Missing You, Adventure Man
I’m eating here, all alone, in a booth for one, surrounded by a million other customers. Son and his wife are at work, and Sonny’s isn’t their favorite place. It’s low brow, it’s folksy, and oh, how I miss southern barbecue when I am back in Kuwait.
The waitress, Tammy, is country and sweet and cares about all her customers, I have the fried catfish with Sonny’s baked beans and a side of cole claw . . .I have my non-sweet iced tea, I have my Sudoku . . . missing you too much, Adventure Man:
Maxx Adventure
Today, a break. Renovations are going fine, normal setbacks, above normal completion rate. Today, no workmen in the house and I run free, I am celebrating.
And how do I celebrate? Well . . . here I am at Barnes and Noble, where I can buy some wireless time to upload some photos, and oh yes, the new James Lee Burke / Dave Robicheaux novel is out so I had to buy that, too, for the next long plane ride.
Earlier, a trip to TJ Maxx. It is a TJ Maxx Home – I’ve never been in one of those before, and oh! what a thrill. I found a carry-on, just like the one I have only a little bigger and at HALF what I paid for the one I have now, and have loved, and don’t want to part with except that it is splitting in some places where I have had to pack it too full. 😦
And I also found what I was looking for. Remember I told you about the Misto, and told you where you could order one? I found it on the shelf at TJ Maxx, marked WAAAAYYYYY down. I love it. See if you can spot it.
I also thought of you when I saw this sign. Kuwait isn’t the only place with ambiguous, and very funny signage:
The Real Florida
So many Americans visit Disneyland and think they have visited Florida. Disneyland, and the huge shopping mall that is Orlando is about as close to the real Florida as skiing down an artificial hill in Dubai is to really skiing.
There is a real Florida. You can go there. You’ll need sunscreen, you will need beach shoes, and you will need mosquito repellent.
One of the first places to go is the Florida Everglades. Take a boat ride back into the swamps, take a whole day, or even two. And take your camera. There are alligators, and a million species of water birds. When the motor cuts off, just use your ears and listen . . .the Everglades is an amazing place, beautiful, even a little eerie, with the Ahingas and herons and water birds.
The Florida Keys are a blast. Key West is like it’s own country, a little off-beat – no, WAAAAYYY off beat. Stay in a bed and breakfast, leave your car and just walk around. Take one of the dive boats, if you dive, or the snorkle boat trips if you don’t dive. They provide all the equipment and will take you out to a reef where you can snorkle for a few hours, and see more glorious and gorgeous fish than you would see in a lifetime of searching, in bath-water warm water. It’s like God’s great aquarium, it’s a mystical experience, seeing all the life underwater. Head for the wharf at sundown, for the “green flash” as the sun dips into the water and the reggae plays and humanity in all it’s diversity gathers to send the sun to bed.
Cocoa Beach, where the space shuttles launch, is a totally cool and very funky place. It gets really crowded when the shuttles are about to launch, but there are some very fun and very relaxed restaurants there, and some great surf when a storm is brewing.
Sanibel Island, off season, where you find miraculous sea shells by just strolling the beaches as the tide goes back out, and watch the most amazing sunsets.
Take the family to Crystal Springs, “just north of Tampa” but I remember it being a LONG drive! You get there, pick out the size innertube or raft you want (I prefer the ones with the sealed center, because your bottom can get REALLY cold hanging in the spring waters) and head for the source of Crystal Springs on a bus. You can choose a short route or the long route – you will know your own children, and what they can handle. We like the long route.
You get into your tube, into the water, and . . . you float! You float for two or three hours, and the water is so clear you can see the fish just feet below you. You float through areas of vine covered trees and tannin stained waters, you see what Florida looked like before man. It is WILD and beautiful. At the end, you are pretty cold, but oh, what a grand adventure.
Wakulla Springs is the deepest freshwater spring in Florida, and they have glass bottomed boats you can go on to see all the life underwater. We especially love the old fashioned lodge there, just a few miles south of Tallahassee. Wakulla Springs Lodge
And I am only now getting to the very best part. For a great adventure, we love Myakka River State Park. It is one of the oldest recreational parks in Florida, with excellent hiking trails, over 1000 alligators in the lake, and a boat trip – on a boat driven by a giant fan – around the lake. Adventure Man has always said that if he ever thinks about retiring, he wants to be the park ranger driving this boat and showing people all the alligators. It is a thrillingly beautiful place. It is near Venice beach, famous for fossilized shark tooth hunting.
