vacay, in absentia

I need a vacation.

Somewhere. Anywhere.

(Statistics/research conferences and field observations do not count.)

Unfortunately work and school are not cooperating. Until graduation in May 2011 (please, God) rolls around, it does not look like I will be sitting on a beach, sipping from a frozen drink with an umbrella and wedge of fruit in it.

So when one of my oldest and dearest friends embraced some down-time in Florida last week, he sympathized with my plight--and via the wonders of digital technology--graciously "brought" me along with him.

Without further ado, I bring you: What "I" Did on My Springtime Vacay.
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First stop was the liquor store. He wanted rum (it helps a person "temporarily make sense of it all" and "eases frustrations"). I wanted sparkling wine. Looks like we ended up with the former.


Fishing and frozen drinks were next on the agenda. I am told we also saw four giant manta rays and five dolphins playing; but since no photographic evidence was provided of said sighting, I am not entirely convinced it happened.


Dinner. We apparently "caught the BIG ONE." Not sure I want to know what that entails; but Marley and Buffett were playing at the bar, so it must have been chez trop-i-cal.

He had a deck runner ("Sharky's version of a rum-runner") with light rum, blackberry brandy, and banana liqueur (rum appears to be a recurring theme in this tale); I had a LandShark Lager (with two limes, of course).


I was informed we had grilled mahi on our island salads. Good call.


Headed home ... stopped for oysters and cold draft beer.


Back at the ranch, a hot tub soak was compulsory. Call me crazy, but something tells me there is rum in that cup ....


That is pretty much how it went all week. Sunny and 83 degrees for five days. And just as quickly as it arrived, my vacation ended.


(Oh yeah ... driving home, we stopped at Stuckey's for some pork skins, a pecan log, and a Texas-sized back-scratcher. It wasn't Aggie-owned Buc-ee's, but the restrooms were clean and the Gatorade was cold.)