FTJ, Entry 140: Sure and Begorrah, Them's a Lot of Spuds

It is 8 pm, and I am in a food coma. I am SO stuffed with corned beef and cabbage and carrots and potatoes and soda bread and cake. I was in such an eating frenzy the green plastic beads on the table were staring to look appealing. And gads, now I am paying for it. (Perhaps the Romans, with their alleged vomitoriums -- or would that be vomitoria?-- were onto something.)  

Anyway, the St. Patrick's Day dinner here at the RV resort, put on by Ruth and Kay and their husbands, Carl and Ron, was amazing. Great, great job. And such a bargain at $5 a person.

But one little thing: You have perhaps heard of the Irish potato famine? Well, we had the opposite problem. The potatoes somehow reproduced in the kitchen, to the point where I wondered if this was a St. Paddy's Day version of The Day of the Triffids -- you know, the sci-fi novel about highly reproductive plants taking over the world (that was also the basis of an infamous "Star Trek" episode)? 

It was.... The Night of the Taters. People kept eating them, and yet their numbers never diminished. In fact, they multiplied several times when we weren't looking. I think I saw a few moving furtively toward one another in the chafing dish, actually.

Okay, enough silliness. It was a wonderful event, made possible by a lot of hard work in a very hot kitchen. THANKS SO MUCH Ruth, Carl, Kay, and Ron.

Some photos commemorating the event:

The community room looked great before the hordes descended.

A wonderful shot of Ruth and Beau.

Kudos to the chefs! They worked so hard--and it paid off.

Ron and Kay prep the cabbage. When I asked Kay to go easy on my cabbage portion, she just looked at me and deadpanned, "Farts?" Well, I never! What nerve!  (But how did she know?)

Sound the dinner bell!  (Have you ever seen senior citizens at an all-you-can-eat buffet? It ain't pretty, folks.)

Beau liked Kirk's shirt.

I think this woman was suffering from glycoalkaloid poisoning, brought on by overindulging in potatoes during the tubers' annual St. Patrick's Day reproductive frenzies. No, really! It can happen. Look it up.  

Park manager Cheryl made the "pot of gold" cake. Yummy.

Thanks again, Ruth and Carl. (I was trying to gain that last 10 pounds, and I think your dinner did the trick.)

So, yet another great evening. And guess what? We got to take home some leftovers. And guess what they were? Yup...spuds.

Where's the Pepto? I bet I dream about The Attack of the Killer Potatoes tonight.

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 139: Hold Onto Your Hats, There's Even More Excitement!

A quickie post about another extremely exciting happening here at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort: The Amazing Race (for Seniors). Beau and I, the ultimate athletes (HAHAHAHA), were up against a gang of other tough and buff competitors, and were tasked to retrieve golden rods (curtain rods) from the beach; stack 7 small paper cups (which I handily accomplished); put together a jigsaw puzzle designed for 5-year-olds; and scavenge 3 food items throughout the park as a donation for the Food Bank.

The toughest task was the damned puzzle. And I thought I picked an easy one -- Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Drat! The stupid thing was a riddle wrapped up in an enigma and packaged in a friggin' conundrum.

Boy, those 5-year-olds are smart.

Beau is off to find the golden rods.

Nervously anticipating my job of stacking these small cups, end on end in a tower (see below). Harder than it sounds, people!

Amazing, indeed -- we came in second. We knocked down a lady in a walker to get to the finish line.

This is the first place couple getting their prize from Ruth. You can see why they won. I think she's a marathoner. Him, well, he's not an athlete, but I think he is a puzzle genius. Damn them, they look smug.

We were so proud.

We won $25 in gift certificates to local restaurants, and enjoyed a hot dog lunch with fellow RVers in the clubhouse afterwards. It was another tough day. 

So I can hear you asking yourselves: Holy crap, has it come to this for the Beaudrys? Yes, my friends, it has. We are looking at many years ahead of hot dog lunches in the community room and bingo on Wednesday nights (and knocking down ladies with walkers to win a pound cake).

And oh, it gets worse. Today we went with the gang to the Senior Center for a $3 corned beef and cabbage lunch. THE SENIOR CENTER!  Beau was not too crazy about going, but I was rather blasé about the whole affair. Hey, I wanted the corned beef and cabbage.

Outside the Senior Center.

Inside the Senior Center.

In reality, we have not really admitted we are seniors yet...and we don't plan on it anytime soon. This is more how we see ourselves:

Walking on the beach at Carrabelle.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  Great joy, we have another corned beef dinner Saturday night!

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 138: Parade Pics, as Promised

For the millions (HAHAHA) awaiting photos of the Camp Gordon Johnston parade, I am posting as promised. I KNOW you are anxious to see them.... ;-)

We lucked out with the weather: It was breezy, but bright and sunny and 75 degrees. The streets of the bustling metropolis of Carrabelle were lined with happy parade-loving people. 

We lined up on the street behind Main Street and waited for the cue.

Lining up for the start.

Ruth and Carl did a great job putting this all together. Beau helped a bit as well. Too bad the banner emphasizes Budweiser rather than Carrabelle Beach RV Resort.

 

LOVED the Carrabelle Riverfront Festival pirate ship float -- Pirates of the Carrabellean. Check out the cannons and the laundry basket crow's nest. Wonderful!

Great costumes, too.

This parrot did a cute trick where you shoot it and say "bang" and it plays dead. Hysterical.

And here is the Crooked River Lighthouse. For those who have not heard of the lighthouse, it was built in 1895 and for 117 years has stood as a beacon to guide ships, fishermen, and oyster men through the treacherous pass between Dog and St. George Islands. (I don't think this little replica is as old, though.)

