The Lady and Sons - Well, Almost.

We are back from our much needed vacation out east. We escaped the heat and humidity of Fayetteville only to arrive in the staggering heat and humidity in Savannah, Georgia. We spent a glorious week on the beach with our good friends, Todd & Sarah and Brandy & Dustin.

One of the things on my to-do list while in Savannah was to eat at The Lady and Sons, a restaurant owned by Paula Deen of Food Network fame. We'd planned on eating there for lunch on a Tuesday afternoon. As we approached the restaurant, we noticed the line of people wrapped around the building. We also noticed that there were water coolers placed on the sidewalk, and the awning of the restaurant was equipt with misters - all in an effort to keep the crowds cool while they await their table. We soon realized this long line must be a regular thing. I eventually got the attention of the hostess and she informed me it'd be a two and a half hour wait before we could be seated. My stomach, nor anyone else's in our party, couldn't wait two and a half hours, so we decided to eat elsewhere. I asked if we could possibly make reservations for that evening, and she said that they don't take reservations - but that I could wait in line, along with all the other people, starting at 3:00 and get my name on the list for dinner. Rubbish.

So my chances of eating at The Lady in Sons were slim to none, unless I wanted to waste the majority of an afternoon standing in line. I then remembered that there was another restaurant in town that was owned by Paula Deen along with her brother (whose name is unbeknownst to me, other than "Uncle Bubba"). It's called Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, and it's right on one of the marshes as you head out to Tybee Island. I thought this might be a better bet for dinner, so I called and made reservations. Lucky for us, Eric and I were able to get a table for two on Friday night.

We started off with a good beer from Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta, then went on to stuff our faces with sweet corn muffins and crab bites, which were like hushpuppies but with lots of crab in the mixture. For the main course, Eric had the steamed crab and I had the blackened shrimp. Both were just delicious.

For dessert, we split the biggest piece of key lime pie I think I've ever seen. This was most likely the best key lime pie I've ever had. The crust was a crumbly graham cracker crust with toasted almonds mixed in, the lime custard was just the right amount of sweet and tart, it didn't have the spongy meringue on top (which has somehow weasled its way in to the key lime pie recipes of today) Instead, it was topped with real whipped cream - this was not out of a can, that's for sure. It also had the signature Paula Deen mint garnish. A true slice of heaven.

I haven't felt so full after a meal in a long, long time. There was no way we were going back to the condo only to sit on the couch and go into a food coma, so we decided to drive out to the beach and take a nice walk along the pier. Not only was it an excellent meal, but it was an excellent date - and the perfect way to end our vacation in Savannah.