We didn’t take the boards out on Thursday. Decided to try shelling on Bowman’s beach which was a little disappointing. Bowman’s Beach is across from the Ding Darling Refuge and is well known for fantastic shelling. But there were 400 other people on the beach so the good shells were picked over and you didn’t get that feeling of solitude that you get on Pensacola’s beaches in the winter. We did find a few nice shells.
We stopped at the Visitors Center for the J. Ding Darling Nature Preserve. Very nice. He was a newspaper editorial cartoonist who was passionate about conservation back in the 30’s.
Lunch at Andy Rossi Lane – ate a late lunch (linner) at 4:30 at Key Lime Bistro and we were actually quite happy with the food. Late afternoon sitting outside the Mucky Duck facing the Gulf. They don’t even send out a waitress to push their drinks. Maria was craving something sweet after weeks of being good. Found an ice cream store. Yum.
Chilling at the Mucky Muck restaurant overlooking the Gulf.
Kathy insisted that we do something on Thursday night besides going to bed early. So we went to the Captive Crab Races being held right here at the resort in their restaurant. They call their crab races the stupidest game alive and I’d say they were right. They have an obnoxious MC whose job it is to entertain and insult the guests. People pay $5 to play – they choose a hermit crab and give the crab a name. Kathy was our player and she named our crab “Magic Mike”. After a long registration period (felt like waiting for awards at PBCY after a race) the games get started. The pile of crabs are in the middle of a large game table take their sweet time to crawl toward the finish line. There were a couple of rounds and the winners split the pot with United Way and a bottle of champagne. Anne chatted with an 84 year old man whose wife had died this year and with a 40 year old drunk fishing guide who had Hobie and Columbia logos on his shirt. The drunk offered to buy her a drink which she declined. Mike didn’t win and we don’t think he lived through the race. Well I guess this is a different way to get people to buy drinks at the bar.
Nascrab races at The Crows Nest – Tween Waters Inn. Betting on Magic Mike
Lorrie’s text thread with Frank the next day
Lorrie: We are at Tween waters on Captiva. Went to Crab Races. We named our crab Magic Mike in your honor. Not only did he not win, he died. Not so magic.
Frank: Generally Magic Mike and crabs are not used in the same sentence. Just saying.
