Bear Claws

I have a wonderful friend in Captain Dan Chichester. I met him by booking a river cruise on Sailboat Bay, then later on the Magnolia River. He has now become a dear friend that I have kept in touch. The last time I saw him he drove his boat over from Ocean Springs Ms. to takemy family on another cruise. We met him at Lulu’s Marina. He took us on the most wonderful boat ride. We drove up the Intercoastal Waterway and into Wolf Bay. We went and had the famous “Cheeseburger in Paradise” at Pirates Cove, (legend has it that Jimmy wrote the famous song there).

The crowd was “riff raff” (what they call themselves) and I loved every minute of it. There were dogs running all throughout the “restaurant” (I use the term loosely). I have never seen dogs that looked like those. They looked like they were on steroids, the biggest I had ever seen-and so friendly and laid back. After supper, we boarded the boat and set sail again. We came upon a shrimping boat. A pod of dolphins surrounded the boat, waiting for “rejects” to be thrown into the water. It was magical when the dolphins came over to our boat and rested their noses on our boat deck. My daughter touched one on it's head. It was the perfect end to a vacation. The day ended with a gorgeous sunset, and one of Captain Dan’s magical stories from his real life adventures……

Captain Dan went to Alaska to hunt bear. He secured a guide, an expert hunter that flew him by private plane to an isolated island. They tracked a particular bear for 3days, but every time it got close to where they were a group of geese would fly up into the air and the bear would run. Captain Dan told the guide, that he was determined to kill that bear. The guide for some reason needed to fly back into town and Captain Dan begged him to leave him on the island. Against the guide’s best judgment, he did. The next day, Captain Dan tracked the bear. He finally saw the bear, just as the day was coming to a close and the sun was hanging low in the sky. He shot at it and it fell, he had killed it! Now there was another problem…other bears tracking the scent of death. He had only hours to skin, gut, bag and bury the remains until the guide would return the next day. Somehow he managed through the night. In the morning the guide came and flew him back in to the town. Captain Dan generously donated the bear meat to an assisted living home and had the bear prepared to bring back to his home in MS. He paid a mighty fortune for the bear to be flown home.

Dan took it to a local taxidermist, wanting to have the bear made into a bear skin rug. The taxidermist talked him into a wall mount because the bear was “a fighter”. He was a male who was scarred and not “a beauty”. Captain Dan was convinced, agreed, and left the bear’s remains with the taxidermist-who had a backlog of animals to get to. Captain Dan’s bear was placed into a freezer until the taxidermist could get to him. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina swept across the Mississippi gulf coast, that Captain Dan calls home. So much was destroyed and power was off. Captain Dan somehow managed to find the taxidermist and get his bears remains before it was ruined. He drove his bear inland to another taxidermist who made it into a nice wall mount. I thought this was the most fascinating story. I asked (And saw ) pictures to back the story up. Captain Dan always has a way of telling a story. Certainly, mine ran on and did not have the same flavor that Dan puts into it.
I had to tell the story-so I found this recipe for Captain Dan’s benefit. Thanks for the adventures Captain Dan! You rock!!!!

Bear Claws
1 can refrigerator biscuits

2-4 tbsp. melted butter

1 tbsp. cinnamon

2-4 tbsp. sugar

Take a biscuit and dredge it in melted butter, then in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Make 2 cuts in the center of the biscuit (not all the way through). Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Drizzle with a confections icing glaze.