Catching Up - Part 1

Well, it's raining again and time to catch up recording what's been happening since last Saturday.

The sun came back out on Sunday, and the wind lessened. It was time for the Oyster Festival at Peg Leg Pete's Oyster Bar in Pensacola Beach, just outside the park entrance. Ellen and I rode over on the motorcycles, but everyone else took trucks and vans. It was less than ten miles, but it gave Ellen a chance to get on her bike again.

We got there before noon, but the crowds were already heady. I suspect that anyone who was intending to go on Saturday came on Sunday because of the rain. Ten bucks was the entrance fee for all the freshly shucked oysters (Rockefeller, Parmesan, Spicy LaFitte or raw) that you could eat—or were willing to wait in line for. You could get six at a time and the baked line and raw line were separate. The taste was great, but the wait was a bit over the top. We made it through two passes of the baked oyster line. The Spicy LaFitte oysters, baked with melted cheddar cheese, sausage and hot peppers were my favorite, with Oysters Rockefeller (baked with spinach, garlic and cheese) second. The parmesan and bread crumb stuffing was a bit on the dry side.

I also made a pass through the raw line, which took nearly an hour. They had four guys shucking like mad, but the line was quite long. The fresh oysters were terrific and they had lemons, horseradish and a series of spicy sauces available to up the taste even more.

It took a while, but 18 big juicy oysters for ten bucks is a pretty good deal.

Full of oysters, it was off to the supermarket on the bikes. We ran into Harry and Sally there which was great as Sally put our ice cream into her freezer. It definitely would have melted in black motorcycle cases before we got back to the campground. When we did get back, I noticed that the front tire on my bicycle was flat ... again. Two campgrounds and two flats does not bode well for the long run. Only a simple puncture this time, a thorn lodged between the treads. Out came the patch kit and all was well.

Some Fort Pickens Photos