It was another beautiful day at Middleton’s Fish Camp. We met a few new neighbors. A sweet older couple named Tom and Donna came by with their little dog Bingo. They told us about the ten years they spent living on a boat and later an RV. They sailed around throughout the year and would spend the winters anchored in the Bahamas. That idea intrigued both Francis and I, especially the winter in the Bahamas part. I could see the wheels turning in his mind trying to calculate a way we could afford to do something like that. They have a house in Vero Beach now but still like to camp in a little trailer. Tom told us he would be making “camp pies” that evening and invited us to join them around their campfire. Another couple, Brian and Athena, took the tent camping spot right next to ours. They were originally from California and still had that “surfer” vibe about them. Like the rest of us, they were thrilled to find such a nice free camping spot. Greg’s truck always attracts attention and he was happy to give everyone the grand tour including climbing the ladder for a look inside the tent.

Once the sun set, we and our Polish neighbors made our way to Tom and Donna’s site looking forward to finding out exactly what a camp pie was. Their daughter Wendy and her husband Lee were there as well. They live in Vero Beach and were visiting for the evening. Tom had a long handled metal gadget that looked like something straight from Little House on the Prairie. It had a little cage on the end of it. It turns out that you spread pie filling on a slice of buttered bread, top it with a second slice, put it in the little cage, toast it over the fire and there you have it. A hot, delicious camp pie. He made one for each of us, some blueberry and some peach. Apparently he has a similar gadget that he uses to make waffles over the campfire as well. Brian and Athena joined us later. Everyone shared stories about places they had been and places they wanted to go. Brian and Athena recommended a place called City of Rocks in New Mexico that they really loved. Lee was full of adventure stories from his time as a fishing guide in South America. He and Wendy are now alligator hunters. Apparently gator tail is a very popular dish in Florida. They also hunt frogs and train hunting birds. None of the rest of us had anything to top that! We are having such a good time meeting so many different kinds of people that we would never ordinarily cross paths with.