Richard

My girl Buzz along with our son Aaron, two close friends and I, just got back from a weekend at a beach-house that literally was on the beach!!.. imagine sitting on the porch and looking at a couple miles of white-sand, dotted with coconut palms and a few fishing boats, we were even able to buy freshly caught fish on Saturday from one of the boats that went out.

We frolicked in the surf and sun, and swam in the icy cold deep water of a river that feeds out to sea at that beach as well.. lemme tell you, the whole experience was so relaxing, and such a sanity-saver from the madness that happens every year in the run-up to Christmas at the tv station she works with and my radio station!

I honestly found myself wishing I could've been hosting some of you Fishloreans who might be considering a vacation to the Caribbean sometime, without the frills of 'room-service', but experiencing a vacation away from the contrived and artificial setting of say 'Sandals'..just enjoying the raw natural beauty of the islands, falling asleep with the sound of the waves breaking outside your window, tasting the amazingly delicious cooking of Buzz and my buddy Richard( 'the other Rich') who cooks 'Chinese' with an island flavor and BBQ's like an artist!.. picking up the most amazing variety of riverstones and driftwood you've ever seen.. wish you could've been there, because that was the truest most undiluted version of a Caribbean vacation!

Now I'm off to start the soaking process on a bag full of the most colorful riverstones I ever saw, and a piece of driftwood with a through and through hollow that I know will be perfect for the next big tank we set up.

Isabella

Man, Richard, you're making me wanna go away from the city for a long time, lol . Yes, your vacation really was great. I really do wish I had places like this near me! I am glad you had a wonderful time .

And I agree with you: Vacations in the "womb" (lol) of nature are so much better than being in some hotel. What's the point of going to some naturally beautiful place if you're going to stay in a hotel anyway? When I go to the mountains, I usually rent a small house in the mountians too, so I am right in the middle of nature. And when I go camping, that's just it, we camp in nature. LOVE CAMPING in the woods/forest! Especially the campfires at night Love the smell of the woods - it's so nice to wake up with such fresh air. Not to mention it's so quiet there - the only thing you hear are birds singing or water running in nearby streams .

Kevin

its freaking november and you're talking about laying on the beach...no blankets, fires, or "HELP" written in the sand
and i'm sitting here contemplating jumping in my 29 gal. cause that water is warmer than me sitting here wraped in blankets watching csi, and talking about fish
look at me!!

Isabella

LOL, Kevin, yeah, it's getting pretty cold up here in NY too.

Kevin

its like 40 deg. here and i'm complaining...i bet it like 25-30 in NY

zpecialt

We had a relatively mild day in Pittsburgh. High 50's today. But envisioning that beach is making me wish I could speed up my wedding a little bit. Jamaica here I come!!!

capekate

Hi Richard,
Your weekend sounded wonderful! Good for you! It sounds like your family had a wonderful get away and finding treasures for your tanks is a bonus!!
All I can say is.... AHHHHHHH........


~ kate

0morrokh

I used to live in NY and I thought it was cold too.
Until I moved to MN.


Sounds like a great vacation Richard....now I wish I was on a nice warm beach somewhere....

Rbacchiega

believe it or not, calgary has been above average temperatures. Today we got just a bit of snow, which should melt tomorrow. And on the 26th, I'm outta here for a month headed for good old Puerto Vallarta! Wooooo!

COBettaCouple

been fairly mild here in Denver so far.

manjil

The temperature is dropping here in kathmandu as well. Hoping to see snow around this year.

nmwierman1977

I used to live in Buffalo NY and I hated it after we had that blizzard in 2000. I've always hated the snow and the cold though. I fully enjoy living here in Phoenix, Az even if the temps can get outragiously high (this summer highest 117) in the summer. The winters are absolutely wonderful. Right now the temps are in the upper 60s to mid 70s. The perfect temps. We were supposed to go back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving. Never went for a few reasons, one being that I was too scared to go back because I was afraid we were going to get snow bound and I'd get stranded there for 1 or 2 days longer. No Thank you. I love my family and God knows I haven't seen them in 4 yrs,but when it comes to winter weather in Buffalo NY I'm too chicken. If I want to see snow I can always travel 2 hours to Flagstaff.

Richard your vacation sounded like a dream. My husband and I REALLY need a vacation like that together. Natalie

Richard

If my job wasn't so demanding, I'd set up some kind of no-frills tour package deal for those of you who want to experience the Caribbean that you don't see in the brochures.. sorry to hear the temperature's falling so quickly for so many of you where you are!.. not to rub it in, but while there're days down here so hot I wish it would snow sometimes, it's a balmy breezy evening and the only thing cold here right now are the ice cubes clinking away merrily in my Mojito .


@ Rbacchiega.. I have a buddy from Calgary who lived a few houses away from me up to a year ago, and his pool-side BBQ's were the stuff of legend!.. he's back up there right now moaning and groaning about how much he misses the island life and how cold Calgary is!

COBettaCouple

yea, i grew up in a tourist-land, so i always try to see a place like the locals do when going somewhere. The touristy stuff doesn't have anything to do with the 'real' place most of the time.