Corpus Christi: Coffee and Beer

During our final days at North Padre Island, I ran low on my home-roasted coffee.  Normally, under such circumstances, I switch to tea or something else.  The chances of getting anything really fresh from a coffeeshop or grocery store is nil.  

Sometimes, it's possible to go directly to a small roaster and ask what was roasted recently.  I found a small roaster in Corpus Christi called Driftwood Coffee Company.  And when I say small roaster, I mean their coffee roaster was really small.  In my own shop, I had a 12 kg roaster that comfortably did batches of 20 lbs every 15-20 minutes.  If I understood the barista correctly, Driftwood was roasting in five pound batches.

The retail shelves were date-stamped for the day that the coffee was roasted.  That's very rare--even in specialty shops.  When I paid attention to Starbucks or even Peets, they used to have a best used by date that projected months out from the date of roasting.  At home, I typically don't use anything that's more than a week or so out from roast date.  

I was very pleased to be able to pick out a bag of Mexican coffee beans that had been roasted that very day.  The price wasn't so pleasing at about $15 for 12 ounces, but I was desperate and enjoy supporting small businesses that do things the right way. As for why I roast coffee myself, I should point out that I typically pay about $5/lb for raw coffee beans and am able to control the degree of roast to my own likes/dislikes.

The Mexican was very lightly roasted.  But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  The coffee was quite good when brewed.  The degree of lightness was so shocking to me that I began experimenting with lighter roasts when I got back home.  I typically roast to the beginning of second crack (which is typically first oil).  Buying the Mexican from Driftwood inspired me to experiment again with my own roasts. Getting into a rut is never a good thing. 

After our shopping trip to Driftwood, we took a long walk along the gulf in downtown Corpus Christi.  North Padre was very foggy, but the fog was lifting in Corpus, eventually turning into a beautiful day.

 

Memorial to Selena, Queen of Tejano Music

 

After getting in about four miles, we headed over to Nueces Brewing for a late lunch and beers.

The food and beer were both good.  Just as we arrived, the Governor of Texas announced the end of all Covid restrictions.  The employees were celebrating. We headed outside to the deck.

On a previous trip to Corpus Christi, we discovered Lorelei Brewing, which is just on the other side of the bridge from North Padre.  We really liked the beer and the vibe.  Not much had changed, except that masks were required inside. Even though the Governor ended restrictions, responsible businesses continued to set their own rules. We patronize responsible businesses.

On a weekday afternoon, we were basically alone on the outdoor deck.

 

 

Turning to the present, I need to note the possible passing of blogger and long-time commenter Michael Herrmann.Update:  Never mind: he’s still alive. :)

Recharging on North Padre Island

 We reached the end of our journey south during the last week of February:  an Airbnb on North Padre Island.  We stayed for nine nights, and it suited our needs perfectly: one bedroom, a full kitchen, channel views, and a ten  minute walk to the beach.  

This was our second recent trip to the area.  The condo was only a five minute drive from the county park where we camped in 2019.  Julia and I spent our first time on Padre Island as a couple in 1983 when we were seniors in college on spring break.  We like the area a lot.  In fact, although we're not serious about moving from Wisconsin in the near term,  we even looked at some small condos for sale during this trip.  

There are definitely some things to consider:  hurricanes and hot summers.  But the cooling gulf breeze, and the fact that our building had survived since 1974 are things to think about also.   North Padre is  pretty close to heaven on the down-slope of a Wisconsin winter. 

This was the view from our balcony for morning coffee.

For happy hour and sunsets, we settled into the building's back deck, which was rarely used by the other residents.

We took full advantage of the kitchen, buying fresh fish several times from Paul's Seafood in Corpus Christi. We ate red snapper, redfish, and black drum.  On other other nights, we ate on the outdoor decks of area restaurants.  

Every morning at sunrise, we took long walks on the beach.  There wasn't always a sunrise, due to fog, but it was almost always warm enough to walk without a coat.

Through some good fortune and planning, we hit the travel window just right. We were the first ones in the Airbnb after the winter storm was over.  Today, I see that the spring break crowds have arrived.  There were very few people out and about during our trip, and we felt very comfortable spending almost all of our time outdoors.  

I'll probably have another couple of posts on our stay to touch on some of the other highlights. 

Baton Rouge to Galveston

Julia and I love the food in Louisiana.  A trip through the state would not be complete without Cajun cuisine.  After spending the night in Baton Rouge, we stopped at a little store outside of Lafayette for some fast food:  boudin balls and crawfish pies. 

