Tuesday, May 26, 2009

After coffee Wayne went over to the boatyard office to see when they can haul us out of the water and they said it would be late morning. They'll give us a call about a half hour before hand so we can top up our fuel and get a final pump out before heading over to the lift. As for the loaner car, we can't use it to go to Hayes to pick up the truck; it's to far away for their insurance or something. Wayne called Penskes to see if they could come pick him up - noooo... When he explained that he couldn't get to them, and asked if there would be a penalty if we canceled the reservation, she asked if she could get back to him and was checking to see if there was anything they could do for us. One of their crew was going to be going past routes 3 & 33 and she wanted to know if we could use the loaner to get to that intersection and her guy could pick him up since they'd be passing by there? With some pretty fast footwork and cooperation from the marina we were able to use the loaner car to get there (it was about 7.5 miles from here as opposed to 40). The marina gave me a map on how to get there and I dropped Wayne off at the fire station (their meeting spot) and came back and continued to pack up our stores (food items). I spotted Bella's (the pizza place) on the way back and they're 1.1 miles further than Taylors. So if we'd walked a little further the first night, we'd have found it...

Wayne showed up a half hour later with the truck. They actually brought the truck to him and he filled out the paperwork at the fire station!

The rest of the day was pretty much packing, moving stuff off the boat and into the truck in preparation for our haul out tomorrow. I can't believe how much stuff we managed to stow into the boat - wow...

We decided to go to Taylors again for dinner (hey I could get used to this - unfortunately our wallets couldn't). We chatted with the chef/owner and the waitress and a couple of elderly ladies that were raving about their crabs. The owner remembered us from last night and that we were from Michgan. After a discussion with them and their finding out that I'd never had soft shelled crabs before, I was talked into trying them out and Wayne got the Pork with onion marmalade that I'd had last night (that was what I was leaning towards again when I'd heard that they have it again tonight). Nobody could believe that I'd never had soft shells before and this was the time of year for them - they wouldn't be available when we returned in the fall, so after listening to the virtues of how tasty they are and how to eat them - one lady said use tartar, the other said just a little lemon, the waitress said just the way they come with nothing on them - I decided why not. Two ways that they cook them are sautéed or breaded & fried. The consensus was that "since I'd never had them before, to have them fried". I asked how you eat them and the waitress said you chop their head off and take their lungs out and eat everything else. Um, I was deciding that maybe this wasn't such a good idea... She said "oh no honey - you don't want to eat the lungs, they'll make you sick". I was already turning green around the gills thinking about having to take their heads out, then cut out their lungs... and was saying maybe I should get something else... They looked at me dumbfounded. I said I couldn't behead and delung them and that brought a good laugh from all three ladies. The chef/owner came out when he heard I'd never had soft shell crab before, during the laughing. "Honey, the cook takes care of the head and lungs, you just eat them you don't prepare them". Oops - don't I feel foolish and relieved at the same time!

Three breaded crabs came out to me and I was looking at them. "Just eat them?" "yep - just eat them". Okay... I started pulling the little legs/claws off and looking at them thinking, there's no meat in their little arms... as I put them on my plate. "Oh honey, what are you doing? You eat those..." "the outer shell part of their legs?" "yes" there is no shell really... I see your dilemma now LOL... they molt their shell and before they can start hardening up another one, they're put on ice and cooked up - so there isn't a shell, that's probably a misnomer." "Ahhhhh.... Got ya!" After that, the entire crab disappeared from my plate... actually all three did with Waynes help. So I've now been indoctrinated into the delicacy of soft-shelled crabs. Chris (the owner/chef) asked me if I'd ever order them again and I said yes, indeed I would. I think I'd try them sautéed next time though because I'm not an overly big fan of deep fried food. I couldn't get over the fact that you eat the whole thing... It was definitely an experience and I'm sure I'll be talked about around the restaurant LOL.

The owner asked if we walked or rode the bikes tonight and said he'd take us back, if we needed. We pointed out the window at our snazzy bright yellow truck and said we have our own wheels tonight! He was kind of sad to hear we were leaving in a couple of days & I was sad to hear they were closed on Wednesday s. I told him we'd have to try out Bellas tomorrow and they said to try their "kick mama lasagna" it was a real treat. I told him we'd see him again in the fall & he wouldn't remember us. He and the waitress said - oh yes he will LOL. He said if they were still open to stop in. Wayne and I looked at each other and said "oh no" Our favorite restaurants have a habit of going out of business which made him look aghast! I certainly hope they're still around! I'd hate to think we jinxed them...