Cabo San Lucas Vacation: January 6-21, 2001
This was no ordinary vacation. This was Ed's idea of how to prepare for a major surgery, as well as a way to show some friends and family a great time. Around the first of the year Ed got the word that his doctors wanted to cut a couple of large tumors out. He knew he didn't want to sit around dreading it till the end of January. He'd had a similar surgery the previous year, and it had taken him months to recover. So this time he decided to do a super deluxe Cabo trip, and invite some friends and family to go along. Ed had gone to Cabo with his buddy Ward just a month previously. They had caught marlin and tuna and had a blast. For the encore, Ed rented two beautiful villas at the wold famous Hotel Cabo San Lucas. (A 3-bedroom villa for the first group and a 5-bedroom villa for the second group). He paid for everyone's lodging and covered many other expenses including drinks and fabulous meals. Everything was first class.

For Ed, the Cabo vacation was a lot more fun than waiting around home for the operation. And the big bonus was Ed's incredibly quick recovery from the operation. Three days after surgery Ed checked out of the hospital! He was healed up in less than a month, and ready to continue his chemotherapy with a much needed boost to his spirits, and his body.

For the friends and family members that got to go, the Cabo vacation was simply incredible. What made it extra special was knowing that we were actually helping Ed by sharing this special treat with him and enjoying his generosity. He really got a kick from seeing how much fun it was for us.

Here's who went, in order of arrival: Ed and Pete went together, with Ed's travelling golden retriever Zeke, " The Greatest Dog in the World." Then Brent and Dick joined them to make the original fearsome foursome, at the 3-bedroom villa. Then we moved to the 5-bedroom villa and were joined by Jim, Maureen and Matthew Martineau. Brent and Dick left, and we were joined by John Martineau and Duncan Milne of Access to Sailing fame. Tony Martineau joined later. Ward and Cheryl Staff arrived, and finally the family of Ed's sister: Karen and Gil Martinez, and their three boys Elias, Jacob and Noah.

Each villa was a grand mini-hotel of its own, a sprawling one-story stone casa with orange tile roofs, huge living room, dining room and kitchen. The decor featured Latin-style scenic paintings and brass hanging ornaments, and colorful ceramic beaded lizards. Giant windows and glass doors offered a view across a massive stone veranda looking out over palm trees, white beach and blue Pacific. The 5--bedroom had it's own jacuzzi which got lots of use.

For some of us, it took a couple days to really get into full vacation mode, and to get comfortable with the idea of living like kings. It’s funny to discover that luxury and free time can be a be a bit unsettling when you’re not used to it. But we got over that, and quickly settled settled into a sort of dreamy devil-may-care attitude that lasted the whole trip. It was funny to see the other guests arrive and go through the same “decompression” process, as the stresses of daily life gave way to the real fantasy.

Cabo is world famous for it's fishing, and we were not to be disappointed. Ed, Pete, Brent, Duncan, Gil and Tony caught marlins. John hooked up and fought an absolute monster marlin that got away. Matthew, Brent and Elias caught Dorado (Mahi Mahi), and Jacob caught a big fish too. All the fish fought like heroes, especially the marlins. You'll see their high flying acts. Some were thrown back, some were given to the fishermen to eat. We ate the dorados, and man were they delicious. John prepared them like a pro.

When we weren't fishing we mostly relaxed on the giant villa patio lounge chairs and hammocks. This was our main daytime activity, but we also played on the beach, at the hotel pool and tennis courts. We did sailing, jetskiing, ATV riding on sand dunes. We took Zeke for walks and runs around the grounds. We swam with Zeke and snorkeled in the clear blue Pacific, where exotic fish abounded in a wild array of colors. We played volleyball with a group doing a photo shoot for Mervyn's. They recruited Zeke to play in the surf with the beautiful swim suit models.

We cruised around town in the daytime, picking up souvenirs including our soon-to-be famous Zoro hats. In the evenings we ate, drank and danced. Lots of eating. Lots of drinking. Lots of dancing.

First we feasted at the restaurant hotel. Warm evening breeze, moonlit ocean view, mariachi musicians complete with violins to serenade us. We savored the sea bass and shrimp, just getting into the flow of “living large.” Later, we really went nuts, dining at the two famous "Trailer Park" restaurants, Faro Viejo and La Golondrina. Ed just ordered everything on the menu and we ate like kings. Lobster, crab, chicken, burritos, salads, soups, you name it. We came, we saw, we scarfed.

At The Gigling Marlin we did jello shots with tequila in them.We met a kid named Dino who blew us away with his intuitive mind and kind heart. Ed created quite a sensation with the locals who had never seen anyone 6'8" tall before. We watched a street artist make surreal airbrush art. At Nowhere Bar, on a dare from Dick and Brent, Pete got up on a table and danced.

Squid Roe became our favorite dance spot , and we were highly visible. On more than one occasion people recognized us in the streets the next day and shouted, "Hey, it's the Squid Roe Dancers!" Ed the dancing giant, Duncan dancing wheelies and spins in his wheelchair, Pete "The Robe" in Dick's multi-colored bathrobe, Zoro hat and sunglasses. And then John doing, hand stands and spinning beer glasses.

All in all, the Cabo trip was a major hit. The greatest times of all were just hanging out with Ed, enjoying each other and "living large", thanks to Ed.