Lobsters on the beach!!

July 11, Friday- evening
Tonight we went down to the beach with all the stuff needed for our lobster bake cookout.
It is a Landis tradition to start the meal with grilled hot dogs cooked on the lobster pot fire. They served the greatest hot dogs from Dietz & Watson they called "fatty and shorty"- they were wonderful!! Stan gathered up seawater to boil in the pot and started it to boil.

We were joined by Stan's brother Dave, his wife Leslie (they have a house next door) and their friends Mick and Sandy. When the water was boiling, we added the "soft shelled" lobsters (we couldn't hear them crying out as they submerged into the water) and seaweed. They cooked for 20 minutes and then we all got our steaming lobster, our "newbie" lobster hats, directions on how to eat them and some great salads.
We ate on the rocks, cracked the lobsters against the rocks and enjoyed them as is or with melted butter. What a treat!!!
As the sun went down, we were treated to a sunset with spectacular views of the changing, colorful coastline and the lobster trap buoys seemed to "pop" when the sun struck them. The sea eventually turned a few colors of blue, then pink- beautiful and unlike anything we have seen before!! We then cleaned up and retreated from the beach (and mosquitoes) to the house where we enjoyed deserts. Carol and I made banana cream pie and pecan pie (with pecans from Aaron's tree in GA) and some good hot coffee and intriguing tales and conversation from our friends. We finished the evening with some more pinochle- Carol and Stan vs. Paul and I. The games so far are 4 for the good guys and 3 for the others.......... I think Stan is really enjoying our "Calif. rules"- which includes passing three cards and a few other rule changes. Stan's family are pinochle players from way back.