Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue.
Not the whole name, but "Bubba" for sure, comes to mind when I think about Shrimp. Any one who saw the Forrest Gump movie, remembers the many ways he recited one could prepare Shrimp; Fried, Broiled, Baked, stuffed, steamed, sauteed, and on and on……
Here at South Padre Island there are hundreds of bars, restaurants, bait shop-fish markets, mom and pop stands, and tiny trailers, all have Shrimp for sale.
After trying many of these gastrointestinal test labs, I have found my Coleman grill the best (and safest) avenue for our Shrimp consumption. This year we have been buying the giant ones from Dirty Al’s display case. We buy a pound for $10.00, this yields enough of the squiggle’s for a meal, along with a tater and a veggie.
We can see the Shrimp Boats just offshore with the outriggers down, catching the unfortunate little guys. The fishermen freeze some of them on the boats, so we get fresh frozen, or at Dirty Al’s, fresh ones not frozen.
Yesterday afternoon as I was getting some for dinner, I saw another smaller refrigerated case with many different varieties of frozen fish in it. I asked Al what Mullet was, and would it go well with Shrimp. Al knew at that moment, he would have another story for the fishermen at the bar that night, some gomer from the mid-west thought Mullet was for dinner . I bet he thought to himself, “This is why I like to work the counter”
Hell, I’m from Kansas City, I don’t fish, and had no clue……………
I do now………. Bait.
Yesterday the weather here was super. It was cool, some Sun early on. I grabbed the bike and off I went. I was eager to retrace my regular route here on the Island ; off South, (I think, never know what directions are here, and don’t care
)
Down Padre Blvd, to the Beach, where there are two shelter houses spread out on about ½ mile of beach, then the county camp ground where there are around a thousand RV’s of every size from a tiny truck camper shell to million dollar class ‘A’’s. That is an observers delight in itself. I then bike up Padre Blvd. to The Wana Wana Beach Bar, (Got to research that name..) then on to Boomerang Billy’s Beach Bar, (I do have the story on that one) then a couple of miles back, to the Dolphin Bay Oyster Bar. This is around 7 miles, I would guess.
I got quite a treat, as I found that there was a new bar on the beach this year, the Café on The Beach. It is really nice, small and cozy, right on the beach at the waters end of a small motel. They actually have a Chef and a great menu there. It’s new, with a granite counter, and real dishes, not what you find at the other beach bars here, the wood there is all rotten, the sea has eaten any metal that is holding anything together, at the Oyster bar, the counters and seats are concrete.
Now it’s The Beach, Padre Blvd, Wana Wana Beach Bar, The Café on The Beach, Boomerang Billy’s, The Oyster Bar, and a stop at Dirty Al’s for the Shrimp, (not the Mullet) then home on the bay for some tasty grillin‘.
Not a bad day’s work……………