Southern Breeze Wine and Culinary Festival (Part 1)

[EatinAintCheatin]

Summary, if you don't want to read all the junk below the following two paragraphs give a very general overview:

The festival has ample good wine but the venue is outside in the heat during the hottest part of the day. It's hard to enjoy the Grand Tasting in the midday sun. The Walkabout Brunch was awesome. I highly recommend it. The Gulf Place complex where the event was held and where I rented a condo was very nice with all the amenities.

The Shed - Ocean Springs, Ms.--- Excellent BBQ, great value. Recommended
Amoré a Pizzeria - Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. --- Average, convenient.
Goatfeather's - Santa Rosa Beach, Fla --- Terrible
Grand Tasting - Lots of good wine, too hot to enjoy. Little to no food.
Walkabout Brunch - Excellent food and champagne. Still a little hot but earlier in the morning, at 10:30am, it was OK. Highly Recommended.

Stop here or continue for more detail:

Now here's the blow by blow Part 1:

Friday - 9/12 - We left around 10am while Ike was blowing hard over Reefer Ridge. The wind was rippin' and we were amazed at how much flood water topped the industrial canal (on the right when heading east over the high rise).

Lunch - Our first stop was The Shed in Ocean Springs, Ms. on Hwy. 57. Definitely an interesting place. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich plate (2 sides) and my wife ordered the beef brisket sandwich plate. Both of us got potato salad and slaw as our sides. Lots of meat...lots... moist, and tender. I liked the pork better, she liked her brisket. The sauce was a little sweet for me but still good. After hitting it with some crystal hot sauce it was just right. Both plates came with 2 sides. Plates with two sodas for $20. Excellent recommendation. Thanks
http://www.theshedbbq.com/

Dinner - We rented a condo at Gulf Place Inn in Santa Rosa Beach. This is where the Summer Breeze Wine and Culinary festival was held. There were several shops and a couple restaurants in the Gulf Place complex. We decided to try Amoré a Pizzeria. Ordered a Salsiccia pizza (Italian sausage, mozzarella & marinara) to take back to the condo. It was OK. The crust was a little too thin and crispy and it could have used some more meat. It was the only pizza we got from there. I'd be willing to try it again as it was recommended by several locals.
http://amore-pizzeria.com/

Saturday 9/13 -

Breakfast - Since our condo was fully equipped with kitchen stuff we stopped at the Publix in Sandestin to pick up a few items. Breakfast was toasted English muffins with butter and jam, and a banana.

Lunch - Well, since the Grand tasting starts at 2pm, and has food, we'll just eat some crackers and cheese and grab something at the tasting.

Grand Tasting - This event was held in a large grassy area with about 15 small tents, each having a different wine vendor. There was one large tent with cooking demos by Chef Tim Creehan.

There were so many different wines that it was mind boggling. I made one complete round trying whites/sparklings and then another round for reds. Many were very good, all were at least OK. THERE WAS ALMOST NO FOOD! There was a gentleman from Ireland showcasing his Kerrygold cheeses. He had a Dubliner and a Swiss. Both cheeses were very good and I bought some for later. (Side note: Never ask an Irishman to stand in Florida September heat without letting him become acclimated. The poor guy was miserable.) Since he was the only one with food he was slammed the entire time. The venue was incredibly hot, direct sunshine, in the middle of September. The tasting lasted from 2 to 6pm and they ran out of bottle water. Again, the wines were excellent but with no food and the blazing heat it was hard to enjoy. Luckily, we were one of the few who could escape to an air conditioned condo every 45 minutes or so just to cool down.

Dinner -
We had planned to just eat some salami and cheese in our condo but since we had no food at the tasting we decided to go to Goatfeather's Restaurant on 30A. It was a disappointment. Service took forever and the food reminded me of New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood (fast food seafood). Fried mushrooms were OK. The crab cakes and fish were yuck. Won't be back.