Vacationing

For the first time in a long time, Patti and I recently had the opportunity to go on a vacation.  Many of our friends take tropical vacations and tell us we should go, but we never could make the time.  We still don’t have the time, but we just decided we were going to make it work this year.  So in September we took a vacation to the Bahamas, and it lived up to all the hype.  It was a truly great experience – with just the right mix of relaxation and adventure.  I always want a vacation to have some kind of activity.  I can’t just sit on a beach.  And we ended up getting plenty of activity (with enough relaxing for Patti).  We were able to Kayak, snorkel and fish right outside our back door. I caught a lot of grouper and a few snapper.  We also had a chance to explore and observe the local culture, eat fresh conch salad (from conch we caught) and spear spiny lobster in the Atlantic. In fact, between the lobster and the fish we caught (and some we bought from fishermen on the docks), we ate fresh seafood all but one night.  Anywhere I’ve ever been, I always like to try to eat what we catch or kill.  But this was an all time high.  And the lobster spearing was as fun an activity as I have ever done.  We went out with Fishbone Tours on Eleuthera Island.  Our guide, Julius, found the lobster and taught me how to maneuver the snorkel gear and use the Hawaiin sling.  And before I came up on that first reef in the Atlantic, I had speared my first lobster. For someone who likes to hunt and fish, this was the ultimate thrill, and the lobster were gigantic.  The tail weighed between one and a half and two pounds.  The highlight of the trip though was getting to spend the week with my beautiful wife away from it all.  Now that’s a vacation!