Alpacas, Cuban Sandwiches, etc

Yesterday we had lunch at the Monkey Cafe with Brenda and Woody and their friends Larry and Linda. Later we went over to Brenda’s RV for a long talk by the campfire, with pauses to pet every dog that walked by. 

Today Brenda drove Randy and I out to visit an Alpaca farm. We were led into the fenced-in area where they fed the alpacas, who ignored us and focused entirely on the food.  

The guy in charge made it very clear "this is not a petting zoo". I think he liked the alpacas but he acted like we were morons; we all agreed that he had a terrible personality. But perhaps some of that was because there had been a tragedy here recently. A couple of weeks ago three pit bulls got into the pasture and killed 7 alpaca and seriously injured another 20. Many of the ones we saw had ugly wounds, stapled shut. 

This little cutie wasn't part of the disaster; he's only one week old. They named him Maverick, which is a macho name for such a skinny little thing.

These guys were not at all like the fluffy teddy bears you see in the Alpaca ads, but I really liked them!

Soon we had enough of the grouch, so we left to go to lunch. Brenda took us to the Museum Cafe, a charming little one-man restaurant across from the old Sugar Mill ruins. His specialty is Cuban sandwhiches, which he does very well.

And he's a fan of lagniappes, too; he brought us a little rasberry pastry, sliced into 3 pieces. He has turned the other half of the building into a printing museum. He has some amazing machines like this linotype, and keeps them all in working order. 

After lunch it was a short walk to the Sugar Mill ruins. David Yulee built this in 1849. It processed sugar cane by squeezing the juice out, which was heated until it grained into sugar. Then it was cured for up to 30 days to drain out the remaining juice, leaving a course, light brown sugar. The mill survived the Civil War, but eventually it was abandoned.

After lunch Brenda and I went out for some girl time, which involved shopping, talking, and eventually, a little drinking. We went to Cory's Roadhouse where they were offering two-for-one drinks. So we each ordered a drink. Instead of bringing us each one drink, the waitress brought us each two! Somehow, we managed.

Later Randy and I went to Brenda and Woody's again, where she fixed us something she calls Mountain Pies. She put bread and pizza toppings in the cast iron gizmo, set it in the fire, and it came out great.

And for dessert, she filled the next one with cherry filling!