Rocks for dinner?

Nope – just “Bulldozer Lobster” tails. We went to the shrimp boats right down the docks from us to buy some fresh shrimp and they were just unloading the boats. They occasionally catch a few “bulldozer lobsters” in the shrimping nets and they bring these in too. They’re all sold at the boats and not shipped commercially. They’re actually a very large manta shrimp, I believe, not a real lobster, but they taste great. These two tails are enough for dinner for one person. They’re folded under with the tail fins on the underside and the red spot is right where the tail connects to the lobster’s shell. After boiling them for 6 minutes, you cut the shells open with kitchen shears and the meat pops out in one big piece, like a lobster tail. Yummy with melted butter.

We’re in Ft. Myers Beach today and going to Naples tomorrow. Our friends, the Strayers, returned to Illinois after being with us for a few days in the Pine Island Sound. It was nice to have friends over New Year’s Eve on the boat. We have planned on staying in Naples for 2 days or so, but the waves forecast for the gulf for Friday and Saturday is very good, so if it holds, we may go to anchor in Little Shark River on Friday and then to Marathon Key on Saturday. If the wind changes, we’ll stay in Naples for a few days. That way we can make the open water crossing to Marathon in excellent conditions and we’ve made it to Marathon in the Keys regardless of weather and waves. We can then twiddle around in the keys near Marathon for a week or so and get a car to drive around. Our daughter, Ann, is coming to join us on January 11th to 14th so we’ll probably leave Marathon on our original schedule of 1/14/07 after Ann leaves.

I’m looking forward to fun stuff cruising the keys.