Day 6: Fishing from a kayak

We needed an adventure today

So we decided to try out kayak fishing.

Turns out the tide is VERY low,

Which made navigating the Lighthouse Lakes really challenging.

We were stuck (and then fishing)

More than we were paddling

Jack and Wes hit the channel,

Paddling with the fishing boats around the channel

The dolphins were in the channel too!

They were only about 50 yards away from us!

After about an hour of battling the shallows,

We decided to beach it and concentrate on fishing.

Beck in his Happy Place

Once we settled in,

Beckett couldn’t stop bringing the reds in

One after another

After another!

Then he started bringing in the speckled trout

He must have caught 10 fish!

The rest of us—not so much.

Maybe 1 or 2 between the 5 of us?

Ah, well.

Mom was in it for the kayaking anyway

(Here’s her standard view—

Beck is always her copilot)

We headed back to the beach for some digging

Jack got really creative this time!

Another gorgeous sunset

We did some swimming at the house

(We can’t resist the 95 degree pool)

And got a hankering for some ice cream—

Who doesn’t love DQ from the golf cart???

Another good day!

 

Day 5: Living up a beach town

Given our super early morning

And then relatively late night,

We all slept in today

But eventually gathered ourselves up

To golf-cart in to town.

The neighborhood gater was out and about…

He lives in the canal down the street.

We’re being really careful to keep the gate to the pool closed…

We had some time to kill while our fish was being cleaned

So we did a bit of shopping…

And had to get a touristy shark pic

We ate some lunch at a beachside restaurant,

And then headed to the beach

It’s not quite swimming weather today,

But it’s definitely castle-building weather

Yes, Mom.

We’ll take a picture

It was so peaceful

Mom and Dad did some strolling

And watched the sun set

Gorgeous, right?

Pretty cool to get the sunrise AND sunset on the beach

Jack in his happy place

All of us in our happy place—

Watching TV from the heated pool!

This is the trip for Stranger Things—

Tucker recently got interested and is now OBSESSED.

We’re watching it as a family.

What better place than from the house pool deck?

Ahhh, vacation!

 

Day 4: Did we mention it’s NYE?

There was a fireworks show at the wharf this evening—

Most of us watched from the house

But Jack and Mom decided to take the golf cart for a spin

And find a better space to watch

It was a good show!

Although it was weird to not have music with it

And it’s only 7:00

But it was actually perfect.

They picked up the rest of us in the golf cart

And we headed down the beach to The Black Marlin

For our fancy New Year’s Eve dinner.

Then it was back to the house

For some games and a toast at midnight

Welcome, 2026!

 

Day 4: Let’s catch some fish!

We were up before the sun

And drug ourselves to the wharf to meet our captain—

We have a whole day of fishing in front of us!

But 6am came and went

And no word from our captain.

Then it was 6:15…and 6:30…

And clearly we had missed something.

So luging a lot of disappointment

(Mom was holding out hope, though!)

We headed to a local coffee shop to drown our sadness.

But then,

Just as our coffees were brewed,

We heard from our captain!

Miscommunication…

We’re meeting at 9:45!

Hurray!

Well, since we’re up,

We might as well go to the beach for sunrise.

It was beautiful

Sunrise crew

I mean,

If you accidentally get up super early,

You might as well have something to show for it!

Most of us headed for a nap.

But Jack and Mom decided to try out the golf cart

On Beach Road

Before we knew it,

It was time to meet Captain Brian.

We set out on his airboat to catch some redfish.

The fish were EVERYWHERE

And we managed to land some of them in the boat.

Beckett had the first catch

Weston had the first one big enough for the box

We were all hungry for a catch

Wes brought in another

Before we moved to another spot

Tucker got one that was a bit small

But we kept trying

Another for Beck

And then for Tuck

Jackson landed a spider crab

And a baby red

Tuck, with the assist from Beck,

Brought in a drum

We moved to one last stop…

And Mom brought in the biggest of the day

How about THAT fish?

We heard a lot about what makes fish bite

(It’s too bright, not windy enough, high pressure…),

Were called Yankees a handful of times (but “the good kind of Yankees”),

And heard a bit more about politics than we probably would have liked

But it was a good day overall.

Thanks, Captain Brian!

Between the zippy ride and all the fish,

We had a blast!

That’s one for the books

About 28 pounds of fish to get cleaned!