A Little Gulf Time

There is something brilliant in Jimmy Buffett's song titles. One of my favorites is entitled "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes." How true that is for the likes of me.

When I head south to the turqoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea, I can sense the metamorphosis almost immediately. First, I feel like a lizard shedding my skin -- sometimes literally (especially when I use Hawaiian Tropic instead of Coppertone, but that's for another blog), but mostly figuratively. I lose that stress right away.

My appetite changes too. As anyone who's read me by now knows, I love Italian food. All that changes along the pirate coasts. I prefer limes to tomatoes, rice and beans to pasta, and rum to wine. I'm just happy to have some peel and eat shrimp, maybe a beer or two, and watch the sun disappear into the sea.

My father and I went fishing one day on the trip. We caught our limit in kingfish and brought in a boatload of Spanish mackerel. We ate some of the fish at Crabby Bill's right next to the dock. Blackened Spanish mackerel and deep fried kingfish with a Corona is simply heaven.

My wife definitely felt the same. The sun washed away her stresses as it did mine. She returned a calmer, more contented woman. And she has a great henna to go with it. It looks terrific on her ankle. The sun also brings out the little freckles on her face. My wife is beautiful to begin with, but the sun makes her look even better.

Jonathan learned to swim on this trip. Obviously, the nerves and fears of a six-year-old can also get wiped away by the change in latitude. He even got a little tan, plus a pirate sword, some trinkets and memories of Busch Gardens and a pirate ship cruise.

The vacation was a present to my mother for her 60th birthday. In truth, I think we all benefited from the gifts on sun, sand and sea.