Day 60: Saturday, November 3, 2012
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: 00 Stayed At: Marina
First Things First: First free fish of the trip; first bushwacker.
Mile 163 to Mile 163: In the morning, while Cindy ran a load of laundry and read a book on her Nook, I wandered over to the far side of the marina where they were holding a Kid’s Fishing Contest. The kids were all out fishing so I chatted with the volunteers – what a great way to get kids out with their parents and away from the TV and computer. The offered me some coffee and wonderful homemade treats like banana bread muffins, blueberry bread and cranberry bread – all amazing. (I didn’t want to be ungrateful so I tried several samples). I came back later to watch the weigh in – a lot of different kinds of fish were caught with some kids catching 5 or six species in one trip. The kids won door prizes and trophies for their fishing exploits. Fun was had by all. We even won a prize too. I was talking to one of the sponsors/volunteers about craving a fresh fish dinner and he found someone who had caught a lot of fish who was willing to part with a few to help out a hungry transient boater – I left with 4 beautiful spotted trout for dinner. Thank you everyone for your hospitality.
After a long, busy and amazing day yesterday at the airshow, we needed time to rest and recuperate. So we decided to make a road trip to Orange Beach and beyond with the primary destination being Flora Bama’s Oyster Bar and Grill for Bushwackers (a blended drink with lots of alcohol in it). Ann decided we needed to experience this place first hand. This was a true dive on the beach. Most of it looked like a homemade construction site gone wrong with lots of bare plywood (covered with peoples names and comments), bra’s hanging from the ceiling and sand encroaching into the bar from the beach. It was an experience to be remembered (I think I remember something about bra’s hanging from the ceiling).
After getting back to the marina, we fired up the stove and fried some fresh trout with hashbrowns, margaritas and some fresh green beans to make it sort of healthy. We were tired, full and happy. What a great day of recuperation.