We pushed a pulled and lifted and slid (and cried and cried and cried). The boat was stuck. We had moments where we thought "WE'VE GOT IT!" and exploded in fits of glee (I love Glee) only to find out that, yes, we were in fact stuck. Majorly stuck.
This all happened in the span of 20 minutes. The water went from knee high to nothing in 20 minutes!!!! Let me just say, I was not pleased. I was hungry, tired, and ready to go to Pirate Fest. Notice the girl walking away in the background of the picture? Guess who?
My typical "pissed off" stance with hands on hips and head hanging. Am I very mature when things do not go my way.
It was 1:30. Dead low tide was not until 4:30. This is what my brain did immediately:
1:30-4:30... that's 3 hours. 4:30 + 3 hours = 7:30! WE WONT BE ABLE TO LEAVE UNTIL 7:30 AT THE EARLIEST!!! THATS 6 HOURS!!! We had no food, we had no water. I mean, I know we weren't going to die or anything, but... what about ME?! What about Pirate Fest?!
There was nothing to be done. Even my pout and tears didn't change the fact that we were dead stuck. Remember how we had picked up the crab traps earlier in the day? Well, we got resourceful. Clearly the first step to survival was, just like in "Castaway," to build a fire.
Oddly enough, spirits were high. I had already come to the fact that we were probably going to have to live there. Its funny what's funny when you have nothing to entertain you. We found a Horseshoe crab shell, that would come in handy later, but for now.... A Local Ossabawian. Bf called himself: Predator.
There was a slight resemblance. Especially in the teeth area.
God, I hate those movies. Even looking at the pictures makes me cringe.
So we had a roaring fire.
Like I had said. I had come to terms that this was my new home. So I worked my way up into a tree to get nice and cozy. I had a view of the fire. I had a view of the water (and was completely prepared to run out to sea to wave down a shrimpin' boat if necessary) and a beautiful view of the sky. Maybe it wasn't so bad.
So here is a recipe you'll probably never use.
Ingredients:
1 Horseshoe crab shell (dried in the sun for months)
2 cups Sea Water
1 blue crab
1 beer (we used Red Stripe)
First, fill Horseshoe crab with 2 c. sea water.
Wait for the water to boil. This takes much longer than it would in a pot, so be prepared.
While waiting, check out the scenery.
Kill blue crab. You can do this by crushing the shell near the head. Or, of course, beating it with a stick. Seriously.
Place blue crab in the boiling water for as long as there is still water in it. You will need to flip the crab over every few minutes. The whole crab will not submerge.
Flip over again and again and again.
If you are working with more than one crab, at this point go ahead and kill the next crab for the boil. This time, Joe used a stick. I am not going to say that he didn't enjoy this.
By now your crab should be *ready.
*barely edible
Let the crab cool on a stick.
While starving, crack it open to realize it has barely cooked at all!
I was not eating that crab. It was so undercooked. Bf and Joe picked their way through. While I drew a tribute to the life of Captain Crab.
The remains: Honestly, I was shocked they ate it. Really shocked.
Somehow, we made it 5 hours! Joe and Brooke slept, me and bf hung out on the beached boat and then... on the horizon... TOW BOAT USA!!!!!!!! We were saved. Now, clearly they couldn't pull the boat off the sand, but they could take us home. Bf had a case of "A Captain Never Leaves His Ship" so we quickly bid him farewell and hopped aboard the Tow Boat of Captain Fred. The tide would be up in an hour or so, so bf was going to wait it out. I just wanted to get back and get something to eat and get ready for Pirate Fest.
It took a little over an hour to get dropped off at a local marina. We were going to call a cab from the marina to take us back to the house, but then I remembered a local bar right across the street. We stumbled over, starving and tired, to find that we were the only patrons of said bar. I promptly ordered a bourbon and ginger (this is my airplane drink, only drank in times of stress and despair). While we sipped, we looked over the bar menu. I love bar menus.
I was definitely in the mood for a good ol' comforting grilled cheese.
And... fried green beans. The bar tender swore by them and boy was she right. So good. I am going to be making these at home soon!
Afterwards, we were still hungry. So me, Joe, and Brooke ordered a hotdog to share. While we waited for the hotdog... we got to talking about sandwiches. I was giving my opinion of the deliciousness of the grilled cheese. Joe was giving his perspective on the BLT and next thing you know... we had an AWESOME idea.
The Low Tide was born! The cook worked so hard on this sandwich and it was delicious. One of the best sandwiches I have ever had.
Let me break her down for ya: 1 grilled ham and cheese on top, 1 yummy BLT in the middle, and another ham and grilled cheese on the bottom. We each got a triangle and took one home for Bf, but I swear I could have eaten the whole thing.
Sad News: In addition to the death of Captain Crab, there was another death. The death of the idea of even getting dressed to go to Pirate Fest. We couldn't. We were beat. So after a looooong day in the hot sun, with no food or drink, all we wanted to do was sit and relax. We have hung our pirate costumes back in the closet until next year and I think I have already recycled mine to Thandrew for Halloween. I was really looking forward to posting about Pirate Fest. Oh well, next year...
