Terry, Pat and myself went to Peace River Seafood, 5337 Duncan Road, Punta Gorda, FL, on the day after Thanksgiving. This small roadside crab shack is a real gem. Outside live crabs were being sold almost off the boat. Inside signed dollar bills littered the walls woven into fishing nets. It was a cold day and we had a tough time finding a table without a draft. I had to move away from the door since a cold wind was blowing off the river. I ordered a fish sandwich and Pat ordered something light.
Terry however couldn’t resist getting a big plate of crabs. The waitress demonstrated a technique of breaking the shells using a carefully placed knife and hammer blow. The incision had surgical accuracy. Terry however enjoyed simply bashing the shell with the hammer. Every morsel had to be wrestled from it’s shell. Terry is a slow eater anyway but this process slowed her down enough so that I had time to finish my sandwich and do a sketch. If we return, I will definitely get the crabs because Terry absolutely loved hers. In the end she couldn’t even finish what was on her plate. The carnage was everywhere, but she was satiated.
We also visited several antiques stores this day. The strangest thing we saw was a half sized animatronic Santa that sang and wiggled his hips. The Santa creeped Terry out. None of us found anything worth buying. I was on the lookout for vintage fountain pens but didn’t see one.