MY TAKE ON LAKE LANIER

It was a typical hot day in Atlanta. It was my day off. If I was home in Boston I would already be on the road to Gloucester with a cooler packed with oysters & clams to shuck on the beach and a pitcher of Bloody Mary's. But I had to check myself on this very hot day. "You are in Georgia. The ocean is 4 hours away. You must go to the lake. You must go to the lake." So we've been told by the heat surviving, native Georgians. So we went to the lake. Lake Lanier, 45 minutes North of Atlanta. Yes, we were in the sticks. Yes, these houses on the lake would be $2 mill back home (probably $250G's here). Yes, it was picturesque. But, still we felt as though something was missing. Lake Lanier is 39,000 acres of water, with 692 miles of shoreline and 8 million annual visitors. It boasts it's 2 resort hotels, golf course and water park. We still weren't impressed. I found, that it was the kind of place that you have to have a boat to TRULY enjoy. For some reason, we went there with intentions of smelling salt water, hearing the waves crash at the shoreline and a slew of people with umbrellas and coolers, reapplying sunblock. We found none of that. Were we in the wrong spot? We'll never know. We left as quick as we got there but stumbled upon a lakeside grill that called itself the Dockside Grille. We strolled onto the wooden porch and chose a table based on where the sun was at the very moment. Our server was busy, as she was the only server working, but she worked her tables well. It was a dockside grill, very laid back, one of those places you don't expect much from, just wanted to suck on a Bloody Mary and sit in the sun, I really didn't care what the service was like or how long my food took, I was just hangin' out! So I ordered my Mary, expecting it to come in a little plastic cup with no garnish, I was surprised to find it in a glass with a flowery celery stick garnish. It had a nice burn at it's finish, as I requested. We soaked some more sun and ordered to please our hunger. I opted for the grilled grouper with rice, beans and veggies. Chris went with a simple burger. The view could have been better. We were sitting, looking at the mucky-ish shore lined with minots and turbo fish topped with meandering ducks. The docked boats were a nice touch though. As my face was in the sun, with my back to the water, I told Chris I didn't want to turn around, because, with the Jimmy Buffet music and sun in my face, I could almost imagine that, behind me, was the ocean. We obviously miss the ocean. The food came. The food runner decided not to place our plates in front of us, but instead, dropped them at the very edge of the table. So we had to physically get up from our seats to claim our food. At that point, I didn't even care, I was so hungry and relaxed... I wasn't taking Lake Lanier very serious at this point anyway! The food was great. Exactly what I was looking for at least. Fresh tasting simply blackened grouper, with a mound of rice and a mound of veggies. Nothing spectacular, but perfectly fine for where we were. I took a bite of Chris's burger and it was cooked to both of our liking. It was a nice thick, juicy burger. I think my Bloody Mary made surrounding tables crave one, because when I ordered my 2nd Mary, I was told it would be a while. 10 minutes later I found out why, both tables next to us (both parties of 6) ordered Mary's. When I finally got mine, 2 came to the table, we told the runner we only ordered 1, but I told him I was totally fine with 2. Bring it on. I sucked them down, we paid our bill and drove back to the city. We probably won't go back to the lake just simply based on the fact that we would rather drive 3 more hours just to get to the spot we really want to be: The ocean.