Dinner at Surf’s Out Fire Island + Recent Eats

 

I’ve got a few good meals to share plus we walked to Fire Island last night for dinner!

I still love to create my own salad at Panera. The current Panera salad options on the menu just don’t do it for me. I used to love the Hummus Power Bowl from the secret menu but then they stopped offering it so I learned to create a version that I find similar and delicious.

Just ask for the full-sized seasonal greens salad with the addition of avocado and cilantro hummus. It’s delicious and very similar to the Hummus Power Bowl from the secret menu, it just doesn’t involved a bed of spinach leaves as the salad base.

We had Subway on the way back from Foxwood’s a few weeks ago and ever since then, I crave the veggie sandwich! It’s been years since I had the Subway veggie sandwich but now it’s one of my favorite easy to grab lunches. I shared this foot long whole wheat veggie sandwich a few days ago and it really hit the spot. It’s all about asking for extra pickles and honey mustard. 🙂

I’ve been to George Martin’s Burger Bar a few times and really like it. Most recently I enjoyed this veggie burger over a greek salad for dinner.

So here’s the thing. Every table receives a pail filled with popcorn but I’ve learned to not touch it.

One piece of popcorn and you are hooked which totally ruins your meal because you end up way too full. I know this from experience so if you go, consider yourself warned.

As you know, I really haven’t been cooking much. When I am home, I rely on this giant salad bowl from Stew Leonard’s. I pick one of these salad bowls up each week and easily get four, if not five meals out of it. I just doctor the salad up with whatever is easy and interesting to me at the moment.

Usually it’s a Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger (like I showed you last week) with feta cheese. Sometimes I roasted baby potatoes and add them to the mix as well.

And finally, we walked to Fire Island last night for dinner at Surf’s Out!

Walking to Fire Island is one of my favorite things to do in the summer not only because it’s an adventure but because the restaurant Surf’s Out is our destination once we reach Kismet, Fire Island.

The walk to Fire Island is just under 3 miles from Robert Moses Beach to Kismet and then you get to enjoy really good food and atmosphere at Surf’s Out.

I’m not even going to complain that I was ready to order the best onion rings in the world to learn they are no longer on the Surf’s Out menu. Instead we ordered steak fries with a really good dipping sauce and I also had a salad with walnuts, cranberries and apples.

Ok fine. I totally whimpered in my seat about the onion rings and politely begged the waitress to ask the chef to get them back on the menu so hopefully next time we walk to Fire Island, the onion rings will be waiting for me.

If you missed my first ever walk to Fire Island, here’s that post from July 2013!  Aside from recapping our meal in that post, I also explain more in-depth about how it’s possible to access Fire Island without boat or ferry. It’s really the coolest thing!

[bctt tweet=”We walked to Fire Island last night for dinner! #WIAW #surfsout #fireisland #longisland #summer2017 #dinner #kismet” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you a Subway sandwich fan? What do you usually order if you go there?

If you live in New York, have you ever walked to Fire Island?

 

My Second Walk To Fire Island

 

 

We went for a walk yesterday to Fire Island.

Fire Island is a barrier island located off the south shore of Long Island in New York.

The island spans 32 miles in length and averages less than a mile in width.

There are no paved roads on Fire Island and only service and emergency vehicles are allowed.

Most people take the ferry to Fire Island since cars aren’t allowed (and there’s no way to drive there anyway).

However, I learned a few years ago that you can walk to the most western tip of the island from Robert Moses Beach.

Honestly, it’s the coolest experience ever to walk to Fire Island! When you grow up thinking you can’t get to Fire Island any other way than by boat and then discover you can walk a few miles to get there, it’s just so cool!

The walk to Fire Island starts on boardwalk parallel to the beach but then switches to a sand “road”.

The whole reason I bother to take this walk to Fire Island, aside from the views and coolness factor, is for the food at Surf’s Out.

Even the deer don’t bother me. Okay that’s a lie. They totally freak me out.

This salad was the perfect thing to eat when we arrived at Surf’s Out after walking a few miles — apples, cranberries, candied walnuts and blue cheese with a honey mustard vinaigrette on the side.

Best onion rings in the world. Seriously, it’s a fact. I had them a couple of summers ago at which point I labeled them best onion rings in the world and having them yesterday confirmed their title.

Somehow I was talked into climbing 187 steps to get to the top of the Fire Island Lighthouse.

I agreed to this climb before seeing what the winding steps and rope railing looked like.

The views from the top of the light house were kind of  worth it.

I don’t do enough stair climbing anyway. It was a nice workout.

My hair is a little beachy (beachy hair can be defined as a mixture of sweaty, tangled and out of control) but can you tell I had some highlights done on Saturday?!

Fresh highlights make me happy. As does days like yesterday.

If you are wondering what my shirt says: “Chocolate Icing Makes Me Run Faster”.

Oh, and my sunglasses from Pearle Vision are reminding me to that you need to enter the two Pearle Vision/$100 Visa Gift Card giveaways – click here and here if you missed those posts.

Read about my first ever walk to Fire Island here!

[bctt tweet=”Did you know you can walk to Fire Island? #fireisland #summer #longisland #surfsout #kismet #newyork #beach”]

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If you live in New York, have you ever walked to Fire Island? Did you know that you could?

Are you an onion rings person or french fries person?

What’s on the workout agenda for today?

A Mile In My Shoes

It’s fun sometimes for me to look back at old blog posts to read what I was doing and saying a year ago.

Like a year ago today I recapped the walk to Fire Island.

The onion rings were totally worth the walk to Surf’s Out on Fire Island. Possibly the best onion rings ever in my life.

So many posts often get lost in the blog shuffle but every now and again, I will suddenly recall a post I wrote way back in the day.

