November 28, 2019 1:00pm
I hate the people that go away in the winter and share pictures of their family on the beach with a tan while I was on my sofa bundled up on a cold day. It is no secret that I hate the cold and I am miserable in any type of weather lower than 65 degrees. This year I got to be the person I hate and I did not hesitate to share my amazing Thanksgiving spent on the beach with great people.
Our ship docked in Nassau, Bahamas on the morning of Thanksgiving and I could not wait to make it to the beach! The 12 of us piled in to a van, told the driver to take us to Paradise and that is exactly where we ended up. Upon arrival there was a banana boat ride to a remote snorkeling location and a set up of 12 chairs and one umbrella for JD that had been arranged by the master negotiator, Mr. Ronald Banafato. Side note, the fact that the rope snapped towing the banana behind the boat and then the captain of the boat crashed into the banana almost injuring all on board is neither here nor there. For these reasons Ronnie’s negotiation tactics are still under review.
While the crew was on their snorkeling trip I remained on the beach with the rest of the adults to soak up some rays. John was napping comfortably under his umbrella in his own row behind us since none of us wanted to be shaded by his 8′ picnic table umbrella.
When the rest of the crew got back I woke up from a short nap and noticed that Dad’s chair was empty and there was a woman sitting in her own chair right next to his illegally stealing the shade from his rented $25 umbrella. Very confused thinking that I was looking at the wrong chair I get up and turn to Mom and go, “Where is Dad?” She quickly looks back and in a panic responds, “I don’t know!” This woman seeing our concern and confusion speaks up and goes, “He went for a walk down the beach about 10 minutes ago.” Um, what?
Mom and I get up and look down the beach and sure enough, there he is about 200 yards away on a romantic stroll all by himself. This woman must have been just as concerned as we were that he was just randomly walking by himself down the beach and kept an eye on him. All of this was unfolding behind us while we were watching the waves and telling stories with no idea our 76 year old child had wondered off.
Just about 5 minutes later Dad appears back at our camp and Mom and I lose it. Mom yells at him that if he is going somewhere he needs to tell us and should not go alone. He then responds very matter-of-factly, “I went for a walk.” Well hello! Yes now we know that now! Totally unphased of our extreme concern he goes back to his lounge chair next to his Bahama Mama Babysitter and snoozes for another few minutes before we packed up and went back to the ship.
Tradition has it that most families go around and tell each other what they are thankful for at the Thanksgiving dinner table. This year I am thankful for the Paradise Beach, my jealous social media photo, and John’s Bahama Mama Babysitter. We are currently accepting nanny applications for John on our next family vacation since clearly 11 of us are not enough to handle him. Inquiry within.