But we go just a little bit further south, to a little beachside community called Englewood Beach. We have collected thousands of fossilized shark’s teeth on Englewood Beach – it is a treasure trove. We stay at the Weston Resort which is really a conglomeration of properties near the southernmost tip of the barriar island on which Englewood Beach exists, and from which you walk right into the state park where you can’t drive.
I see that they now have parking for like 25 cents an hour – it used to be free, but you only got a parking spot if you got there by around 8 in the morning, there were so few parking places. But you always have a place to park if you are staying at the “resort”. The resort isn’t really a resort, it is a very beachy place, and most people rent by the week, or even, during winter, by the month. They have their favorite units and their favorite buildings. The units all have kitchens, some even with ovens and all with coffee makers and microwaves. It’s a very old time-y Florida kind of place to stay. We love it. We dream of Englewood Beach!
There are still a few other funky Florida places. You have to rent a car, and you have to be willing to go off the beaten track. Take some of the backroads, drive along the Gulf Coast – Florida is a LONG state, and it is really a two day drive – or more – if you start in the Keys and drive to the Alabama border, near Pensacola. The real Florida has its own beauty, you just have to take the time and effort to find it. Once you do – you will be hooked on Florida.
Bayou Texar, Early Morning
A warm breeze blows, barely ruffling the mirror like waters of the Bayou Texar early in the morning. The area is like a large scale fitness track, with singles, couples and groups running, walking, chatting and getting fit. Mid-day is brutal, but early morning and evenings are almost perfect. This is for you, R, a reminder of your school days in Pensacola, and for you, Adventure Man, wishing you were here, too. 🙂
Oyster Barn in Pensacola
When I said I wasn’t that hungry, just wanted a bowl of soup, something like clam chowder or gumbo, my son’s eyes just lit up.
“We could even walk!” he said. “It’s close!”
We didn’t – not that night, because I was really tired, and jet lagging, but I walked back another day to get an outdoor photo for you.
You’d have to know about the Oyster Barn to eat there – it is a tiny marina on a bayou, and out on the main street, there is no indication that this little gem is hidden back along the shore. You just have to know.
And a lot of people DO know. When we got there, the parking lot was packed. We almost went somewhere else, but we decided to give it a try. And there was one booth just emptied, just right for us. It’s the kind of place when you walk in everyone is trying to figure out who you are, because mostly it is packed with locals. You won’t find this place if you are a tourist.
This isn’t a fancy place, but it has great local seafood. The waitress appeared promptly to take our orders, which here, always start with iced tea (“Sweet or UnSweet?”)
My son and his wife had the Jumbo shrimp, which comes with “two sides” – my son had hush puppies and cheese grits, and his wife had salad and hush puppies. The servings are generous, and oh! those shrimp are SO good. They have a peppery-cajun coating that is both spicy and delicious. We finished with a very tart, very authentic piece of Key Lime Pie, all of us so full we all shared one piece with three forks. Life is sweet.
I had the oyster stew – and it was full of plump, juicy oysters. I took a photo of the stew, but it didn’t do it justice – all you could see was a milky looking base with lumps.
My Mom is coming with me next time I visit Pensacola, and this is one of the first places I will take her. I know she will love it. Although it is in Florida, it is very much like the places we used to eat when we lived in Alaska.
Ridin’ Dirty
My sis made this comment in my blog today:
BTW – it makes me giggle to think of you as my “Gangsta Sista” with her throwdown…and bling, too, as I read backwards in your blog! LOL, LOL, LOL!
It gets worse, sis. My rental is this long sleek black thing. I’m not used to being so close to the ground, and the thing drives like a boat – it’s heavy and luggy, and it wasn’t my choice, it’s just what I ended up with.
And I was really uncomfortable driving it, I felt just WRONG. Finally, I figured out that the seat was tilted back, and that’s what was making me have to drive with my arms straight out. I’m slow, but I’m slow . . . it only took me a few days. Now the car is still lunky, but at least I am sitting up straight.
