VACATION!

We're in Georgia! And the following pictures were taken in Florida. Donna and Butch had to go to Fort Walton Beach to pick up their girls from a stay at their Grandma Ashwood's house, so we ALL went along and had a fun deep sea fishing trip. "All" meaning me, Mike, Donna, Butch and Mom and Dad Autrey.
Here's a picture of the dock. Here's me standing in front of the boat we were on, the "Un Reel." Mom snapped the shot and I was turning around for a silly pose. I don't normally stand around on Docks looking QUITE like that. But close. I was swaying for a day or so after that trip!

Dad, Donna, and Mike caught the biggest best fish. Dad is holding an amber jack, Donna and Mike are holding 42 and 39 pound Cobia.

Pelicans sitting on some thing near the pier. Emerald Coast is the name of this area, and you can see why! The day was perfect for a fishing trip. Our captain and mate were great. It was just the 8 of us on the boat, and we were very well cared for.

This is a shot of Mike and Butch on our way back in. Mike hauled up not one, but TWO sharks from the bottom, and it was hard work! They were heavy and fought hard. Only, you never know exactly that they are a shark until they get hauled all the way to the top. Then you take a picture and turn them loose. We also caught barracuda. They really ARE mean! I caught the one and only king mackerel and those Barracuda ate the bottom half of my fish off the line before I could get it in the boat! (Note to self: Don't swim with Barracuda in the water.)

Dad, Mom and I were pretty pooped, too. Dad caught lots, I caught some, and Mom caught bait fish at the first. We don't have pictures of that, but it was pretty fun for a "warm up" for the big stuff.

I don't remember if this was landing the shark or the cobia, but it was hard, sweaty work. That's me wiping Mike's sweaty brow.

John (he's VERY orange) and Mike holding up the cobia. They are highly prized, have a texture like Mahi Mahi, and taste wonderful.

The formal picture taken at the dock of our entire catch.

Mom and I were so surprised to see how clean and new and pretty the inside of the boat was. Comfy seats, a table to eat off of (we brought our lunch in a cooler), nice big windows and air-conditioning! Who knew? It sure was a million times better than what we pictured, which was probably something like the boat in "Jaws." ha. Heavy fish on the end of a line. That's Mike in the corner.
And Mike with the landed cobia. They have very sharp spikes on the top of their spine behind their head, so they had to be clubbed to death in order to keep from harming anyone (since we'd already planned to harm and eat it anyway).
Here's Dad struggling to haul up something. He was really worn out after that trip!!! I mean REALLY worn out. We shared a hotel room that night in Ft. Walton Beach with them and he dropped in to bed like a sack of potatoes and never moved the whole night long. Mike and I are in this picture, too.

The shark Mike caught. I think they were sand sharks.

As we were leaving and heading out to sea, this is what it looked like as the sun was coming up over Destin. Like I said, it was a perfect day! We were on a 6 hour fishing trip, so we left at 6 am and returned to shore around 12 noon, but then we waited to have the fish all cut up and bagged for us. We had a fish fry at Butch's Mom's house in Ft. Walton Beach that evening. Sally is a wonderful hostess and we had an amazing meal at her home.