The crawfish pies were very tasty.  I've had boudin before but maybe not the balls.  Imagine biting into a ball of spicy sausage and rice, releasing a stream of hot fat.  Probably the most unhealthy food I've eaten in awhile, but still preferable to a McDonald's drive-thru.  

Before long, we were driving into Texas and found a beach.

 

It felt wonderful to walk under the blue skies, feel the warm gulf breeze, and breathe in the sea smells after the pandemic winter in Wisconsin.  We made our way across the Bolivar Peninsula, taking the ferry to Galveston.

We were still not at our final destination; one more dog-friendly budget motel was necessary.  I dug deep into my pockets for the extra $10 and paid for a room at the Red Roof Inn Plus.  You may ask, "what is different about the Red Roof Inn from the Red Roof Inn Plus?"  After staying there, Julia says that question is unresolved.  

I think it was probably the location.  We could walk 1 1/2 blocks and be at the beach and the main drag along the beach.  If you are looking for a dog-friendly budget motel in Galveston for under $70 in late February, this would be my recommendation.  But I have to be honest, we didn't spend much time in the room.

 

We were very thankful to spend this time in Galveston.

 

Headed South: Baton Rouge

During our overnight stay in Memphis, the streets froze again. Everyone was slip slidin’ away.  The temperatures warmed by the time we hit Mississippi, but not enough to melt the unplowed snow in the left lane There were numerous abandoned cars in the median—evidence of the unusual winter storm several days before our trip.

By Jackson, however, the weather reached the 60’s, and the snowy ground was replaced by greening grass. When we made it to Baton Rouge, we were ready to stretch our legs. There is a levy walk along the Mississippi River from downtown to LSU. It felt so good to be outside without a heavy coat, breathing in the scene with all of our senses.

We worked up quite an appetite, and Louisiana is a great place to eat oysters—something we don’t quite trust in Wisconsin. We started off with grilled oysters and then oyster po’ boy sandwiches. We ate at a table by an open door, and there was “open mic” music on the sidewalk. This was the most entertainment that we have enjoyed in over a year.

Next stop: Galveston 

Headed South

Last week, after a brief in-person check-in with Justin, Julia and I jumped in the car and started driving south. We were in search of warmer temperatures and new adventures after nearly a year of very little travel. As I previously mentioned, we are both fully vaccinated and plan to continue social distancing and wearing a mask when appropriate. 

The temperature actually dropped down to -5 F as we drove through Illinois. Clearly, we would have to go further south.

Five hours later, we left St. Louis in our rear view mirror. There was still a lot of snow on the ground. A few hours later in Memphis, the temperature warmed up into the 40’s. While the interstate was mostly clear of snow, the side streets had not been plowed.  After checking into an economy pet-friendly motel, we went searching for bbq.  Quite a few bbq joints were closed due to the weather and the water boil advisory (broken water mains) for most of the region, but we found that one of our favorites was still open.

We opted for carry-out and brought our food back to the room. Julia had pulled pork, while I opted for the beef brisket. We were in food heaven and almost forgot to save a bite for Callie.

We tried to stretch our legs after dinner on the side streets around the motel. But between the very wet snow (which covered up some standing water) and some crazy drivers, we retreated back to our room before getting our daily steps goal. 

On our next day, we would drive out of the snow. Our daily steps goal was not a problem for the rest of our journey south.

Traveling Shoes

This winter has been a long one. I guess it goes without saying that the pandemic hasn’t made things any easier. There has been some good news. Justin is back at school, living his best adult life. Allie is launched in San Francisco with a good job. And, as Justin's family caregivers, we were able to get early vaccinations. We are more than two weeks out and as protected as we are going to be for awhile.

We have no idea what the future holds, so we are going to take this opportunity to move about the country a bit, socially distanced and masked when around other people. At the time of this writing, and it was written awhile ago, we aren’t quite sure where we will be headed, but it will be to warmer places. I'm in the mood for some southern bbq and maybe some fresh seafood. Some place where we can walk without a heavy coat, hat, gloves, and long underwear would be nice.

The Scamp is not available, due to the steep hill and winter conditions outside its protected storage. However, the Subaru is available and ready for an adventure. I will keep you posted.

Deep Freeze

One of the trendy words of the last few years is "unprecedented."  Every time I hear that word, I can't help but start to do an eye roll.  Here, in Wisconsin, we aren't breaking any weather records.  It's just cold and snowy.  Usually, all that means is that we need to dress more warmly before heading outside.

Despite the subzero temperatures and snowbanks, it's a beautiful time of year.

Frozen Waterfalls

 

 

The best part is we don't have to go very far to enjoy winter recreation; it's right outside our front or back door.  

