Our Bermuda Getaway – Part 1

“Enjoying a nice dinner out at the Beach Club” – Tucker’s Point Club, Bermuda

Our second trip of the season to beautiful Bermuda would also be a less than perfect one due to mother nature. With several storms in the Atlantic, we would have a chance of on and off rain showers just about every day while on the island, but we were determined not to let this get us down. We’ve had such good luck with the weather in past years that it’s hard to get too upset about having one or two wet and windy weeks here… after all, we are still in paradise. This trip we brought along our son’s nanny Carlyta, who helped out with Dylan and also enjoyed relaxing with us on the beach and at the pools.

The weather didn’t turn out to be as bad as expected, so our day outing to St. Georges, Alexandra Battery Park and Sea Glass Beach went very well. Tilman Fertitta’s amazing $40 million motor yacht ‘Boardwalk’ was tied up at the cruse ship dock on Ordnance Island in St. Georges and we got to see her depart Bermuda while at Sea Glass Beach. We also managed to get down to the Dockyards for some shopping, sightseeing and of course lunch at one of our favorite spots… The Frog & Onion Pub. When it did rain it poured… but that would turn out to make for some great sunset photography!
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Boating with Captain Dylan!

“Dylan at the helm of the ‘M/V Our Pleasure‘ before departing the cove” – Belmont Bay, Occoquan. VA.

As my son becomes more and more responsible and his attention span gets better I am more inclined to allow him to do more grown up things, such as help out with the boat and help me with around the house projects. This weekend he told me that he would like to drive the boat. I asked him why he thought he was able to take on this task and he said because he did such a good of driving the one on our Manitoba fishing trip. Hard to argue with a 6 year old when you know he’s right. So I told him that I would start teaching him how to drive the boat, but he could only be at the helm when there was another adult present. I also explained that daddy’s boat was not a small fishing boat and therefor would take more practice to master driving. First thing he had to learn would be how to navigate, so this session at the helm Dylan worked on spotting the channel markers and keeping the boat on the correct course between them. He took the whole exercise very seriously and did a great job! Next time we will incorporate the compass into the equation.
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Manitoba Fishing Trip Day 3

Our last full day of fishing was looking to be a little colder and a lot wetter than yesterday. Again we started out with a nice filling breakfast and than it was off to the boats for a morning of Walleye fishing. We didn’t have much luck to start off the day, at least not in Troys favorite jigging spots. It had stormed quite heavily the night before and Troy told us that could play a huge factor in how the fish bite. So after an hour and only 2 keepers in the live well, we decided to head east to a nice little spot by Jackfish Creek. Troy told us it’s his go to fishing hole when nothing else is biting and there is also a large island that will help to shield us from the wind. The currents in the main part of the river are strong, but the spot he put us on, between the island and shoreline was perfect for jigging!

“The group gathering for lunch at The Oaks campsite” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, CA.

It didn’t take long before we had our take for lunch and then some. We heard from one of the other guides that the other two boats were having a hard time catching their lunch quota, so we decided to keep jigging to make sure we had enough… just in case. The possession limit for Walleye is 4 per license, so typically you want to catch 2 to 3 Walleye’s (12″ to 17″) per person for lunch and with eight people in our party and three guides… well, lets just say it was a good thing we caught extra, because the other two boats only had four keepers between them. We all met for lunch at ‘The Oaks’ where we shared our fish stories in the rain while our guides prepared us another fabulous meal!

“Me sporting a frosty Canadian beer in front of Fred’s float plane” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, CA.

It wasn’t long after Troy and the other guides started preparing to cook us lunch that we heard a small float plane do a low fly-by and then land in the river just off shore from us. As the pilot taxied the plane up to shore the door flew opened and out jumped the owner of Eagle Nest Lodge, Fred Pedruchny. He tied the plane off to a cleat on one of our fishing boat and then he and his dog came ashore to join us for lunch. He told us this is how everyone in the Great White North travels, even when your just going out for lunch! I have to admit, they really have it made up here… quiet, peaceful, tranquil and remote. If you’re a friend of nature, this is the place to be.

“Just one of many from our final afternoon of fishing at Eagle Nest Lake” – Manitoba, CA.

After lunch we headed across the river to Peters Bay and then down to Moose Jaw and finally ended up in Moses Bay pulling in huge fighting Pike every stop along the way! It turned out to be a great day of fishing despite the weather and several lost lures. We stayed out as long as we could catching fish like there was no tomorrow, because for us there wasn’t… we would be flying out in the morning. This was a great trip and one I think my son will remember forever… I know I will!! And a big shout out to our guide Troy for a job well done… Thanks Troy!!!
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Manitoba Fishing Trip Day 2

“Dylan congratulating me on another great catch” – Little Echo Lake, Manitoba, CA.

Day two of our Manitoba fishing trip started with a wake up shout at 6:30 am along with a large carafe of coffee which I was the first to visit. Breakfast was served promptly at 7 am and after getting our fill we returned to our cabin to get ready for the long day of fishing ahead. We were told to meet our guides at the boats at 8 am and to bring anything that we thought we might need for the day, including beer because we wouldn’t return to the lodge until late afternoon. The weather was looking fantastic and we had high hopes of catching some monster fish.

We meet our guide Troy at the boat just before 8 and after loading the fishing gear, coolers and cooking stuff for lunch we left the docks and headed to a deep rocky area just to the east of the lodge. Troy explained that we would jig for Walleye first… once we had caught enough fish to fill our cooler for lunch then we could go fish for Pike which is more for sport. We hit a couple of Troy’s favorite spots over the next two hours and it didn’t take long, once we got the hang of jigging that is, to fill the cooler with Walleye. We then headed east to an area known as Jackfish Creek where we started trolling for Pike.

