A Trip of Firsts

We left the Friday before 4th of July on one of the flattest days we have seen on the Atlantic.  If we didn't know better, we would have thought we were on a lake in the middle of Colorado.  We saw numerous dolphin and sting rays playing in the bay and ocean on our four hour cruise.  We called the Sunset Marina our home for the next five nights.

We spent the first day and a half playing on the boardwalk - we played miniature golf, ate funnel cakes and went into every store we could find.  The weather was hot and humid, but it didn't seem to stop us.

Scott's parents arrived that Sunday and we headed up to Delaware to find the nearest West Marine.  The drive up the coast was beautiful -- much different than the western portion of the state.  That night, we experienced some of the most intense thunderstorms we have ever seen.  The lightning was so close, we ended up sitting in the cabin most of the evening.  When it wasn't so close, it really was an awe-inspiring sight.

The next morning we were up before the sun, heading out to the Washington Canyon in search of some tuna.  We caught three that day -- Scott, his dad and I each reeled one in.  Mallory enjoyed the trip but opted out of reelin' any in (I think the blood and the fight the fish put up were a bit overwhelming).  We brought back more than 80 pounds of fish that day; not bad for our first tuna expedition of the season.

The wind kicked up that afternoon and it remained blustery for the duration of the trip.  We spent our last few days racing go-carts and enjoying the outlets.  We headed south on 4th of July in some of the roughest seas we'd seen in a while.  It took us close to seven hours to get home, but it was worth every second.  By all counts, it was a great trip.  See pictures of the fish below.