And The Rains Came

The day promised hot and bright and humid - that's the way the morning started so why shouldn't the day follow? Because this is South Florida, that's why. To be in Florida means you're gonna get wet, just you wait. But we had a boat ride booked for the afternoon so we wiled away the time at the pool until it was time to take care of some business - both vacation- related and vacation-unrelated - and make sure the girls were sea- worthy.

We made it to the marina on time, boarded the boat and cast- off. Our captain's instructions included storm-related procedures and the ominous clouds over the Florida mainland made it so that we'd likely implement them. We arrived after a 30 minute boat ride over a calm sea and did some shell searching for about 45 minutes before being called back to the boat. The winds had picked up, the clouds were pressing closer, and Pine Island had disappeared. The ride back was entirely different, like the opening credits of Dangerous Catch - okay maybe an exaggeration, buy it was decidedly rougher. We made it back before the skies broke open. Extra bonus: we got a full refund. I would have been willing to pay half just for the boat ride alone.

We grabbed a late afternoon bite at PJ Otters before heading back to the room. The girls stared forlornly at the waves and the rain. Radar on TV showed this was from the outer bands of the hurricane in Texas and no let up in sight but it finally did let up and people returned to the beach and so did the girls, finally.

Afterwards, it was ice cream at the wonderful Pinochio's. Half the island had gotten there before us but none of them enjoyed their ice cream as much as we did.