Sunset Grille and Raw Bar

Sunset on the northeast side of the 7-Mile Bridge

Sunsets are always a big deal when there's ocean involved. Even more so when you're on vacation. My affinity for capturing sunsets on film (ha! What an anachronism!) is well-known. And even though I swear that I've already seen the best sunset in the world at Ía, Santorini, Greece, I always rush to a good viewing spot when the time comes, especially when there's ocean involved. On the south side of Highway 1, just before the 7-Mile bridge, The Sunset Grille and Raw Bar is probably the most popular place on Marathon to watch the sun slip into the water. You don't have to be seated inside; there's space on the shore by the parking lot. I was almost late in arriving due to a frustrating, unplanned detour (seriously, if you miss your turn before the bridge, there's no way to redeem yourself. You're stuck going all the way over before you can turn around). I had to park a ways down the road, and ended up too late to see the sunset with cocktail in hand, as I'd planned. But I think I ended up with a better view. And they certainly weren't running our of cocktails here. 

Almost gone...

Post-sunset calm

About the venue: The Sunset Grille and Raw bar is something more than a restaurant with outdoor seating, and something slightly less than an "experience". It has an outdoor pool open to its guests, poolside seating, an indoor bar, an outdoor bar, a projection TV set up at one edge of the pool, and great sunset views, of course. Also, they have music. In this case, it was a guy singing Jimmy Buffet covers, of course. And if you've ever wanted to hear any song sung in a Buffet-esque style, this guy's your guy. "Every Breath You Take" (The Police) or "Sixth Avenue Heartache" (The Wallflowers), anyone?

Oh, and there's this. I think it's just seasonal, but maybe it's a year-round feature.

After the sunset, it was a lot easier to find a seat, and I plunked down at the Tiki hut-looking outdoor bar next to the pool. Shrimp, of course, local raw oysters, and a fruity drink called a Tiki Parrot. And then some oddball inside-out roll off their sushi menu that involved tempura shrimp, mango, and Thai sweet chili sauce. They had more authentic offerings on their large sushi menu, but I'm pretty skeptical about sushi from places I don't know or that aren't in California. Weird, I know. But I'll eat oysters pretty much anywhere next to an ocean.

I would have plated this with the sauce underneath so that you could see the pretty inside of the roll. And so would any of my sushi chef friends at home. It was reasonably tasty.