Our Christmas Holiday

Michelle, Brooke, Jeff and I headed to Milwaukee the morning of December 23rd to visit family. Brad met us at the airport coming from New York.

We knew Milwaukee had snow but we had forgotten what real snow is.

We spent the 23rd with my brother Jim and his family.

On the 24th we spent the day with Jeff's family.

After 2 days of eating and drinking way too much we headed back to Kentucky. It sure was good to be with family.

Hope your Holiday was as enjoyable as ours.

Doreen

Something new for us

One day while Jeff was on the pier he spotted a crab. As he talked about it with his golf buddies he found out that lots of people catch them and eat 'em. Let's try it. I love crab. He purchased a crab trap from the local tackle shop and on Wednesday evening he and Brad put the Thanksgiving turkey's neck in the the trap.

They went over to the house (in the dark) and lowered it into the water. Next morning we all went over to check on the trap. We only had one. We left it in the water and checked it again later that day -- 3 more. We were too full from Thanksgiving dinner so we decided to leave them in there until Friday. When Jeff and Brad pulled it up we had one more -- 4 blue crabs and one stone crab. I didn't know there were stone crabs this far north. Stone crab claws are the best.

We did some research on how to prepare them and decided to steam them outside on the grill.

After steaming them in beer, vinegar and Old Bay Seasoning they were ready to dump on a pile of newspapers. Now what?? You start by breaking the apron off and lift the top shell off. Remove the gills and break down the center. Now all the crab meat is exposed and you just start eating. No butter necessary. The stone crab was the best. You would have to have a lot more crabs if you were going to make this a meal but they sure were good.

More Than Fishing

The Eckmann family went fishing in the bay on Friday. Our guide Jason took us deep into the Choctawhatchee Bay. It was beautiful.

We had to catch our own bait -- well Jason caught the bait with a net as Captain Brooke drove the boat. She was in her glory. He took us down a narrow bayou that was very peaceful. As Jason was getting everybody's hook ready I was admiring the setting. Wait -- is that a nest in the tree?

Yep -- not just one nest but there were two nests. What is that sitting in that tree? I got the camera out and put on the BIG lens. Looks like an eagle. Jason said it could be an osprey. I looked in my camera case and I had binoculars.

Focus -- Focus Oh my gosh not one eagle but two eagles. As everybody fished I watched the eagles. What a sight. We or should I say the family was fishing for trout. Brooke caught the biggest. Wait what is that in the water? Two dolphins. Jason was not pleased because he said they eat the fish we are trying to catch. I didn't care -- they are incredible creatures.

Bonus Bonus Bonus

I love penny slots. Sunday evening Jeff and I went to Horseshoe Casino in Indiana. I got my usual $200 from Jeff and headed to the penny slots. I know they don't pay but they are so much fun AND ADDICTING. My friend Pam suggested I go to her cascading shopping machine. I headed that way and of course somebody else was on it so I sat down beside her waiting for her to leave the machine. As I waited I put in $50 in the Great Wall machine. I have played it before but it never did anything for me but it wanted to play Sunday night -- bonus after bonus. Bonuses are the best part of slots. I was playing $.60 at a time -- that's 30 lines times 2. High roller. hahaha

That's $143.50 for a $.60 bet on one bonus. I cashed out since I more than doubled my money and put in a another $50. I got it up to $89 when it started to cool down -- time to move machines. It was a good night.

Treats not Tricks

All of the stash

Tootsie Rolls

Little bags

More little bags

Even more little bags

Bats

Mummy candy bars

Little pumpkins

I'm ready for the trick or treaters. All the candy has been decorated. I asked my builder about how many treaters we'll have and he said somewhere between 100 and 120. After he saw all my candy decorated he told me I have too much time on my hands. REALLY!!??!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Destin Fishing Rodeo

Air Show

Crowd waiting for the fishing boats to come in.

Marlin
Caught by a teenage boy

Fish from same boat that caught the Marlin

Huge Dolphin

Not Flipper

Jeff went on a boat yesterday but they didn't get any BIG fish but he had a good time.

The Decorator or The Make-up Artist

Danny was here this week to help us with the new house. He is so talented. He was Winston Salem's first "male" make-up artist. He decided I needed a new look. He was inspired by a waitress we had seen in a restaurant the day before.

Now I can't wait to see what he does with my hair.

Good thing it's Halloween week. hahaha I did not leave the house looking like that but we did laugh a lot.

visitors and more visitors

Pam, Pete and her grandson Lennon were in Destin for Pete's fall break. Seems like only yesterday Lennon was born. He's five now and can swim like a fish.

We took the boat out to look for dolphins. The gulf was pretty rough so we headed for the bay. We saw 6 different groups of dolphins. I just never get tired of seeing them.

Late Thursday night or should I say Friday morning we were surprised to see Brooke and her friend Michelle at the door. Brooke had Friday off from school and couldn't stand that we saw dolphins earlier in the week so she came for a quick visit.

VROOM VROOM

My brother Mike and sister-in-law Denise came for an overnight visit. They met up with their friends Chuck and Peg in Selma Alabama for a bike rally this weekend. You would never guess the guys are wardens at Federal Prisons. We had lots of laughs remembering the old days. Mike lives in Texas and Chuck lives in Pennsylvania.

Ryder Cup Party

Better late than never. We were back in Louisville for the Ryder Cup.

We had some friends in from different places. In this picture is Joe and Lou Ann from Winston Salem. (far left) Next to me is Scott from Milwaukee.

Susan and Russell are from Winston Salem

Jim and Debi are from Austin

Later in the evening we hosted a dinner for the Reynolds people. Lilly's catered it. YUM

The banana cake is to die for. Brad came in for the weekend with his girlfriend, Kristen. They couldn't wait to dive into the cake.

GOOD TO BE BACK

We are back in Kentucky. On our way out this morning I heard on the radio that Okaloosa Island was flooded and 98 was closed. What?? There is just water and sand on each side of the road. Ike was leaving a mark on Destin. When we turned on the TV tonight we saw that Destin was having waves 20 feet high. Gustav was closer and I don't think it turned up the water as much as Ike. Those waves tear up the beaches. When will hurricane season be over?

New Car

We got a new car that gets great mileage. It goes 20 miles per hour and the air conditioning depends on the weather.

Dinner Tonight

YUM YUM YUM

Tonight I took sliced french bread and put homemade pesto on each slice of bread. I added a couple slices of smoked turkey, few chunks of feta cheese and roasted red pepper. Topped it with the other slice of bread and grilled it on the panini grill.

I got my new grill from Walmart for less than $35.

Back of the house

We took a boat out on Saturday and got some pictures of the back of the house. The left of the picture is the master bedroom. The right is the outside kitchen .

The picture below is the right side of the house. On the left is the beach bar, right behind is the secret garden and the back unattached part is an extra garage with exercise room.

The sun was very intense yesterday. It was in the high 80's but felt like 100. Michelle and I got burnt. Michelle more than I since she works during the day and I'm a retired stay at home Mom.

Destin Beach

Even though Gustave "missed" Destin, it had a big effect on our beaches Monday afternoon.

This is what the water usually looks like.

CALM AND PRETTY