It has been a busy and often stressful last few weeks, but Kelly and I had the chance to get away for a few days with the dogs. We boarded Scratch, and hopefully he will get all sorts of attention from the vet techs while we are gone.
Much like the first family, who is also on the island this week, Kelly and I have spent the last few days on Martha’s Vineyard. It is the first time I have been on the island in over 30 years.
We had planned the trip way back in January, and we had booked the ferry a few months ago. The ferry ride was actually pretty nice. We took one of the smaller ones, with the open car deck.
The ferry was leaving from Woods Hole, where the famous oceanographic institute is located, and in fact is located adjacent to the steamship authority. I caught a glimpse of some research vessels from the deck of the ferry.
The vessel I could see at the dock was the RV Henry B. Bigelow, a NOAA fisheries research vessel that is also an advanced oceanographic research vessel. There was another vessel behind it that I couldn’t see.
Speaking of boats, while on the island I had the chance to go fishing again, and so I did. My father-in-law and brother-in-law wanted to go out and do some more fishing, so we took a half-day out on a small charter and really enjoyed ourselves. The water was quite choppy, but I had prepared for that with some Dramamine so I was fine. No auto-chum. We managed to land some good fish, including some real fighters like some blues and some bonitos, plus a few black sea bass for good measure. Yesterday I cooked up a batch of the bonito for dinner on the grill, using a Portuguese recipe with lots of garlic, olive oil, pepper, and bay leaves. I had not made that dish in many years, but luckily it turned out great.
More to come later!
-Geoff
The Books are Taking Over... 
Glad y’all are resting and relaxing!