Preparations and a New Lunch Spot

Yesterday we awoke to a crisp 20 degrees. The sun was shinning brightly and the wind was still blowing but only in the 10 to 20 mph range. We did our usual Saturday morning ritual, me reading the paper & her on the computer while drinking our coffee. Sam was doing his best to see who he could bother into giving him a treat.

We had not planned on anything due to the weather. Connie went down to the RV to make a list of needed supplies for our trip next weekend. I decided we needed to make a trip to the mainland to get firewood so when she had finished her list we locked up Sam and headed out.

I buy our camping firewood from a place on SH 6 in Santa Fe. It's kind of out of the way so I try to get it on the weekend. Instead of heading back home we decided to go to League City to buy some coffee. We grind our own beans and used to buy them at the grocery but there is a little shop called Nana's in LC that has about 15 different flavors so we stock up every couple of weeks. We used to order Jamaican Blue Mountain beans from the internet but at about $40 a pound we only do that once in awhile now. Nana's charges $11 a pound and has a club deal where you get every 11th pound free.

No trip to the mainland & League City would be complete without a stop to see the kids. They were surprised and happy to see us. Megan was still loafing in her pj's watching TV and Chase was playing a game with a friend. Jackie was in the shower when we got there and as usual Dana was working. We visited with them for a while them headed out to get lunch before returning home.

As usual I headed for La Brisa but Connie started making noises about going somewhere, anywhere else for something different. I'm a creature of habit and sometimes she has to prod me a little. We talked about a few alternatives before deciding on a hole in the wall on the water in San Leon called Noah's Ark. We had been there a couple of times before the storm hit and they had pretty good hamburgers.

When we pulled up I knew the new owner had greatly improved the place. They had expanded and added an outside seating area as well as rooftop seating. It was too cold for outside dinning but we will be back when it warms up.

The place still looks like the bar it has evolved from. The interior is rustic and there are old license plates, Harley Davidson signs and beer ad signs and dollar bills lining the walls and ceiling.

The menu has been expanded as well. We split an appetizer called "Hot Mermaids". It consisted of shrimp wrapped in bacon and jalapenos then breaded and deep fried. They were delicious and the shrimp was really fresh. You could tell they weren't a frozen pre-packaged deal like you get in a lot of places. Connie had a shrimp/oyster po-boy and I had a turkey melt and we both had fries. All of the food was fresh & delicious.

We were even treated to some "entertainment". A few tables away from us sat two men and a woman who were obviously having a liquid lunch. They got a little loud but not annoyingly so. It was hard not to eavesdrop on their conversation. It seems that one of the men, Larry, had gone there for the breakfast buffet. He was telling his friend that he wanted to run his tab to $100.00. The woman told him he was almost there. She had looked at the ticket. Larry seemed to take offense at something she said and all of a sudden we heard her in a loud voice say "Larry sit your a$$ down and shut up right now". Ole Larry did as he was told and things were going smoothly again when we heard her tell him that he had had 12 Bloody Mary's, she & the buddy had had seven beers and they had eaten oysters and an appetizer. Their tab still wasn't $100.00. They ordered another round. When the waitress brought it she informed Larry that it was his last because "you're starting to slur Larry". He protested a little but seemed to resign himself to his dry fate. Those must be some cheap bloody mary's is all I can say. Connie and I were doing all we could not to bust out laughing at the antics of those three.

All in all I really liked the place. The food and service were excellant and the crowd was a good mix of people. From the locals like the 3 amigos above to well-to-do folks who probably had expensive homes in the area. We will definitely be back and it may be a while before I get any more Mexican food.

When we got home we noticed the seagulls seemed starved so Connie fed them some dog food (much to Sam's dismay) while I played with the camera. Here's a few pics we took yesterday...
Connie took some pics of plants in her garden

 Cold Gulls looking for a hand out

Move over boy's I'm landing

Free for all at the water's surface. That dog food must be good.

I filled the feeder so we got some visitors there too. I haven't looked this morning but I'll bet it's empty.

Waiting his turn.

Today we're going to make a quick trip to Surfside to make sure the road is OK for next weekend and then spend the rest of the day packing the outside stuff for the trip.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.

--Rod