If It's Gonna Be Hot, We May As Well Be Home

As temperatures soared into the 90s in Milwaukee for the first time in two years, Maggie and I decided that we'd rather be hot at home. So, we packed up and headed to Pcola/Mobile . . . where temperatures soared into the 100s. But what's 10 degrees among friends? 90 and dry versus 100 and humid is really just asking whether you'd like to be baked or simmered....either way you end up cooked.

As a side note, I figured it's worth a mention that Maggie and I nearly had to pull an all-nighter driving from the ATL to Pcola as our Delta flight from Milwaukee was about an hour and a half late. After sprinting through the airport while carrying our luggage in my arms, we made it to our flight just in time. And for those of you curious, I'm just now catching my breath.

We arrived into Pcola pretty late on Thursday and headed to Mags' house, where Mark was just finishing cooking the blue crab for dinner on Friday. Maggie, in her zeal for Lent to return, remembered that it was now officially Friday and ate 3 1/2 blue crabs in its honor. What a Catholic.

The next morning, the whole family rose early and headed to the Gulf. Mark had loaded down the truck with six kayaks, paddles, and all neccessary accessories for an above-water adventure. Accompanying us on this excursion were Mark, Mary, Ryan, and Chrissie, all seasoned kayaking veterans. Maggie and I were relative newbies. While we had been once before in Mexico, its government had asked that we never kayak again in its waters as a condition of our release. We were happy to oblige.

So Ryan and I put in first and floated around for about a minute, which apparently was long enough for the wind to take us halfway to Cuba. Shortly thereafter, Maggie, Mark, Mary, and Chrissie joined us, which was good because they had the sandwiches. We spent most of our time paddling about looking for wildlife, which everyone saw (except me). Allegedly, there was a giant fish that leapt out of the water, a giant manta ray that leapt out of the water, and a bull shark that we're all glad did not leap out of the water.

A little while later, we began our arduous trek back to the mainland, fighting the wind and waves the whole way. We thought some of us might not make it back, but apparently Maggie's fear of schooling fish is a powerful motivator.

The kayaking crew.

Next up was lunch at Peg Leg Pete's, where I dined on my dish of choice -- Oyster PoBoy. Everyone else had similarly delightful meals. Post-lunch, Mark and Mary headed home to get dinner prepared, but Ryan, Chrissie, Maggie, and I headed back out to the beach. We actually went down toward Ft. Pickens, where the speed limit is precisely 5 mph. Luckily, for those speed junkies out there, it does eventually get up to 15 mph. When we all had calmed down from that mad rush of NASCAR-like action, we took the first left we possibly could to get off of that road! We had arrived, albeit slowly.

Unfortunately, we spent about 15 minutes at the beach. There was some type of jelly fish or sea nettles that stung when they touched skin. It wasn't a lasting pain, but like a sharp, hot knife digging into your skin for a millisecond. Pleasant, I know. Mags and I tried to fight through to a sandbar, but fearing some type of paralysis, we instead limped back to the beach in defeat. Without the water, the beach was just hot, so we packed it up and headed to Chrissie's new place, which was quite nice and comes with a pool.

We soon found ourselves headed back to Maggie's house, where we showered up and prepared for the festivities. Jeff, Rita, Tim, Kelly, and Kathy joined the pre-assembled crowd for a dinner of grouper, a grouper-like fish that I cannot remember, and blue crab. Consensus opinion was that it was quite delicious. After post-dinner chatting, we hit the sack.

Saturday was Mobile day! Mags and I woke up early and headed to the Yellowhammer State for a visit with the Larche/Cotton/Gatlin/Kluge family. Liz, Miles, Ian, Laura, Celi, Diane, and Nana all joined in the festivities. Dad had bought many pounds of crawfish, which marks the first time Mags and I have eaten crawfish since before we were married. After decorating my pants with crawfish brains (who hasn't done that?), I needed to change into another pair of shorts lest my pants stain. So, Mom threw my shorts in the wash and I did my best impersonation of Sven the Tennis Pro, an impersonation that comes complete with really really short shorts. Thinking that I could somehow counterbalance the smallness of my shorts, I borrowed a pair of Miles' swin trunks when we went swimming in our neighbor's pool. It actually worked out well, as what amounted to parachute pants helped keep me afloat.

After swimming briefly, Mags and I (and my folks) got changed to go to the wedding shower of two of our good friends, Angela and Patrick. It had been quite a while since we had seen them last, and although RSVPing with the hosts, we did not tell Angela or Patrick that we were coming. I think they were excited and surprised to see us both, and we all had a great time. Mr. Matt Shelby and his fiance were there, as were Mr. Chris Reeves and his fiance. It was really great to visit with everyone, and the food was excellent -- ribs and BBQ chicken. Yum. Once the shower was over, we said our goodbyes (until September) and hit the road.

Angela and Patrick

Not wanting the evening to end just yet, we made a pit stop at the Original Oyster House, where Brian was able to join us for dinner. We had fried crawfish tails and fried crab claws. I gotta say that the crawfish tails were disappointing, but no so with the crab claws. As with all good things, our dinner came to an end. Mags and I said goodbye to my parents and Brian (or so we thought), and hit the road back to Pcola.

No plans had been made for Sunday, Father's Day, but at approximately 9:45am, we decided we were gonna go "yaking" down the Coldwater. Now, unfortunately "yaking" was not quite what I thought it was, but kayaks are fun too and they are much easier to carry to the river. Mark, showcasing his e-savvy, posted a tweet that the fam was hitting up Coldwater. Shortly thereafter, Kelly and Kathie were in for the adventure. Mags and I also phoned Brian, who made the drive over to join in the fun. So, for the second time in three days, we loaded up the kayaks and hit the road.

It was a nice hot day, and Coldwater felt fantastic. It was about as crowded as I have ever seen it, with constant floats to avoid all the way down. At one point, I believe Kelly attempted float-herding, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. So, we cruised on down to the exit point at a nice relaxing pace.

Kathie and Kelly

Shortly before the exit, Mags and I distinctly remember there being a short canal that leads to one of the coldwater springs that feeds the Coldwater. In fact, we had been there before, and it couldn't have been more than 75 yards from the river. Thinking this would make a fun detour, Maggie, Brian, and I headed up the river. Approximately 300 yards later, the expedition was losing steam. Brian had malaria, Maggie had lost our only wagon tongue, and I was still trying to figure out how to pronounce "diptheria." And alas, no spring in sight. As I was the leader of this caravan, I offered to run ahead to see if we were close. After another 100 yards through the raging current, I gave up all hope of ever finding the spring and headed back downstream. I believe Maggie and Brian were pleased that they could finally stop walking, but I reminded them that we wouldn't be walking at all if Maggie hadn't lost our wagon tongue. So, a slight downer at the end of the trip, but all and all, fun was had by all.

Mags, Brian, and Mark

Once back to Mags' house, we feasted on Sonny's BBQ, which was deliciously awesome, sauteed crab claws (ditto), and a crab bisque that was phenomenol. Everyone was pretty well stuffed, so we proceeded to chill on the couch, answering random Trivial Pursuit questions until Hercule Poirot came on. Soon after solving the mystery (which we always do, of course), Mags and I called it an early night. Our flight left at 6:05am, so an early morning was unavoidable.

Well that's our trip in a nutshell -- a really really large nutshell. To recap, here are the key points: we saw family and friends, ate lots of seafood, and yaked twice (but in the good way). Thanks to everybody for showing us a good time!