The Salt Life

Cecelia Fishing from the Dock

We took a whole week for vacation on the Gulf Coast with my parents. The house they rented was right on a canal that led quickly to the Gulf of Mexico; it had a floating dock and a boat dock that we used to fish. Now, even though we live in the middle of Florida and are close to about 5 good lakes, we never go fishing. Nick is not the outdoorsy sportsman, no matter how much the kids want him to be. I used to fish and camp with my family for every vacation and got a little spoiled and rotten in my adolescence and haven't really done either for a long time! My Daddy was in 7th Heaven - rolling out of bed and taking his coffee to the dock. Rods and reels, tackle and bait littered the back porch.

Nick with the "big one" and Rocky

All the kids (except Sabina, although she was fascinated by the fish) got to experience the joy of catching and releasing. Most of the fish were small, none of them made it to our plates. But, Nick caught a big one - and he caught the fishing bug. I caught a couple "weed bass" and lost some bait to nibblers. Oh, well.

After all that salt, ya need some sweet!