Good morning,
Before I left Greenville one of my buddies wanted to know what I ate while here but don't rub it in. Pensacola is quite a ways from New Orleans but there is still a Cajun influence, red beans and rice and various Cajun shrimp dishes are common.
So here goes:
For lunch on Sunday I went to a very famous seafood restaurant named Peg Leg Pete's. This place is less than half mile from my condo. I had a bowl of seafood gumbo and two dozen oysters on the half shell. The gumbo roux was dark as night, hot as Brittany Spear's pantyhose and thick as Nancy Pelosi's skull. In addition to the celery, okra and onions there was a little chicken, shrimp and a hell of a lot of lump crab meat. In short, it was orgasmic.
The oysters were medium size meaning the oyster itself was about two inches long and one inch wide, some were smaller and some were bigger but this was the average. They were a little bland but they will get more tasty as the weather cools off. I went back to the oyster shucker's station (there were two shuckers going as fast as they could) and checked the box the oysters came in and they came from Saint Andrew's bay near Apalachicola, Florida. I make my own sauce for the oysters. It is made of catsup, horseradish (lots), Worchestershire sauce and several drops of Tabasco. I pop one of those bad boy oysters on a saltine cracker, put sauce on top and eat it. YUMMY!!! I washed it all down with a Newcastle draft.
Sunday night I think I will have a Grouper Supreme sandwich at the same place. That sandwich is famous for its flavor and texture. My sister-in-law loves them.
I have decided that I will not watch or listen to any local or national news while I am here so my comments on any recent events will be missing. I want to cleanse my brain of all clutter for a while.
This date in history September 21
1945 Henry Ford II takes over at Ford after the sudden death of his father. The company was rapidly approaching bankruptcy and needed help. The first thing Henry II did was fire the Personnel Chief Harry Bennett who for years had used strong arm tactics and a anti-union stance that made Ford famous for bad labor relations. Henry had virtually no management training or experience and he knew it. So he hired several young financial wizards led by Robert McNamara known as the “Whiz kids”. Among these young guys was a Princeton graduate named Lee Iacocca. As we all may or may not remember Robert McNamara later became the Secretary of Defense under JFK and Iacocca became president of Chrysler. The “whiz kids” saved Ford from bankruptcy and the rest is history.
1954 The movie Sabrina debuts starring Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn. This was a change of character for Bogie in which he played a sophisticated businessman turned Romeo. Bogie normally played the role of a tough criminal or hard ass private detective. During WWI Bogie joined the navy and was injured in the face during an attack on his ship resulting in his hard looking face and small lisp. He gave us many milestone movies like Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, To Have and Have Not and the movie he won an Oscar for Best Actor in African Queen. Bogie was a heavy smoker and the expected happened in 1958 when he died of lung cancer. It was a loss for all of us.
1961 The US 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces is activated at Fort Bragg, NC by President JFK. Kennedy was very interested in this unit and came to visit. While there he specified that the unit was to be used to train the Vietnamese people to do their own counter-insurgency work. He also allowed them to wear a special headgear, the Green Beret. The 5th Special Forces Group went to Nam in 1964 and assumed responsibility for all Special Forces. They zeroed in on the mountain people known as the Montagnards and trained them extensively. By 1970 there were about 42,000 men and women trained by the Green Berets in Nam and the Green Berets transferred responsibility to the South Vietnam Border Rangers for the rest of the war. The 5th was withdrawn from Nam in February of 1971. The Green Berets executed their mission magnificently but sadly it seems that it was all for naught.
1938 The incredible happens when a category 3 hurricane strikes New England. As with all Atlantic hurricanes the storm began off the west coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands. It became a hurricane as it approached the Leeward Islands and was reported to the US Weather Service by a ship. The hurricane headed for the Carolinas coast but suddenly turned north and followed the eastern seaboard. The US Weather Service thought the hurricane would dissipate over the colder waters but the storm was over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and held together. The howling storm came ashore over Long Island, NY with virtually no warning for the residents. As house by house was disintegrated by the onslaught and some of the residents were washed out to sea and were never seen again. The storm arrived at New London, Connecticut at high tide with 40 ft waves preceding it. New London was nearly leveled with many injuries and death. The next city in the path of this monster was Providence, Rhode Island and after all was said and done there was 13 feet of water in the city. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The hurricane dissipated over Nova Scotia. Hurricanes were not named in those days so this disaster is just known as the Storm of 1938. The final totals were: 600 dead, 9,000 homes destroyed and 15,000 damaged, 3,000 ships sunk. There hadn’t been a hurricane in New England for 100 years and I guess the residents were not worried about them. They do now.
1942 The first B-29 Super Fortress goes on a test flight in Seattle, Washington. The bomber was an idea dreamed up by US Gen. Hap Arnold that wanted a bomber that could lift nearly its own weight and have a range of 3,000 plus miles. Boeing got the contract and delivered the bomber in minimum time. This bomber was instrumental in ending the war in the Pacific as the B-17 Flying Fortress was in ending the war in Europe during WWII. I guess the 2 most famous B-29s were the Enola Gay and Bock’s Car. The morning of August 6, 1945 saw the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan and the morning of August 9, 1945 saw Bock’s Car over Nagasaki, Japan. Bock’s Car got its name from the pilot John Bock but on this day the pilot was Major Charles Sweeney.
Born today:
1821 English writer H.G. Wells. He said “Every time I see an adult riding a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” It will take a lot more than that for me to lose my despair.
1928 US Representative (OH) John Ashworth. He said “I am not of the breed of sheep that will follow a bellwether over a precipice.” Me neither.
1947 US writer Stephan King. He said “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” Almost everyone has a demon in their sub-consciousness.
1950 US comic Bill Murray. He said “I am a nut, but not just any nut.” You are right there, Bill.
1954 US drummer Phil Taylor. He said “We go home afterward safe in the knowledge that we have deafened a few.” Not this horse, Phil.
1966 Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland (son of Donald.) After being awarded the Golden Globe award he said “Now I know how Charlie Sheen felt. I’ve lost all feeling in my lower half.” I really enjoy his performance in “24”.
Died today:
19BC Roman writer Virgil. He said “It does not bother the wolf as to how many sheep there are.” That sounds like Robert E. Lee to me.
1947 US sportscaster Harry Carey, Sr. He said “There goes Steve Bullett into left field and he is getting congratulations from everybody. He and his sister are parents of a new baby.” Hey Harry, how is that again?
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
Goodbye from the land of high temperatures, high gas prices and low morals.
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