Fishing in Florida

Hola--

Here's another post having to do with our Christmas break.  We started and ended the cruise (see previous post) at Port Canaveral, in Florida.  Since Frank's parents live in the middle of that state, we got to spend New Year's weekend with them!

We rented a car Saturday, New Year's Eve, and drove to their house by 2 p.m. or so.

FISHING OFF THE DOCK.  We had beautiful weather, warm and lovely, and the first obvious thing to do was head out to the backyard dock and go fishing!  The kids caught fish after fish, and tossed them back into the canal.

(We tried to explain to Teresa later, that in REAL life, fishing does NOT mean catching 50 or 60 fish over the course of 3 days.  REAL life fishing means sitting.  And sitting.  And waiting some more.  And in some people's opinions, it's a little boring.  I don't think she believes us.)

TURTLE.  Somehow those turtles seem to like the bait, too...then the kids can scoop them up in the net.  Here's one just before he bolts to the edge of the dock and jumps back into the water.

CANAL VISITOR.  During the first afternoon's round of pseudo-fishing, we had a visitor come hang out with us.  It was a little alligator!  Yes, I think he was expecting to be fed.  Maybe he was used to people fishing and cleaning the fish there in the canal, and tossing the leftovers back into the water for him.

Here he is hanging back a little, while Teresa baits her hook and waits for a bite.

Here he is a little closer...the sun was getting lower in the sky and the water was so calm, you could see his reflection perfectly.

GOOD FOOD.  Grammy D rivaled the cruise chefs, with her snacks and treats and made-to-order meal plan for us!  Country ham, cheese straws, and fried chicken were among the requested favorites.  Plus, I have now been requested to make her "$300 chocolate cake" (which is so rich you can eat one tiny square, and then you'd better stop).  She also kept the Christmas tree up, so we could enjoy opening some gifts, a little late!

GARDEN VEGETABLES.  Poppa Dave has an amazing garden--he can make anything grow, in abundance!  Ha.  There was a broccoli stalk all ready to harvest, so here is David cutting off some broccoli that we then ate for part of our dinner.  (Who knows when we'll ever see David harvesting vegetables --heaven knows his parents do NOT have green thumbs -- so I had to get a picture of it!)

THREE DAVID FRANKLINS.  I got a photo of the "3 Davids" one afternoon--a nice photo opportunity, yes.  But there's also a funny part of this picture, which I didn't notice until today when we looked at them on the computer for the first time.  Look to the right side of Frank: what is that in the photo?  Looks like a fish, doesn't it?

Well, it IS!  Teresa just "happened" to throw the fish she had caught, back into the water in the instant that I snapped the photo.  Frank has a t-shirt from Seattle that says "Low-Flying Fish."  Here we have a real one.

It was a quick weekend, but a very fun one.  We need to go again, when we can stay an extra day or two for some hiking or other fun diversions the area has to offer.

Onward!  Have a wonderful week!  Kari