Parrots And Gators

While Andreas was at his conference in Fort Lauderdale, Mom and I went on a boat ride.  We ended up at this little animal place in the middle of the ride.  Before the downpour, Mom posed with parrots and we watched some gators get annoyed.

"Mexican" In Fort Walton Beach

I was raised on TexMex food.  This means I find other regional Mexican foods to be unhomelike.  The food may be very good, as this was, but it's not what I consider Mexican food to be.  My mother's saying is, "Never have Mexican food outside of Texas."  She's often been proven right.


In this case, though, the food was excellent, if a bit on the California side of Mexican.  I had the tacos, which weren't too spicy.  The sangria was very fruity tasting, as sangria should be, and served nearly ice cold.  Andreas had the huge burrito at the bottom.  He wasn't able to finish it.  Living overseas, one forgets how large American portions are.

Dinner In Destin

We visited Florine, Saint, and their daughter Alexandra during home leave.  It was such a hardship, as they live in Destin, Florida.  Surprisingly, this was my first visit to the state.

Second night there, we walked to McGuire's Irish Pub.  The place was packed and noisy, but the food was delicious.  They had a loaf of dark wheat bread with honey butter for the table.  My plate and some others came with unremarkable salad.  Andreas had the sausage plate, which had four different kinds of sausage.  He couldn't finish it all, but each had a distinct flavor.  I had prime rib, a huge slab of meat which I shared around.  The asparagus was mine, too.  Asparagus was well cooked but not overcooked, and obviously steamed, as it should be.  Prime rib was flavorful, juicy, and not very fatty.  Saint had the barbecued ribs.  Normally, I don't like pork ribs, but these were an exception.  They have a smoker that they use to cook them, and the difference was noticeable.  Florine had the chicken pot pie.  We walked around Destin's small harbor afterwards to let dinner digest and to look at the water.  A very wonderful ending to a wonderful day.