If I can be honest for a moment, sometimes out here in our watery wonderland, we can get a little separated from what’s going on in the world. And to be completely honest… we kind of like it that way.
Wedding planning had been our “world” in the month of August, and there was pretty much no time for anything else like solar eclipses, or worrying about who’s nuking who.
However, it was good to take a break from the typical day-to-day grind we were sucked into for some good ole family time.
Welcome to Florida!
This was my mother’s first time coming to the state to visit us, and it was her husband (Ward) and my nephew (Warren)’s first time in Florida period. Tiff and I enjoy when visitors come to town, especially because we get to act like we are on vacation ourselves as we procrastinate from what we actually should be getting done.
Aside from it being 90 degrees everyday with a “feel like” temperature of over 100, Summertime in Southwest Florida is nice and quiet, especially at the marina since all of the snowbirds are enjoying their homes up north, and the college kids are home for the summer.
My family felt the heat within seconds of exiting the airport and hopping in my car. It didn’t help that they were dressed in jeans and heavy t-shirts like they weren’t intending on coming to “the sunshine state,” that day or something.
First thing’s first, we grabbed a quick bite to eat from Publix (the local grocery store of the south), before showing them the marina where we lived. Exiting the store, I saw a group of Publix employees standing around the entrance, looking at the sky. I thought they were zombified or something, before I realized the solar eclipse was happening that day.
After a short walk from Publix to the Marina (yes, we have a grocery store in our “front yard”) we found the marina staff using a welder’s mask to view the eclipse, which worked surprisingly well.
Once Tiff got off work, she joined us for an intense game of shuffleboard, where none of us knew what we were actually doing. I think you have to be over 60 to be good at shuffleboard, hence why it’s such a big “sport” here in Southwest Florida.
We relaxed that evening before meeting up with Ward’s sister, Karen, and her husband, Mike, for dinner at the Beached Whale.
Bucket List of Water
The next day we were checking a few things off of everyone’s bucket list. It was my mother’s, warren’s, and Karen’s first time being on a jet ski, and being out on the open water. Warren and I rode the jet ski from our marina to their beachfront hotel, where we met everyone at the beach for the day.
I took it easy with my mother and Karen on the ski, but Warren on the other hand, was taken for a wild ride with sharp turns and quick take-offs. He thought we were doing like 100mph, but was shocked when he learned it was only 55mph.
I let him bring us back to the boat to get ready for dinner. It looked like I was running a rental operation, so as I dropped Karen off, one guy came up and asked me how much. A few minutes after I turned him away, I thought, “Shoot… I could’ve made an easy $50 dollars!”
Jamaican-Me-Crazy
Later that evening, we hosted everyone on board the boat for dinner, and Mike brought the main course. It was his family’s signature jerk chicken recipe straight from Jamaica, and everyone loved it.
Warren did some fishing from the boat, and I taught him a few pointers just like my grandfather had taught me when I was his age.
As we said our good-byes for the evening, I heard a scream and a splash. 😳
When I looked outside, I saw legs in the air… and just like that, we had the first person overboard on the Wiffersnapper! Well not quite, Karen just missed her step onto the dock, and soaked her leg a bit. Luckily Ward and Mike were there to catch her.
Back Onboard
Believe it or not, that didn’t keep her off of boats for the remainder of the trip, because the next day we were back on the water. This time we were on a Hurricane deckboat we checked out from my boat club.
We rode up to Captiva and the upper islands, and dodged a few afternoon rain clouds on the way back in true Summertime Florida fashion.
All in all, everyone had a great visit and a good taste of Southwest Florida. So much so, in fact, that I think we officially convinced our first set of parents to relocate here in the next few years! One down, three more sets of parents to go.
But wait there’s more…
Family Visit #2
The fun didn’t stop with one family visit in August! Tiff’s mom and stepdad came down for a short visit the following weekend and stayed on board the Wiffersnapper. Her mom had stayed with us back in January, and until Warren’s recent visit, she had been our only overnight guest.
With all of our AC problems, we were worried the Wiffersnapper would be unsuitable for guests, but since her folks are into boating, and are actually looking for a sailboat to call “home” themselves, we knew they’d be alright. After all, it’s a great look at the good AND the bad that comes with living aboard.
One of the biggest reasons for their visit was actually for Tiff’s mom to pass down her own wedding dress for Tiff to try on. Of course I was not allowed in any part of this, since apparently the groom can’t see the bride’s dress before the wedding. So to make it even, I said that she wouldn’t be allowed to see my tux before the big day either.
It was a short but sweet visit. We got to eat at a new restaurant we had been wanting to try, and we even stumbled upon a water spout as we were heading to dinner.
Her folks got to check out our wedding venue before they left, and her mom gave us a few wedding planning gifts to help get us back in the spirit of planning.
We both agree that some family time was exactly what we needed to get our minds off of the real world for a bit… Besides, we had no idea what September had in store for us.
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