 

Our small vineyard

the backyard

We've been enjoying the first month of real retirement without the presence of adult children.  However, last weekend, we entertained Jill, Julia's sister from Kentucky, who was here to visit their dad, Gene, in hospice.  

Julia, Jill, brother Scott, and Gene

Gene has good days and bad days.  One day he is engaged in the conversation, teasing and joking.  Other days, he is out of it and can't swallow food or water.  We're grateful that he is now getting the care that he needs for the time of life that he is at.  Gene worked as a computer guy (mainframes), but loved the outdoors best (hunting and fishing). 

That night, I made bibimbap, one of Korea's national dishes.  We first tried it when we adopted Justin in South Korea.  It took us a couple of years to find the stone bowls to make it in. 

Rice is the bottom layer with a small circle left open.  Stir fried vegetables and a protein are colorfully arranged on top of the rice and along the sides of the stone bowl.  The final step is to place the stone bowl directly over the gas flame.  An egg is placed in the empty circle at the bottom for the last few minutes. Fermented hot chili paste, called Gochujang,  is optional (but we like it). 

Served with Kimchi and Bell's Two-Hearted Ale

 

Breaking Trail on White Tara

 This is a post for the third day of our trip to the northern Wisconsin border.  Microspikes would have been a better choice for most of the trail conditions, but we were wearing snowshoes.  Not surprisingly, our best memories are of the short, unmaintained White Tara Trail, where our snowshoes broke through fresh snow.

The trail system is called the Three Eagle Trail--just south of Eagle River, Wisconsin.  The specific property that we were on is called Tara Li.  Most of the property was machine-tracked for cross country skiing:  striding and skating.  Some of the trails were marked for snowshoes, but these were mostly machine-packed also.

The entire property was so beautiful.  This is an area inhabited by bears, wolves, and many other animals.  

Just past the bridge, we saw a narrow, winding trail with fresh snow veer to the right.  An intriguing sign waited for us.

The deeper snow and downed trees across the unmaintained trail forced us to slow down and be more aware of our surroundings.  The heavy woods made me feel  like we were Hansel and Gretel, walking toward the witch's gingerbread house.  Alas, we never found the witch, but we enjoyed the trail immensely.

It was time to head home.  At present, we are settling into the daily routines of retirement.  I've been hiking every day--mostly at the marsh or at Gibraltar Rock.  Julia has been cross-country skiing almost every day.  We are trying to decide where our next trip should be.  

One of Justin's caregivers turned out to be a dud (didn't show up three out of four days and was late on the day he showed up).  Justin is in the process of hiring someone who will replace most of the hours, but the vetting takes several weeks.  Julia had to drive to Whitewater to fill a shift Sunday.  I'm on deck, although this week looks set.

That makes any longer trips problematic.  It's probably better to stick closer to home anyway.  One of these days though, we are going to make another run to the border (Wisconsin's border anyway).  Justin is supposed to be eligible for the vaccine around March 1st.  Ironically, as part of Justin's caregiving team, we are already eligible. Even Justin's young friends who help out occasionally without pay are eligible. That doesn't  make sense to me with Justin being high-risk.  

No one put me in charge of things, and that's probably a good idea. 

 

 

The North Country: A Day of Snowshoeing

Day Two of this trip was the best.  After a hearty breakfast, we drove into the Nicolet National Forest. The roads were snow-covered and slippery.  Julia's Subaru was up to the task, but there were a few challenging moments on downhills where all-wheel drive is inconsequential and at the trailhead's unplowed parking lot, where we nearly high-centered.

The parking lot was off of Fournier Road, which appears on the map to the left edge just above center.  We were the first on the trail, and we did not see another human in the woods that day.  

Like a lot of trails in the National Forest, this one was lightly maintained.  We got lost a couple of times, and there were lots of downed trees to clamber over.  

We took the Butternut Trail, continuing on Ash Meadow until it looped around to the Gulch. Our plan to take Gulch to the Roller Coaster failed when we couldn't find the continuation of Gulch.  Eventually, we had to backtrack on Gulch to Ash Meadow again, where we retraced our steps to Butternut.  It was a five mile hike through some fairly deep snow.  

After a quick lunch back at the cabin,we drove across the Brule River into the Upper Peninsula.  Our destination was Alpha Michigan Brewing, which proclaims that it's the smallest village in America with a brewery. 

 

Interesting trivia, but how was the beer?  I'm pleased to report that it was really good.  After enjoying a stout and Christmas Wit on the patio (the temp was in the single digits), we took a half-growler of IPA home. 

The tap room was closed due to covid, but true northerners don't let the cold interfere with a good beer.