The beautiful wife and I had made plans to go down to Daytona Beach months ago, but through some…read morerandom act of wonderfulness, we discovered that the 2nd Annual Halifax Oyster Festival would be happening while we were there. Bingo! Let's get the "feel good" stuff out of the way -- the festival is the product of the Oyster Reef Restoration Society, with the funds going toward the restoration of oyster beds in the Halifax River. Great cause. Now, let's focus on why everybody showed up -- the oysters. The Festival featured both Apalachicola and Oak Hill oysters, $3 for a half dozen, $5 for a dozen, $20 for a bucket (shuck it yourself, they give you a knife and everything). They also offer them raw or steamed. A majority of the population seemed to want steamed, which caused huge backlogs (I heard about people waiting an hour for a dozen). Because you have these slips that show what you order, when the people ask the crowd "who has raw" you end up waving it around and scream "I need two!" like you were trying to put Valentine and Winthorpe out of business. So, in short, buck up and eat 'em raw. So what goes great with oysters? Beer. And yes, there was beer, including $5 commemorative (plastic) 22 oz. mugs that were $5 with $3 refills. Now admittedly, your options were Bud, Bud Light, Landshark, and Woodchuck, but at other festivals, it would have been $8 with $5 refills or something stupid. The official hours were 10am-6pm. We got there at around 11 and it was already pretty crowded, but things moved along pretty quickly. We took off for a bit, then returned around 3:00-3:30 and it was insane. The lines were pretty long and moving really slow (due to the majority wanting steamed). Per comments I saw on Facebook, they apparently ran out of oysters around 4:00 (they went through 20,000!). It's hard to be bitter about the logistics -- it's all volunteers, it's cheap, and it's for a great cause. That said, I hope they iron out some of the problems for next year. Regardless, it will be really tempting to come back.

This was my second annual trip to the Oysterfest and it just seems that it's getting better every…read moreyear. If you are a fan of oysters you will find them here in great abundance in Raw, Roasted, Steamed or Oyster Rockefeller versions. If you are not an oyster aficionado, there are plenty of other food options provided by several local restaurants and vendors scattered throughout the landscape of Manatee Island Park in Daytona. Incidentally, your $6 admission fee comes with a $5 discount card which is good at any of the off-island sponsor restaurants listed on the back of the card. Starting at 11:00 AM you will be treated to continuous music from several live bands all day until the event closes late in the afternoon and there is no shortage of affordable beer (22 0z. mugs for $5 with refills for $3) and other beverages offered up by several tap stations scattered throughout the park. This year there were oysters supplied from both Apalachicola and local sources and yes, there is a discernible difference between the two. The Apalachicola oysters are mild and have great flavor but I prefer the local Mosquito Lagoon oysters which are also very good but have a noticeably higher salt content. The festival is put on by the Oyster Reef Restoration Society, with the funds going toward the restoration of oyster beds in the Halifax River. It's an outstanding cause and I applaud their effort towards more local oysters. Parking can be a bit of a hassle unless you arrive early in the day but another option is to take your boat and pull up to the dock on the East side of the Island. Smaller boats can also moor up in the shallows North of the dock. Hope to see Y'all there next year.