Another first in a lifetime experience for this Midwest gal

I was off shortly after 10:00 this morning to meet NICKIE and Jim for a tour of the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL.  It was about a 53 mile drive for me to get there.

We had decided to meet at the Original Oyster House for lunch before touring the big battleship.  I plugged the address into Jack in the Box (my GPS), and off I went.  Well, good old Jack took me on quite a journey which included driving right past the Oyster House.  When I could, I did a U turn, parked in the lot, and waited for my friends to arrive.

Since there was a bench just outside the entrance, I plunked myself down to wait.  Only problem was this bench was covered with rain water which I didn’t notice until I sat down!  I think my jeans absorbed about a gallon of water instantly.  Ugh!  After about 25 minutes, I gave Nickie a call to see what was up.  Turns out they were already upstairs in this very popular restaurant holding a table for us. 

The first thing Nickie and Jim asked was if I was going to order oysters.  I told them that I hadn’t been able to convince myself to do that yet.  Then I got up to take a picture of the view out of the surrounding windows.  That’s the Mobile skyline in the distance.

When I got back to the table, this was at my place.  They had ordered one raw oyster on the half shell for me to try.  The waiter gave me instructions on how to eat it, and made a special sauce with horseradish, ketchup, and another ingredient that I can’t remember at the table.  He also suggested I try my first raw oyster ever on a cracker.  The picture is blurry because I was a little nervous about doing this. 

                   He told me to dip the oyster in the sauce and then put it on the cracker…

and then shove the whole thing in my mouth.  I can’t believe I did it.  You know, it was very tasty!  This is one giant step forward for a gal from the meat and potatoes Midwest!  Wahoo!  What a shock it was to find I enjoyed this experience.  I suppose those of you who have grown up eating raw oysters can’t understand what a milestone this was for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed my plate of fried shrimp, crab claws, fries, and a wonderful cole slaw.  Thanks to Nickie and Jim, I had a memorable experience even before we went on to the battleship.  I’m thinking I’ll save the pictures of that excursion for tomorrow’s post.  What a fun time, and the adventure had just begun.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy