Shrimp Fest

This weekend marks the 41st annual National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The seafood industry is a very big and important part of the community on Alabama's Gulf Coast and this festival is an opportunity for people from all over to come enjoy local seafood, art and music.

I have to work all weekend so I went on Thursday night to check it out. Fall weather here has been beautiful and it was a comfortable 72 degrees for the evening...sorry, I have to brag just a little!

Here's a few pictures of what I ate:

These cheese covered creations are Lobster Balls - deep fried bread stuffed with lobster, cheese and veggies; and because they don't have enough calories on their own - covered in a spicy cheese sauce. To borrow from Giuliana Rancic they were "amaze-balls."

I also had a "Cajun Pistol" which is a beignet style roll filled with crawfish tails, cheese, garlic, onions, celery and butter. The girl at the counter gave me careful instruction on how to eat it. You have to start on the end with the opening or you lose all the delicious contents and make a mess. I followed the rules and enjoyed every bite!

I know I said this was a Shrimp Festival, so where's the shrimp? Well, I'm not a huge fan of it so I didn't have any...but it is a goal of mine to try it more often... I'll have to work on that in the future :).