Finally A Bullseye

We have had a bad week for Mexican food. I have been waiting almost a whole year to go back to Pepito's in Aransas Pass, across the ferry. I loved the food there, it was special and inventive and just what I like. We went there on Monday night and it was all changed. Someone must have stolen their chef. It was just boring everyday, Mexican. They had a few different sauces for enchiladas, like spinach, cucumber. Didn't do it for us.

Then we have been hearing about the VFW taco night. They raised the price to $6.50 each, and it was just make your own taco salad. Ok, but nothing to recommend, and not special at all.

Last night we were sitting around the Gaff with the gang talking about where to go for dinner. Ended up going to LaPlaya, Mexican, just down from the Gaff. We have always heard it was excellent, but it hadn't been open much in the winter and we didn't have a car, so not so easy for us. Sean ordered the guacamole appetizer, which was by far the best I have ever had. Dave ordered the cheese dip, which he got to mix himself, you get little bowls of meat, onion, tomato, etc. Also very, very good.

I ordered the crab meat enchiladas and Paul the beef fajitas, both were excellent. It is on our list of restaurants that we like here in Port Aransas.

It is rainy and dreary today, but not cold. I hear big surf but it isn't

Valentine's Day Dance

This is a sad day for me. I was so looking forward to writing a mocking rendition of the park's Valentine's Day Dance. What fun for me! But actually it was a good time. The food was served quickly by volunteers who hopefully got in free. It was tasty chicken cordon blue (sorry, can't spell in French) and wild rice and carrots. As Rick, aka Larry the cable guy, said "my chicken tastes like ham and cheese" all confused like. He is from Oklahoma. Nuff said. There was lots of free wine and beer, the cheesecake was very, very good.

The band, Tumble Dry Low, is always rocking. Lots of good country music. Big piss off, they played Old Time Rock and Roll and the floor immediately filled with line dancers. Bob Seger would not approve. No one else can dance when they are out there. You would get trampled by cowboy boots.

We sat with a group that we know from happy hour at Nellie and Rex's driveway. They have all been married about 49 years so are 5 to 10 years older than us. They sure can dance country. And yes, we don't know how such a round little couple can skip around the dance floor all night, every dance. But it was touching to see them. And to see Eileen and Gary twirling a sweet young girl around the floor in her wheel chair, and to see Erika and hubby dancing, he is almost all cured of cancer.

And we danced too. We used to go dancing often, but as Paul's knee got worse and the smoke in the bars got worse, we quit going. Javier and Susan taught us to 2 step last year. We have to practice. Looks like fun but wouldn't want to knock someone over and break their hip. I have a vague recollection of an incident involving a polka back in the day.

Not there wasn't something to mock. Most outstanding was the lady with a red sequined shirt that had a heart cut out in the middle of her back. We can't wait to see her outfit for St. Paddy's Day. Nominated for the OPS (Old People Shit) award was the couple who brought a cooler, filled it with ice from the party, and stored to take home the cheese cake and rolls that they didn't eat. They even brought sandwich bags. Most telling is that they live 4 lots from the club house. Hummm.

Mardi Gras Port Aransas Style

Katherine and Larry invited us along to the Mardi Gras Parade in Port Aransas on Tuesday. We went to Bernie's, a favorite watering hole, and the gang was saving seats. There was Billy Ray and Sherry, from Tulsa, OK, (owners of Billy Ray's Bar B Q, would love to see his tv ads) also Frank and Denise, and Bill and Vicky, all from Colorado. Billy had on OK formal wear, bib overalls.

Gary, the chef at Bernie's, had made Annie Beans and rice, with rolls. Free for the customers. It was very good. The beans had large pieces of sausage and onions and green peppers in it. His rice is always excellent. He cooks New Orleans style, not cajun. The food is tasty, not burning. Paul brought him a couple packs of frozen venison that he is going to cook for us on Thursday. He is going to marinate it in a pineapple/Hawiian mixture. I think he is going to use a roux for the base and serve it on rice. Something like the Craw fish Etouffee. I surely wish the spell check worked. Bernie's Beach House Bar gets better every year. It is clean and open and not smokey, unless you are playing Texas Hold 'Em in the poker rooms.

The parade was the usual charming, small town affair, with the added bonus of drunks flinging cheap beads at us. I got good at ducking, they sure sting. I did get a tee shirt from The Gaff. Another bonus of being spryer than almost anyone else, and sober. Many old guys in the parade had ROMEO shirts on, which means "retired old men eating out." The male version of the Red Hat Club. Guess they are everywhere. It was news to us.

After that we went to The Gaff for meat ball sandwiches. Which were pretty darn good. They have excellent pizza too. The Gaff was full of pirates, which has been their theme forever, and their parade float was pirates too. Grandson Charlie would have loved it. Aaargh was the pass word. Lots of grog and ale consumed. The Gaff is a small shack of a bar, they cook in a toaster oven. It is pretty clean for Port A.

There is no end to the joy of living in a truly red neck town. No pretensions, just regular folks having fun. Eating red meat and drinking beer. Life is good.