Last Friday night, when I was out with my friends for happy hour, I remembered one post in particular.

As you know, I went through my divorce a bunch of years ago. I was the first of my friends and really the first person I really even knew to go through the divorce process.

As I made the transition from married life to single life, my friends were so supportive and encouraging even though they had no experience with what I was going through at the time.

It wasn’t easy. Aside from the legal stuff, your whole life changes. And, as outgoing as I am, the party girl – happy hour – dating scene was never my thing.

My friends encouraged me to go out anyway. So I did. And when that novelty wore off, as much as my friends tried to relate and understand, they still insisted that I kept going out even though I really didn’t enjoy it.

My friends didn’t get it. They weren’t living my life, they weren’t divorced and they didn’t know how I felt or how it feels to suddenly not be married anymore.

And, even before my divorce process started, plenty of people had what to say about my decision to possibly save something that others felt wasn’t worth saving.

There’s that old saying Walk A Mile In My Shoes.

Although really we should be calling it Run A Mile In My Shoes.

I used the saying as the title of a post I wrote last year which I want to share an excerpt from with you today.

The post was sparked at the time by the sexting and online relationship drama surrounding Anthony Weiner and his run for Mayor of New York City.

Throughout it all, his wife stayed by his side even through the media frenzy involving segments devoted to the how and why she would as well as polls questioning what you would do in her shoes.

I won’t even entertain the details of this situation or what I would do in her place.

I don’t want to know what you think or what you would do either.

The truth is, none of us know what we would do in her place or in anyone’s place in any situation until we are put into that situation for real.

You may think you know, but you really don’t.

All too often, people offer their opinion on subjects they don’t know about, can’t relate to and even if they can, assume someone else should be doing something different.

I never pay much mind to what others think. If I did, I probably wouldn’t run as much or be a vegetarian.

Let’s face it – carnivores can’t understand vegetarians.

They don’t understand how or why you gave up meat and poultry and heaven for bid, if you give up fish and oh my goodness dairy too, why the heck you would want to be vegan.

Does it really matter to you what someone else eats?

And running?  The how’s and why’s of all those miles overwhelm and shock those on the sidelines.

Does it really matter to you how many miles someone else runs? Or how early and often someone else gets up for Cross Fit or yoga?

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So that happy hour I mentioned from last Friday?

We were mainly there because one of my best friends is actually going through her own divorce process now.

It was time for her to take the advice she once gave me and get out for a beautiful summertime happy hour on the town.

…And she was a deer in headlights.

Within five minutes she looked at me and said, “Thank you for showing me what this is like. It is quite an experience and now I understand why you felt the way you did about it. I am ready to leave when you are.”

We finished our drinks and I took her somewhere she would feel more comfortable – the mall.

We walked around window shopping and of course, I then took her to the yogurt store and grabbed a stack of sample cups so that we could taste lots of frozen yogurt flavors for free.

 Stick with me, I give alternate meaning to a cheap date and a real good time.

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Bloggers, do you go back and read your old posts?

Thoughts on the saying Walk A Mile In My Shoes?

Three things you plan to do this weekend? Run, Beach and find myself some onion rings…

 

 

The Walk to Fire Island

Thursday? Really? I am slightly thrown off this week. Probably because yesterday I felt as though I was on vacation.

After an early morning run and a little bit of work, a random excursion to Fire Island happened.

For those of you not familiar, Fire Island is a barrier island located off the south shore of Long Island in New York.

The island spans 32 miles in length and averages less than a mile in width.

There are no paved roads on Fire Island and only service and emergency vehicles are allowed.

Now, I have lived on Long Island my entire life and for the last 35 years, I thought the only way to get to Fire Island is to take a ferry.

Boy was I wrong. I recently discovered that you can reach the western most tip of Fire Island by walking a mile (or two) from Robert Moses Beach.

And, not only do you end up on Fire Island when you walk the distance, a fabulous restaurant is waiting for you at the end of your excursion.

After a quick stop at Red Mango for some fuel, we headed to Robert Moses Beach to begin our adventure.

The first mile of the walk took place on a narrow boardwalk that cuts a path through what seems like marsh land overlooking the beach.

The more we walked, the closer we got to the Fire Island Lighthouse.

Once we arrived at the Lighthouse, the boardwalk ended and we then had to walk another mile (or two) on a sand path with nothing in sight but open beach.

This walk was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life considering I NEVER knew it was possible to access Fire Island by foot.

We arrived in the village of Kismet and headed straight to the restaurant, Surf’s Out.

After a serious walk, we were starving. And kinda hot.

Although there was outdoor seating, we decided to sit inside to cool off.

I cannot begin to tell you how amazing the food was, starting with the above sushi tower – spicy tuna topped with layers of crunch, avocado, crab and who knows what else.

Any place that serves me a giant salad topped with what appeared to be an entire avocado is now at the top of my favorite restaurants list.

I will be dreaming of these onion rings until the next time I walk to Fire Island.

The views were simply amazing.

I have decided that I take for granted how beautiful New York can be in the summer.

Now, the walk back to the main land was quite interesting. Or perhaps the correct description for the walk back is “quite dark”. The only light guiding us back was from the lighthouse and the moon.

We encountered a few deer on our way but I have no photos since it was so dark. And, I really didn’t need the flash to shock the wildlife.

As I sit here writing this post, I am still in awe from last night’s experience.

I love situations such as this where you discover something new, something that is almost secret in nature, that not everyone knows about.

There is just something so cool about an adventure in your own backyard – especially when combined with great food.

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Have you ever been to Fire Island?

Have you ever discovered something about where you lived that you couldn’t believe you didn’t know?

Onion Rings or French Fries? – Onion Rings all the way!