You Know Me, But Do You Really Know Me?

High Tide at Snack Jack's
2805 S. Oceanshore Blvd.
Flagler Beach, FL 32136
(386)439-3344
www.snackjacks.com

I am almost positive that I have reviewed Snack Jack's in this blog before, but am too damn lazy to go back to check for sure. Certainly, it wouldn't hurt to review them again, plus I have a story to tell you about our evening, which will allow readers to determine how well you think you know me.

While running errands this morning, I called my buddy Gary to see if I could stop by his house to talk with Nada about an interview I had coming up later in the afternoon. He told me to come on by as she was going to be at the house all morning. I get out there and she provides me with great pointers for the interview, which has me pumped and excited. As I am leaving, Gary asks me if I want to come back out to his place after my interview to do some fishing. Since it has been a while since I have done any fishing, I tell him I'd like to, but need to see what Julynn and Kennedy have planned for the evening.

The interview goes well, so I figure it would be great to go do a little fishing. Kennedy had told me recently that she wanted to go fishing with me when I went to Gary's, so I ask Julynn if they wanted to tag along. They agree, so it is off to Gary and Nada's for fishing.

One thing you should know about me is that I am not a real outdoorsy type of guy. I like to do a little bit of fishing, but once the mosquitoes start making their presence known, I am done. We are fishing and Nada calls Gary back to the house to assist with their son Vuk. While he is gone, I am baiting hooks for Kennedy and myself and getting killed by bugs. I am just about ready to call it a night when Nada comes out and brings me a beer. I think, "God bless this woman." Things quickly change when she hands me a Corona and I tell her, "This isn't a screw top. Did you bring an opener?" Well, no she didn't. While her heart is in a great place and she is trying to help me out, she has just delivered me the ultimate tease. It's like giving a child a lollipop and telling them they cannot eat it. Gary shows back up in due time and has an opener, so the evening is saved as we have a couple of beers while finishing our fishing. The decision is made pretty quickly to take it to Snack Jack's for some dinner.

We make the short drive to Snack Jack's and Gary orders a bucket of Yuenlings and Budweisers. The waitress informs us they are out of Budweiser. Now how does that happen? I teasingly give her a hard time and go with Bud Light. We settle in by listening to the juke box and ordering the kids some shrimp right away. Vuk goes steamed shrimp, while Kennedy wants fried shrimp. Nada gets a buffalo fish sandwich, Julynn gets scallops and Gary and I decide split 10 wings with their inferno sauce. We both had eaten earlier in the day and were not very hungry. As we are waiting for your food, I cannot help but think about how wonderfully casual this restaurant is. It is exactly what you would expect from a restaurant on the beach. It is the type of place that is a must do for people taking repeat vacations to the Flagler Beach area. You'll see the same faces there just about every time you go.

Our food orders come quickly and everybody starts to eat. Vuk is loving his shrimp so much that Gary cannot peel them enough. Kennedy complains a little bit as she thought she was getting popcorn shrimp and is a little taken aback by the larger fried shrimp she has been served. I explain to her it is the same thing, but she doesn't believe me. She does finally accept the fact that "it is what it is" and eats her shrimp. Gary and I start to get after the wings and are loving the incredible heat of the sauce. Gary also comments on how hot the wings are and the fact that they are burning his fingers. He decides to hold off a few moments to let them cool. Now this is where things get interesting.

Since I like all of my food piping hot, I continue eating. As you know, a plate of chicken wings are made up of drumettes and what Gary and I like to call, flappers. That's the part of the wing that allows the chicken to flap it's wings. The way to eat a flapper is to grab the little bones with your thumb and forefingers and pull them apart to expose the meat. The bones then become perfect tools for dipping the meat into your bleu cheese or ranch dressing. I grab a flapper and try to pull it apart. As I start to pull, the heat of the chicken, the slippery sauce and a tough, sinewy tendon on the bone causes me to think, "Something bad is about to happen." Sure enough, I lose grip on the flapper and it flies to the floor. I pick it up quickly and toss it back onto the table. This is where the question comes in, "How well do you know me?" Did I throw this particular piece of chicken out, or did I eat it? I ate it and there are specific reasons why.

I think Gary knew immediately what the call was going to be as he just nodded his head as if to say, "I know dude." This is why I ate the fallen flapper.

1. The ten second rule was in effect. Any food that can be picked off the floor within ten seconds is safe for consumption.

2. A childhood mantra came to mind. When we were kids we used to say, "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt, so get your jaws ready to work!"

3. The heat of the hot sauce on the wings could probably kill the H1N1 virus and anything that was probably on the floor.

4. Most importantly, Gary and I had only ordered 10 wings. Had we ordered 20 then a sacrifice of one wing would not have been that big of a deal, but losing one of only five I have to eat was more than I could stand.

I washed the wing down with some beer and continued on. We had a great time eating, drinking and listening to music and wrapped the evening up accordingly. Snack Jack's is a great place to hang out with friends, have a few beers and just relax. They also have floors so clean you can eat off of them. For our visit tonight to Snack Jack's I give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry