The Local Tourist: Goofy Golf

I live in a tourist town. Well, I live on the outskirts of a tourist town, but I grew up in the thick of it. Long lines of traffic trying to cross the Hathaway Bridge; learning early on that eating at a restaurant on the beach was only an option between September and February; working at condos and restaurants, catering to the out-of-town guest who generally brought a maximum amount of rudeness and a minimum amount of tips with them on vacation.

There are days when I wonder why anyone would want to live somewhere like this. And then, I actually venture out and become a tourist in my own town and suddenly, I remember why. Sand between my toes, the Gulf of Mexico stretching out in front of me, this is what it is all about. People all over the country would trade places with me in a heartbeat (or at least, they think they would) to be able to have access to this on a daily basis. I take it for granted most of the time, but whenever someone comes to visit, I try to get out there and enjoy it like someone visiting would.

This is what lead me back to one of the quirkiest places in Panama City Beach: Goofy Golf. This mini-golf course is located across the street from the City Pier (or is it the County Pier? I've lived here for 28 years and I still don't know which one is which). It has been here since 1959. My mom has pictures of me and my brothers climbing on all of the crazy creatures and obstacles throughout the course.

My brother Michael was in town last month, along with my niece Brianna, so we decided to take a trip back in time and revisit this little slice of "when PCB was still fun."

The hole below might not look like a challenge, but it was more than just "send the ball down a sort of straight path." There was a moat around the castle (not filled with water, which makes it a rather Goofy moat) and if you didn't hit the ball hard enough, it got stuck in the moat. And this was just Hole 1!

On every outing, I must take at least one artsy shot of a building or statue or animal or "trees on sky"...this is the artsy shot. I call it "Chasing Windmills."

There is a rule I have put in place that MUST be followed when a trip to Goofy Golf is made. And that rule is: You MUST climb to the top of the Easter Island Statue Thing and you MUST stick your feet out through his nose.

Luckily, Brianna was a good sport...

 And so was Michael...

They practiced the Princess Wave from high above the course. Cheeseballs!

Bree found a little bit of shade under a giant mushroom...

Michael, um..."took a break."

Bree made a new friend.

And now, your moment of Zen.

And it was during this quiet moment that we realized, we forgot our wallets and couldn't pay to play. So, we made an exchange - they were more than willing to take the teenager off our hands as a form of payment. At least the dragon monster looks friendly. :-)

And Just Where Have You Been, Young Lady?

So, I kind of just realized that I haven't blogged in 20 days. Um, whoops. So, what have I been up to? Let me show you.

Love, Loss and What I Wore is a play by Nora and Delia Ephron. We will be performing this as a benefit show for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on September 27, 28 and 29 at Kaleidoscope Theatre. I am so excited about getting to work with the cast and getting back on stage again.

Fred and Ethel have been with us for a few weeks and seem to be settling in nicely. They are domestic ducks, but we think they have a little Peking in them. They are for playing, not for eating. :-) Bonus points to them for eating all of the bugs in our yard!

The cats and I have done some photo shoots to make the rainy days pass a little quicker.

And we have been eating really, really good lately!

On top of all the other things, my morning routine has changed a bit. This is pretty much what it looks like once I crawl out of bed and make a pot of coffee. It has made a world of difference to start my day with The Word. I'm also really enjoying putting pen to paper.

So, yeah...that's about it. I mean, there have been some other adventures, but I either didn't have my camera or I want to wait and share them in a separate post.

Now that I'm back, I promise not to go away for so long again. I know your world just hasn't been the same in the past 20 days, but have no fear - Flirt D. Lee is here. :-)

Hurricane: The Board Game

Is it wise to play a game called "Hurricane: The Game of the Tropics" in Florida smack in the middle of hurricane season? I think it would only really be tempting fate if it was played while a hurricane was bearing down on the Gulf Coast, but even then, it might have to come out and be a part of the party.

If you are interested, a little information about the origins of this board game can be found here. I'm not sure I believe that this game was an "immediate hit" or that it "(sold out) in stores from the Gulf Coast to New England." If it did, I'm guessing people got it home, read the directions and went, "Huh?" Just look at this picture of Michael and Mom, taken while Murphy read the directions to us:

We had to reference the directions multiple times while we played this take on Monopoly, where instead of railroads and Park Place, you can buy resorts that are in classically hurricane-prone zones of the tropics.

Murphy was the Master of the Game, since he is the one with the best reading comprehension skills in our group.

That thumbs up was given WAY before we realized just how boring this game would be if we followed the actual directions.

So, a basic rundown: up to 4 people can play at a time, and while that seems like a small group, it's probably best, since the rules are completely confusing. Each player is given a yacht and a pawn. The yachts start in a Cruise Port and the pawns start on...well...the START square of the board.

As you move around the board, you can purchase resorts for extremely reasonable prices - between $50,000 and $250,000. You can also buy hurricane preparedness options for your resorts, such as an evacuation plan, a seawall, and structure reinforcements. 

If you land on a resort that is owned by someone else, you have to put your yacht in the water and make your way toward the resort. This is a tedious process and one that we will probably rework the next time we play. Here is Michael, making his way toward the resort in New Orleans. (side note: Who in their right mind would buy a resort in New Orleans? I mean, really?)

I think Mom was trying to get to Cancun. I feel like this game might actually be improved by adding some drinking options to it as well.

Issues arise if your yacht is in the water and you are in the path of a hurricane. This was the slowest part of the game. The only time the hurricane moves is if a player lands on an "H" square. To see where the storm is going next, you use this very detailed card of coordinates and you go one line at a time. Most of the time, the hurricane would only move two coordinates in one direction, meaning it was slow going.

This is where we changed things up a bit. In addition to the "H" squares, there are also "P" squares on the board. The directions say that if a player lands on a "P", they have the chance to buy additional options for their resorts. In our version of the game, if you land on a "P", a Sharknado! is coming!!! This translates to the hurricane moving two times instead of one. It doesn't seem like much, but once we started doing that, the game really picked up.

We also edited some of the Special Bulletin cards. :-)

The Bermuda Triangle is just one of the obstacles you run into as you go around the board. The consequences of being in the Triangle are actually quite boring and will be changed when we rewrite the directions.

If you ever get the chance to play Hurricane! (I can't type it without the exclamation point, even if the actual game does not have that particular punctuation in the title), I would recommend that you have the following:

• One sober person who is actually paying attention to the rules.
• A sense of humor, because the game is quite ridiculous.
• Beer. Lots and Lots of Beer.

The game makers had a Kickstarter to revamp the game, but they did not make their goal. Reading over some of the "improvements" I think I like the original version better. Not everything needs an app to make it more exciting.

Stuffed Baked Tomatoes

This isn't really a recipe, as much as it is a "Hey, you should try this!" idea. I made Baked Shrimp and Grits a few nights ago. The recipe made a 9x13 pan of cheese grits, which is a lot, even for a transplanted Southern girl like me.

I decided that instead of just heating up the grits and enjoying their cheesy goodness, I should turn them into something even better. And this...this, my friends, is the way to go.

Basically, you take some cheese grits (mine already had a lot of spices added, including Louisiana Hot Sauce) and mix in some green onions, plus a little more black pepper and garlic. Then, you hollow out some tomatoes - bonus points if they are homegrown, because that just adds to the awesomeness of the dish. Mix the tomato guts with the grits mixture.

Stuff those pretty red guys with the cheesy grits mixture and bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. The grits get all melty and the tomato flavor becomes intensified. You could probably sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top toward the end of the baking time, if you wanted to go a little nuts. I am adding this to my regular rotation of recipes to impress guests, because they look fancy, but are so easy to make.

Dehydrator Madness: Dried Cantaloupe

I have been so blessed this summer with fruit and vegetables from local farms that have an overabundance that they just can't sell. Blueberries, grapes, cucumbers, watermelon and cantaloupe.

 

 

I hate to see food go to waste, especially when the food is as ripe and sweet as these cantaloupes were. I turned one of them into popsicles (are you noticing a trend?), but wasn't sure what to do with the second.

 

 

Enter the Food Dehydrator.

