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

Jupiter Inlet Colony, Snorkeling at the Blue Heron Bridge in Riviera Beach

What a fabulous Florida day I had the privilege of experiencing today! Next week marks TWO YEARS that my husband Nathan and I have lived in the Sunshine State. WE LOVE IT!!!

Today for work, I interviewed the mayor of the Jupiter Inlet Colony, Dr. Dan Comerford, along with his wife, Kathie. The Comerfords are long-standing board members with the zoo I work for, and I'm working on a video where board members discuss the zoo's history. Ms. Kathie used to go on WPTV with animals back in the day!

Kathie Comerford and her toucan, Tootsy

After the interview, Ms. Kathie graciously treated me to lunch at the Lighthouse Diner in Jupiter, which recently re-opened for business. It was a landmark back in its day, nestled across the street from the actual Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. Then we went to the Jupiter Inlet Colony Beach Club!

#LighthouseDinerSelfie

So fun and retro, right?!

Crazy-delicious avocado salad with shrimp and avocado dressing

Throwback feel to the layout, and delicious yumminess on display

We took a joyride in her canary-yellow Porsche

Beach Club

The photos on the beach club's walls were taken by Ms. Kathie

Obsessed with the underwater photography!

Second-floor view of the ocean and Jupiter Inlet

The water was sooo clear! I could see a parrotfish straight through the crystal-clear surface

After work, I met up with Nathan, and we went to the Blue Heron Bridge at Phil Foster Park for some snorkeling. High tide was late in the afternoon, and we arrived just in time to experience the BEST VISIBILITY we have ever seen there! And we snorkel there tons, like at least a couple of times a month.

We think the cloudless sky helped contribute to the clarity

Sorry my underwater camera is not really meant to be underwater, I just got a waterproof case for my CoolPix cam and you can tell it doesn't work that well

Love the queen angelfish

Nathan found litter in the water-- a La Croix box with those plastic six-pack rings, which can be FATAL to marine life! He took it all out of the water, saying, "I'm doing my part." 

Proud my husband is protecting wildlife!

We saw a huge stingray (we always see at least one ray, whether it be common or spotted eagle or round fantail), but it swam away too fast for me to get a photo. However, this stingray here was so calm and let me get up close to her many times to snap photos, and even capture this video. I named her "Tricia" after the stingray we met in April in Turks & Caicos-- you can read about that trip in this blog post.

I was testing waterproof makeup, and am sorry to report that all of it failed except the waterproof mascara, Mega Plump by Maybelline. Oh, well. 

Lovely snorkel mask indentation in my forehead

To wrap up the great day, we hit up Clematis Street in Downtown, known as the "historical heart of West Palm Beach." Some bill it as the "hottest street in Florida," but anyone who's ever been to Miami knows that's not necessarily true, LOL. ;) Still, we dined at Off The Hookah, and the food was sooo delicious! They recently revamped their menu. I highly recommend the ahi tuna appetizer!

We walked along the waterfront pier after it all, where we ended up chatting and making friends with a family from the Bahamas and a couple from New Zealand. Interesting conversations ensued. Then I snapped this pic to commemorate the West Palm Beach night skyline... a beautiful way to end a fabulous Florida day.