I think I have traveled more this year than I ever have in my life. And I am not complaining! Thank you, Music, for taking me many fun places! All that being said... I am GLAD to be home.
After my last show in Centerville on July 1, my husband and I drove to Florida for a week-long family vacation, plus a show. We stayed in a tiny town called Port St. Joe, right next to a bay. We hunted for scallops (a delightfully strange activity, as you will soon see), got tans, and rode bikes.
...And I wrote a Christmas song. Nothing says Christmas like 100 degree weather, I always say.
...And I wrote another song called "Take A Chance On Me." Going to play it out this Saturday! But I digress...
Now, I shall attempt to entertain you with pictures.
We quite frequently forgot the umbrella extender, so we just pretended it was a tent.
...Or a really big sombrero.
We rented a boat and went hunting for scallops. Our boat was infested with bees for some reason. But don't worry, I swatted them all with my flipper. No I didn't. My dad did.
That's my sister being the lazy bum in both pictures. She literally read and slept the entire trip. She's a real go-getter.
Most people I've met have no clue how to hunt for scallops, so let me give a brief lesson.
1. Find some really swampy, shallow bay water. Make sure it has lots of reeds in it that cut your stomach up.
2. Grab a snorkle, flippers, and a net.
3. Find these lil' nuggets:
WARNING: DO NOT TRY SCALLOPING ON A FIRST DATE. BECAUSE YOU WILL LOOK LIKE THIS:
Along the way, you can also chase birds like my brother-in-law Andrew decided to do.
4. After you find your scallops, put them in a cooler. They're gonna hop around a little bit. It made me squeal like a pig.
5. Crack them open with a scalloping knife (a glorified butter knife), and scoop out all the guts. I actually enjoyed doing this. The rest of the ladies wouldn't touch it. I'm a beast.
After you dig out the guts, they look like this:
6. Throw them in a bowl.
7. Clean 'em and cook 'em! They're actually really good. Much better than restaurant seafood.
When we weren't getting eaten by crabs - I mean scalloping - we were playing at the beach. The water was amazing, I must say.
That is the first and last bathing suit picture I will ever post online. You're... "welcome."
We also found some pretty creative houses.
The last night we were there, I sang at a great venue called The Thirsty Goat.
The crowd was SO great!! I couldn't even believe it! One guy there bought everyone two rounds of Fireball shots. The workers and customers were so kind and welcoming to a newbie like me.
Overall, I had an absolute blast, and I hope I can play another show down there again soon! And eat scallops. LOTS of 'em.