Skip to main content

Head Out On the Highway, Looking For Adventure


For those of you who like catfish, and who doesn't, you know that river cat is the ultimate.  There is just an indescribable flavor to one of those Mississippi catfish that roam and feed on the bottom as opposed to most of the pond-fed type you buy in the grocery store.  

 One of our best meals when terrorizing Seaton as kids was Marj heading to New Boston to the Bay View Fish Company and buying a dozen whole catfish.  Smelling and hearing them frying in the skillet was a treat and as treats go, one wants to replicate them when they become orphaned adults.  

 Thus, Mr. and Mrs. Wombie and I hopped in the lime green Jeep and headed out on the highway.  What we found was adventure,and river cat.  Our destination was Niota, Illinois.  The internet located a good old-fashioned fish market there and sometimes a simple trip turns into something more.  
  



Our first stop was Delabar Park.  I don't know if this place is a victim of  Illinois politics or simply low priority, but the boat ramp is just about impassable because of silt and the roads are crumbling. The bottom pic here is the ramp.  I would guess there is either another place to unload or people simply avoid this area.  



In a scene straight out of Florida we espied this little guy moving slowly somewhere, and while we were there was motionless.
  





There will be another post regarding this trip but we cut to the arrival of the fish market, and it didn't disappoint.  Just as soon as I stepped in the memories of Bay View invaded my senses.  That unique smell of fish preparation that only exists in these places took me back to a different time.  It was magical. In the coolers were whole cat, filets, and smoked.  

We filled our cooler and headed back to Oquawka where we heard that another fishmarket was in business.  We knew we found it when we saw a big sign reading, "The Meat With No Feet".  Coincidentally, when we walked in the guy at the counter was the same fellow who took care of Marj's purchases back at Bay View all those years ago.  Traveling is so much fun.        

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida.  There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife.  In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride.  He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much.   He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A.   But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here.  If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying.  He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed.  No...
1 comment
Read more

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week.  Except for me.  I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers.  These pics need no words.  Why muddy the waters?   They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley.  The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter.  If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one.  But, please, no more.   
Post a Comment
Read more