Mar 29 - life on the water

How do you see dolphins and manatees ? Well, sitting at the Tiki bar at the Smyrna Yacht club, of course !

The thunderclouds kept forming as the weather fronts collided and we got rain, heavy at times but more often just a sprinkle, through part of the afternoon. We were getting organized to go boating around 11am but the doppler showed the folley of that approach to watery entertainment, so we changed tacks. I ran some errands -- Home Depot / WalMart -- while Allister went for a walk, umbrella in hand. The ladies exercised their vocal chords, catching up on all the time apart.

Around 4pm, or a little earlier the sun came out, finally. We decided to go over to the SYC and, sitting at a table by the water in the Tiki bar, caught some watery entertainment. There were two manatees that just wouldn't go away -- they must have been feeding on something on the bottom. Every couple of minutes their heads would pop up as they would breathe. "Catching some air" in manatee terms is not the same as skiing !

Later, the tide still on the way out, two dolphins provided some entertainment. At first they were a few hundred yards away but then came closer, running circles around some fish who undoubtedly became their evening snack.

We left the SYC after six, having downed two beer each (Allister, Sheryl and me) and two glasses of Pinot Grigio each (Carol and Sandy), but no snacks -- we held off until we got home.

We stopped at Publix on the way home, and once there it was time to get cooking. Sandy started on her risotto while I separated the package of squid that I'd picked up at the fish store earlier. Sandy and Carol had already cleaned the 2.5 pounds of shrimp. Carol and Sheryl cleaned the green beans. Allister provided moral support !

I'd seen squid on the price chart at the fish store for years and understood that they came in frozen packages. Yesterday was the first time that I'd ever bought any. The packages are 2.5 pound frozen blocks; the squid are about 5 inches long -- actually a good size. There's probably 25-30 squid in the package but that's too many for one go so I separated them into three groups -- two to be frozen for Sandy and me for later and a larger group for last night.

I was experimenting at this point, without a defined recipe. Olive oil, crushed garlic cloves, lemon juice, salt & pepper with a dusting of flour got them ready for the barbie. I cooked them on a flat perforated grill -- I saved the wok-shaped grill for the shrimp -- and then we snacked on those while Sandy was still cooking the risotto. They don't get crispy, per se, but once I judged them to be cooked they came off the grill and I cut each squid into three -- bite-sized pieces. They were quite good -- success !

Once the risotto was ready, the shrimp went on the barbie while Sandy prepared the green beans and we were on our second course. There were only two courses -- no desert last night -- but we'd all had enough.

Today we head in different directions. Allister leaves shortly to go golfing with his friend in Ormond Beach. Sandy & Carol will take Sheryl to the airport for her 2pm flight and then do some shopping in Winter Park (Orlando) -- Sandy is still looking for replacement Teva's. I'm going .... guess where ... biking.

Tonight "the plan" is to try Dustins, a local barbecue place. Beyond that, I don't know ...