“Troy letting Dylan drive the boat after lunch” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, CA.

After an hour or so of catching small Pike we made our way to Strawberry Island where Troy and the other guides cooked us a fantastic fish & chips lunch over an open flame wood grill. Dylan’s not a fish eater yet, so Troy brought him two grilled cheese sandwiches which Troy cooked on the fire too. Dylan said they were the best he had ever had!! After a great lunch and a photo op for the family picture we were off to Echo Bay and Little Echo Lake in search of big fish. Dylan, Mike and I really started to bond with Troy and it wasn’t long before Dylan had talked Troy into letting him drive the boat! Yes, Dylan had himself a new big buddy!

We spent the rest of the day landing some huge fish. I had several 32″ to 33″ Pikes and Mike landed a beautiful 34″ Pike to tie Bruce’s’ record. Dylan surprised us all with his fishing skills as he started landing some nice Pikes as well. Troy said that Dylan was the youngest kid to ever fish with Eagle Nest Lodge and that he was doing a better job than a lot of adults. It was just shortly after that that Dylan caught and landed an 18″ Small Mouth Bass in Little Echo Lake! Dylan received a Manitoba Master Anglers Certificate for that catch. That’s My Boy!!
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Manitoba Fishing Trip

“Dylan and I fishing just east of Eagle Nest Lodge” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, CA.

My father in law, Bruce, has been talking about setting up a ‘guys only’ fishing trip for some time now. We had discussed possibly making it an offshore sport fishing trip, but my brother in law Jason, who is not a big fan of boats, suggested that we book a trip with a fishing camp up in Canada. After some research, Jason and Bruce decided on a place called Eagle Nest Lodge located northeast of Winnipeg. The logistics of the trip would turn out to be somewhat complicated, but we managed to put all the pieces together and make it work. The family members coming from the United States which would include Bruce, Myself, Dylan and my brother Mike, would have to take three flights and a long van ride to get to our final destination. The last leg of the trip would be a 60 minute Float Plane flight to get to the Lodge which is located on the Winnipeg River at Eagle Nest Lake.

The Canadian side of the family meet us in Winnipeg where we spent the first night after having a nice dinner at one of the local steak houses. The next morning, after a hardy breakfast, we did a little sightseeing around Winnipeg before meeting up with our shuttle driver, who would drive us up to Lac du Bonnet, MB., where we would catch our float plane flight to the lodge. After landing at the lodge, we had a quick orientation meeting along with some beer and shrimp cocktails and then we were showed to our cabin where we unpacked and got ready for dinner. After dinner, which was excellent I might add, we made our way to the docks where we meet our fishing guides and then off we went for our first evening of fishing. The sun doesn’t set until after 9 pm this far north this time of year, so we fished until the sun went down! Bruce was the big winner of our first evening of fishing after landing a 34″ Pike!
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Boating with Friends!

“Enjoying a warm summer day hanging out in Belmont Bay” – Belmont Bay Party Cove, VA.

I haven’t taken as many boating pictures as I normally do by this time in the year. That statement alone surprises me a bit, as I am usually the type to document everything that gives me pleasure, and boating always brings me peace and pleasure. So far this year we’ve had the Clark family out with us once and rafted up with Charlie and Nichole several times as per our usual MO, but it seems as though we’ve been too busy to go boating on a lot of weekends. Hope this isn’t the beginning of a trend… I need my weekends on the water for my own mental health.
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Happy Independence Day!

“Dylan sporting his patriotic colors in his American made Cadillac” – #LoveMySon!!

Being the patriotic family we are, celebrating the Forth Of July is a given!! My wife and son like to take holidays to the next level and show off their true colors every chance they get. Pictures are worth a thousand words… don’t you think!!
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Our Bermuda Vacation

“Dylan riding a canon into battle” – Royal Navel Dockyards, Bermuda, HS.

We have at least five trips planned for this year and our first big one is always our annual spring Bermuda trip. We decided again this year to wait until late June when Dylan was out of school before making our first trip. Closer to summer means that the water will be warmer. It could have been a better week weather wise, but we made due with what mother nature gave us. This year we invited my brother Mike and his girlfriend Melissa to join us for the week! They had some scheduling conflicts, but were able to fly in and join us for five days.

We had a great week of sight seeing, boating, snorkeling, a nice dinner out, and tons of fun at the beach club and swimming pools. I didn’t get to play any golf this trip, but we did make it down to the Royal Navel Dockyards for lunch and some great shopping. Dylan is getting so much better with his swimming that I think next year he wont need a life jacket at all while snorkeling in open water! We look forward to taking Uncle Mike and Melissa back to Bermuda with us again in the future… we all had so much fun together and Dylan loves the extra attention!
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The Blizzard Of 2016

“A view of our totally snowed-in street” – #blizzardof2016 – Arlington, VA.

As most everyone in the United States knows, the East Coast got hit with a huge snow storm this past weekend and it left the Washington, DC metro area with some crippling snow fall totals. At our place in Arlington, we measured a total snow fall accumulation of between 22 and 24 inches (depending on where you stuck the yard stick.) The snow started falling on Friday and didn’t stop falling until Sunday, but it wasn’t until Wednesday afternoon that we could actually get off our street. Here are some pictures from the event.
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The Best Of Dylan – 2015

“Dylan enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sunshine at the pool” – Tucker’s Point, Bermuda

Here is  collection of pictures my wife and I have taken over the past year of our precious son Dylan. We post these mainly for our family and friends who can’t always be around to visit with us on a regular schedule. My mother says it’s nice to be able to just click on my site and see her grand son when ever she wants. It’s almost like being here… and as you can tell, Dylan has done some growing this past year. We all had a great year and look forward to another fantastic one in 2016!
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