Memsahib's Voyage

When my phone went off with a huge shriek at 5 a.m. last Thursday morning it was a shock to see “Tornado Warning” flashing on the screen.  But firing up the computer showed that the line of tornado-spawning storms was a few miles south of our dock at Bobby’s Fish Camp.  Needless to say, we stayed another day at Bobby’s.

Then on down the river to Mobile and another one of those moments that keep this trip so interesting:  You literally come around a bend out of a swamp that is totally deserted — for two days we had seen a couple tows, but no other boats at all.  Then a huge harbor, skyscrapers, ships, military vessels, shopping malls, Starbucks — from a primordial world to civilization in the space of a half mile.

We rented a car and did our last minute Christmas shopping (mostly cat toys) while I tried to keep the car over 50 miles per hour after weeks at 8.  We celebrated last night at the very fancy Trellis Room in the Renaissance Battleground Hotel — Battleground because it was Andrew Jackson’s headquarters before he took off to whup the British at New Orleans.

Our extra day at Bobby’s we ate at the restaurant there.  The “Fisherman’s Platter” special we both had:  fried catfish, fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, crab cake, stuffed crab, hushpuppies, french fries, slaw.  The wine: Seagram’s Sangria in a screw cap.

Last night’s selections:  Paul — sauteed quail in garlic butter, beer-braised pork belly (not for the faint of heart or our many friends who have Chinese on Christmas), Bananas Foster (which my friend Eric does not care for because they remind him of eating a potassium-deprived middleweight fighter).  John — Mediterranean salad, chicken and “dumplings” (gnocchi), apple spice cake.  The wine:  Rosenblum Vinters Reserve Zinfandel, one of those robust, crazily alcoholic wines that stand up very well to rarish pork belly.

In their own element, both meals were delicious.

We miss Molly (who is frantically getting ready to move) and Fredi, but this has been a memorable holiday.  Hope it was for you, too.

Mobile, the un-Demopolis

The very excellent Trellis Room

Tree at the Battleground Hotel

Bad picture of us at the tree.

Sparta helping John assemble robot kit he got for Christmas

Sparta’s Christmas necklace, part of our shopping spree at Pet Smart

Fast catamaran for anti-pirate duty

“Stealth” destroyer. Funny how we could see it pretty clearly.

Massive drydocks line the harbor

Glad this boy wasn’t moving

Poor Fredi back home asking “When’s Dad going to put in the turkey?”