Hurricanes

We've been going to Ocean City or the Outer Banks almost every summer for 20 or so years.

And we've been extraordinarily lucky. The weather has never been a problem until Hurricane Irene.

A mandatory evacuation from the Outer Banks was announced for 8 AM Thursday Aug. 25. We were on the road at 10:40 AM and went the regular 158N to 168N to 64W route through to Richmond. There was very little traffic at the intersection of 158 and 12 and no traffic from the bridge on north. Jess and Cory were out in front and reported that traffic on 95N was moving well. Even so, the "caravan" decided to go the 64W to 81N route to avoid traffic on 95N. We encountered lots of truck traffic - probably the same amount of traffic we would have encountered on 95N - and a thunderstorm. Furthermore, this route is 60 or so miles longer than the 95N to 17N route.

But the trip home was OK and a heck of a lot better if we had delayed leaving even a little bit. So we were lucky and smart again.

We had a great week. The menu included Frogmore Stew, stuffed French Toast and Deep-fried Shrimp with corn.

On top of that Toni, Jessie and my mother-in-law Esther made so many cookies before we left that I was going to rent a U-Haul to get the cookies to the beach. They told me to stop being silly and to go lay in the corner until summoned.

Frogmore Stew? There are no frogs in Frogmore Stew. It is not even a stew. It's a boil. It's named after a town in South Carolina. Water plus Old Bay. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes. Bring back to a boil. Add kielbasa and corn on the cob. Bring back to a boil. Add shrimp and whole crawdads. Take pot off the heat immediately. Let stand 5 minutes and serve.

Stuffed French Toast? I bought a device that cuts the crusts off of two pieces of bread and seals the edges. The fillings: Strawberry Cream Cheese, Honey Nut Cream Cheese and Blueberry Jam. Dip in egg and cook. There are so many other stuffing possibilities.

New experiences are what makes life worth living and we had a few of those this week.