Friday, March 14, 2008

Home Sweet Home

Bruce and I have been back a few days from a great trip to the Florida Keys. We spent the first week in the Marathon area with three other couples. Here is a picture of our Keys style dinner. It seems to me that night we were having fresh shrimp.

Most of the week we did all the tourist things. We went fishing on a party boat. Our group of 8 caught about 1/3 of the fish for the 35 people on the boat. We took them home and ate every last fillet. We went out to Looe Key snorkeling one day. The weather was perfect and we saw lots of reef fish in the clear waters. Of course, we did a little shopping up and down the Keys. One night we made it to Mallory Square to watch the sunset. Here is what that looked like.

As I am sure you might suspect, we managed to get in lots of meals in the fine restaurants of the Keys. Some were tried and true places we have eaten in for years and others were new ones. Only one night we were disappointed with our meal. I was able to eat fresh fish every night.

The next week we spent with our friends, Ron and Pat, at their home on Cudjoe Key. Bruce went diving every day. Although the lobster remained generally elusive, he still got some plus spearing fish that appeared on the dinner table. The last night not only did we have fresh fish but Ron’s stone crab traps produced enough for appetizers.

Now we are home for several months. It feels good to not be running all over on trips. Of course, the computer and the office work have been calling my name rather insistently. I am feeling caught up today.

Bruce managed to get out fishing on North Lake a couple days. Here is a picture of his catch the first day.
The lake trout was on the dinner table that night as a feast for four. The next day he got 2 more trout. One fillet was smoked. One fillet is for dinner tonight and two more went into the freezer. I have a new recipe to try on the trout tonight.

Reading the last few paragraphs, you would think all we worry about is eating. Well, when you are trying to take off the winter pound gains, everything you eat had better taste extra special good. Plus, I enjoy trying new recipes.

On Bruce’s fishing days one of the guys had a camera that you can submerge in the water to watch the fish approach your hook. Even at 40 feet, the picture was as clear as a bell. Bruce found it just fascinating to watch the fish come up to the baits. He said it was amazing how many fish came up without biting. I suppose that will be the next toy to enter our house.

The deer have been coming in on a regular basis even though we don’t have feed out. Now is the time that we can really see how pregnant the does are. There was one in the other day who must be carrying twins. Last year’s offspring was still hanging close to her.

Tomorrow there is a dog sled race starting at Gunflint Pines. They are going to have a sourdough start. It means that the mushers have their dogs tethered as they would for the night. The mushers are in their sleeping bags with their boots off. When the race starts, everyone jumps out, puts their boots on, attaches the dogs to the sled and takes off. It should be fun to watch. If you are in the area, the race starts at noon. Parking will be tight so get here early. For those who can’t be here, I will take some of my prize-winning photos (?) for the next blog.

That’s all for today.

No comments: