The Annual Florida Pilgrimage

Growing up, at least once a year, our family would do the visit to our Grandparents down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the winter, the visits were always great to get out of the cold, snowy-ness of the New Jersey weather. Normally, we’d fly down as my Mom, being a travel agent, would watch for deals in order to book our airfare. However, one year in the spring/summer time, we did the “gauntlet of fire” and drove all the way down with the first stop being Disney World (I was almost doing cartwheels of joy when we were told the news!). We packed the ginormous green station wagon—a.k.a Land Boat—with everything we’d need for the extensive journey heading South. Just before our departure, Dad meticulously installed our CB radio to keep ahead of speed traps. But, I think, it ended up being more for entertainment to kill time while listening to the truckers’ chatter.

Our CB handle name was originally “Bad Bart” (Dad, who was a corporate pilot, got really into Country Western music after a recent flight to Texas). But we were barely half way to Florida, when the code name changed because most people couldn’t understand what he was saying due to, I’m guessing, the poor quality speakers on those devices. (Yes, we’re now spoiled with the hi-fidelity we currently have on our tablets or even WiFi headphones. Carl, my husband, has the theory that they were wondering why our code name was “Bad Fart.” I know, so juvenile. I keep telling him he’s not five-years-old anymore). Regardless, our name changed to the “Green Machine.”

Back in the day, no one really used seat belts, so Jill and I would spend the hours between rest stops practically doing gymnastics in the back seat. Like clockwork, there were times we’d get on each other nerves, and being sisters, we knew which buttons to press to escalate the situation. That’s when Dad’s right arm would move from the steering wheel and come around into the back to give us each a whack in order to settle down, and basically, take a time-out. But, we quickly learned after so many hours in the car, to spontaneously plaster of ourselves to the left or right of the back seat doors so he couldn’t reach us. 😉 Or my sister, being smaller than me, would duck into the recessed compartment of the foot well.

The other distraction of our time in the car (other than Jill singing the few lines of the chorus she knew from the Beatles song “Yellow Submarine” over and over in a constant loop to the point of insanity) was waiting for the next billboard for the South of the Border attraction.

More and more came as you drew closer… The anticipation killing us… What was this exotic sounding place? Were there rides? Were there arcades? It sounded like a kid’s ultimate amazing playground! We eventually came within proximity of the mysterious place in the evening and you could see the alluring glow along the horizon from a few miles out! Like mosquitoes to the bug zapper, Jill and I were mesmerized. We finally drove by it on the highway and, given the darkness of night, it was all lit up and looked like the most off-the-charts carnival on the planet! We pleaded that on our way home to make the excursion for this incredible exhibition of fun. Dad agreed we could use it as one of our gasoline stops. Sad to say, when we did stop there in the daylight on the drive back to Jersey, it was very disappointing. Even to me as a kid, I thought it looked dirty and “meh.” Maybe it’s changed since then—if it even still exists—but my wildest amusement park dreams were crushed. 🙁

But onto to Disney… (Yeah, like I thought South of the Border would trump Walt Disney World—silly me!) Mom booked us at a hotel just outside the park. At the time, there was just the Magic Kingdom so we were only going to spend a couple of days. We all were thrilled and enjoyed the Pirates ride, the Peter Pan one, and the Haunted Mansion, the submarine one, etc. My Dad and I were the only ones to do the Space Mountain roller coaster. But to this day, I’m still haunted by the “It’s a Small World” attraction. If not familiar, you load yourselves into floating “people movers” that drift you through the exhibit of animatronic children of the world. Well, our so-called flotilla, stalled and was short of being set adrift in Holland for what seemed like eternity.

It became a nightmare with that mind-numbing song playing over and over and over. I almost considered jumping out of our craft, swimming over to the “puppets,” and punting them out of their tulips to get them to shut up! I know, bad on me for being so hostile… But the crazy part is, I’ve spoken with a number of people over the years who, whether as a kids or adults, have all gotten stuck on the ride as well–but in different countries! Come on, Disney people, what’s up with that?

