Category: Travel Bob

A fish story

Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

Rusty, Wes and I spent a day at sea last weekend fishing for grouper and snapper in the Gulf of Mexico off St. Petersburg, Fla. We set off into what looked like a perfect day, but 2 to 2.5 foot seas made the trip out pretty rough. No seasickness during the hour-plus journey to get to cooler water where the grouper and snapper have retreated in the heat of summer, but we got bounced around a lot and were definitely relieved when the boat finally stopped about 50 miles out and we started fishing.

Overall, we had a great day. Wes snagged a several big snapper and a keeper grouper and Rusty managed to land four sharks, much against his will. He will henceforth be known as “Shark Man,” and we agreed never to speak of his antics again, much as the characters at the end of Deliverance made a pact to keep the trip secret. That Rusty sure does got a purty mouth, I’ll tell you what …

We also pulled in a nice kingfish.

In this photo, the frenetic Captain Nelson, holds up two of the snapper we caught while Wes grins smugly in the background. Nelson and Captain Toby did a great job helping us pull in fish and untangle lines.

We retreated to Rusty’s house afterward, where Wes and Rusty’s wife Janet cooked up snapper, grouper and kingfish in every way imaginable. It was incredible. I had a big kingfish steak, which was much better than the mackerel we caught and ate the last time we fished Tampa Bay.

I’ve uploaded more photos here on my Flickr account.

Since I returned from Peru, I’ve been corresponding via e-mail with “Dennis of Cusco,” one of the street kids we met there. I received the following note from Dennis yesterday. I have no idea if it’s true. These kids can be pretty crafty, and in the same note about Bill Gates, Dennis makes an appeal for financial help with his education. But with that caveat, here’s his account:

“I was selling postcards June 24 at about 8:00 p.m. I was at the Plaza de Armas, and I went to the ” Hotel Monastery ” to sell postcards for a moment, and four people went out of the hotel. I did not offer them anything, but I decided to discreetly follow them, and they walked first along a few places that are not very touristy and went away later to the ” Plaza de Armas.”
And in the Plaza de Armas, I tried to sell them, I recognized one of them because I read a bit of his life on the Internet, and he was Bill Gates. I tied to sell them, and I told a few jokes, as when you and your friend Jackson were in the Cusco, but only three persons laughed, two women and man. But Bill Gates did not, and later for a joke I bought myself two postcards for 10 Soles, but I wanted to try to sell Bill Gates, but I was treated like he did not seem me, he was very quiet, but I wanted to speak to him, and I spoke to him.

“But he was not saying anything, and later the woman said I could take a photo with him (but I did not have camera). The woman was very nice, and later I said to her that he was a good person, and I went away, and when I went away, there were two persons who him who were continuing for a long time, because when I was in the Hotel Monastery, it should try to sell first two persons, were one of the UNITED STATES and I believe one was from Peru, but they were very discreet, and when I went away, the Peruvian said to me ” molestoso you are “, and I went away.

“I think, I am a very lucky person because not even the press could find Bill Gates in thePlaza de Armas of Cusco, and I was the only one trying to sell postcards to the famous Bill Gates.

“You can believe that Bill Gates walked along the ” Plaza de Armas ” of Cusco, and I was the only person who recognized him.

“Until another day dear friend Bob.

“Your friend dennis del Cusco.”

(This translation is pretty mangled, since it was run through an online translator. I tried to smooth it out some, but my Spanish is very elementary. Here’s the original:)

Ever since I returned from Machu Picchu, I’ve seen tons of mentions and coverage of the sacred Incan site. Most recently, the New York Times Magazine had a piece yesterday on a tug of war between Yale and Peru over artifacts from Bingham’s “discovery” of the site.

Other curious mentions:

Cameron Diaz visited the ruins and managed to offend many Peruvians with her fashion statement, a bag that featured a picture of Mao and one of his spiffy sayings. Given the havoc the Shining Path and its Maoist crap have caused in Peru, it’s little wonder she saw fit to apologize for the incident

Another New York Times piece on Choquequirao, the “other Machu Picchu,” which is much less crowded. It drew this spirited letter in defense of Machu Picchu’s honor. I completely agree with the letter writer’s assessment.

Not to be outdone by Cameron, Bill Gates made the scene, apparently managing to get in and out without creating a fashion faux pas.

And finally, I’ve been getting almost weekly e-mails from “Dennis of Cusco,” one of the street kids Wes and I met while we were there. I gave him my e-mail at the time, declining to buy any of his postcards and never expecting to hear from him. But he’s been dutifully sending me e-mails about is life and times in Cusco. It’s awesome. He gets to practice his English and I get inside accounts of what it’s like selling postcards on the streets.

Small world, indeed.