4/11/2010 We Go to a Crawfish Boil

We started this morning out with pancakes at the clubhouse here in the park. All the pancakes you can eat for a dollar. Actually our breakfasts were fifty cents each because Rich works for the park and he put our breakfasts on his check and he gets 50% off. Bob and I could eat only one apiece. Yes, we could only eat one each because they were the size of the paper plates we were eating off of and they weren’t the sandwich size plates but the dinner size. One was certainly enough.

After breakfast we had to get registered here in the park. We hadn’t done so yesterday afternoon when we arrived because Rich wanted to talk with the manager to see if we could get a better price. Come to find out we got 50% off the normal price of $42.00 because Bob is retired military. We could have gotten 50% off Monday through Thursday anyway because this is a Passport America park but the military discount is good seven days a week.

After paying our bill we all retired to our own 5th wheels to take care of important things like checking email and working on Facebook farms.

We agreed to meet at two so that we could head downtown to the Key Bar where we were going to the 3rd Annual Crawfish Boil that just happened to be free.

We got there about 2:15 and they weren’t letting anyone in until three. This is a first Jackie and Rich told us because they haven’t done this at the other two crawfish boils. We went across the street to Opal Divine’s and sat on their patio deck until it was time to go back to the Key Bar. Shortly after we sat down two others from the park joined us.

On the way I took note of something strange sitting on the side of the sidewalk. To me this is a parking meter….

In Austin, they look like this…. The one above you inserted coins, the one below will accept your Visa or Master Card. It looks complicated.

The Key Bar, where we spent the afternoon.

We got in a few minutes after they started letting people in and laid claim to a HUGE picnic table that sat twelve comfortably. There were ten of us. This was one sturdy picnic table I hope to tell you. The tabletop was about 6 inches thick as were the six two seater benches around the table.

Minutes after we arrived and got settled Jackie and Rich’s daughter and son-in-law, Becky and Eric, joined us along with two of their friends. All ten of us were here now.

The smell of the boil was just heavenly and we could tell a heavy hand applied the Old Bay seasoning. Two hundred pounds of crawfish, baking potatoes, whole onions, whole garlic bulbs and corn on the cob simmered and the aroma wafted through the open air patio and through the bar. And we sat there, mouths watering.

I had eaten crawfish in Arkansas back in the mid-seventies when I was attending a school in Little Rock for my job in the National Guard. I was going into this with an open mind because I remember enjoying them all those years ago. Wow, have times changed.

Around four thirty the boil was declared DONE! We got in line after all the food was put into large coolers. It wasn’t long before platters of crawfish, boiled potatoes, corn on the cob, onions and garlic were passing us and our mouths watered all the more.

One thing I didn’t agree with was everyone serving themselves. Each person was given an oval, heavy cardboard type, paper plate and you could load as much as you wanted on it. Some of those in the beginning of the line loaded so many that the plate couldn’t support the mound of crawfish and the next thing you know they were falling off the plates onto the ground and just going to waste as people walked on them and crushed them. Some people were filling two and three plates.

Here’s something else I don’t understand. WHY would you bring your dog to this function? I saw four dogs altogether and it wasn’t fun for the dogs. It got so crowded after awhile that people were tripping over the dogs,,,hmmmm,,,maybe because they didn’t expect dogs to be there????? Sometimes pets are better off left home. Tell me this pooch wouldn’t rather be home chewing on his rawhide bone.

We finally get through the line and we made it just in time. Two people after Bob and I got crawfish, after them, it was gone. A lot of people didn’t get any! Had the crawfish been served, in generous but, what’s the word I want…. responsible(?) portions, a lot more of the crowd would have enjoyed the feast. I’m glad we got in line when we did, as it turned out we just missed out on the last of the corn.

My plate…..

….and this is as far as I got, picture taking.

It had been so long since I had crawfish I wasn’t sure how to clean one anymore. I watched the others and I saw right away how “dirty” their hands were getting and I knew I was done before I started.

As an example, here’s Rich squeezing a piece of the garlic. See the seasoning on his wet fingers? I can’t stand that.

I would eat that piece of garlic, or potato or crawfish and have to wipe my hands off. I wish I didn’t have this, I don’t know what you call it, its not a phobia, I just can’t stand having my fingers dirty like that. I love to eat blue claw crabs, but I HATE cleaning them.

Here’s Jackie sucking the meat out of a crawfish. See how wet her hands are? Oh no, I can’t do that. Stupid, I know.

Our table….

Cooked whole garlic bulb.

Crawfish and onion.

Mom and daughter with full tummies.

Out on the patio the band started playing.

This sax player was sooooo good! He so looks the part doesn’t he?

A mom and her two and a half year old daughter asked to sit our empty bench and of course we welcomed them. This little girl was really getting into the music and her…….watermelon.

Bellies full, well, all but one, we vacated the table and moved on. One last look at the Key Bar in downtown Austin.

As we were walking back to the car I took notice of this Airstream trailer turned retail establishment. I don’t know if they were selling food, or bottles of hot sauce, I just couldn’t tell.

After we left the Key Bar we walked a couple of blocks to the Whole Foods Grocery Store. Oh. My, Gosh!!!! What an experience! If you’ve never been in a Whole Foods store and you find yourself near one, take the time for a visit. I had asked Jackie if I should take my camera in and she laughed at me and now I’m wishing I had it with me. This grocery store, actually the one in Austin is its headquarters store where it all started, is incredible! It started out back in 1980 with a young 24 year old and his 21 year old girlfriend who opened an organic, natural food store. Today there are 279 stores and they still lean towards organic and natural products but that's not to say you can’t buy a tube of Colgate toothpaste there. I don’t think you’d want to because I think you would pay a whole lot more than if you bought it at Walmart. However, if you wanted some unusual baked bread or a large selection of cheese or seafood or you wanted to buy all natural make-up, this is the place to go. There are food bars all over the store and we could see many people who were filling take out containers, no plastic or Styrofoam here thank you very much, and many were sitting at the tables and chairs set up in the area. This store has cooking classes and a mini book store selling every kind of cookbook you can imagine. Want shoes made of natural fiber…Whole Foods is the place to get them. This isn’t just a trip to the grocery store, going to Whole Foods is an adventure! Bob and i could have spent HOURS there!

They are all about the customer. Rich related a story that he had gone there to get powdered something or other, I forget what exactly, and when he got to the cashier with his two jars it turned out it wasn’t listed in the computer. The cashier, after he tried to scan the jars, called the manager and the manager told Rich, “It’s not listed in the computer and I don’t want to hold you up checking for a price, so you can just have them.” THAT is customer service!

Does your grocery store have a customer service desk and concierge right inside the door? Whole Foods does. Seriously, if you have the chance go check it out.

What a day this has been! A pancake breakfast, meeting new people, good music, an adventure in grocer shopping, spending time with dear friends, but when its all said and done it all comes down to the crawfish.