Blue at the Topaz, Flagler Beach

You might not think it, but bees and shellfish can actually work together—the honey-crusted oysters at Blue prove it. Paired with a wasabi horseradish, the oyster starter delivers a sweet and spicy kick to the beginning of dinner, when you're still acclimating to the spectacular ocean view. The scenery comes courtesy of the restaurant's Victorian wraparound porch, a fixture on the Flagler Beach shoreline. Even if you're indoors, though, you can still monitor the tides through the dining-room windows.

Blue's connection to the ocean is more than just a matter of location. The menu features lump crab, shrimp-and-scallop pasta, and almond-covered filets of mahi-mahi. Steaks balance out the seafood focus alongside entrees of roast duck and rack of lamb. For special events, groups partake of this fare in the museum-like banquet room, where a collection of 19th- and 20th-century antiques sets a nostalgic scene. Vintage toys sit below old photos of the Topaz Hotel, taken when it was the only building on the beach other than Poseidon's summer home.