I'm still going through magazines
and catalogs that accumulated here at home while we were on the road for so
many months! Today, I was looking at an issue of the official AAA
magazine, and ran across an article about Florida's beaches. I began to
reminisce about some of my favorite coastal haunts and thought of Mayport, and
Singleton's Seafood Shack -- whoa! Did I really forget to include
Singleton's on my list of favorite places to eat?
Let me correct that oversight right
now. Singleton's is not just a favorite; it is the favorite seafood
place. We first heard of it several years ago, when playing at an art
fair in Ponte Vedra Beach, near Jacksonville. My high school friend Jay,
an officer in the U.S. Navy, had discovered Singleton's while stationed at the
huge base in Mayport, also near Jacksonville. Jay suggested that we'd
love the seafood, and revel in the down-to-earth atmosphere: "It's easy to
find," he said with a grin, "just follow A1A north to Mayport, then
look for the dumpster with all the cats."
After the art show closed for the
day, Greg and I headed north ... away from ritzy Ponte Vedra and its golf
courses ... past Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach, with
their surf shops and souvenir stands ... pointed toward the Naval station,
passing pawn shops and strip clubs along the way ... finally ending in the
sleepy little village of Mayport, an area that, like nearby St. Augustine, had
settlers well before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Mayport's sort
of the end of the road; the only way to travel north out of town is via the
ferry which crosses the St. John's River. That's probably helped to keep
it a quiet place -- that and the fact that it seems mostly to be populated by
folks whose families have been involved in the fishing industry for generations
-- though one of the big casino cruise ships docks there, and its directors
would like to see more nearby attractions.
Singleton's itself was attraction
enough for me. With its creaking, listing floor and oddly mismatched
furnishings (including hard benches!), it probably doesn't appeal to the
"fern bar" crowd, but it certainly has developed a loyal
clientele. That evening, our fellow diners included uniformed Navy
personnel, a few families, several couples and groups of friends, the
obligatory grizzled old fisherman just off the boat for the day. The
hardier among them were out on the deck, enjoying the "million dollar view"
of the St. John's River. Since we'd been out-of-doors all day long on
that somewhat blustery day, we elected to sit at the bar.
Just studying the menu was a
delight! All of the predictable offerings were there: the shrimp,
oysters, and grouper. But overhead there was a chalkboard with selections
that vary from day to day, depending on what's come in on that day's
catch. On that particular evening, I chose sheephead, a local fish.
In subsequent visits, I've decided not to decide, and have chosen a combo.
Shrimp's probably the most popular item, and why shouldn't it be, since the
local waters boast some of the finest, sweetest shrimp to be found anywhere in
the world?
Another popular item is the Minorcan
Clam Chowder -- Minorcan, you say? Yeah, adding to the endless squabbles
over whether Manhattan or New England clam chowder is best, there's a third,
much less known contender: cousin to Manhattan chowder because of its tomato
base, Minorcan Clam Chowder has the potent, and not widely-available, datil
pepper for its signature ingredient. What a kick!
If you ever find yourself in the
Jacksonville area, I highly recommend a visit to Singleton's.
Jacksonville is not an easy city to navigate, so don't think that you'll be
able to pop over to Mayport for a quick lunch as you're traveling down
I-95. But if you're staying in the area, or if you're aimlessly and
leisurely traveling and can afford a detour of a few hours, you can treat
yourself to not only a great regional meal, but to a little slice of "old
Florida."
