Food Glorious Food

Ah, it's key lime pie. If there's one dessert that can make you forget chocolate, it is key lime pie. Not just any limes -- key limes. Lime pie..................now that almost sounds yucky, but key lime....that's a different story altogether.

Blue crab fingers. Yep........that's what I said........fingers. Who even knew crabs had fingers for pete's sake. I could eat these guys three meals a day - seven days a week and still not get enough. On previous visits to Florida I thought that stone crab claws were the bomb, but they are so much more difficult to liberate from their shells and not quite so sweet as the fingers. Either or both should be followed by the key lime pie, of course.

It's hard to look cool when you have a plate of hoppers on the table in front of you......"What are hoppers?" you ask. Well, they are shrimp found only in these waters along the emerald coast, and, according to my personal food taster, "best in the world."

Life is good when you know where to dine.

Cowgirl at the Beach

Obviously, someone needs a wardrobe makeover. The queen of denim has forgotten that she's not in Texas anymore. With all this traveling, it's hard to remember exactly where we are each day. It is amazing that we're merely on the other side of the Gulf.........same country..........same time zone........but life is totally different here. I mean - totally. It's all oil rigs, refineries, cowboy boots and pickup trucks on the other side.........eating with your fingers, sitting at picnic tables. However, tourism is the oil in Florida........it's boutiques, fur coats, mercedes', and white table cloths. It's all good though..............cause they pull those fresh shrimp out of the water on both sides.

Beach Biking

Here 'tis -- our latest domicile. What you can't see is the stunning view of the Gulf. And yes, those bikes are made for riding. We do love it here........bikin'........beachin'......barefootin'.... Wasn't life good when you could ride your bike all the time? You should see all us older kids pedaling here, there, and everywhere. I'm the wobbly one. My chain (among other things) is rusty.

Glad we didn't experience all that nasty weather that roared through the South........tornadoes are just not my idea of a good time. Two days of heavy fog here and a roar of rain. In fact, we had to squint through the mist at lunch yesterday, trying to see the emerald waters.

In other transportation news, the world's cutest biker is having difficulty understanding what has happened to Ohpa's car. He thinks we took the one we had in New Zealand with us. He loved sitting in that car and pushing all the buttons. You know what pushovers we g-parents are. He misses that car. We miss him.

The Emerald Coast

Can you see the color of the water? Even if you think you can, it's not the true color. This area calls itself the emerald coast - I assume because of the color of the water - maybe green......maybe aqua.......definitely bright.......positively vivid. You gotta see it to believe it. I will be searching through my paint boxes, trying to get that color (whatever it is) down on paper. Maybe life is not really a beach, but beauty is.

Footprints in the Sand

It's February, and that white stuff blown up in drifts against the fence should be snow, but it isn't. Instead, it's the sparkling white sands along the Gulf of Mexico on Florida's panhandle. Yep. We've left Texas for the time being (whatever that means), and are ourselves drifting into new territory. However, not really new because we were here many years ago when you could walk for miles and not see another person, let alone those high-rise monsters. Well, we all want a place on the beach, and there's just not enough space for all of us. Happily, on this side of the Gulf there aren't any high-rise oil platforms on the horizon. I rather like looking out across the water and seeing nothing but water.

Against the Wind

"Wow," you say. "Are you guys out there wind surfin' with the sea life?"

Hell no. We're sitting up on the balcony, listening to Bob Seger.

http://www.bobseger.com/sampler/player.html

We're "older now........but still runnin'...............against the wind."

Figuratively.

The Food Chain

Yep...........we're doing all the touristy things - visiting The Texas State Aquarium, getting new social security cards (you need them for everything now - memorizing your number is just not enough anymore), acquiring Texas driver's licenses...... I know! I know! All these activities require standing in line. No wonder we just sit and stare at the waves in our spare moments.

Really enjoyed the aquarium because it contained only sea life found in Texas waters so we could see what was swimming around out there beneath the sea before it ended up on our plates. No, no, I haven't eaten any sharks, but then, none of them have nibbled at me either. And listen guys.............let's just keep it that way.