if you're ever driving from jacksonville, fl to savannah, ga...

Since I didn't want to hang out in Jacksonville all weekend, Anna and I decided to rent a car and drive the 2 hours to Savannah, GA. Anna and I peaced out on Saturday morning, heading north on I-95. We made it all of about 5 miles before we decided we were starving and had to get some food for the road. We had every intention of just grabbing some fast food (we were already late to meet her friend in Savannah) but that all changed when we stumbled upon J-VILLE CRAB SHACK.

It was just off the Norwood exit (I picked it because I grew up on Norwood Court). We pulled into the Hardee's, but we couldn't bring ourselves to eat there, so we kept driving down the road, hoping we'd find something better. As we drove further, we realized there weren't any more options, so I pulled into what looked like an abandoned strip mall to turn around and head back to Hardee's when Anna spotted the crab shack. We decided to try it based on the fact that there were dancing sea creatures painted on the barred windows that reminded us of the Under the Sea song and dance number from the Little Mermaid. (see picture)

The interior was definitely not worth writing home about. There were cases of fish and crabs, no tables, 5 or 6 chairs lined up against one wall and that's about it. We felt bad leaving, so we decided we'd just order our food and eat it on the road. Somehow, we ended up staying for about an hour.

The shop was owned by family of 13 from Kurdistan. The 21-year-old daughter, 20-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter were working that day. They grew up in Chicago, but had moved to Jacksonville about 5 years ago to open this business. They talked about wanting to move to Nashville because there is apparently a large Kurd population there. The family currently occupies 2 apartments in Jacksonville.

The 21-year-old girl was in charge of the store that day and she was awesome. She basically told us her life story while feeding us free samples of crabs smothered in butter and garlic. The crabs was delicious, but we weren't really sure how to eat them, especially since we were without utensils or a table. We kind of situated ourselves on the chairs and tried to just bite through the shell of the crab with our teeth. It was definitely a struggle. After we finished our crab, we finally got our food - fried fish, fried scallops, hush puppies and garlic eggs. All delicious and amazing and only $7.48.

So, if you're ever driving from Jacksonville, Fl to Savannah, GA, make sure to stop by J-Ville Crab Shack at 5625-02 Norwood Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32208.