Day nine belongs to me.

Woke up that morning fully aware of what day it was. I just didn't know how we were going to spend it. After countless walks on the beach, laps in the pool, trips to the mini golf course, applications of aloe on sun burned skin, cocktails and the spending of lots of money, we were ready for it. I'm talking about the last day of spring break.

Unable to go in any direction due to the locust-like swarming of tourists at the entrance to Ft. Myers Beach, we knew we weren't going to drive anywhere. The wife and kids headed down to the "square" for an air-brush tattoo and a souvenir or two. And alone there I sat, contemplating how to spend my final hours in paradise. I decided after doing what the kids wanted for 8 days, day 9 was going to be mine. So I threw on my shorts and sun-block, now down to SPF 4, (thank-you Nan and Pop for my Italian skin) and headed for the pier.

Bikini's and umbrellas as far as the eye could see, I trudged down the length of the pier, and plopped down $15 for a fishing rod and bait. By far, the biggest deal of the trip. Hooking a squid head onto my hook, I ignored the "no casting" sign and flung my rig as far as I could, watched it settle to the shallow bottom, and began what would be the best of my past 8 days. 15 minutes in, I got my first reward, a baby Bonnet Head Shark. This was no coincidence, the shark, it was what I was hoping for. I got lucky on the first one, having snagged it's fin, and the hook came off easily to the growing crowd of astonished beach goers. I let little kids, college girls, and a few parents touch and/or hold the catch. Shark skin, if you've never felt it, is like running your hand on like wet 1500 grit sandpaper. I was an instant star.

Over the course of the next 6 hours, I managed to pull in a total of 5 baby sharks, Bonnet Heads and Black Tips. Would have been 6 but the biggest one of the day was too heavy on the meager line, and having to pull it up some 20 feet from the water to the pier, it flopped off inches from the top. No worries, it was a day in paradise for me. It was even more enjoyable that the obnoxious New Yorker to my right got shut out. (Do they ever talk about anything but the damn Yankees?) The kids each pulled in one, and they visited me from time to time, asking if/when I was coming back to the room. I never wanted to leave, and only did so when my bait ran out. But was I being selfish? Abandoning the troops for some American pastime? If I was, I didn't care. This was my day, and I'm sure I won't get another one like it for a very long time.