Yesterday’s early morning thunderstorm dropped a little over a third of an inch of rain, bringing the month-to-date total to over 7 inches. Once the storm passed, the skies cleared and the wind settled down to about 10 mph.

Donna went to the community pool and swam a mile again around noon. I spent a lot of time sitting at my laptop trying to decide on a route out of here. Originally I thought we would follow the coast toward Galveston and skirt around the east side of Houston. With so much flooding in the area I changed my thinking. Now I think the best bet is to head north to College Station. We might spend a couple of days there, then move on to Shreveport, Louisiana before we settle in for a week in Memphis, Tennessee.

We rode the scooter south of town and stopped in at Paradise Key Dockside Bar and Grill for happy hour.  I thought they had live music on Friday afternoon, but the entertainment doesn’t start until 6pm. We sat on the deck in back and watched boaters come and go while we sipped a couple of beers and snacked on their homemade tortilla chips and queso. Their queso dip is outstanding – it’s spiced with finely chopped tomato and jalapeno.

On the way home, we stopped at Flowers Shrimp Market. Donna wanted to buy shrimp for dinner and she had read reviews saying that they had the best shrimp. While we’re here on the gulf coast, we’ve been taking advantage of the fresh seafood. Flowers Shrimp Market is a tiny place with coolers of seafood on ice on a counter top. The fresh shrimp were still in the shell with the heads removed and the jumbo shrimp were huge – about 11-13 per pound.

Donna spiced the shrimp with garlic, crushed red pepper and olive oil and skewered them.

Spiced and skewered jumbo shrimp

I grilled them over medium-high heat. Three minutes on one side, then two minutes on the other and they were done.

Skewered shrimp hot off the grill

Donna served them with a side salad of black rice, mango and blackeye peas – another new recipe. We’re already looking forward to the leftovers.

Grilled shrimp with black rice, mango and blackeye pea salad

The weather guessers are calling for thundershowers to move into the area this afternoon. Rain is expected to continue on Sunday. I’ll pack the wheel covers and front window covers before it rains. I think I’ll organize the trailer and pack the scooter too. If it’s raining tomorrow, we won’t be using the scooter. With that done, we’ll be ready to hit the road first thing Monday morning.