Calvins first stop

When Calvin and I arrived in Philadelphia earlier this week we both decided a stop for cheesesteaks before heading home was definitely in order. We decided to take Calvin into Pats which was featured on Food Wars.

The steaks were delicious as usual and we had fun watching Calvin start to absorb the idea that he was finally "a long way from home"(his words) as we drove around Philadelphia a bit. Pretty good way to kick off his adventure.

Trip to CA:

My 10 day trip to CA was busy, emotional, successful, and genuinely fun.

I got to camp and visit with lots of family:

I went to a Graduation:

Ate at some of my favorite CA spots:

Enjoyed a bit of reading and relaxing:

And helped pull off our 5th Annual Fishing Derby successfully.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye but I did get to bring my cousin back for a visit on the East Coast. It was nice making the trip with someone to keep me company and I know we will have a blast showing him around our new place. We'll be back in the next couple of days with some posts on Calvin's visit. Happy Sunday!

Finally! A place that reminds us of CA:

{The sign I almost missed!}

{Handwritten Menu}

{Tacos de Lengua & Al Pastor}

{Torta Cubana}

{Tamales de Pollo}

{Fanta and Coke in the glass bottles}

Theres also always a telenovela playing somewhere in the corner, a woman with the biggest smile behind the counter who speaks NO english, and an entire row or failed parking meters out front. I dont think I can explain the kind of happiness and comfort we get every time we visit this place and eat the delicious food. Its my favorite cg-housing-area discovery to date.

My First Louisiana Boil... in Jersey?

This weekend everyone from Quincy's cutter got together for a morale party and they made it a Crawfish Boil. I've never been to a boil or eaten crawfish this way but it was spicy and delicious!

If you have never been to a boil its just a party where they boil a HUGE pot of seafood. In our case the boil had crawfish, crab, shrimp, scallops, sausages, potatoes, and corn on the cob. Since everything is boiled together in the Cajun spice mix the spicy flavor really gets into every piece in the pot. Oh, and of course there was plenty of beer to accompany the boil! I know we love to catch crawfish on our annual trips to Little Grass Valley Reservoir so I think I will have to track down some of the special seasoning for our next batch.

Its funny all the mini cultures that you find within one CG base but since everyone here moves every two years its really a little melting pot of all the states and their specialties. A few of the guys on Quincy's boat spent time on cutters in Louisiana before being sent to the Finback so they were able to show us all the authentic way to pull off this boil. The whole thing kinda got me wondering what it is we will bring to the table(or base) from CA? So far I think its been the words recycling and organic! When we say these words people say:"Careful! Your California is showing!" :)

Meet our friends:

Since we have moved here we get asked almost every phone call: "Have you guys made friends there?" And yes, we have made friends. We have a handful of friends now and I thought I would introduce a few here on the blog. Meet the Browns:

This is TJ and Jackie Brown. They live here in the housing, they have a little dog, they don't have kids, they love playing cards(we are getting better at their games!) and he works on the Finback with Quincy. We hang out with them often and we are so happy to have them here!

Now meet the Brudzinskis:

This is Mike and Miranda Brudzinski. Quincy met them when he participated in the Project Fireside at Thanksgiving while in bootcamp. They also live in housing, have a little dog, are total foodies(YAY!), they are musical, and they are super adventurous. Miranda is the one in the CG and she works at the firehouse on base. We have SO MUCH in common with them its just crazy... but in a good way!

We are meeting more and more people every day and I'm constantly amazed at how quickly you become family when you're in this military bubble. I guess its because most of us are so far away from any family of our own so you just make a new circle of people to be your family away from home. Its really incredible.

The Eagle and Visitors.

Well we had our first visitors!!!! Quincy's parents Terry and Gail came out to the east coast a few weeks ago and we had a great time in both Philadelphia and Cape May. We met them in Philly first for dinner at Spasso(delish!) and it also happened to be perfect timing for a tour on the Eagle.The Eagle is an active Coast Guard cutter that allows tours while its in port and its so so so different from Quincy's cutter so we had a good time checking it out.

We also had a great time once we came home to Cape May and checked out lots of local sites too. We took them to see the sunken concrete ship, the lighthouse, the WWII bunker(thank you to miss Macey for the info!), an alpaca farm & yarn store, and a handful of tasty restaurants too. It was fun playing host in our new town and we really enjoyed our west-coast visitors.

Colors at Sunset.

Lately when I have taken Quincy dinner while he is on duty it looks something like this:

Which of course is very pretty but it also means I get to watch him take care of the colors at sunset. On his boat doing colors means he goes out at sunset,

stands at attention while they play the national anthem for the whole base,

and then brings down all the flags on the boat.

He thinks "it's simply part of his job now" but I thought it was pretty cool to watch and definitely share-worthy ;)