And the takeoff, by Weird Al Yankovitch -White N Nerdy:
No bling for me, dear sis. But hey – don’ t YOU have a birthday coming up soon? 🙂
Loaves and Fishes
Just before I left Kuwait, I read an editorial on the front page of the Arab Times; the Reverend Andrew Thompson suggesting we organize something in Kuwait which will make use of almost-spoiled food from the groceries, unused food from restaurants, newly expired foods, etc. to be gathered by volunteers and distributed into communities of the hungry and needy in Kuwait.
Especially with Ramadan coming, the season of feasting with family and generousity towards others, this is a wonderful time to be organizing this kind of effort.
In the U.S., many groups do this, usually associated with churches. In Seattle, we have something called Second Harvest. This morning, very early, as I was leaving the grocery store, I saw this truck collecting food at the back door.
Probably the Reverend Thompson will begin with people doing this out of their own cars, but if you have any pull . . . oops, that dreaded word, wasta . . . with a local van dealer, maybe Kuwait could have it’s own food distribution program.
Loaves and Fishes refers to a miracle where Jesus blessed a basket with just a small amount of bread and fish, but when passed, the bread and fish fed over 5,000 people. It evokes the generousity of the human spirit, and celebrates the incredible goodness of sharing.
News from Florida
In Kuwait, the free press is still very cautious. They might hint at a story, they might give a few details, but they are still cautious about crimes which in other countries would be a matter of public record.
Here is a very sad story from the Florida news scene today:
State Representative Arrested for Prostitution Charge
State Representative Bob Allen was arrested Wednesday after offering to perform oral sex for $20 on an undercover male police officer, authorities said.
Veteran’s Memorial Park was under surveillance when Allen, Republican – Merritt Island, was seen coming in and out of a restroom three times. . . Allen, 48, then approached an undercover officer and was arrested.
He has been charged with solicition for prostitution, which has a maximum penalty of one year in jail. Brevard County officials said Allen posted a $500 bond.
For my Kuwait readers, a state representative is an elected official who helps make the laws. The Republican party is considers itself the guardian of public morals. So there is some irony in this story, as well as infinite sadness.
It’s all Relative
I lived in Florida for six years once, in another life. I hated it.
At first, I was enchanted. It was so warm! And the air was humid and soft! And I went into my first Home Depot and fell totally in love. We had our own pool, we had pool toys and a new Florida life style and we were having fun.
Then, September came. And it was still hot and humid. Nothing changed. I waited expectantly for the cool breezes to begin, for the leaves to turn, all the things I was used to happening in September, including getting out my winter clothes – none of that happened.
I remember the first cool breeze. It was October 20th.
At Thanksgiving, we were still using the air conditioning. I had figured out by then that the hot, humid air made me sweat when I did housework, and made exercise much less attractive. Even sedentary activities like needlework seemed steamy and undesirable.
As I put up the Christmas tree, still with the air conditioning on, I was NOT happy. I really wanted some winter.
We did get one cold month, January, where we had two days of possible frost.
When we left Florida, I felt like I’d been let out of jail – I moved to Seattle and relished the coolness, even the rain. We have air conditioning, but in Seattle, we have never had to use it – the house stays cool, and the night breezes freshen everything up. I can have the windows open most of the year.
Now, back in Florida – from Kuwait – I am noticing how soft and warm the climate is once again, even in the torpid heat of summer. Record highs? No problem. I drove during rush hour traffic yesterday, and it was calm, relaxed . . . almost boring. I am probably the worst driver on the road – I have to remind myself to signal, and to take a deep breath – driving here is totally NON-aggressive.
Little Diamond sent me a clipping from the Kuwait Times on the AWARE center having a diwaniyya on driving problems in Kuwait, with the outcome that if laws were enforced, Kuwait would have far less of a problem. Amen.
This morning I awoke to the chirping of a cricket and the cries of pelicans flying over. Big clouds, threatening thunder, crowded out the clear blue of the sky. And just down the street, I am not kidding, is a Lebanese restaurant. Life is sweet.
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