Thread: Sunday Drive in the Healey

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I decided that my wife and I needed to take a little Sunday country drive in the Healey. Our destination was a great seafood restaurant called Middendorf's. It's around a hundred and thirty miles if you take backroads.

It was great drive. Weather was fine and only heated up later in the afternoon.

Middendorf's has been in business under one owner or another since the 1930's. It gets messed up every time a big hurricane comes through, but they always rebuild it. It's only about 40 miles north of New Orleans and is very popular with folks from The Big Easy. Also, being so close to the Gulf, the seafood is fresh. I always get their thin fried catfish. I'm not a big freshwater fish eater, but their thin catfish is worth a 130 mile one-way drive, IMO and I've never found any to equal it. I know a lot of folks won't eat catfish, but everything sold in restaurants around here is pond raised. Fried catfish is super common in the south.



The view of the marsh from the restaurant:



A few of the car:







FWIW - I'm having a blast with the car! It is so much fun to drive something that I put so much time into. I have been making a few changes and adding a few things. I'll try to make an update to the build thread soon.

Those little road trips are the best! The Healy is looking real good!

Sure wish I lived closer, the catfish looks delicious and I bet the shrimp is fantastic.
I can see where the Healey is a hoot to drive, envy,envy.

This is reward time for all the effort spent.

I remember seeing Middendorf's being part of a movie. One of the male characters was the owner, so it popped up all through the flick. Wondered at the time if it was real or made up.............now I know.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Sure wish I lived closer, the catfish looks delicious and I bet the shrimp is fantastic.
I can see where the Healey is a hoot to drive, envy,envy.

Every time I get towards the coast I'm on a strict seafood diet

Cool road trip Mike. A pleasure to see a post about Middendorf's. I'm only 50 miles away but haven't been in years. Too many good restaurants right around the corner here.
Didn't know about the movie Bob, I had to look it up. The Tucker Middendorf character in the movie was fictional.
I stay on a SEEFOOD diet, I see food and I eat it, usually too much. LOL
Here's a link to Middendorf's history for anyone interested. Make sure to browse the food and dessert photos, yum.
Now I'm gonna have to make a run over there to eat. Thanks Mikey.
Nolan
https://middendorfsrestaurant.com/history/

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Every time I get towards the coast I'm on a strict seafood diet

Catfish is hardly seafood.. For the folks that like it, all the power to them! But it ain't seafood! LOL

A little off topic ,but I was in the Corps with a guy named Thibadaux (sp) and when we were in the bush he had a strange habit, When it would get dark he'd go hunting rattle snakes. Always brought at least one back shaking the rattles which would make some folks rapidly disappear. He'd cut off the rattles and skin them into 1/2 inch chunks and roast them over an open fire. Not bad eating, a little greasy, but none the less pretty good.
He was a full blooded Cajun and those folks are a little strange. Hell of a good guy though you didn't want to piss him off.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Sure wish I lived closer, the catfish looks delicious and I bet the shrimp is fantastic.

Heck Ken, you're just a hop, skip & jump from Slidell! If you pushed a bit you could leave in the morning and arrive for dinner, find a nice place to stay the night (or drop down to NO and Bourbon Street) and then push back home the next day!! Take Ian along to share the driving, or just let him drive and enjoy the scenery.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

............He was a full blooded Cajun........ Hell of a good guy though you didn't want to piss him off.

Sounds about right. My experience is that if they like you, they'll give you the shirt off their back, if they think you need it, but don't get on their bad side. That also applies to a lot of folks I've met in the south.

Can't comment on the snake eating. A lot of Cajun's that grow up in a traditional Cajun lifestyle learn to eat what nature and hard work provides. Probably explains the strong spices in Cajun cuisine, much like Mexican food.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the little road trip story.

I do have to say that Louisiana has it's share of corrupt politicians (maybe more than it's fare share of those), bad roads, misused taxes and mediocre education, but partially makes up for all that in some of the best food anywhere in the country. This is due entirely to the fact that the area has been extremely diverse since it was a Spanish and French territory. Louisiana cuisine is a mixture of many, many foods from all over the world. On any given weekend, you can find folks enjoying a traditional barbecue, fish fry, crab or crawfish boil, or a big pot of jambalaya or gumbo. I consider myself fortunate.

No I don't consider crawfish to be seafood. What I do consider it is a lot of work! I eat crawfish a couple of times a year (my company and my wife's company have a boil for their employees) and have a hard time peeling them fast enough to not be hungry. And no, I don't suck the fat out of the head! My cholesterol is plenty high enough as it is! I much prefer a big pile of boiled shrimp.

I tried some " cajun " crawfish in Florida once. They were so friggin hot they just about ruined my beer.

Awesome trip and the car looks great! I miss good Cajun food. Cajun type restaurants don't last long up here unfortunately.

I did the last of my time in the Air Force at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Ms and learned to love the local food! There was a restaurant on the beach in Biloxi that served some really great seafood, my personal favorite was their stuffed flounder! Good hearing about a fun trip with the Healey and thanks for the pics! Haven't been back to the Gulf Coast in years but it's on my to do list someplace between El Mirage and the Calgary Stampede!