Way too much fun!

The Inaugural Bacchanal on the Comal is continuing within the clouded memories of those who attended! The ship was docked and boarded by a crew, the likes of which it has never seen. First arrivals, Denita Two Dragons and Eric the Monk, sans Zane-age, which made for more than one comment such as: Man, we can really have fun now, and not have to worry about the '"R" word, i.e., Responsibility (like keeping both eyes on Zane at all times)! That made me heart skip a beat - and won them the rights to the guest quarters. No steenkin' tent for them! Besides, the jambalaya and pies and cakes - mmmmmm, their taste in music has really turned my head to "lesser known" but better music than is churned out by the major labels. Thanks Eric!

I am trying to remember who boarded next, El Capitan I think. We piped him aboard and were immediately impressed by the 42 liters of adult beverage he managed to bring onboard in one trip. We ate drank the finest Key Lime Pie Shooters known to man. He has the recipe posted on his site so I recommend you get over there and give it a pull. And we had plenty of them before we headed for the Gristmill and some fine dining by the banks of the Guadalupe River.

The LCBeth and AJ show appeared with two entire cows, pre-slaughtered and butchered for the gargantuan brontosaurus rib-fest that Beth would prepare at midnight Friday, for proper cooking on Saturday. I have to hand it to her. Wow. AJ, our newest Texan, was his effervescent self. The first words out of his mouth were, "This is the great cheesehead invasion of 2005. When would you like to surrender?" Gotta love that; surrounded by Texans and asking when we would like to surrender. He was duly assimilated, Borg-style, into the Texas culture. If you haven't met him, you are missing out on verbal fencing at its best. Although no blows were thrown, the discussions between him and Eric and Stu were a wonder to behold. It was one of the best continuing debates from opposing, yet common, views that I have ever witnessed. Polite bantering and heavy sparring were the order of the evening. Thanks to Dash for bringing the proper grilling instrument and briquets!

Speaking of Dash, you'll not meet a nicer man. He is considerate and a true gentlemen. All ye pirates who attended learned about him, just by being in his presence. I reminded him that it wasn't six weeks ago that we were rocking on the front porch and deciding to do the blogfest. We all owe a "tip o' the hat" to him and El Capitan!

Mr. and Mrs Minority phoned at the duly appointed time for us all to be at the Gristmill. Of course, we were late so they snagged a table and we were delighted that they had "squatted" for us. We got there about half-hour late and everyone was stuffed to the gills after that fine repast. Everyone but poor ol' me. I had ordered filet mignon, medium, and was delivered a heated hockey puck. Ummmmm, no, this doesn't work for me, ma'am. They apologized and promised to do better on the next filet. But noooooo... another hockey puck. Well, just '86 it then, ma'am. (All the while, AJ insisted that I would eat it and enjoy every bite! He who likes his steaks on the fire for 10 seconds - each side!)

Then it was off to Gruene Hall for the Tunes of Buckwheat Zydeco. What a hoot. This man can play, and his band is so tight that they play a two song warm up for him. Great stuff. Shiner beer flowed like the Comal. Lord Spatula met up with us there and the fun continued.

We were joined by Kurt P. and his beautiful Mrs. who hails from o'er the pond. Lovely accent, lovely lady, and two well-behaved dogs! Sorry you guys had to bail so early Saturday morning - I would have loved to give you some hugs for the best damned homemade beef jerkey ever to cross my lips! Wow. I am needing that recipe!

After a night of inhaling adult beverages and replaying the fun we had, we all met up on Saturday morning for the trek to the Comal River toobfest! AJ was duly initiated - he jumped right in and insisted that Wisconsin waters are much colder! It was about that time that Stomps With Foot told him he would be fined $1 every time he mentioned Wisconsin. I lost track after $20 and we have forgiven the debt.

Lord Spatula came onboard after the Gruene Hall fun, and asked if we had a router for him to hook into. Ummm, no router, ummm, no IP address... didn't matter... he was up and running in seconds, and began posting. Gotta hand it to him - he is a trained professional. Don't try this at home, but ye can try anything if Spats is around. Instead of looking for fresh roadkill for his Trainwreck stew, he had venison! Whoa! And quite a pot he prepared. Thanks, Spats, the stew was fantastic, even Sunday morning!

Toobing the Comal River is one of lifes great pleasures for me. It was a great pleasure to be able to introduce the noob toobers to the Comal, as well as float with Dash and the other river rats that thrive on that bit of self-indulgence. The funniest part was seeing where the toobers missed their application of sunscreen. Like 75% of their red bodies! They all had fun, but Denita and Spats probably got the worst of it. It will be a temporary reminder of a permanent feeling for them! Taking a leisurely float down the Comal is like manna from the heavens. Refreshing, exciting and relaxing. We missed El Capitan, and hope he can make it next time. Stu kept counting toobs and heads and we didn 't lose anyone! Ahhhhhh, good job Stu.

We returned to the ship a couple or three hours later to find Beth's ribs awaiting. Not only beef ribs, but also pork ribs, chicken (two types) and tater salad, carrots/celery and dip. This stuff did not just magically appear. Beth worked her ass off in the blistering Texas heat, over a BBQ grill. We didn't even get plates before we started to gnaw on dem bones. Just gimme a sink and I promise to wash my hands and face after I finish these first 12 ribs. The sauce was scrumptious. Unbelievably delicious. After ravaging the ribs, we settled down to the rest of the fare, with or without plates. I was even dipping tortilla chips into the tater salad!

Foosball and music filled our time Saturday evening until my granddaughter, codename: Dunky, appeared with my daughter, codename: Sweetie One. The blue-eyed, tow-headed dancing wonder then commenced to steal everyone's hearts as she danced to the Live Aid DVD on the 60-inch TV.

Sunday was concluded at the shooting range, which I opted out of. Seems that the clogged sink in the galley created a strong sense of guilt in me. I couldn't leave Stu with stew clogging his pipes, so I bailed and returned to the galley to make things right. All is well. The Bacchanal on the Comal was a great success, which one can always count on when the best crew ever makes its way onboard.

Thank ye verily, me crew and hearties!