Fishing the Gulf of Mexico

About two weeks ago I had a trip down south for my bachelor party to Clearwater, Florida. This trip was planned with four of my closest friends to fly down south and fish the Gulf of Mexico for the weekend. The trip began on an early Friday morning out of LaGuardia Airport around 7 AM. As we boarded the plane with 40 degree weather all around us, we all smiled with joy as we knew that was the last time we would be so cold for the next two days. Once we arrived in Florida it was a cool 75 degrees outside, and all that was needed was a shirt, shorts, and flip flops.

The trip planned around this week was one that would be simple; hanging around the pool at Shepard's Resort, going to Texas de Brazil (A Brazilian Steakhouse), and fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Even though the trip consisted of so many fun and interesting things, I was most excited to go fishing, as it's something I really enjoy and what I planned the whole trip around.  Our fishing trip took up all of Saturday morning, as we got onto the small charter boat at approximately 7 AM and headed 15 miles offshore. As we took the trip into the open waters the sunrise graced us with a beautiful view in the horizon. Once we got to our fishing spot, directly over a shipwreck, we started trolling our lines for Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, and King Mackerel. Before you knew it we started catching fish without a problem, as we got out to the fishing spot before everyone else did. All of us had a chance to battle with a couple of fish and reel them up into the boat. The day was perfect for fishing too as the waves were not so choppy and the weather was a slight overcast with absolutely no rain.

As the trip ended we headed back into the docks and filleted all of our fish. The trip was a very successful one as we got to keep about 16 to 17 Mackerel. Once we got to land, we thanked the captain and first mate of the boat and set our sights on the restaurant next door that cooked our fresh catch on the spot. At the end of the day I was so happy about the fishing trip, and I have already begun to plan the trip back for more fishing.

Vocabulary List:
1. Steakhouse (noun) - A restaurant that specializes in serving steaks.
2. Fishing (noun) - the activity of catching fish, either for food or as sport. 
3. Planned (verb) - decide on and arrange in advance 
4. Offshore (adjective) - situated at sea some distance from the shore.  
5.Shipwreck (noun) - the destruction of a ship at sea by sinking or breaking up in a storm.
6. Overcast (noun) - clouds covering a large part of the sky 

Vocabulary Exercise: Unscramble the vocabulary words below!

1. astcvero

2. ousehkeats

3. gnshiif

4. rehsoffo

5. anndepl

6. pihrwceks

Grammar Point:  Types of punctuation. 

Period: a period is used at the end of a sentence
Exclamation Point: an exclamation point is used at the end of a command or exclamation
Question Mark: a question mark is used at the end of a question

Grammar Practice:

Directions: Place the correct punctuation mark at the end of each phrase, sentence. 

1. The fishing trip was so much fun  __

2. Can someone give me their feedback on how the Brazilian Steakhouse was __

3. We caught 16 - 17 Mackerel on the trip __

4. Did you enjoy weather today __

5. I can't that we fished above a shipwreck __


6. How far offshore do you think we are __