My husband the boat captain

I wish I could load my photos. However, while JB has gotten the photos up on my desktop, for some reason, I can't get them to load. If I could load my photos I would show you JB and I nearly a half mile from the shore of the local bay (that has an Indian name something like Chatohochtocheeke), standing on a sandbar in the most amazingly blue water I have ever seen.

How did I get there?

Oh, well, I got there because my husband JB the goat-loving/physician/bird-watching/Chef is now a certified boat captain!

Here's the moment I, too, grew to know this.

Picture it:

Driving in our tiny red rented neon on the way back from Fort Walton Beach Airport late on Thursday night.

Husband turns to wife: "Do you like boats?"
Wife: "Yes."
Husband: "Do your parents like boats?"
Wife: "I think so."
Husband: "Want to go out on a boat with your parents when they get here tomorrow?"
Wife: "That sounds nice."
Husband: "Cool."
Wife: "How would we do that?"
Husband: "We would rent a boat."
Wife: "From where?"
Husband: "From the Outdoor Recreational Rentals on base."
Wife: "Cool."
Husband: "Yeah. Isn't it?"
Wife: "Who will drive this rented boat?"
Husband: "I will"
Wife: "Who will?"
Husband: "I will."
Wife: "You will?"
Husband: "Yes."
Wife: "How?"
Husband: "I have a small craft boat license."
Wife: "How?"
Husband: "I took a test."
Wife: "When?"
Husband: "A few days back."
Wife: "Did you pass?"
Husband: "Of course."
Wife: "Did you study?"
Husband: "No."
Wife: (Remembers that she failed a driving test after driving for ten years and studying for the test prior to taking it). "Geeeeez."
Husband: "Cool, huh?"
Wife: (Shocked to believe that her husband, on top of wanting to be a farmer and a doctor and a chef and a diver and a pilot, now also can drive boats.)
Husband: "So you want to go tomorrow?"
Wife: "Sure."

That conversation led to the four of us renting a boat. They were out of the boats JB wanted to get so we opted for a Boston Whaler and headed off to the blue waters of Destin on a boat! Getting sun. Wind in our faces! Ninety-eight degrees beaming down.

Once there, we realized that hundreds of yards from shore, all the boats were docked and people were swimming and snorkeling. We looked into the light blue water (that I thought only existed in places with names like Tahiti and Cancun), realized that the ground was right below us, and immediately anchored our little boat. Then me and our captain jumped in! It was waist deep and absolutely gorgeous. It was truly a memory I will not quickly lose. I wish everyone of you could have been there with us.

Prior to going out on the water, JB and I took a three mile run while my mom walked. After the boat ride we finished off an already fabulous afternoon by making a sonic run. People: Have I told you how good a cherry limeade is? I mean, those of you who out there who have had a cherry limeade, am I not telling you the God's-honest-truth here?

I also realized that it took me, oh, about 36 hours, to immediately return to my Florida roots, wearing my bathing suit top and cabana skirt to Sonic with flip-flops! Only in Florida folks. Could you picture that in Rochester, Minnesota?

I did realize that if we were to move to Florida, there is one major issue I would have to deal with. That issue is leg shaving. This would have to be done, well, even during the winter. (Gasp!) Now don't pretend my dear Polar North compadres, like you don't know what I am talking about. Rachel, Tara, Lesley, help me out here! You know as well as I do that it is easy to skip shaving when you realize that no member of public society has seen your legs in nearly three months, and if they did see them, they'd be blinded by that light.

Okay, well shoot. Tara's half Indian. Lesley is Asian. Rachel, do your legs at least get a little white? Ebby? Kristen? Any of my completely Caucasian friends? You feel my pain here right? Moving to Fort Lauderdale would completely take a chunk of my day in shaving my legs alone.

Okay, all joking aside: did I tell you they have a Chick Fil' A here? Susie was it you I heard singing praises of the Chick Fil' A? Oh man! I miss that place. Even in Kentucky we had a Chick Fil' A.

All right, off to play a game of spades with my parents and then hit a fabulous seafood restaurant. Seafood. Geesh. Rachel you may be right. I think this town is brain-washing me with things I absolutely love. Red Lobster isn't quit the same thing as "the Crab Trap."

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Note: Shortly after posting this blog I figured out how to load my photos. Okay, actually JB figured it out. But here are some of the photos from Florida.

This was actually yesterday. We were lying on our stomaches on the beach, looked up, and these birds were inching their way toward us.

Here is our crew shortly before launching.

Here is the blue water I am talking about. You can see where the sandbar starts in this photo.

Here is JB, I mean, Wendi in the water. You can see how far we are from shore!

Wendi and the boat captain!

Okay, so while I figured out how to load photos on this new computer, I can't change the photo order so this photo is actually prior to leaving the dock. "Oh captain, my captain!"

Again, my order is lacking. This is yesterday when we saw the birds. The sand in Destin is so white!