Vacation Part Two

First, a little more on fishing with Billy. As I said earlier, we stayed at the beach 'til about 9:30 pm, then went and showered. Then we were off to eat at our favorite Mexican food joint, Taqueria San Juan. We got out of there at about 11 pm, then home to put the kiddo's to bed. We finally left to go fishing at about midnight. Got bait, and headed to the piers. The first one was completely packed, so we went to another, it was full also, but there was a place to fish from the bank. I knew this would suck because Mark, Karen and I fished from here last year, and never got a bite. We tried it for a while, then I thought Billy was ready to go home, but he said he wanted to go someplace else to fish, so I thought what the hell, let's try the beach. At least there wouldn't be all those people. Got there, baited the hooks, waded out and casted, got my underwear wet, waited in the 50 mph wind, thought "this sucks", then I said to Billy, "I'm not loving this." Then I said, "Oh hell, I've got something." We ended up catching 7 hardhead catfish. Got home, showered, and in bed by 4:30 am. Not a bad first day at the beach. Let me tell you that being at the beach as the sun goes down is damn relaxing. All the people leave, and it's just you, the people that you love, and nature. Nothing better, sorry most of you weren't there with us.

Day Two: Billy, Tina, Taylor and Tyler left before we did, and went cruising. We left the house, and went to Winton's candy store http://www.wintonscandies.com/. We spent $20 on candy. It was well worth every penny. Matthew explained to the guy working there all about owning a rattlesnake. Matthew was very thorough, he explained all about feeding, watering, caring for and most of all safety. I didn't realize the boy had a damn snake. This was all brought on by the guy in the store showing Natalie and Matthew their rattlesnake that is part of the store. He got lectured for his efforts. Meanwhile, Natalie was getting hopped up on rock candy. She was damn near uncontrollable by the time we figured out she was ingesting about a piece per second. This made for a funny morning. From there, we went to see Grandma and Grandpa Racecar. They were staying by the beach, at the state park campground. Everything went well there, of course. We left because they were moving to another RV park, so we went and ate lunch at the beach house. Sandwiches, chips, beandip, sodas, and my new favorite Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks, Cheddar Cheese, of course. Try these dudes out if you get a chance, they are better than Dorritos. OH MY GOD, did I just say that? Yep, I did, I think they are better. Then we were off to the beach for the remainder of the afternoon. Fun in the Sun time. We stayed and played the day away, until it was time to go get ready for supper at the Island Cafe. They have the best fish and chips around, especially the fish, but remember to bring your cash, they don't take credit or ATM cards, and they don't take out of town checks. Billy and I had to go across the street to the bank atm to get money for supper. This was not the first time for either of us, it just never dawns on you till you are there and you see the sign. After supper, Brayden and I walked down to look at some of the expensive boats. I did not know you could get into some of the boat houses, but you can, and nobody was there to tell me to leave. Then home to bed.

Monday we were lazy. Didn't do much of anything, but that was the objective this time. No aquarium, no Crazy Cajun, no nothing, just the beach. There was a great firework show that night at the marina. It was considerably shorter that the past few years, but it was a lot of fun for everyone. We were all together, Bill and Barbara, Debbie, Lorrin and Jordan, Cheryl Krista and Laura, and us. Natalie took a bunch of pictures of the firework show, who knows if any of them will turn out. Matthew watched the guys light the fireworks, we were only about 200 feet from the launch site. When they were done, they tossed their lighters in the air and walked away. The finale was spectacular by the way. Brayden watched the whole thing with Angie covering his ears. We were very close, and don't want him to be afraid of things later on. So far this is his second fireworks show, and he hasn't been scared at either one.

Tuesday through Friday will follow.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Jim with a little help from Ang