Fishing Trip

Day 32-34 –  Nov 1-3 – Fishing, Hanging out at the condo

Weather – Very warm and muggy, then cooling off – 85 to 75F

Little bit of a gap in the blog, I’ve fallen a little behind, so I’ll update a few days here. Post Halloween and Lucy had a bit of a sugar hangover. Coming home the night before she said she had a sore tummy and didn’t feel too well. No wonder given the amount of sugar consumed (And god knows what additives they put in all the candy here…).

We had planned a quiet Tuesday – I think Rusty was working and Katie had work from 2pm, and we all needed a quite day after all the action from the previous few days. Just relaxing around the pool and the beach seemed like a good idea. Although, it did get off to an exciting start - while we were up at the pool on Monday, a lady mentioned that there was a SpaceX launch today at 9:45am. We watch the Falcon Heavy rocket launch from our balcony – unfortunately I flew straight in front of the sun so you didn’t get a great view from just after launch, and then it came back into view when it was a bit further down range. We did see the boosters cut-off and drop down. It was amazing to hear the rumble even from where we were, which is about 70kms from the launch pad as the crow flies.

If you zoom in you might see it. Terrible photo from me. Katie did better...

After launch, we had to drop off the car (we did have to pay an extra 150 for the smell – I failed in my attempts to clean out the wee smell). We had Kathy’s car so we still had transportation - we decided to head out for Breakfast at a local place called Ruthy’s Kozy Kitchen. Very traditional American Diner fare – good, honest, simple fare. This is the kind of place where there are bustling waitresses wearing aprons and smiles, serving you bottomless filter coffee out of a jug (If that’s your thing) – the kind of diner you see in the movies.

Ruthy’s has an extensive menu – these places always do – and they even had Eggs Benedict – done 5 or 6 different ways – including Irish and Greek style, which I’ve never heard of. Our lovely waitress claimed that the benedict’s would have “Hola-Daze” sauce on them. I thought maybe that holiday’s sauce, maybe pumpkin spiced? Nope – just the way she pronounced hollandaise sauce. Katie ordered biscuits and gravy – which for the uninitiated is a scone (They call it a biscuit) covered in a white sausage gravy. Look up a recipe if you are interested, it’s actually delicious - ugly, but delicious. There were some hashbrowns and bacon, and pancakes involved in our breakfast as well. A very good, filling, and inexpensive way to start the day. Alway, try out a local diner when you are in the states, and avoid the chains, you won’t be disappointed.

There wasn’t much more to the day than swimming and hanging out at the beach.

Wednesday was an early start as we had organised with Mac to go fishing. Lucy and I walked over the road to Indian River lagoon and had Mac pick us up on the boat at the dock there located on Browns Bay. From there, we boated across the inlet to various fishing spots. It was a hot day, but nice when we were moving. We didn’t get any keepers, however we did catch a lot of smaller fish, which is always fun. Lucy caught a few catfish, some small snappers and a pin fish or two. I managed to catch a decent sized ladyfish, about 12in, they’re great sport, but no good to eat.

I also caught a few jack trevally. I was a great day out on the water, we fished a few spots, and boated all the way down to the Ponce de Leon inlet, and even went out into the open water of the Atlantic – although not very far. Lunch was at a little waterside restaurant called Off the Hook. We tied off at their dock and sat by the water. I had a really good Grouper sandwich – my first, but hopefully not my last for the trip. I love a good Grouper sandwich. My favourite place, Ocean’s, has just closed down, so I will be on the hunt for the next good place. Off the Hook was a good start to my Grouper sandwich hunt. We finished up our day on the water with some dolphin spotting – there were a lot of dolphin’s out and about, with many small pods of 2-5 dolphin’s. Lucy was throwing the bait out of the boat as she thought the Dolphin’s might want the food. Her throws were about 50m short, so don’t worry about us doing the wrong thing and feeding the dolphin’s!

Lucy was going back with Gpa, to stay overnight in Deland, so I was dropped off at the dock and walked back to the condo – it’s only about 1km from the inlet to the condo, so if you picture the strip of land that sits between the beach and the intercoastal, it’s about 1km-2km wide around where we are.

It was nice to have an afternoon on our own. We’ve been living in each other’s pockets, so a break is very much appreciated. Katie was working so I just hung out and did some online study. Kathy and Mac were coming back with Lucy and staying at the condo later that evening, so we had a full morning to ourselves before Katie had to work in the afternoon. We decided to head down to Flagler Avenue – the historic downtown area of New Smyrna Beach for Brunch. Third Wave café was our choice, and it was a nice spot, out the back under the trees and surrounded by plants and foliage – a very tropical feeling place. 

There was also the house roster pecking around, so that was a first. It reminded me a bit of some of the places we’ve been to in Key west. It was nice to have some time to hang out with Katie, and not have anything to do. We haven’t had a lot of those opportunities so far these holidays, and since Mum passed away, we really haven’t had many days without Lucy – she would often stay down in Mornington for a weekend, so it was just nice to be just us for a change. Katie still had to work, and I had said I’d cook Lasagne for dinner, so I invited Chi around in the afternoon and the two of us drank some good Chianti – yes, there are very good Italian wines if you bother to look. Anyway, we drank a nice Chianti and made the lasagne. Rusty, Kathy, Mac and Lucy all arrived around the same time, and Katie had her “Lunch” break around 7:30pm, and we all sat down for a nice meal. After the meal it was discovered that Rusty and Chi had both forgotten their wedding anniversary – it was that night! Wiley was already staying with us, so they headed off for some time together, and we finished up dinner and Katie went back to work.

Really, it’s just been a case of hanging out and living down by the beach – that was the plan for the trip, family and friends, and just spending time here in Florida. Nothing too crazy, we don’t need to do too many touristy things as we’ve all been here so many times. I write that just after booking our Harry Potter vacation down to universal studios in Orlando for 3 nights… So maybe we are doing a few touristy things!