At some point in October or November my best friend Hans called me to say that his in-laws were spending January in St. Augustine and that he, his wife and their 2 y/o son Nicholas were going to be here for about a week.  I had yet to meet Nicholas and was eager to do so.  So the three of them flew in last Thursday and I met up with everyone on Friday night for some conversation and a couple of beers.  It was great to finally meet Nicholas and he's a great happy kid.  Hans and Susie are lucky to have him and I know they'll have a blast watching him grow up.  I'm happy for them.

We had a nice time and they invited me back down on Saturday night for dinner.  We went to a great little restaurant called Creekside Dinery in St. Augustine.  They had live bluegrass music and a firepit where you could roast marshmellows.  The seafood was very good to boot. 

Here's the proud parents and the aforementioned Nicholas.


And the proud grandparents:


Here's my appearance with the bunch:


Hans came down last night as we had planned a day of deep sea fishing.  We were up at the crack of stupid and went fishing about 10 miles off the Jacksonville coast.  We ended up having a great morning as we both caught fish.  Since there was just the two of us the Captain got to fish a bit too.  He caught a very nice Red Snapper which you'll see in a bit.  I caught a nice Grouper though he was 1/2 inch too short to keep, damn.  I also got a legal Sea Bass and several small groupers and grunts.  My big fish though was a nurse shark.  That was fun.  Here's some pics for ya.

Here's my slightly short grouper:


And here's my shark:



He was full of piss and vinegar:


Here's Hans and I with our catch. 


This week the clan is thinking about coming up this way for a day at the Jax Zoo.  I might meet up with them for that.  I had a great time at the Zoo when I went this fall.

All in all its been a great visit and I look forward to spending more time with everyone while they are near.