Beach Shows And Scallop Hunting

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.

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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.