No need to panic! We did not catch a hammerhead shark that roared like a lion (see the movie if you don’t know what I’m referring to)… but there was fishing and there was comedy, so we couldn’t go with Jaws 🙂

I was looking forward to this first date because during our phone conversations, Joe made me laugh so much that he started calling me “Giggles”.  I’ll take it… the jokes and the nickname.

He arrived before me and called to make sure I’d be able to get parking (my friend lives steps from the ocean so I parked at her place).  I told him I was pulling into a spot and would be at the pier momentarily and that I was wearing a cowboy hat.  He said that he was too, “What are the chances?”  I just laughed and it wasn’t until about an hour later that I realized he was not wearing a cowboy hat.  I’m going to have to listen very closely to figure out if this guy is joking or not.  At one point of the date he said, “This was a really good idea.” We hadn’t caught anything at that point so I had to ask, “You’re saying that seriously, right?”  He was.

He gave me the choice to fish off of his boat or the pier.  Normally I’d jump all over the suggestion of a boat, but being a first date I didn’t want it to turn into a Dead Calm date, so I chose the pier.

I have fished before, but Joe informed me I’d been trolling which doesn’t require any skill (or a big strong man behind you to help you handle a pole… that didn’t sound right, but you get the picture.. and I’m referring to the G rated picture, it’s a first date people!).

Our view from the pier was beautiful, and the water was so clear that I could see sting rays, sea turtles, and a giant black fish which some people were calling a shark, but Joe thought he was a grouper.  I called him “Big Black” which I think he liked because he swam around me all day… not biting my line though. Big Black was as smart as he was handsome (I sure hope it wasn’t a female fish). We were using squid and shrimp for bait and the fish were in a feeding frenzy!

This is our frozen bait.  Last week when I told a friend I was going on a fishing date, he said, “A gentleman never lets a woman bait her own hook.”  Well, I wanted to learn to bait my hook, but apparently Joe is a gentleman because he wouldn’t teach me. He said my hands shouldn’t touch squid.  Seeing the black ink spray on his really nice white shirt at the end of the day made me grateful that he was a gentleman.

He did give me a full on lesson though as far as the fishing goes.  I learned the correct way to hold the pole, (apparently there’s more to it than just ‘holding the pole’ who’d a thunk it?) how to keep a finger on the line so I could feel the fish tug, how to pull up on the line when they did so you hook ’em (I never did get that part down), and how to cast my line.  I got better at that as the day progressed… so on target, that I would cast it at Big Black every time he’d swim by, but he was just a big tease, he wouldn’t bite!

I couldn’t believe it when Joe told me it was 4:15!  The day flew by! I mean come on, beautiful ocean, beautiful breeze, under a roof so there was no sun beating down on me, up on a step stool so I could lean over watching the feeding frenzy happening on my bait even though the little suckers wouldn’t get on my hook!  It was just chill, and Joe would lean up against me, and I liked that 🙂

The only thing that was frustrating, was these little kids who were all around and they were catching fish left and right.  It’s like when I’m on a ski slope and I can barely stay on my feet and 6-year-olds are whizzing by with no ski poles. Then, this one little kid walks up and demands my step stool because he’s so much shorter than me.  I couldn’t say no to a short kid in front of Joe, what would he think?  So, I gave the kid my stool and 60 seconds later he had a fish on his line!  What?!?  It’s like sitting at a casino, putting 100 quarters into a machine and the minute you get up, some little old lady puts one quarter in and hits the jack pots. AAAACKKK!

Even with all the chumming Joe did for me, we never caught anything.  But it wasn’t about catching the fish, it was the zen in the art of trying to catch the fish.

Of course after we went out and I had sushi, which we pretended was our ‘catch of the day’ and might I say it was a good catch.  Joe even had the waiter laughing.  He just felt like the kind of guy I would have hung out with in high school. He’s fun, easy going, and very easy to be around. I also like that he volunteers overseas every year and picks up trash so it won’t go into the ocean where the sea turtles might eat it (I was even conscious of the plastic wrapper on the ground by the end of our date, and put it in the trash). And our timing was perfect, because just as we finished our food, we saw clouds that looked like nuclear fallout coming towards us. To the South the sky was beautiful. From the North was coming a raging storm, so we got out of there as he had made an hour trip South to meet me, and it didn’t look like he was going to have a pleasant drive home.

When it was time to say good bye he gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, from which, my dear readers, comes my next question for you…

What are your thoughts on first date kisses? As you know I had the “inappropriate kiss” on my Couples Retreat Date (#4)  and the “stolen kiss” on my Kingpin Date (#3) but other than that, it’s been pretty split between the hug/kiss on the cheek and the straight on kiss on the lips.

Does a guy kissing you on the lips vs the cheek say something about him? I guess what I want to know from the guys out there is, if there is some type of etiquette you go by or significance in your decision? Girls, do you prefer one over the other and why?  Would love your opinion in the comments below…

ps.. I do listen to your comments and I’m going out for date #3 with Happy. Thanks for your advice.