Day 3 - Gulf of Mexico

On Memorial Day we went boating in the Gulf of Mexico. I believe the Suwannee River (not to be confused with Swanee River. Just kidding; they're one and the same) led us to the actual Gulf waters, but don't know with complete certainty. Here are some pics.

Most of the houses were on stilts; as you can see, the space underneath doesn't go to waste.

And some had a boat garage off to the side. As convenient as the river is, it's not suggested to swim in it much, due to the water snakes and alligators. We saw a lot of people fishing from their porches.

A boat all loaded up with crab cages.

Around the bend, we got out into the Gulf.

On the surface, of course, the water looked really clean and refreshing. But you can see it's actually not at all. More brownish. And yes, I tasted the ocean, in a manner of speaking. Sodium levels are noticeably higher.

The ball is marking a crab cage out in the deep. We decided to pull one up and see how well it was doing. I think we counted 6 crabs and a few little fish. It was speculated there might even be a baby shark in there. :)

My main man, Brady. It was a great hair day for all.

After a couple hours playin' in the water, we headed back to the river. Mike made sure to soak the inside of the boat before we got to the no wake zone. No electronics were harmed fortunately.

These signs dictate the lanes on the water way; boaters stay right of the red and left of the green.

The green ones are numbered to correspond with the map of the area. We were clipping by pretty quick so I couldn't get the numbers clearly at all.

Here is the patio to Salt Creek Restaurant. We ended up eating there after loading up the boat.

Beautiful houses along the way.

Salt Creek Restaurant patio from the inside.

I had to try the fresh oyster stew. The oysters were big and chewy. Yum! But the soup part didn't hold a candle to our Christmas Eve. Tooooo buttery. Also, worst calamari I've ever had, which was not expected. However, I tried alligator and it does taste like chicken! :)

The sunburn that I achieved on Sunday was aggravated in the worst way by being on the boat for those few hours. It's really deceiving how much sun you're actually getting out there because the movement of the boat and the water keep you cool, but the rays, of course, are still beating down. That sneaked up on me big time, and boy am I paying for it! Cold compresses and aloe for me, please. And maybe a Popsicle...