Back from the beach

We had a good time at the beach. It's only 130 or so miles to the coast so the trip really isn't that arduous. Our condo was three bedroom three bath with a kitchen, washer and dryer and a large balcony.

The biggest issue was how they placed us at the farthest end from the pool, beach and picnic area. It was a major trek anytime we needed to get something or someone had to pee.

Like I mentioned before, I did all the cooking. One night I did hot dogs, hamburgers and grilled vegetables out in the common area that had several small barbecue pits and picnic tables. The place was like a wind tunnel so it was hard to eat without everything blowing away.

The next night I did shrimp, steak and asparagus. This time I seared the steaks on the pit and brought them inside and let them rest in the oven while I made the rest of the food. It worked out much better. The food was a hit.

The shrimp was simple.

Peel a pound of frozen shrimp and set aside in a bowl.

In a large skillet on medium heat melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shrimp, toss lightly and squeeze the juice from 2 fresh lemons over the top and add a pinch of salt and a pinch of cracked black pepper. As soon as the shrimp turn orange, remove from heat and put them in a serving bowl.

We went to the ocean a few times but the sea was very rough and the undertow was treacherous. I had to keep a very close eye on the kids. There was also a large influx of the Portugues man-o-war jellyfish. My daughter just thought it was a pretty purple bubble and went to touch it . Luckily we got to her before she got stung.

The next morning I took the kids for a walk along the beach to look for shells and there were hundreds of live jellyfish everywhere. They were fascinated by all the different creatures that we saw on our short walk.