Greetings from Burger King in Crystal River Florida. 3/16/2019
This is one place we can get WIFI
that works for us. The WIFI at the
campgrounds is totally useless. Spend an hour trying to log on then get dropped
in 30 seconds. All this for only$24 a
month!
So the blog entries will be few and far
between and in big bites.
Saturday 3/2/2019
It snowed last night so our “on
the road by 7:00” didn’t happen. We were
joined at Mickie D’s for breakfast by our son and daughter in law. It gave us time for quiet talk and good byes
and bon voyages. We left around 9:00.
The trip to Knoxville went
well. We arrived at Bill and Pree’s
about 7:30 PM. Not being as young as I
was yesterday I went to bed early while Linda stayed up to visit.
Sunday 3/3
It rained overnight. That’s just what Knoxville needed. A few more drops and everybody will have
water front property. We got good
news…Bill has been fighting melanoma. At
his last blood test his results came back cancer free. Pray that this continues for Bill. He had it several years ago and they thought
they got it all, but it came back. He
seems to be getting great treatment at the University Of Tennessee Hospital.
Monday 3/4
On the road south out of
Knoxville at 10:30 AM. Traffic on the
interstates was fairly light except around the big cities and even then not too
bad. We arrived in Pelham, AL at supper
time and checked in at the Quality Inn.
It’s nice because they are remodeling the rooms (they look like new) and
there are spaces to park a rig. It is
also next to Cracker Barrel, Ruby Tuesday’s and Burger King. Who could ask for anything more?
Tuesday 3/5
Headed south around 7:00 AM. Making good time. Big Blue and the Teeny Tiny House are just
chewing up the miles.
We will be visiting our friends
Bill and Pat who are renting a condo in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. There is no place at the condo to park the
trailer so I found a storage facility about 30 miles away near I-10. You contact the facility via a cell phone
number. An older gentleman answers the
phone. The conversation went something
like this:
How long do you need a spot?.......Three of four days.
Just call when you get here and I’ll give you the combination to the
gate. Put $40 “CASH” in an envelope and
I’ll tell you where to put it.
Well, that’s just how it
worked. It was a nice facility even if
the owner seemed a bit gruff over the phone.
That evening we all went to the Riverwalk in time to see the Mardi
Gras parade. It was the second parade with
only a Dixie Land band and five small floats but, the girls got their
beads. No more to be said on that
subject! (Modesty prevailed)
Wednesday 3/6
Bill had a hanker’n to try a
crawfish dinner. I must admit I too
wanted to try this Cajun delicacy. He
also wanted to see the shrimp boat fleet at Bayou La Batre. So we loaded up into Big Blue and headed for
Mobil, Al.
Our first stop was to be at
“Mudbugs” for lunch but when we got there we found that the seafood store was
open but the dining room had been closed down the week before. After a few inquiries we were assured that
R&R had the best crawfish dinner in town.
No problem; back through the tunnel in Mobile and to the east end of
town. 
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| Bill poses for Pat to capture his first crawfish |
Never having any others to
compare with we will concede that R&R is the best. By finding the parking lot packed they must
have something going for them. You buy crawfish
by the pound and then get your sides separate.
Linda decided to opt for grilled shrimp but Bill, Pat and I were daring
enough to give it a go. A taste
somewhere between shrimp and lobster with a good dose of Cajun spice; they were
quite tasty and definitely spicy. It is
a comfort food. Don’t rush…Take your
time… (1) Break the tail off the head. (2) Pinch the body shell to break it and
peal out the meat and enjoy the firm tender morsel. (3) Suck the juice out of
the head. #3 is optional, but if you
don’t try how can you enjoy the entire experience. Add French fries, Cole slaw, and an order of
Hushpuppies and it’s a feast for a king. “Aint dat so, dare Maurice?” “Durn
rite it tiz!” “Ya noze its so.”
The shrimp boats at Bayou La
Batre are mostly owned by Vietnamese and many have oriental sounding names and
dragons or stylized birds painted on the bow.
The Bayou is actually a shipyard where the boats come in the off season
for repair and refit. There is also some
new manufacturing going on.
We passed the Battleship Alabama
Memorial Park. If we are ever in Mobile
again this is a must see. There is a lot
to see here besides the battleship.
Admission is only $4.
Thursday 3/7
Just spent the day chillin' on the beach. Pat made spaghetti and meatballs for supper.
Friday 3/8
We left Ft Walton Beach around
8:00 and headed to Crestview to pick up the trailer. We met the man at the storage lot as he made
his daily rounds. Nice guy, just talks a
bit gruff. The trip to Crystal River was
rather quiet. US 19 is the main
north/south route through this part of FL.
It’s a nice lightly traveled four lane that takes you through the pine
forest and live oaks. Arriving at 3:00
we started unloading and were pretty much settled in by 6:00.
Monday 3/11
Went to the bait and tackle shop
up the road. They don’t sell fishing
licenses! We had to go to Wal-
Mart. There is no Wal-Mart in Crystal
River. Crystal River is only about 3.000
people. The closest Wal-Mart is about 15
miles away in Homosassa Springs. We got
our licenses but the man forgot to give us the regulation books. So tomorrow that will be another trip to
Homosassa.
We launched the boat and took a
ride out the canal to the river and then took a short trip up river. It’s really nice here. In the off season the waterways aren’t so
busy.
Just about 50 yards down the
canal is another canal the cuts to the east.
I saw some people standing on a pontoon boat taking pictures. Then I heard the sound of a small gator. The signs in the park say they have alligators and snakes and to not
go into the water.
Tuesday 3/12
We met Mike. Mike is a gentleman from Germany. Riding his bike he stopped by to ask if he
could tie up his boat to our dock. I
hated to turn him down but the rules spell out in easy to understand English,
the only boat tied to a dock must belong to the camper at that site and have a
tag issued by the office. No
Exceptions. Subject to eviction.
Mike liked looking through our trailer and
said that campers in Europe are smaller than ours. He said that there are no
fifth wheelers like the one he has over here.
Mike, who is some years older than I, came to Texas for college in his
twenties and loved it. He and his wife
come back to the U.S. every spring and fall and travel. This year they brought his sister in law
along.
Wednesday 3/13
Set out to go fishing in the
boat. The Crystal River and surrounding
waters have many Manatee Protection Zones.
One minute you are allowed 25 MPH in the center channel and the next its
slow speed minimum wake. It really makes
a short trip take a long time. But we
did see two noses come up and take a snort then disappear. 
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| Linda's first Sea Trout |
 |
| The Lady catches a Ladyfish |
 |
| The Old Man and the Sea |
The fishing was good. We both caught sea trout (Linda had one just
a quarter inch short of a keeper), catfish and a bunch of a fish we were not
familiar with. They were long slender
torpedo shaped with silver sides and greenish-black backs and the really could
put up a fight. Much of the waters around
here are shallow with sand bars and oyster bars so traveling must be done at a
slow pace until we get a better idea of where it’s deep enough to throttle up
and cruise.
We were not back long and I see
Mike and his wife and sister in law coming up the canal. The girls wanted to see our trailer. They introduced themselves. I couldn’t make out his wife’s name. It started Gud…..So I told her I’ll just call
her Goodie. Her sister’s name was harder
so she became Goodie Two. When I
introduced them Linda had no idea about the previous conversation. I said “This is Goodie one and Goodie
Two. Linda said “Hi I’m Goodie
Three”. That got a laugh out of every
one. Interesting, laughter sounds the
same in any language.
Thursday 3/14.
We must have worn ourselves out
yesterday. We both slept in to
10:00. We both got an overdose of sun
yesterday even though we had long sleeves on.
We forgot about our knees! Pink
as a piglet.
Hip-Hip-Hurray… today is laundry
day! Not our favorite past time but
necessary just the same. We found a very
clean and appears rather new laundromat in Homosassa Springs. While the laundry was sloshing round and
round we started a game of Ten. Linda
was in the lead when the dryers went off and the game came to an end.
We stopped at Winn-Dixie to pick
up some groceries. The store wasn’t as
nice as the Publix we went to a few days ago.
We couldn’t find some stuff and the can goods were dusty on top. But it’s just down the road so it’s convenient.
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