One of the best things about moving to the shore area of south New Jersey has definitely been the festivals. There are tons of food-centered festivals down here but the Atlantic City Seafood Festival has been our “can’t miss” event every year. It’s held at outdoors, at Bader Field in Atlantic City. Last year, we came despite the pouring rain. Like I said, it’s a festival we just can’t miss.
This year, the weather was absolutely perfect. It wasn’t too hot or too breezy, not a drop of rain in sight. It was a good sign for how the day was going to go! When we first arrived, we had to have our Lizzmonade. Ever since the first year we went, I’ve been obsessed with Lizzmonade. They’re out of Jersey City so it’s not something that’s available to me regularly and yet I feel like I can’t live without it! In case you haven’t been, Lizzmonade is delicious lemonade that’s mixed with fruit (or other add-ons). We started off with a strawberry-blackberry mix that was perfect! Later on, we ended up having a mixed melon one and it was kind of amazing!
Then my husband signed us up for tons of giveaways. We’re still hoping to win the Camaro from the Atlantic City Police Department! After he got that out of the way, we roamed around to try and decide where to begin. I’d say deciding where to start eating at the AC Seafood Festival is probably the most difficult part. Last year, the kids really enjoyed the chicken fingers from Phillips Seafood in Atlantic City so we got that for a few of them. If you’ve got kids with you or even you’re a fan of chicken fingers, this place makes some really good ones!
I was desperately in the mood for clam chowder, as I often am, and what a pickle I was in. There was a clam chowder cook-off where you could sign up to be a taste tester and as much as I wanted to, I decided that I didn’t feel like bringing the baby along for the ride. I truly hope they do this next year because I’m dying to taste test ALL the chowders!
While I tried to settle on which place to buy chowder from, my four year old spotted a crab dog sign (she can’t read but the picture was pretty obvious!) and asked for it. I’ll be honest, this sounded odd to me, but she really enjoyed it and my husband took a bite and agreed that it was something he’d eat again. I love that the AC Seafood Festival has opened my family up to such new foods. For instance, their favorite thing is the ALLIGATOR at the cajun restaurant, which we’ve eaten every year since our first time!
My husband had lobster, shrimp, and rib eye from Caesars. I tasted it because what’s his is mine and all that, and we both thought it was quite delicious. He especially loved his lobster!
I’ve eaten at Chart House before so I knew I loved their food and decided to try their clam chowder. Right next to it was the Golden Nugget with a seafood chowder, so we ended up getting both and I shared them with the kids. Similar dishes right next to each other and yet they tasted so different, that is one of the absolute best things about the Atlantic City Seafood Festival. You do have variety but even when the stands have the same items, you can count on them being entirely different.
Before we left, I had to get another annual treat I get for myself. The crepes from Crespella Gourmet Creperie are ridiculously amazing. This year I struggled to choose between banana’s foster and banana with nutella but I defaulted back to my usual banana and nutella. These things are to die for and you can watch them make it from scratch right there, it’s pretty cool. They’re located in Cape May, I really need to get around to treating myself to this place more than once a year. I feel like I could live off of them for life…
The Atlantic City Seafood Festival is not all about food, although admittedly this is why we go! There’s a stage where different artists and bands come and play. My kids always have a blast dancing around. There are shows in which different chefs come and do demonstrations for us, including Chef Amanda from Hell’s Kitchen. We couldn’t stay late enough to see hers because of the kids, but we bumped into her near the stage and she was so sweet!
This year there was zip-lining and a mobile aquarium from the Atlantic City Aquarium, which is just awesome. There was a shark, stingrays, and a starfish for the kids to pet! Near that, there was tons of chalk to write on the ground, as well as a big area of sand for the kids to do their own sculptures! Every year, they have a little family section where there are all kinds of games to do with your kids, like connect four, hula hoops, and cornhole.
Overall, I feel like the Atlantic City Seafood Festival is a must-see event. Even if you don’t like seafood? YUP. I didn’t even like seafood the first year we came (except clam chowder)! There are other options for things to eat and it really is a good time. The admission is extremely inexpensive so I figure it’s worth it to try one year and see if you like it as much as we do.
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*This is NOT a sponsored post. The Atlantic City Seafood Festival has no affiliation with the posting. We are simply sharing our honest opinion of an event we love!