Pirate's Gold

Although it hasn’t cooled off too much during the day just yet, the humidity is low, and it’s cool-ish at night. So I can sleep at night with the balcony door open, and drive during the day with the windows rolled down (at least, until mid-afternoon; 5pm is about the hottest part of the day, and by then, you could cook on the concrete).

So I dug out the RayBans (still the best!) and set off this morning. First to the Galleria shopping mall in North Dallas, to pick up two tomato presses from Williams-Sonoma for Lara. She’s ambidextrous. The Galleria is the plush mall that has an ice-rink in the middle – 90 degrees plus outside, and a skating rink in the mall.

I wasn’t sure which way to go when I came out, so I headed west. This takes me past the “Caribbean Grill”, where I could pick up lunch – two Jamaican patties and a Ting. The patties weren’t quite ready when I got there, so I browsed. I’m glad I did, because I found cans of coconut water. This may not sound like a startling discovery, but it is, for two reasons. The first is that I love coconut water (this is the watery fluid inside an unripe coconut, not to be confused with coconut milk), and I’ve never previously seen it anything other than fresh. The second is that I can now indulge in the cocktail that I invented while in Cayman – dark rum, ginger beer and coconut water. I know it’s similar to a Dark and Stormy, but the coconut water makes all the difference. I call it Pirate’s Gold.

I carried on west on to Route 114. I hadn’t come this way before (as the nun said when she rode over the cobblestones on her bicycle), so decided to just keep going. Past the Texas Motor Speedway, where I paused briefly because there was a Viper owners’ meet. As you know, I’m not into fast cars, but the sight of a parking lot full of Vipers was something to behold. Past a buffalo ranch – I think I’d prefer to seem them on the range, which is probably where they’d prefer me to see them, too.

Inspecting the grapes

And then to the Brushy Creek Vineyards. I didn’t think Texas was all that big on wine, but their Merlot was very respectable. The entire wine-making process takes place on the premises, unlike many wineries that send out their juice to be fermented and bottled elsewhere. In fact, they were crushing grapes at that very moment, and welcomed me to take a look. Of course, it’s done by machine these days, and not by foot, which I think is probably progress of a good sort. It was definitely a family affair – young children hosing clean the empty grape baskets, the adults feeding the grapes into the machine. I peered through the window to watch, and was beckoned inside by someone I took to be (judging from his deficiency in the dental department) the eldest member of the family. They happily allowed me to watch and take pictures while 3 men and 3 women emptied the baskets of grapes (alright, they were plastic trays – I’m only trying to paint a lyrical image here) into the machine.

Driving back, I stopped at a fruit stand and bought fresh peaches and “Arkansas Black” apples. The apples are a variety I hadn’t heard of before – they’re tart and crisp, like a cross between a Granny Smith and a Cox’s. It’s at this time of year that I miss being able to cook (my hotel room has no cooking facilities) – the fresh fruit and vegetables are so abundant, but there’s no point in me buying them.

As you read this, spare a thought for our friends Chris and Eric, who have, by now, battened down the hatches, and are waiting for the full force of Hurricane Ivan to do its worst to Grand Cayman.