Searching for good food is a fun activity anytime I travel, and fried scallops top my list. I enjoy cooking at home but fried seafood like scallops and shrimp are not something I cook well, so I eat them whenever I go out.
In Thomasville last week I had only one night without a set schedule and had found George and Louie’s Seafood with fried scallops on the menu. Linda had eaten there and said it was good, so we planned to go Thursday night.
At our welcome get-together at Kevin’s Gun Room, several asked our Chamber of Commerce host about dinner. She said Jonah’s Fish and Grits was famous and only a block away. Ron Brooks asked if they had scallops – he knows me well and I think he asked for me – and she said yes, so a group of us went there.
When our group of eight arrived at 7:30 they were busy but pulled some tables together and seated us almost immediately. The menu listed scallops, but only as an appetizer or with pasta. I asked the waitress if they would fry me a batch of them for dinner and she said “no.”
I have made that request at dozens of places all over Alabama and Georgia, and every single one of them said yes. Sometimes it was a couple dollars more than the fried shrimp dinner on the menu but I did not mind.
In their defense, Joanah’s closes at 8:00 – we did not realize that so our party of eight was right at closing time. I ordered fried shrimp and they were ok, a little over done, but maybe partly not as good as they would have been due to my disappointment.
Ron got the seafood linguine and the scallops in it were tiny, so maybe it was for the best, although the menu said the scallop appetizer was “sea scallops,” which are the big ones.
Lesson learned, I should have gone to George and Louie’s!
Friday night we had our auction meeting and dinner at Q-Café. I wondered what the meal would be like but the outdoor pictures on the walls reassured me, and the owner was great. He even bought a painting at our auction to hang on his wall and bought one of our auction guns.
They are usually open for breakfast and dinner only but they catered our meal and it was great. It was buffet style and they kept cooking till everyone was full. The blackened shrimp were delicious and the fried chicken fingers were cooked just right and piping hot, too.
I filled up on pastry cups with either chicken salad or pimento cheese, too. Those bite size pastries were seasoned just right. And the cold veggie platter provided my greens I want at every dinner. A couple of our members went back the next morning for breakfast and said it was fantastic.
Our Awards banquet Saturday night was at Plaza Restaurant and Oyster bar, and we had three choices, fried shrimp, prime rib or Greek chicken. You can guess what I ordered, and the shrimp, although there was only one waitress serving the 30 of us, were hot and not over cooked. So I did get one really good fried shrimp dinner.
Our lunches were provided by JB Crumbs. Sandwich platters were varied and good. If you are planning a conference, or just a personal trip, there are plenty of great places to visit, help you and provide food for your group in Thomasville.
As soon as I got home I went to Jimmy’s Steak and Seafood in Jackson for my fried scallop dinner. This small place in a strip mall has as good fried scallops and shrimp as I have had anywhere. Fishtales here in Griffin is just as good, but Jimmy’s is open every night but Monday!
When I got home Sunday, still thinking about seafood, one of the first emails I opened was from Taste of Home magazine. I get their recipes in about four categories every day and the first one I saw was for shrimp and grits, so I had to cook it.
The cheese grits were cooked in the cock pot so it was easy and didn’t burn, and the sauteed shrimp and sausage with bell peppers and garlic topped it just right. I had it twice last week.
At Kevin’s Gun Room for our greeting get together we had a cheese tray with different things made locally in Thomasville. The different kinds of preserves went well with the locally made cheese.
Kevins started in Tallahassee, Florida and is a big pawn shop featuring everything you would expect. Kevin did well and opened his place in Thomasville as his showcase and personal get-away. When you walk in the front door you are greeted by a full-size brown bear mount and there are mounts all around the main room.
Upstairs in the remodeled mill right downtown is the amazing part. From the polar bear rug on the floor to the red stag mounts brought from Germany, the room shouts “rich man cave!” Kevin has spent a lifetime hunting and collecting outdoor equipment.
The walls of four rooms upstairs are lined with guns for sale. The first one I looked at, a beautiful side by side 28 gauge, had a price tag of $49,999.00! I had to back away carefully. Most of the guns were not as expensive, I saw a lever action .410 for only $5000.00. But one gun in his catalog lists for $149,999.00.
You can get a good idea of the items for sale at Kevin’s in his catalog at https://kevinsguns.com/
| Kevin’s GunsTallahassee, FL (850) 386-5544 Mon-Fri 9am to 6:30pm EST Sat 9am to 6pm EST Sun 11am to 5pm EST gunroom@kevinsguns.comkevinsguns.com |
Maybe you want to order one for Christmas! I am honored to get to tour his facility and see what someone dedicated to their passion and willing to work to make the American Dream come true, can do.