 

Dried Cantaloupe? Would it work? Would it just shrivel up and be totally gross? It was worth giving it a try. I sliced the melon into 1/4" thick slices and placed them on the dehydrator trays.

 

 

 

I set the dehydrator at 135 degrees and let it go for 8 hours. The result?

 

 

 

It is very similar to dried mango, but with a slightly earthier flavor. It would make an excellent addition to trail mix, and also to the Hurricane Kit, but to be honest, I haven't eaten much of it on its own. This is one of those foods that I could see making again if I had too many cantaloupes and no desire to eat them right away.

 



 



 



Cucumber Lime Mint Popsicles

It is officially summertime. You can tell, because every single day this week, it has rained. And not just rained, but dumped buckets on our yard. This generally lasts for about 10 minutes and then, back to that famous Florida sunshine. That's the thing about Florida in the summertime - if you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it will change.

In addition to the daily rainstorms, it has also been hot. Sweltering is probably a better way to describe it, actually. Temperatures in the 90s, sometimes breaking 100, are not unusual, but combined with the humidity, it makes for a steamy atmosphere. Steamy, not in a sexy way, but in a shirt stuck to your back, hair the size of a Texas beauty queen, kind of way.

When it gets like this, there is only one thing to do: Make popsicles. I've gone through a popsicle making phase over the past few weeks, combining mostly traditional ingredients like fruit, yogurt, and simple syrup, but I wanted something different.

Cucumber Water has always been something that in my head, I know I love, but I never actually make it at home. We had an over abundance of cucumbers, thanks to a farmer friend with a bumper crop. With those cucumbers, we made pickles until the entire house, and my skin, smelled like pickle juice for days. I infused some vodka with cucumbers. And of course, we ate cucumbers sprinkled with sea salt and pepper for lunch and dinner, and sometimes breakfast.

In the haze of the heat, I became obsessed with the idea of making popsicles out of cucumbers. The idea to just shove a stick up the end of a peeled cucumber and pop it into the freezer might have crossed my mind, but I wanted other flavors in there, too. I know that Cucumber Mint salad can be simply heavenly, and I know that when you combine mint and lime, you basically get a Mojito. So I put all three into a blender and the result: refreshing, light, crisp. Lovely.

Cucumber Mint Lime Popsicles
Ingredients:

• 2 Cup diced cucumber (approx. 3 small cucumbers, that have been peeled and seeded)
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (one medium lime)
• 3/4 Cup Mint Syrup - recipe below

Place all ingredients in to a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Let freeze for 1 hour, then insert popsicle sticks. Continue to freeze for an additional 3 - 4 hours.

Yield: 6 Popsicles

Mint Syrup
Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. fresh Mint Leaves, roughly chopped

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, until sugar dissolves. Add chopped mint leaves and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Set aside to cool.

Before adding syrup to the blender, strain to remove mint leaves.

Blueberry Yogurt Pops

Three ingredients, one blender, 6 popsicle molds, and a freezer. That's all it takes to make these and they are so refreshing and light, especially on a hot Florida summer day.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 Cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 Tbsp. Honey

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree. I used the "Smoothie" button on my blender and it blended perfectly.

Pour into popsicle molds. Let freeze for about an hour and then insert popsicle sticks (or in my case, lollipop sticks) into each popsicle. Continue to freeze until firm, for about 4 - 6 hours.

Yield: 6 - 8 popsicles.

'Til The Cows Come Home (Or Not)

So, running cows...yeah...it helps when the cows cooperate. We didn't see any cow action on Wednesday, but I did get some pretty good pictures on the farm.

 

This was as close as we got to the cows all morning. They said "Hello" and then a quick "Good-bye."

But still, we waited for them. Just chillin' on a dirt road.

After we blocked off the road, we had a visit from the grader.

Mike tried to convince him to go back home, but he had a job to do. So we unblocked the road, let him pass, and re-blocked the road. And continued to wait.

I passed the time by wandering and taking more pictures.

    

My continued quest to put together a Trees On Sky coffee table book...

This road leads to cows, but it didn't lead cows to us. Pretty view, though.