And we are off.

We rode the float and tossed beads to the supportive onlookers on the street. A few ladies lifted their shirts for beads. More than a few men did, too. Bead whores come in both sexes, apparently.

Beau and I sat on the other side of the float. See him in the hat?

After the parade, we had a tour of the New Orleans, a landing craft anchored in Carrabelle before heading to Kuwait.

Waiting to board the New Orleans.

This young man served in Afghanistan, I believe. I know he said he had experienced 23 IED attacks. We thanked all these brave soldiers for their service.

After the tour, we enjoyed the free spaghetti and meatball lunch provided by the town, and departed for home. Beau and I rode behind Dan and the golfcart just in case of a mishap on the way back.

Wasn't this an incredibly exciting day?

Tanks, Panky

FTJ. Entry 137: Prepping for the Parade

The weather has finally turned (for the good) here on the Panhandle, and we have been enjoying balmy temps and sunshine. Just in time for the big parade celebrating veterans in Carrabelle on Saturday.

Below, some photos of what we have been up to. 

The RVers work on a structure that will transform the park's golf cart into a mini RV, to be part of the Carrabelle parade. A separate trailer is our "float" (to be pulled by a truck) and is decked out in patriotic colors and palm trees -- photos of that to come after the parade.

Our terrific activities coordinator, Ruth. She does a GREAT job providing things for us all to do here in the land of nothing to do.

Kay and Ruth working on the golf cart enclosure.

Beau painted the stars and red swirlies. I helped with the lettering on the back and painted the ladder and palm tree. What artists, yes? Hmmm, it does look a bit like a Wonder Bread truck....

Beau adds some finishing touches to the stars on the back.

Dan will be driving the cart in the parade. Here he practices getting in -- rather an awkward entry.

Almost finished!

On Wednesday, we went to St. George Island with Ruth and her husband Carl, to get oysters at Eddy Teach's, a local joint that sells a dozen on the half shell for $4.99 from 3:30-4:30 -- Oyster "Happy Hour." Beau thoroughly enjoyed his two dozen. I watched him eat and stole his saltines. 

Exciting, huh?

Enjoying the wonderful weather and oysters at Eddy Teach's bar with Ruth and Carl, a great couple we met at the RV resort.

A very good singer provided entertainment at Eddy Teach's outdoor bandstand, which sports a sign saying:  "Keeping the Locals Drunk Since 2006."  (The place looks like it's been around since 1896, but whatever.)

A bad photo of the two-man band. The sun shone right into the camera, so the pic is tough to make out.

Beau, Buddy, and Carl with buxom "Doreen" at Eddy Teach's.

Beau shown on another sunny day, on the spectacular beach of  St.George Island.

As I noted, I will post photos of the parade later in the week. OH GREAT JOY! I am sure you will be on pins and needles till then. 

Ah yes, the excitement never stops here at the old RV park.

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 136: The Forgotten Coast? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Well, based on the past 25 days, during which we got maybe four decent warm sunny ones, we won't be back to the Forgotten Coast. It has been cold, cloudy, rainy, or foggy most of this month, and we are sick of it. We can only hope that when our friends Jack and Allison visit next month, this dismal dreariness will have passed. Right now, it looks like cold and cloudy and rainy and crappy will prevail for at least the next week, maybe longer. Yuck.

Fortunately, we attended a party here at the park and got to meet some very nice people. As a result, Beau is keeping busy helping build a float for the upcoming Camp Gordon Johnston parade, which is the highlight of the celebratory Camp Gordon Johnston weekend. The weekend honors veterans, and in particular, the amphibian soldiers who trained here (some on the beach right across from us) for the Normandy invasion. Sponsored by the local WWII museum, festivities include a reunion of veterans, a parade, and a free lunch for anyone who wants to come. 

Beau may ride on the float with the other veterans. In that I have had a rotten upper respiratory infection (I get sick every time we visit here -- another reason not to come back), I have been out of the loop on the plans.

We have only been able to go to the beach once. Haven't even bothered to go to the beautiful beach at St. George Island -- too cold and crummy.

Some photos of the good and the bad  follow.

First, the good:

Our ONE nice beach day.

I have been in long pants and sweatshirts since this photo was taken.

At first, Beau thought there was a small shark in the water -- but he actually saw a fin from this stingray, floating along in a few inches of water, right off the shore.

Took this shot of a magnificent Great Blue Heron at a place called Indian Pass,
about 40 minutes or so from us.

This guy was maybe 20 feet from a fisherman, waiting for scraps.

On one cloudy day (what else is new?) we took a trip out to Cape San Blas, considered one of the best -- if not THE best -- beaches in the country, but we were not particularly impressed. A few homes along the sand, and not much else out there. Too remote for us.

In general, Cape San Blas has the same look as the Outer Banks.

It also has its own weirdness.

On another non-rainy, yet cool day, we went out to lunch in Apalachicola, at a nice little cafe called Tamara's.

Now the bad:

Our typical weather of late.

 

And this is a GOOD day (not raining).

Considering we have another month here, we are REALLY hoping to see the sun soon. And it's frigging cold. Harrumph.

Tanks, Panky

P.S. Another disappointment for Beau: His favorite BBQ place here, the one he raved about the entire year we traveled on our bucket list trip, has gone downhill. But it's about the only game in town, so we keep giving it another chance. Beau may just end up in the kitchen talking/consulting with/complaining to the chef, ya never know.