ESB

Went up to Minocqua for some fishing, camping, go carting, bowling, gambling. Caught my first fish probably in 15 years! But none of us knew how to de-bone/fillet fish, so we had to throw them all back. Probably didn't matter since my fish would have struggled to create one single fish stick (check out the beast in the bottom left).

With my fishing skills, my friend Justin thought it would be more appropriate to take some seaweed to the taxidermist & have it mounted for my wall-of-fame.

I'd never been to Minocqua during the summertime. Usually we just pass through during the winter on our way to the ski hills in Upper Michigan. Paul Bunyan's was actually open! That's a must if you're passing through.

If you head over to the Lake of the Torches Casino to play some poker, don't be confused. That foldup table in the hotel lobby? Yes, it's their "poker room." It was $1/2 no limit. People were raising 10x the big blind preflop! I would have loved to take these guys down, but didn't have enough cash for a no-limit table. So we went back to our campsite & played online on our laptops using the wireless internet. I love modern campgrounds!

I'm 2 for 2 in planning vacations during hurricanes on the East Coast this year. First Alberto in July, now Ernesto during this past Labor Day weekend. I guess technically speaking they were both Tropical Storms when they passed through New England, but "hurricane" sounds more impressive.

We visited the little ocean town of Newport, RI this weekend. This was the summer hot spot back in the late 1800's/early 1900's for the New York elite. We got to visit these "cottages" as part of the Newport Mansion Tour. In reality, they were castles.

The biggest was the Vanderbilt family home called "The Breakers". It was 138,000 square feet! My 500 sq ft apartment doesn't feel as cozy anymore. We couldn't take any pictures inside the homes due to copyright restrictions. But gold ceilings, diamond chandeliars & famous paintings get boring after awhile anyways... It's amazing to think they only spent 8 weeks a year in this castle.

The rest of the town was gorgeous, but we didn't spend too much time outside with the 60 mph hurricane winds pounding the beaches.