Rain today

[85vette]

Angelo's kitchen was quite a site to see, especially on a Friday or Saturday night! The kitchen help was making everything on the menu just to keep up with demand. They had tables lined with paper and just fried whatever and dumped it onto the tables and it got plattered about as fast as it came out of the fryer. When I went there after closing time Angelo would give us whatever might be left so we could take it to the deputies that worked in the jail and couldn't leave to go eat. I never saw anything that looked shady when I went there. Plus he has his own boats and they catch their own seafood. It doesn't get much fresher than that.

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by 85vette

Angelo's kitchen was quite a site to see, especially on a Friday or Saturday night! The kitchen help was making everything on the menu just to keep up with demand. They had tables lined with paper and just fried whatever and dumped it onto the tables and it got plattered about as fast as it came out of the fryer. When I went there after closing time Angelo would give us whatever might be left so we could take it to the deputies that worked in the jail and couldn't leave to go eat. I never saw anything that looked shady when I went there. Plus he has his own boats and they catch their own seafood. It doesn't get much fresher than that.

Ah, well, who knows?

Maybe all those kids got fired from Angelo's and were disgruntled ex-employees. Outside of those sources, I know Connie has heard things from other people that she holds as being reliable sources, and it would be a real tough sell getting her there to eat.

Was your experience before or after they rebuilt after the storm damage?

[85vette]

That was before the hurricane destroyed the old restaurant. As a matter of fact, I was assigned to that zone on the day the hurricane struck, along with a few other deputies. We got stranded there when the water came over the road on 98 near the lower Y later in the day. My new patrol car got totaled due to salt water damage.

[Rich Z]

Hmm, well that would have been the same time frame that we had those kids working for us. Maybe when this COVID crap gets way far back in the rear view mirror I might just have to try it myself. I would honestly like nothing better than finding a really good seafood restaurant I could count on for a good meal.

We used to go to Hutton's and always had a good meal, but sometime during this COVID lockdown, they sold the place to someone else but kept the name intact. Rumors are that the food isn't as good there now. Maybe they started using imported crap instead of fresh local seafood like Stacy used to cook up.

Today looks like it might be a typical Fourth of July around here. Possibly scattered showers and so far have yet to see the sun peak out. Mosquitoes are really getting nuts. They've been building up for the last couple of days, and yesterday was pretty aggravating trying to get video of the roof work while swatting away mosquitoes constantly. The closer I got to the edge of the woods, or even in the woods, the worse it got. I couldn't take my drone out yesterday evening after the rain stopped because that would have been awful trying to control the drone with both hands occupied on the controller while mosquitoes were having their way with me. That wouldn't been any fun at all.

Haven't seen anyone from the roofing company today yet, so perhaps they will be out tomorrow. Then I need to do a real good inspection to see if there is anything they need to fix. They did cause a leak at one of the seams in the roof over the porch by their guys walking on it and using it as a work area. So we will see how they deal with that. I have already notified them about it. Already had one seam spring a leak because of damage done by the tree guys when their machine damaged the edge of the porch roof. But this is a different seam now.

[85vette]

Surprised to hear that Huttons sold out, but I guess they've been in business for 20 years or so. The were really good, Stacy knows how to cook seafood. And unless something has changed drastically I think you'll enjoy Angelo's. The food was always great and the service was too. I haven't been to either place in years since we moved away, but I haven't heard a disparaging word about either one from anyone that go there on a regular basis.

Good luck with the roof work. My place in Georgia got a new roof after the hurricane in 2018. Then a storm blew in back in May and dropped a pecan limb on it and put a hole about 2 inches in diameter! Ugh! I fixed it myself with some cull shingles I bought at Home Depot. Not a big deal but it was a new roof! Got new windows ordered for it, hopefully they'll be getting installed in September. 48 windows, $24,000! But it's a pretty awesome house so.....

[Rich Z]

Speaking of Stacy, she used to get me live blue crabs, but this year she seems to be just blowing me off. Last four text messages to her went unanswered. Maybe selling out the business meant she was just dropping out of the world completely and to hell with everyone. IMHO.

So here is is July already and I have only had steamed crabs once. And those weren't all that great. Matter of fact, they were pretty bad, TBH. So I am trying to find a reliable source of live blue crabs if you know of any. I used to get them from "A Taste of the Bayou" just south of Crawfordville, but their prices kept going up, and their quality going down. I may have to give them another try to see if they turned around from the direction they were heading.

Yeah, that's a pretty big chunk of change for windows. But as long as you get what you paid for and don't suffer any collateral damage during the install, hopefully you will be happy with the way it turns out.

Are you back home for a while now?

