The Other Side, notes from the Target.

Late May frontside dribble- 65th Street, 5/24/2018.

"What is it that makes us explore?

The restless urge to pack up and go,

When the rumor of the perfect wave and beach won't leave your mind,

The anticipation, the laughs, the disasters, the surf.

It defines who we are..."  THE SEARCH

   It has been a long winter. I have barely held it together through the cold, the wet, the endless wind. But, I have come out the other side. Stronger? More resilient? Not really. All that mattered was I had somehow made it back to the beach. While we started our new season late this year, my feet had walked through the sand. I had felt the sea breeze on my face, and slowly the world had started again. For the first day of the season Wattman's better half, LWatt, and I were wrapped from head to toe to ward off the evening chill. As we sat on a quiet stretch of sand between 65th and 66th streets, Watt was looking for a ride. Any ride. While he had tasted the perfection and warmth of Hawaii's waves during the offseason, there would be none of that today. Small, powerless, quickly fading waves of the cold Atlantic was all that was available this session. Maybe knee-high; around the sixty degree mark. But, as the night progressed the Watt slowly found a rhythm and managed to squeeze out several small right-handers. We are coming up on Memorial Day weekend. All considered: the increasing beach population, the weather, the "less than" wave conditions...for a first surf night I believe we had exceeded my expectations and I was content as we left the beach.  

   Post-session, we headed to a new watering hole. Located on the left section of the 33rd street K-Coast Surf Shop, the spot has seen iterations of sandwich shops over the past several years. Now it's a surf bar that needed investigation. Shotti's Point Surf Bistro was small; seated only 40 inside, with additional seating on a small outside deck by the canal in the back. The place was crowded; small cliques of locals/surf dudes took up the bar, surf pics on the wall, boards hanging from the ceiling. Needless to say, we got the vibe right away. Our waitress informed us this was just her second night and I am not sure if she meant in this bar or ever working in a bar. However, we ordered a couple of brews to start the night. While the beer was served in the proper glass, I still would have preferred it to be cold and not just room temperature. After perusing the eclectic menu, we ordered the LP Style...Old Bay Wings with Shotti's Sauce (a spicy buffalo), and a Brick Oven Chicken and Bacon Pizza as this was supposed to be their specialty.

 The wings were the highlight of the night. With just the right amount of Old Bay and sauce to zap your mouth. Steaming Hot. I mean you could see the steam rise off of the meat of the wings. Nothing makes a wing more perfect than to be served hot to the customer. I wish more places would learn this simple secret. However, we would be tough on the score. Still early in the season. Both Wattman and LWatt liked the pizza. Yes, it was fired up in a brick oven and all that. To me, it was just a chicken pizza with thin crust. Nothing more, nothing less. But, I digress. Would we return? I would say affirmative. But, while the vibe was chill (the Watt was mesmerized), the music needed work as did the prices. It was a little hard on the wallet for a surf bar. Gotta pay for all that surf ornamentation I suppose. Need time to work out the start-up bugs. Thus, as we ended our first session of the season it felt stoked to be back patrolling the surf and streets of our Shore. Another year of good friends and good times to look forward to. Always brightens the day. 

THE RATING-

LP Style Wings: B+

Brick Oven Pizza: C+

Beer: B-

Atmosphere: B-

Value: C

Overall Score = 2.60