How to eat crawfish in 5 steps (for you Floridians), and where to snorkel in Palm Beach County (for all the rest of you)

Mudbugs, crayfish, freshwater lobsters, CRAWFISH-- whatever you call 'em, they're DELICIOUS! Might I interest you in these crustaceans resembling small lobsters, which are a Cajun delicacy? 

#Crawfishcravings

Living in Louisiana, crawfish boils are a regular part of life. You look forward to crawfish season, which typically runs from March through June. Anytime outside of that is messing with nature... but we had to get some today right before the Cajun Fest at Johnny Longboats on Singer Island at the City Beach boardwalk. My husband Nathan and I haven't had ANY crawfish this year, so we had to take advantage of this opportunity! I admit that they were a bit bland and of course they were super-expensive (we each paid $12.95 for only ONE POUND), but keep in mind this is Florida and shipping food from far away is not cheap.

To get down to the nitty-gritty, here are some tips on easily peeling a crawfish. They only *look* complicated to eat!

Step #1. Choose how many pounds you want. I always feel like it's hard to get full on crawfish, so make sure you have some potatoes and corn in those trays, y'all hear me?! For a real meal, 5 pounds is the minimum. These one-pound trays were somewhat of a tease for us...

Note my husband's Louisiana State University shirt... we represent the Bayou State!

#LouisianaLove

Step #2. Grasp the crawfish tail with your dominant hand and the head with your other hand, then pinch both and pull apart. Sometimes it helps to twist them a bit. They should separate easily.

Step #2.5. OPTIONAL -- you can suck the crawfish head! But I just eat the tail meat, so no instructions for that here, LOL!

Step #3. Remove the tail meat from the shell by peeling off the top part from the underside section, one segment at a time. 

Step #4. When you have enough segments removed, you can grasp the tail and firmly, yet gently so it doesn't tear in half, pull the tail out of the shell.

Step #5. Dunk that bad boy in some butter, or just eat it straight! ENJOY YOUR CRAWFISH!!!

All your efforts have paid off!

If you have a different method of consuming crawfish, lemme know in the comment section below.  :)

We enjoyed our lunch after a fun snorkel at the Blue Heron Bridge at Phil Foster Park on Singer Island with my coworker Dale and her husband Alex (short for Alejandro, cool name). They had not snorkeled there before, so it was fun to introduce them to the glorious underwater world at the famous bridge. That's always where we recommend serious snorkelers and divers to go!

The bad news was that we were ALL stung by jellies, although thankfully nothing intolerable. There were a million-bazillion tiny jellies, and also at least a couple dozen huge monster jellies.

No matter, I put together this fun CruzTube video for you, and I hope you enjoy it. I mentioned in this previous blog post that my used-from-Amazon hot pink underwater camera had broken, and I really missed it today. I filmed and took photos with my Nikon Coolpix, but that camera is not really meant to be underwater. I use a cheap $20 plastic housing case for it, which causes the underwater images to be blurry. 

Still, just like I say "bland crawfish is better than no crawfish," I also say "blurry underwater images are better than no underwater images." I can even extend it to "snorkeling with a jellyfish infestation is better than no snorkeling," although that may not be true if I were to suffer a terrible run-in with a bad mama-jama jelly.

"I'd rather be snorkeling!" Blue Heron Bridge snorkel on 6-9-14, with a manatee, octopus and eel

My awesome friend Carli Segelson, who works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is my snorkel buddy. We go ALL THE TIME and she's about as obsessed with snorkeling as I am... so I wasn't surprised Monday during the work day when she kept texting me that she was definitely going snorkeling after work. It doesn't take much for me to be tempted to go, so I did-- and I'm SO GLAD we went!

All photos, and flag usage (safety first!), courtesy Carli Segelson ;) 

It was the first late-day snorkel I've ever done, since high tide was around 6:23pm and that's about the exact time we entered the water on Monday, June 9, 2014. Visibility was great and temperature was fine, although a bit chilly entering. We swam straight out at the Blue Heron Bridge underwater snorkel trail at Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach. The first thing I saw when I dove down to look at a small fish was an OCTOPUS! It was adorable!

This is so obviously my new Facebook cover photo!

The little critter was so friendly! Coming out to say hello!

We also saw a flounder, of course the giant starfish and a small, interesting starfish I had never seen before, and a school of huge parrotfish, which is absolutely my favorite thing to see fish-wise. When I see that, I feel like I'm snorkeling in the Keys. :) The school had one dark-capped parrotfish, which is a navy-colored one. 

Can you see the flounder?

Needlefish... the bridge has tons of them and barracuda

 I always enjoy the queens

Somebody remind me what these are called? But spot the tiny porkfish

This spotted eel was super-cool!

In a GRAND FINALE of the evening, I saw a manatee! I started squealing for Carli, who didn't hear me since she was submerged, but she saw it on her own and started taking photos. Here's one! 

MANATEE!!!

It swam right by me, like 5-10 feet away! This is the SECOND TIME I have happened upon a manatee in the snorkel trail area. Click HERE to watch a video of the first time I ever saw a manatee there. I was the first to spot it that time, too, and I called over the divers who took the video of it. Gotta share the dive love!

I absolutely love this magical spot, and I'm blessed to be able to free dive here all the time. :) #HappyHappyJoyJoy

Busy week! TV appearance & weekend fun around South Florida

It's been busy ever since I last blogged... and I do intend to do a follow-up post about my husband's infamous Mardi Gras birthday party. :) Better late than never! I have all those pictures to upload!

Meantime, this is one look I felt like posting because I am a huge fan of this boyfriend blazer. You may notice me wearing it a LOT-- and it was from WALMART! I should have bought it in black, LOL, as frequently as I wear it!

I like this shirt, b/c it has a giraffe on it

Lip shade is a combination of Lancôme L'Absolu Rouge in Coquette, and Bath & Body Works C.O. Bigelow Mint Mentha lip gloss

This is what I wore when I was on The List TV Show on Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday, making this king cake.

You can watch the segment The List TV Show segment HERE!

Now on to another topic... weekend fun around South Florida! My husband and I love to be tourists around where we live in Palm Beach County. This past weekend, we did the Diva Duck tour that is on land and water, based out of City Place. It was $54 total, and SO worth it. I described it on my Facebook page as "cheesy, but fun," and that's exactly what it was-- complete with interesting history, looks at mansions belonging to the likes of Celine Dion and Elizabeth Post's granddaughter, and chock full of "ducky" jokes that had me "quacking" up. ;) I couldn't resist.

Two weekends ago (yes, I'm playing catch-up) we went to our favorite beach spot-- Riviera Beach's Singer Island. That's where we snorkel. But the reason I love the beach spot there is because parking is free, and especially because there is that little strip-mall type place that has several restaurants like Two Drunken Goats and Johnny Longboat's, and even a 7-11 and a beach-stuff store. 

We beach it up every weekend! This is Riviera Beach's Singer Island

It is also just down the road from our favorite snorkel spot, Phil Foster Park at the Blue Heron Bridge that has the awesome snorkel trail. I just love love love going there-- but I am going to hold off a few more weeks because the water has been cold lately. I'm so over it right now! Bring on the warmer water!