutest couple 🙂
& I think that picture of Ryan is funny (the one where the dish is in front of him) because it looks like he is ‘feed me feed me’ with his knife & fork in hand, ready to dig in! Haha 😀 But, looking at that dish I would want to dig in too, it looks so good- I’ve never seen grits in a ‘brick-type’ form.
I’m thinking that recipe definitely needs to be re-created 😉
Hope you guys continue to enjoy your weekend!!
That dinner looks delicious! My family and I go to the beach at Topsail Island in NC every year which is a “sea turtle sanctuary”. there are nests everywhere on the beach and we’ve been there a few times when they hatched at night and see them making their way to the water. They’re so cute when they’re that little! Unfortunately, the statistics of how many actually make it and don’t get eaten is so small it’s so sad!
Sounds amazing!!!!!! Shrimp and grits are delicious!! 😀
Glad you’re having fun!
Shrimp and Grits… otherworldly. Mmm mmm.
Whenever I get oysters, I always need an appetizer or a dessert to round out the meal, but they feel like such a luxury dish.
Hope Ryan.. I mean you both don’t work too hard today on the kayak!!
Dinner looks fabulous! I especially like that the meal was Southern… I’d love to eat Southern food all the time!
That dessert looks amazing…but since you didn’t say much about it, I’m guessing Ryan’s dinner took the cake lol! I think I have a sixth stomach, so good for you for waiting a bit before stopping at DQ! haha
Mmm I love steamed oysters too, but it looks like Ryan’s dinner really takes the cake!
My mom makes really fantastic grits that are similar to that (but not actually deep fried) – after cooking them on the stove, she pours them into a 9×12 metal baking pan and lets them cool. Keep them covered. You can prepare them a while before everything else is ready. When you’re ready to heat up the grits again, just cut out a square (or however much you want) 🙂 and brown them on the outside. Plain cooking spray works, but a tiny bit of butter makes them really good. They’re not totally creamy like the ones you describe, but you can definitely mix them up into whatever else you’re eating, and it’s delicious!!
I was wondering, what hotel are you guys staying at? My husband and I are looking to take a close by vacation (we live in middle GA) and Jekyll has been one of the contenders. Thanks Julie!!
I’d like to know, too! We have a vacation to plan in August and are thinking Savannah, or mayyyybe Jekyll Island now!
awe! Y’all must be having so much fun! Have fun today!
Wow Jekyll Island looks beautiful! And you look gorgeous too, Julie!
I’m not a huge fan of fresh oysters/clams/mussels, but Ryan’s dish looks amazing! I hope you have an even more awesome day today 🙂
Looks delicious! Reminds me of a restaurant I we ate at in Maine a few months ago!
Have a good weekend!
Ryan’s shrimp and grits looks beyond delicious! Actually, everything did! What a great view also, I love restaurants on the water.
Looks like so much fun! I’ve never been to Jekyll Island but it isn’t too far from me!
Ryans meal really does look fantastic! I think it’s one of those thing I’m not sure if I’d order myself, but I would absolutely love. Not a lot of grits on the menu up here in Philly!
BRIE!! And shrimp and grits. And fried cheesecake!!! This post is a #WINNER. 😀
I haven’t had DQ is so long, as soon as i am done the detox, I am on it 🙂
Night walks on the beach are awesome. Shrimp and grits look soooo good!!
Your trip sounds like SO much fun! Do you recommend visiting? Is it anything like Sanibel? PS.. i’ve totally seen ghost crabs on the beach at night… they freak me out!!!
Holy cow that dessert looks amazing!
Yum! I want to re-create that quesadilla!!
All of that food looks amazing!
Have a great time 🙂
Wow that food looks incredible. Have fun kayaking today! My uncle used to own a kayaking tours business, and every time I went was fun 🙂
My hubby always picks the best dinners! I hate it when that happens because I end up feeling guitly for stealing too many bites! Lucky for me he doesn’t get mad 🙂 Looks like you two had a fun little trip! Your dress is super cute!
OMG that dessert looks delish…and now I really want to eat something with crab in it, yum
Oh my goodness–I want everything in this post! (well, except the oysters; no offense, but I they’re nasty!) Is it strange that the thing I want the most though isn’t the expensive, fancy restaurant fare, but the cheap DQ blizzard? Haha. I’ve never had one but they look delicious!
the presentation of your meals is amazing! but i love that you capped it off with a trip to DQ…there is no such thing as too much dessert.
it looks like your trip is off to a fabulous start and have fun kayaking! i’ve been only once and had a blast, i really want to go again. 🙂
oh, and seriously you guys are the cutest couple, i love your dress!
i love that dress and your meal looks delicious. I hope you have a great trip!
This may sound weird, but I’m glad you didn’t see any mama turtles.
I went to one of those places in Bundaberg, Australia to see the giant sea turtles laying their eggs on the beach and it was one of the worst things I have done. Not because of the tour or the company or anything, but because of the guilt I felt while watching.
I think the the turtles laying eggs should be a private moment for the mama turtle, not a time to be surrounded by tourists taking pictures and crowding. They had rules for us to try and not let the turtle know we were there or cause her stress but I’m positive she could could feel the ground moving and was aware we were there.
i actually agree with you 100 percent. it seems like such an intense moment that should be private.
ohhh man those shrimp n grits looked good! Is it weird the second most delicious looking thing was the Dairy Queen? We don’t have them in NY and that blizzard looks amaaazing. I hope they still have the Hawaiin Blizzard when I visit Omaha in July. Hope you’re having fun kyaking!
Yummmm those oysters look so good!!!
that restaurant looks great!
Only in America would you get fried cheesecake!!! The restaurant looked fantastic, even to a non seafood lover like myself!
The food looks great! Glad you two are enjoying yourselves. 🙂