Sundowners, Key Largo, With a Toddler: Restaurant Review

The sign for Sundowners that you see in the parking lot. It shows a color blocked sun setting into the ocean. The background of the sign is blue and large yellow letters read, "Sundowners."

 My husband, my three-year-old daughter, and I were in Key Largo visiting my in-laws, when my father-in-law suggested we go to a new restaurant where he and his wife had dined recently.


I thought, YES! I can take a few pics for a quick review on my blog.
My previous blog posts included beautiful photos of mostly uneaten food because these were times that my husband and I had gone on date nights. But this time, I had a very different experience.


My daughter is on a nap strike (or is perhaps weaning herself off of naps altogether) at the moment, and she will fight sleep like it’s her arch nemesis, so her mood during our meal changed from moment-to-moment and fluctuated quite drastically.

I’ll be including a description of my toddler’s mood at each stage of the meal, and, as an extra bonus, an actual pic of my little munchkin at the very end.


We arrived at Sundowners and the sign immediately stood out to me. It shows sun setting into a calm, blue ocean with the sea life represented by a large Marlin hanging just below it. I felt calm and soothed by the mental image that it evoked.
An empty tour boat in the water in front of the restaurant.
Tour boats leave from a dock in front of the restaurant.
The menus is displayed outside in a glass case. A sign hangs below that reads, "Please See Host for Seating." A clown fish flag hangs from a tree in background.
The menu posted outside, right before you enter the restaurant.

 There's water surrounding two sides of the restaurant and they offer indoor and outdoor seating. Every table has a view of the ocean.


We walked in, and saw a small gift shop area right in front of us that I would’ve ideally gotten a better picture of, but here's some of the merchandise they have for sale. TODDLER MOOD: Overwhelmed/Fussy
A small gift shop with cups, shirts and assorted souvenirs can be found inside the restaurant.
Gift Shop Corner.

We only waited a few minutes before they showed us to our table. They brought a high chair, and we got settled. TODDLER MOOD: Flight Risk.
My husband took our daughter outside to see the beautiful view while I looked at the menu to decide what to order for the kiddo and myself.
He walked her over to a small stage right outside the restaurant where a musician played his guitar and sang while my daughter danced, smiled, and waved at him. He waved and smiled back. TODDLER MOOD: Ecstatic.
My husband came back to our table in the air conditioned corner of the restaurant and tried to get our daughter interested in sitting at the table and coloring on her menu. TODDLER MOOD: Frustrated that she couldn't continue dancing in the 90+ degree Fahrenheit weather because she has to eat to live.
The kid's menu at Sundowners with red crayon drawings on it.
The kids' menu. Red crayon art by: my husband's grandma and my daughter.
Menu at Sundowners
Here's a closer look at the menu.

I ordered the shrimp, avocado, and grapefruit salad (with key lime dressing, pepitas, and lettuce) for me, and a side of Mac n cheese for my toddler tyrant. I don't even know what anyone else ordered to eat because I was dealing with a TODDLER MOOD: Cuddly and whiny.

I noticed that my daughter's diaper was extremely full, so I took her to the bathroom to change her diaper. She came willingly, but when I tried changing her diaper, she refused to get on the changing table. TODDLER MOOD: Vive la resistance!


You can read the rest of this post at ellanewriter.com.

Location: 103900 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo, FL 33037, USA

Comments

  1. JessicaJuly 19, 2017 at 1:15 PM

    Lol ahhh this was amazing! I would love to visit that restaurant! And your little one ❤️ I just loved this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. E. L. LaneJuly 20, 2017 at 11:19 AM

      Thank you, Jessica! <3 Come on down! :D

      Delete
    2. Missy OSeptember 2, 2017 at 1:18 PM

      Awesome l looking food, and your daughter is adorable!!

      Delete
    3. E. L. LaneSeptember 2, 2017 at 4:31 PM

      Thank you, Melissa! It was so good!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How I Learned to 'Vlog Like a Boss'

Image
Getting my learning on. Learning to "Vlog Like a Boss" with Amy Schmittauer. **This post contains affiliate links. What does this mean? If you click a link on this page, then you create a profile or buy a product/service, I get a commission for that. You don’t pay more for the service, but you help me make a little money to support my blogging addiction. I started vlogging last month, and I even wrote a blog post about what I learned from vlogging on my own , but the biggest lesson I learned about vlogging on my own is how little I actually knew about vlogging . So when I found “Vlog Like a Boss,” I was excited to learn how a professional YouTuber makes her videos, so that I can try and do the same. You can read about how I found the class here. Here’s an outline of the things I learned about in Amy Schmittauer ’s class, “Vlog Like a Boss” on CreativeLive : Screen cap of "Vlog Like a Boss" on CreativeLive. Tips on how to get comfortab
Read more

Mom Confessions: Things You Said You'd Never Do as a Parent, But You Did

Image
Do you remember a time before you became a mom? A time when you’d see moms giving their children a tablet to watch cartoons while having lunch? Or changing their babies’ diapers right in the booth where they were eating? And you thought, “I will never do that when I have a kid.” But then, you find yourself with a shrieking human being in your arms that depends on you for everything, and you find yourself slowly letting go of all those expectations and doing all of those same things you said you’d never do. Well, it turns out that you’re not alone. I asked other moms this question: What is something you said you’d never do as a parent, but ended up doing? I started off the #momconfessions, “I said I’d never put a leash on my child. I bought one when she turned two.” Below are the #momconfessions that some honest, kickass Instagram moms shared: Le t Me Count the Ways “Gosh. Haha... What a great question! Where do I start? Bed sharing, breastfeeding past one year,
Read more

What To Do About a Picky Eater?

Image
My husband walks out of the kitchen in a huff, “I’m done,” he says running his fingers through his hair, “I don’t know what else to do. You try.” We cannot get our four-year-old daughter, Leia, to eat. We’ve tried not giving her any snacks so she’s hungry for mealtime and negotiating bribes of desserts/outings/toys/gold/diamonds at the end of a meal. These tactics seem to work at first, but after the novelty wears off, she flexes her stubborn-muscle and squarely refuses to eat. She then uses that muscle to play a game of tug of war with us where she drags our asses through a mud pit and leaves us with bruised cheeks, low morale, and a fair amount of post-traumatic stress. Leia’s entire diet consists of: 1. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 2. Tyson’s Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets or McNuggets (and heaven forbid you try to feed her any other kind of chicken nugget or chicken in any other form!). 3. Pizza Hut, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s, or certain local pizzeria piz
Read more