Back from a wonderful trip thanks in part to the suggestions of everyone here. I'm reporting back some of the 'finds' we made both for you locals and for anyone planning on visiting the area.
Met a surgeon at my departure airport in the bar who was also going to Sawgrass for a convention. He asked about airport transportation and those of you who know, know that there isn't any good (or cheap) transport from the JAX airport to Ponte Vedra - usually $70-$90. My wife preceeded me by 4 days and rented a car, but could not breakaway to pick me up so I found a limo co. - Southern Comfort Transportation who operated towncars for $52 to Ponte Vedra. Well, I offered to share my pre-arranged ride with the Dr., and when we got to the gate, he also had his scrub nurse and x-ray tech joining him so my share of the transport was $13 (+tip) - yea!
Enjoyed an afternoon at Pussers - sat on the veranda and pitched the limes from my cocktails to a gater floating in the pond - amazingly he liked them!
Found several great food finds in the area. One was Cafe Andiamo located in the Sawgrass Village (a mall adjacent to the resort) -
http://andiamotrattoria.com/ - excellent food, especially the woodfired pizzas and pastas.
Another
GREAT find was the Bridge Market & Bistro, located directly under the Palm Valley Bridge at 377 S Roscoe Blvd., (904) 285-1154 - excellent seafood acquired fresh daily from local fishermen. The chef did an outstanding job with some innovative recipes - looks like a baitshop from the front, easy to miss it unless you're actually looking for it. Also, LuLu's Waterfront Grill -
http://luluswaterfrontgrille.com/index.html at 301 N Roscoe Blvd. on the intercoastal. Great drinks, watching the boats go by, and Raw Bar!
Stopped at the Reef Restaurant on our way to St. Aug. and were fairly disappointed - tourist trap, so one quick drink watching the surf casters on the beach and we were off.
St. Aug. was also a little disappointing,
very touristy, but we did have an excellent lunch at DeNoel's French Pastries at 212 Charlotte St. - (904) 829-3974 and a WONDERFUL dinner at Collage Restaurant, 60 hypolita street - (904) 829-0055 -
http://www.collagestaug.com/home.html .
Left Sat. morning for Savannah and had lunch at Bernie's Oyster House on River St. - 115 E River St -
http://www.berniesriverstreet.com/ - it is a
MUST for me to have their Raw Bar - been there MANY times since the mid-'90's, it's a bit of a dive, but the food is great and we were staying just a half-block away at the River Street Inn. Topped our stay in Savannah with a magnificent dinner at Vic's on the River - 26 E Bay St. -
http://www.vicsontheriver.com/ where I had a 3lb. Lobster stuffed with homemade Andoulle sausage and grits and spicy Collards, one of the most memorable meals I've had in years.
Eating too much, drinking my fill and enjoying too many nice cigars, I'm now a slave to my recumbent excercise bike for an extra 20 min. daily to work it all off... but it was worth it!!
Thanks again to all who helped with our trip!
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