Truly On The Move Now

I left you as we arrived in Atlanta, as it turned out we were quite busy.  We both had dental issues that had to be addressed and unfortunately it was a mixed bag.  The good news I got my final crown put on my implant and I am done!  But Jan's implant had to come out, for some reason it just didn't meld into her bone, so now she gets a new replacement in November when we come through Atlanta again.  It will take that long for her to heal enough to be ready for the new one.

Unfortunately we weren't able to get together with friends this visit as everyone was tied up and we couldn't get our schedules aligned.  We'll see you all in November.

So with the availability of fresh fish and seafood coupled with the very cool weather, Jan made a dish that knocked it out of the park.  She tackled Cioppino with homemade shrimp stock.  It turned out amazing.

Starting with shrimp shells, veg, herbs, and spices for the stock

Then strained it for this wonderful base

Clams and mussels

Cod, calamari, scallops, shrimp, clams, and mussels!

Veggies added to the stock

Then all the seafood and fish

The final amazing delicious result. Awesome!

We got some other items done while there, ran errands, went to Costco, etc.  Then we headed over to visit John and Diane at their lake house.  We boon docked in their cul-de-sac for something new and different over the weekend.  

Our very special camp site:-)

We had a great time getting annihilated in corn hole, sharing wonderful meals, and mostly just having a ball visiting and relaxing.

Our friends and hosts, John and Diane

A few cigars were enjoyed

Diane with her game face warming up:-)

Diane and John killing Jan and me

John and I overlooking Lake Oconee

Looking back up to their beautiful house

After a final dinner out in Madison we bid them goodbye and started our travels in earnest, first stop outside of Savannah for a seafood extravaganza.  We actually went to a campground, Lake Jasper in Hardeeville, SC, just across the border.  We were only going to be here for two nights and weren't planning on going downtown anyway.  Pretty nice place.

We wanted some raw oysters and to find some seafood at a local market and we were successful at both.  We first went out for lunch and had oysters as an appetizer and then a shrimp and crawfish boil, excellent on both counts.

Then we found a hole in the wall seafood market that even had soft shelled crabs!  So we picked up those, grouper, and several pounds of some of the nicest shrimp we have ever seen.  But first before all of this, the campground adjoins a park so we took a nice walk out through the bayou.

My happy camper

Then on to the crabs.  We have only had soft shells a few times and really didn't know how to clean them, but we got the lady at the seafood market to show us, and it turned out to be very easy and quick, yet a little unnerving since the crab continues to move as you cut its face off:-)

The front 3 are still alive

Sorry if I grossed anyone out, it's just a fact of eating these, and so worth it.

Next we had some excitement, tornado warnings and pouring rain, short lived thankfully so we could go back to dinner.

And on the plate, delish!

So today we move up the coast to Charleston, all 100 miles of it:-)  Turns out we have another small, hopefully, project while there.  Turns out our new bedroom TV has tiny, poor speakers that are on the very bottom of the unit, and unfortunately neither one of us can hear it, especially with the AC running.  So we'll find out if we can find a small sound bar that will hook up some how.  I'll let you know how we make out.

Goodbye Florida

It's always a bit of an ordeal tearing down our site, and we are usually pressed, so this year we decided to do it in small doses, especially since it was so frigging hot.  Did it over 3 days for a change.  Also had to get in a few other things, some fresh fish for dinner, and some crab cakes.

Fried corn with fresh cod

Served over a small bed of mashed potato

Wonderful crab cakes!

We had a delicious dinner and a very nice visit at Linda's with Ray. Then did a final dinner out with Debbie and Harold, and Doug and Nancy, another great visit.  

Had a weird experience with booze.  I know sounds odd, but each year we stock up on bourbon, Canadian whiskey, and wine while in Florida, somehow Jan stashes it all away and we normally get enough to last us all the way back to Florida.  It is so much cheaper there, it is worth the effort, to give you an idea as much as $20+ a bottle!!  So this year we went to Total Wine to get my go to bourbon, Maker's Mark, and they say they don't have any..........  Now those of you who are bourbon drinkers know that many bourbons are either in short supply or non-existent, but I never imagined MM would be one of those, it is good bourbon, but not a "premium" label.  So we contacted another Total Wine and they said they had some, so we picked up a few cases and they said they were out as well.  So I went online to try to find some more at another liquor store, found ABC had some, I ordered a few more cases which wiped that store out and then Jan and I thought if this was a run on MM, we would try to find some more and just leave it in our storage unit.  It sounded like another bourbon, Buffalo Trace, that is unavailable now.  So I went online again to ABC and ordered a few more cases, it was accepted, but several minutes later, I got an email that my order was cancelled, huh?!?!?!  I called the store and they told me the head office cancelled my order.  What?  So I called to find out what was what, but they had closed for the day, but I left a message.  Then I called another ABC and asked if they had any, I was told they had a few cases, but didn't know if they were going to get anymore either.  ABC got back to me asking why I was buying so much bourbon, and if I was legitimate, they would approve me to buy some more.  I have never before been asked or questioned about buying a larger quantity at any store at any time.  Anyway I proceeded down to the store I had called feeling like I was trying to get away with something and wondered if I was going to get in trouble or something.  I actually had no problem after all, and all the guy asked was if I was a snowbird heading home?  He said they see this all the time:-)

Jan played her last Mah Jong with her friends, got her hair done, we had our last few Happy Hours, and even had cigars with Debbie and Harold one night.  We had our last campfire at D&H's.

Jan found an interesting guy trying to hitch hike out with us.

 We had our last Happy Hour.

Tom, Phil, Moi, Nancy, Doug, Jan, Harold, and Deb

And Wicket (Buff)

Departure day!  We have never had a picture of leaving before, but Debbie grabbed a few:-)

Hooking up

Out the gate

We had to stop by Detroit Diesel to get our chassis lube that accidentally got skipped earlier.

Always something, as you know, our bedroom TV decided to just shut off, it did it a few times in an hour and now only stayed on 30 seconds at the most.  We need a new TV.  We got our chassis lube first thing in the morning and proceeded to Americus, GA for the night.

Nice site and nice evening, and dark at night too

Then we stopped in for our first fuel and had our what I am sure will only be our first sticker shock for the season.

Pulled into Allatoona Landing in Atlanta early enough that we could run to Best Buy for a new TV.

Our Atlanta spot

Then we replaced the TV, why oh why can't these things be simple and standard?  We assumed, wrong, that the mounts would be the same, and each 27" TV would measure the same, no again.  And we found out that basically there is only one company making a 27" TV anymore, LG.  Don't know what we'll do next time.  Anyway, with some effort we got it done, and it works great.

Our swinging cabinet front door mount

Modifying the mount

DONE!

So hopefully while here we will finally finish all our dental visits, and visit with friends a bit in the short time here.