Pelicans and Shrimps

PLRH Family Weekend: Part Deux

Early Sunday morning my brother (Uncle Cool) and nephew (CT) took off for New Jersey. We were all sad to see them go. But a tiny part of me was thrilled that I didn't have to take them to the airport.

We slept in and then woke up to beautiful, blue skies and 70 degrees. A family field trip was in order to get us out of the house. My sinuses were swollen from all the pine and oak pollen so my Sweetie declared that I needed the sea air to feel better.

Going to the beach isn't a typical activity for our family because of my history of skin cancer. Lying out on beach blankets or playing beach volleyball just isn't our thing. So when we head towards the ocean we usually have other things planned.

We took our cameras to John's Pass Village. Which is just that... a village of shops and restaurants located at John's Pass. The pass connects the Gulf of Mexico to the Intercoastal Waterway betweeen Madeira Beach and Treasure Island.



At first, G-Man was a little hesitant about bringing his camera because he didn't want to "look like a tourist." I assured him that all the tourists would be sunburned.

Really, he's having fun.

One of the charter fishing boats had just come in and the crew was cleaning their catch for the guests to take home. Waiting in anticipation of the scraps, an entire flotilla of pelicans was in position just off the pier. It was a great opportunity to get up close photos of these interesting sea birds. But then I got a nagging feeling. I wondered if these pelicans have become too dependent on the cast-offs from humans. There were dozens of birds mooching for their lunch and I wanted to know if they could hunt for fish on their own. As I studied the pelicans more closely, I noticed that they were tagged with little ankle bracelets. That reassured me a little bit because now I know that someone is tracking their well-being.

This snowy egret is for Krista at Picture Imperfect.

Ever notice that when you try to get a photo of a bird in flight you always get the south end of a north bound bird?

After we had our fill of photo taking, we headed to Bubba Gump's for lunch. We couldn't wait to eat some fresh shrimps.

That's right, I just wrote shrimps.

In Louisiana, the plural of shrimp is shrimps. Over the years, it has become a family joke. Shrimps is only one of the two words in the English language that I knowingly use improperly.

Lunch was bliss and we were all up to our elbows in shrimps. We finished eating just in time because the wind shifted and we needed to head home. But there was time for one last photo...

"My name is Forrest, Forrest Gump."