[85vette]

So much has changed down there on the waterfront over the years Rich, many people I know/knew have left the seafood industry. It's certainly not what it used to be. I'm sure Debbie at My Way knows somebody that's still crabbing. We used to get our own on weekends when the moon wasn't out, gigging them along with Flounder while walking the river banks at Mashes Sands using a lantern and a galvanized wash tub. That was a lot of fun during my teenage years, great memories.

We will be home by next Friday. We stayed out for two months this time because we're saving up our off time for our daughter's wedding next March. We get 8 days off for every 4 weeks we stay out. Some of these guys stay out for a year or more, taking off 3 or 4 months when they come in. That's too long for me. Two months is pushing it. And having the new house with so much we want/need to do to it is killing me, but the money is SOOO good, we aren't complaining.

[Rich Z]

Yeah, I'll bet you are excited about making yourself at home in your new house. I am sure you have a lot to do there to make it really your home.

Connie used to work part time down at MyWay and we know Debbie pretty well. When I first moved down here, that was the first and then only place I would buy seafood. When Connie moved down, she stopped down there to get seafood about every week and struck up a friendship with Debbie. She started helping out one day a week when Debbie was talking about needing some more help there.

We actually got live crabs from MyWay a few weeks ago, via Ike, and although they looked like they were going to be excellent, they just weren't all that great. Quite disappointing. Debbie actually called Connie a few days after we got them and apologized as they prepared some of the crabs for Sam's birthday party and she was disappointed with them too. Several years ago Debbie got some crabs for us and Connie wound up bringing 6 dozen home. They turned out to be the best crabs EVER. Not a single one of them was a throw away and nearly all of them were nice and full and loaded with yellow mustard.

I always got very good live crabs from Stacy and am quite disappointed that she is now apparently blowing me off for some reason. I used to always pay her more than she was asking for the crabs, as I appreciated her getting them for me. Heck, to be honest, we haven't had real good luck with tipping people around here. Seems that the people you tip don't understand the concept and act like it is a sign of weakness and stupidity of you for paying more than you have to. And that turns out to be how they treat you. So maybe I just need to break myself of that practice.

Honestly, I think most of the crabbers down here send their catch up north where steamed blue crabs are sold at a premium. It seems to be only the rejects that stay down here for the locals. At least that is the way it appears to me. I really hate to have to order "Maryland steamed crabs" and just have the sneaking suspicion that I am buying crabs that were caught here locally and just shipped up north to be processed. I know when I lived in Maryland a lot of the crab houses were getting their crabs from Louisiana and the Carolinas. Never heard anyone mention them coming out of Florida, but it seems a good bet that some were. So you know that probably hasn't changed any, but yet if you ask those places shipping steamed blue crabs all over the country, EVERY last one of them will swear their crabs are coming out of the Chesapeake Bay.

Heck, this got me all depressed now......... You would think getting good crabs any time I wanted them around here, being right on the Gulf of Mexico, would be a no brainer.

[85vette]

Yeah, that's disappointing for sure. The FWC and developers seem to be working together to dismantle the seafood industry in Florida. I've watched the decline since the net ban in 93. Less and less fisherman in the commercial trade than ever before. And I understand that non-commercial rules are in place if you want to use traps. The amount of money it takes to be a commercial fisherman today is prohibitive to most thinking of entering the business. One of the three necessary licenses run $10K and to get the Salt Water Products License you have to buy it from someone who's leaving the business, so that one is what the market will bear. So yeah, commercial crabbing is down, at least in your area. The crabbers sold their homes and properties to developers which seemed to be the plan all along. And to top it off they have to compete with the Chinese markets now. It's a shame for sure. It might be worth it to get a couple of your own traps and go down to Mashes Sands and spend a few hours. Just make sure you're compliant with the FWC rules. Here's an idea though. Go down to RMS Supply in Medart and ask Angie if she knows who to buy crabs from. They always sold boatloads of traps and are still probably the main source in the area. So she would likely know who to go to if Debbie and Ike are not getting what you need. Just a thought, but you can buy a trap or two there also if you're inclined to do so.

Yeah, LOTS of plans for the new house! It's got such character, not often you stumble across one like it! I want to do renovations the RIGHT way. Inside and out. I plan on putting a courtyard in front of the collumned front entrance and I'm wanting to install a rock waterfall feature on the side of the house where the deck is now. I bought a nice Hooker Desk for my office/man cave. I've gotten the electrical box sorted out and redone so I can put power to a pole barn/shop and also run landscape lighting to the water feature and exterior lighting for the courtyard. My wife has plans for renovating all seven bathrooms and we will turn the downstairs bedroom into a recreation room. There's a "closet" that I'm using for all my firearms that will be getting a Murphy door so as to make it a hidden room. We're pretty excited!

[CHASZ51]

Not many grouper boats left as well. No money in it anymore and not many grouper left.