Birthday Celebration at Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Today is my birthday, so I get to pick the place to eat!  I decided to head to the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House in Jensen, Beach, located on Florida's east coast.  Six of us piled into two vehicles and headed east out of Okeechobee and arrived at the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House in about an hour.

This restaurant was previously owned by Frances Langford and was called "The Outrigger".  Frances Langford was a singer, actress, and philanthropist who's radio career began in the early 1930's. She later appeared in several movies and was best know for the singing "I'm in the mood for love".  Her singing and acting background brought many famous people to eat here.  Many of their pictures are proudly displayed throughout the restaurant along with many other interesting objects.

One of those interesting objects that caught my eye was this steering wheel.  It was built in California in 1910 and was originally used on an unknown ship until 1938 when it  was salvaged and used on a freighter named "Darma".  It was later salvaged in 1997 and now rests in the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House.

Another object of interest was a ship's anchor located at the entrance to the restaurant.

Check out the brick work underneath the dolphin fish.  Either this was done intentionally, or the brick layer spent too much time in the bar before laying this brick!

Once inside, we elected to sit outside where we could enjoy this view of the Indian River.  We were so close to the Atlantic Ocean we could smell the fresh salt air.  The weather was perfect today!

Here's a group picture.  Left side front to back: Kitty, Susan, Debbie

Right side front to back; Craig, Barry, Randy.

The menu has something for everyone with numerous fish selection as well as beef and pasta items.  The salad bar was chocked full of a variety of tasty items and all of the condiments you can imagine.  All of our meals were great and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal, the ambiance, and the friendship.

After the meal, Kitty and Randy went outside to feed the gulls.

Despite their best efforts, they couldn't get the gulls to eat out of their hands.  But, when they placed a bite of food on top of this piling, the gulls would swarm down and pick it up. 

The Gulls weren't the only ones enjoying the food.  These catfish quickly gathered to get some grub! 

All of us enjoyed our meals at the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House including the gulls and Catfish!

Craig and Kitty leaving the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House.

Before heading home, we stopped at several stores in Stuart to do some shopping.  After tramping through several stores, we felt like we had burned enough calories that it must be time for desert.  Someone mentioned ice cream and a DQ suddenly appeared right in front of our eyes.  Like magic!  Imagine that!  

It was a great day, with great fun, and great food, and great friends.  And, of course, it was a great birthday!