From Disney, we were on our way to spend the rest of the trip with the Grandparents in Fort Lauderdale. At the time, they were living in a retirement community that had one or more golf courses with a club house (free movie nights!), and their villa had it’s own small pool. Jill and I could practically come to breakfast in our bathing suits and then run into the pool afterwards! It was awesome! The pool area was even screened in to keep out the bugs. In spite of that Nirvana, our family would take a couple of days to go out for day trips. Sometimes it would be just going into downtown Fort Lauderdale, or Miami, or we’d opt to head out into the Keys. We never got further than Key Largo, but we’d always at least go to Key Biscayne.

Normally, we’d spend time at the beach there, and whether it was before or after beach time, we’d have lunch at The Rusty Pelican Restaurant. I recently checked to see if the venue still exists and it does (you can check out their site here)! A little surprising after all the years since I’ve been there, and given how restaurant culture can be coming and going at any given time. Looking at the current menu, it seems the place has either changed management or the executive chef. The food choices appear to be more upscale and their “signature” house salad is no longer listed. Which is too bad, as it was quite the “show” when the waiter, or line cook, would come to the table and toss and serve it right in front of us. In that light, I’m so grateful that my Mom asked the manager for their recipe years ago and he/she was willing to give it to us. My family has been enjoying it ever since. I was requested to make some for a post-Christmas party with my cousins out on Long Island, and my Cousin Gloria asked to keep all the left over dressing for themselves! 🙂

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The Rusty Pelican Salad Dressing

Prep Time

15 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

This salad dressing has always a big hit when I make it for big gatherings where I toss it simply with the salad ingredients listed below. (The shrimp is optional as some people may have seafood allergies.) Leftover dressing can be kept up to 2 weeks when refrigerated, but I doubt it'll last even that long. With summer almost upon us, fresh greens from the farmer's market will soon be in abundance! But I can imagine that this dressing would be wonderful as a dip for raw veggies, drizzled over grilled chicken, or even grilled/planked salmon! 🙂

Salad: Salad

American: American

Servings: 3 cups

Ingredients

Dressing ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cup good mayonaise
• 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, or more to taste
• 1/2 cup parsely leaves, loosely packed
• 1 lemon (juice only)
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Salad Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups mixed salad greens (My Mom made a note that it can be any salad green(s) you perfer.)
• 6 mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, diced (or an approximate amount of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved will work as well)
• 2 Tablespoons chives, chopped
• 1 cup fresh shrimp or 1 can of mini shrimp, drained and rinsed (optional)

Instructions

To make the dressing:

1. Note: The amounts for the dressing as above can be double or tripled, depending on the size of your gathering. But made as instructed, you'll end up with approximately 2-1/2 to 3 cups of dressing, so you'll be set to go for most occasions!
   

2. Place all the dressing ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Recommend making it the day before or, at least, several hours ahead, to let the flavors blend. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
   

Cooking the fresh shrimp:

1. Note: Once again, the salad and shrimp ingredient amounts can be doubled or tripled, or use you best judgement depending on the number of guests.
   

2. If using shrimp, not from a can, you'll need boil them in water with a bay leaf, a Tablespoon of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.
   

3. Bring the water to a boil and then add the shrimp. Wait for the water to start to come back to a boil and cook approximately 3-5 minutes or until firm.

4. Drain and run cold water over them to stop them from cooking.

5. I tend to use larger shrimp as they are easier to find and clean. So I coarsely chop each shrimp into nice sized pieces and set aside until ready to assemble the salad. Keep refrigerated if doing this step earlier in the day or the day before.

Assemble the salad:

1. In a separate bowl, combine all the salad ingredients.
   

2. Just before serving, drizzle with dressing and toss.
   

3. Extra dressing can be left out for guests to add more dressing to their liking.
   

Recipe Notes

Note: While the dressing makes a lot, the other ingredients are for approximately 6 servings as a side salad.

 

Note: The restaurant served the salad with Italian/French bread toasts that had a smear of butter and a little bit of shredded cheddar and grated parmesan that had just come out from the broiler. So good!