Well, here's a first. I am doing the "Tequila Report" before I do the blog of the show. What the heck!.
So, Ellen and I are in New Smyrna doing Images. Lucky for me, I have a two-year-old barter tab with Clancy's Cantina which I have not had a chance to use yet--$350.00 worth. That is a lot of shots and margaritas. So, Saturday we invited noted Minesota glassblower, Doug Becker, to join us on a little Mexican extravaganza eating, drinking exposition. You gotta understand when you invite Dougie along that's like inviting a whole Minnesota brewery along for a tasting. He and his brother Joe could wipe out all the Wisconsin breweries in one nite's tasting. But, brave souls that we are, and we love him, we included him.
Clancey's has been in New Smyrna since the days I lived there back in the early eighties. They have moved twice, each time enlarging, into finally the old grocery store on the beach. It is pure Tex-Mex fare at a fair price witha gazillion tequilas to choose from, and believe me, we did.
A cool appertizer of theirs is a shrimp, wrapped with a jalepeno smothered with mozellera chese then deep fried. It is a great starter. They do great fish dishes,tacos and all the rest. This is a local's place, so you get to catch all the local buzz.
Which brings us to ice fishing in Minnesota.
Webbie was not available so Doug ably stepped in. We are in serious training for the great Tequila-Swizz-off with the notorious chugging-queen, Connie Mettler. We were working our ways thru Paron Anejo, then Don Julio, then Commemorita anejo, and finally to Milargo Anejo. Doug started getting a little poetic with me. Started talking about ice fishing up in Minnesota. They have lots of winter, so you embrace it or go into hibernation until spring break in Florida.
Well, nowadays, they are not sitting in those little itty-biddy wooden shacks that look like Ozark urinals shacks. These guys go out and build an 8x10 foot building and cart it out onto the lake. Then they put a heater in it. They use augers and saws to cut a eight-foot by five-foot opening in the ice to fish from. Or at least they used too, using little rods and reels. Nowadays, they put fish in some kind of a tether down in the water, then they crank up Creedance Clearwater Revival music to fish by. When they play "Bad Moon Arising" the pike come arising and now they gig em with a spear. They call it "Spike a Pike" fishing.Those Minnesota boys know how to have fun in the winter.
We rolled out of Clancey's refreshed and slumbered. A good time was had by all. Check out the place, if you ever down that way, it is worth the margarita.
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I'm eating some fresh smoked Lake Superior salmon as I read this. That's a piece of salmon, not lox, that I got from Thill's Fish House, which happens to be less than 5 minutes walking distance from my studio. The news is bemoaning a massive "Storm of the Century" with 12 inches predicted on over half the US, which is just a ho-hum light dusting to us Yoopers. I'm not really a Yooper, I just said that for the story. It's starting to snow here and it is 20 degrees, which is warmer than it has been in a week. I mention this because no way would you get me out on the lake, ice fishing. I'd rather buy it at Thill's.
I hope the New Smyrna show is good. See you in a couple of weeks.