For those of you who read the fish story ever so appropriately titled after a play on words from the ever so popular cinematic wonder, Scarface, consider this the prologue as our next adventure takes us on a whirlwind ride to Pacino's neck of the woods (okay, not quite), sunny, southern, beautiful FLORIDA!

This story was born approximately 3 months ago when I got the silly idea in my head that I needed a vacation…. and if any of you know yours and my favorite geek as well as I do, know that ol' Mr. Jobs in the making could use a (gasp!) vacation as well. After an invite down to sunny Naples got me thinking that I had some old frequent flyer miles laying around and some accruing PTO collecting dust I said 'what the hell!' and put the idea into full swing that I would take a much needed hiatus from PA. Shortly after the idea went from a spark to an actual lightbulb, I carefully and strategically managed to work up the courage to instruct, er uh, suggest to Damon that he was going to join me. Well, as it turns out, the convincing was minimal, the costs (thanks to the many long endured flights on US Air between the two of us) were even smaller and next thing you know the days before we were off were soon dwindling as well! Next thing you know The Beach Boys were playing over and over again in my head and I was stepping foot on Florida soil anticipating Damon's arrival a few days later.

After getting a 4 day head start on a tan, turning another year older and getting a feel for what it's like to relax for once I was soon off to greet Mr. Rails at the airport (after picking up our sports, er uh, economy car for week first of course). One look at that geek standing in the baggage claim line sporting shorts, sandals, an array of beachy bracelets and no laptop in sight, I felt the "Aruba Jamaica" theme escape my head to be quickly followed by "Haaaaleelujah, Haaaaaleelujah"! We were finally in Florida!!

After some unpacking, cleaning, and setting up was done at the condo we were ready to go explore Marco Island and scope out the scene to try and plan our next 8 days. If you check the website often you have already had a taste of some of the sights we encountered. Below I'll show you some of the highlights of the trip, attempt to describe the therapy the trip provided us and maybe even prove to you that this truly is a prologue to the ever-popular Fish story after all! Enjoy!

First off, I have to say that there were some incredibly amazing restaurants on this Island. We tried to go to as many as possible, and our favorites ranged anywhere from high class hoity toity to casual, "come in your swimsuit" atmosphere. While I stuck to seafood, Damon chose his usual Filet. A few of our favorite eaterys included: Tara Steak and Lobster House, Island Cafe and Captain Brian's Seafood and Raw Bar Damon's "sea critter friendly" eating habits must have paved the way for what you'll read next….

So, not only did we eat at fabulous restaurants, swim in blue as the sky waters and suffer 3rd degree burns (i am not speaking for myself here - please see media section for further explanation) we also took advantage of staying in a condo right on the water overlooking a small marina and bait shop to go fishing!! I, being the less experienced and much less patient fisher-person, was on day 3 before I managed to catch a single fish. By day 2.5 with no fish dangling from my line, I was convinced that either our first round of pets that bit the watery grave dust tattled on me to their Gulf of Mexico friends or I was just getting what I deserved for having the less "ocean friendly" appetite of the trip. As luck would have it though I did manage to reel in a "loss of count" number of catfish, snapper, eel, sea rock, and zebra fish and became almost as good a fisherman as my sunscreen lacking boyfriend. He on the other hand reeled in a crew of unique aquarium friends ranging anywhere from a stingray to a ladyfish, all the while using broken pole #3 (compliments of yours truly). Although we didn't keep any of the fish, we had a great time in search of "the big one" a.k.a. the coveted Snook all week. My fisherman's elbow may still be in the process of healing.

Last but not least, and maybe the most fun 2 hours of the whole trip was the wave runner tour through the 10,000 Islands. Although we, or I should say I, almost didn't make it to the tour due to the Jeff Gordon meets Evil Kanevil's moves on the wave runner over treacherous mini-tsunamis, we did manage to see some great wildlife ranging from an American Bald Eagle to some up close and personal dolphins. Oh yeah, and we got a good look at Shania Twain's Gi-normous mansion from the water too. Being out in the middle of the ocean with nothing around you except waves and wildlife was both exhilirating and fantastic. This will certainly be a staple in our trip next time.

Well, there you have it folks. The pictures below will explain the gaps in the story I left out. Feel free to comment on any that you like or if you just want to give us a hard time for some of the goofy shots. Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip just as much as we enjoyed experiencing it!