Weather, work and other interferences caused me to cancel a vacation trip this past week. Instead, I decided to stay closer to home and catch up on things that have been put off for too long. One of those 'things' was a promise to my GF (S.). She got a brief taste of fresh caught & boiled crabs at a recent holiday party at the bay. I don't know how many people reading this can relate, but there is nothing you can buy at the store, market or restaurant that can compare to catching, cooking and eating Gulf Blue Crabs. I promised to take her to a place where we could catch crabs on the beach, cook and eat them. Then and there.
So, on Monday, we gathered necessary gear, stopped at Academy to pick up the requisite licenses and proceeded to the Wildlife Refuge where I knew the crabs would be plentiful.
The down side was that this Refuge would be the same that I am currently arguing with over 2 citations received in August. Okay, I would have to keep my cover on. That would be a relatively cheap price to pay. This day was for her, not me.
But, for the 2 hour drive, I felt no obligation. I drove the interstate with the wind blowing across my nude body and sun warming the exposed skin. We arrived at the beach turn-off only to realize the tide level covered almost all of the beach, allowing only a smidgen of passage right against the dunes. I wasn't too concerned, yet, but the location of interest was still a mile or so down the beach.
This was a place where the ponds that naturally are found on the back of the dunes, actually creep up through the dunes to the beach. Here the rainwater runoff mingles with the salt water to create a magical mix that blue crabs (especially males) love. But, we never ventured that far down the beach. I checked the tide charts and the water level was far from its destined height. If we continued on, we would be trapped, or worse, stuck in the soft sand. I can be an adventurous kook, but not today.
After much deliberation and consideration, I decided to return to an age-old haunt of mine. The furthest washout from the beachhouse I grew up with. A place that always supplied crabs and other entertainment from decades ago. It sat on a wide stretch of beach, near the North Jetty. I thought there was good probability that the beach would be passable. It was an hour away from our current location, but headed back toward home, where we would certainly be returning at the end of this adventure.
When we arrived at that access, the water was indeed high, but as I expected, passable. There were a few other cars where the road met the beach, but we were the only ones to venture beyond the immediate area. Shortly, we arrived at the washout. It is usually a minor distraction in the drive down the beach, often inches deep at the water's edge. Today it was huge, measuring about 10 yard across and deep enough to swallow a full grown man.
No one was anywhere around, so I needn't cover upon exiting the truck. Actually, except for the stop at Academy, I had been barefoot all over for the duration of the trip. The day was gorgeous. A breeze strong enough to keep any biting critters at bay, sun, birds and beauty were ours to enjoy. We set up chairs and crab lines.
At one point, a group from the other side of the washout appeared. They turned back upon realizing the depth and flow of the washout. I briefly shielded myself with a towel, but that seemed ridiculous, so I went about enjoying the day naturally. The surf was a washing machine, but I was able to be in the right place, right time to body surf a couple waves. The water was about the same temperature as the 85 degree day. Not bathwater nor bracing, just right.
We set out to catch enough crabs for dinner. No more, as we would have to pack out any extras. If we failed to catch them, then we would compromise with a stop at the local restaurant. But, as fate would have it, we caught 4 large male crabs. No babies, no females, just the best, fullest crabs we could expect. We did catch a female, just as we were picking up the lines. A nice sized girl, but we let her return home, we had our catch. Hopefully to enjoy a long life of making babies.
Making a fire on the beach brings its own challenges. The breeze, the nutrient free driftwood, the sand, and other elements conspire to resist, especially when we refuse to use chemicals. But, we are nothing if not persistent. In no time, the water had boiled, the potatoes, carrots and crabs were cooked, and we were enjoying a meal to beat all, while watching the sun set across the horizon.
Shortly afterward, I reclined the ratchet beach chair to admire the stars and satellites. We watched as ISS soared across the sky along with other satellites, planes and UFOs. It was only around 9pm when the first one appeared. I shouted to S. She didn't believe me either (JBee). It's too early she said. They don't show up until late in the night, usually well after midnight. Maybe it was just a freak, or a vision. Then another appeared, and another. Amazing bits of light streaking across the night sky.
We regretted not bringing camping supplies and eventually resigned ourselves to pack up for the return trip home. I was sitting on my wrap when we arrived at the ferry landing. The guard was heavily engaged with another vehicle as we approached and waved us on past, with instructions to line up in lane 3.
In the previous trip across the ferry, the guard selected me for a vehicle search. They randomly perform this task in compliance with TSA and Coast Guard, post 911 requirements. I had draped the sarong I was sitting on across my lap, but the guard couldn't get the hood open. I think he was amused as I fumbled with the sarong to maintain 'decency' while coming to the front of the truck to open the hood.
I didn't have that problem this time, as we quietly sat in lane 3. S. wanted to visit the ladies room and I waned to get something from the bed. The vehicle that was engaged with the guard, was now pulling up behind the truck, so I grabbed the wrap and held it in place to gather whatever it was I wanted from the bed. The driver of the vehicle approached and asked if we could help.
His 'uncle' was stuck on a nearby road and they were unable to get him out with their light vehicle, but my SuperDuty would surely have no trouble pulling them to safety. The uncle jumped into the bed and we left lane 3. S. was definitely taken aback as I swung by the restroom and instructed her to climb in. She was not on-board with any of these plans.
The stuck pickup was indeed only a short distance away. This was an abandoned trailer park that had washed away many storms ago. The road was only a trail through the marsh weeds and had several water filled holes in the middle of the road. My truck, though only 2WD, traversed the path easily to the stuck pickup. It was head first into a hole where the water was up to the head lights. The back tires were on dry oyster shell.
I didn't think my heavy diesel would have any problem yanking them back to dry ground. But, fate had different ideas. I have no idea why all of my yanking didn't dislodge the pickup. I even pulled out the come-along, hoping to ratchet it out, but nothing was budging the pickup. I spent the entire time in my wrap, even though I had to open an re-tie it several times during the effort. I think they would have appreciated my effort even if I had discarded the wrap altogether. I had dug significant holes with the drive tires, and that added to the extrication of us from the ordeal. It was obvious that I had given the problem a valiant effort. Hopefully, they found an appropriate wrecker to extract them from the hole they were in.
I discarded the weary wrap to the back seat and took our place back in lane 3. S. was not happy about the way I chose to end such a romantic escape, but shit happens. People have helped me in times of need, so I feel obligated to help when I find the opportunity.
I hope this was an enjoyable read. I really find a lot of pleasure in reading about everyone's adventures and opinions. It gives me promise that the world can be a better place. I would post more often if it wasn't so time consuming and other obligations so demanding. I have a photo taken during this trip and will attempt to upload it to add to the story.
Be safe,
Safebare
