Breakfast Places To Go

My husband is a breakfast person. His father is the quintessential breakfast person (so my husband got it honest). Eggs, biscuits and gravy, maybe a pancake and some bacon?

But when I’m at the beach, literally the last thing I really want to do is spend 3 hours in the kitchen cooking breakfast (there are exceptions – if there is someone else that wants to cook with me then it can be a fun way to start the day).

Usually that’s not the case, though.

A typical beach morning goes like this:

Stan: (shortly after waking) “I’m hungry.”

Me: “Ok.” (really just wants some coffee and a few minutes looking at the ocean – while checking emails of course.)

Stan: “Do you want to go get something to eat?”

Me: (thinking once again about my gosh awful oily hair, that MUST be washed first thing each morning before seeing people. Then dried. Then styled. No pulling back into a pony tail for me) “Or you could just bring me something back.” (this actually makes me sad sometimes – I’d love to be the type to just jump up, throw on a hat and run out the door on a whim’s notice, but I’m not. I’m just not!)

Stan: “What do you want?”

Me: (how many times do we do this dance?) “Whatever you feel like bringing me, dear!”

Honestly he’s a saint. Sometimes. I DO love going to eat breakfast – I just tend to like it at times other than…well…breakfast. Not that I’m not up or not a morning person – I am. I love getting up at the crack of dawn before anyone else and enjoying the peace and quiet. But just because I’m up doesn’t mean I’m roaring to go off and explore the world –  namely because of aforementioned hair issues. I seriously do have to spend a good 30 minutes taking a shower and getting ready – and when Stan is ASLEEP and I’m trying to be quiet and not wake him, that means I’m NOT getting ready until AFTER he’s awake – but he wakes up ready to go eat. So there’s a timing issue.

And a tractor beam.

If it’s pretty outside? And the waves are calling my name? I start to get very, very nervous that any outing on which I might partake might unintentionally compete with my sun, sand and surf time. I can be a bit territorial about that, I concede. In fact, I must admit that the ocean-beach-tractor-beam is a far more likely reason to keep me from running around than my hair issues. Like I said, he’s a saint. Sometimes. (I do go out for breakfast every now and then – more often in winter months – check out my latest love, Great Southern Cafe.)

So we do the “what are we having for breakfast” dance. Luckily for me, Stan loves exploring at eight am and has found quite a few little places to get breakfast – three of his favorites are Thomas Donut and Snack Shop in PCB, Seacrest Sundries in Seacrest and The Summer Kitchen in Rosemary.

If you’re in the PCB area (or not – folks drive from up and down 30-A and even Destin for these) – the standard breakfast sweets-to-go are little round delights from Thomas Donut and Snack Shop.  Hint: Go early. Like. Early! Donuts are made fresh each morning at the crack of dawn and that’s it. So if you wait until 11 and think you’re going to get Red Velvet or Key Lime, you  might be heartbroken. And don’t let the line going around the corner of the building deter you: it goes fairly fast!

Seacrest Sundries is a little “general store” that also happens to offer sandwiches and biscuits (breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, hamburgers, etc.). Taking a page from “Cheers”, they greet you with a hearty “Good Morning” and will even learn your name (if you visit often enough). Stan  enjoys sitting outside people watching the hustle and bustle of morning exercise commencing all around him while waiting for his made-to-order egg and ham and cheese bagel. It’s quick, very affordable, no pomp and circumstance and has a lovely indoor area for eating or they’ll bag your “sammiches” up to go. And you can buy any consumable needed while you’re there (so your husband doesn’t have to make two separate stops – ice, beer, batteries, toilet paper – things we all seem to run out of daily when at the beach).

Summer Kitchen Cafe – Really want an omelet? A really, really good omelet made with fresh whole food (from a business that values green and organic)? Head on over to the Summer Kitchen Cafe in Rosemary Beach. While they offer a lunch and dinner menu as well, we can’t get enough of their fresh eggs. Stan goes for the “whole hog” bacon, ham, sausage, egg and cheese and I love their spinach, blue cheese and tomato omelet (you can add any extras you like – for me, that would be a good helping of fresh portobello mushrooms – yummy)! You can sit inside or outside and people watch, or, like Seacrest Sundries, they’ll box up your omelets and send you on your merry way. Which is really nice when you’re still in your jammies at the condo and your husband literally brings home the bacon. Or in my case, the portobello mushrooms. 😉

 

Of course there are tons of other good breakfast places “to go” up and down the coast. What are some of your favorites and why? Where’s the go-to in Destin for a quick bagel? Does Pensacola have a donut shop to rival  PCB’s Thomas Donut and Snack Shop? Do you prefer a nice spread with mimosa’s or do you prefer a quick biscuit and fresh fruit in order to save room for the rest of the fabulous beach food? Or do you just like to sleep in, hit the beach at 10 and have a hamburger for breakfast – at noon?! Share your thoughts and I’ll add them to the Beach Breakfast To Go List.