Or: Of Friends, Sunset, Stars, Beach, Deer, Beer & Gator
I went to Fripp Island this past weekend with a bunch of girls from my Bunco group. (I wrote about them a couple of other times, like here and here.) They go to a beach house on Fripp for Mother’s Day every year. Can you think of a better Mother’s Day gift? Neither can I.
This was the first year I went, and while i did not feel 100%, and I didn’t get to go the whole four nights, and I did get my first speeding ticket since 1988 (I know the year, because I told the cop i hadn’t gotten a speeding ticket since i was sixteen, and he said, YOU WERE SIXTEEN IN 1988?! and I wasn’t sure whether he thought i was lying or he thought I was hot. I also know because I remember that Pierce, Mark, and Lisa were all with me at the time, and we were at the lake house. Side note: Mom and dad, what were you thinking sending the four of us off in a car together? Are you nuts?)
What was I talking about?
Oh, yeah. Bunco Mom’s trip. It was a blast. Megan hosted and the house is awesome and didn’t feel crowded at all, even with over ten people there.
When we got there, I needed a drink. (see aforementioned ticket.) So, i put my stuff down, poured a margarita and the rest is history!
It rained all day Friday, so it was really chilly on the beach, even before sunset. We took our drinks hopped in the golf cart (do you know how much i love golf carts?) and headed to the beach. Where we proceeded to drink and talk and be chilly. Then we headed back to the house and peed, before heading out to see the sunset, which is kinda their tradition, as I understand it. (You know me, pour me a drink and put me on a golf cart and say you’re taking me to the end of the island to watch the sunset, and I am in, even if you are a serial killer.)
Here’s some of us with the golf cart waiting on the sunset.
Emily, Jenn, Robin, Megan, and Moi
Here’s Megan, the hostess with the mostess.
Megan
And me being a little goofy. (Margaritas, duh.)
I can't tell you what Megan said that made my face do that.
And then finally the sunset.
One of two amazing sunsets I saw while on Fripp.
So, after the sunset, we went back to the house to have dinner. Dinners with friends are so much more enjoyable than dinners with my kids. And then, it also always tastes better when someone else cooks it. (Learned that from my wise Mama.)
After that, i think we headed back out in the golf carts to see the stars on the dark end of the island (amazing) and more importantly, to play Deer Beer. It goes like this: See a deer, sip your beer. See a male deer, take two drinks. See a gator, finish your beer and run like hell! I totally enjoyed the golf cart tour and the company, and the stars and was not even disappointed at a dearth of deer and gator. There is no feeling like looking up at the stars from an unlit spot. I love it. Even if you can’t see the gators lurking.
After that, it was back to the porch for some late night Apples to Apples action. Evidently, Lucy feels I am “too literal” in my apples to apples interpretations. This is funny, because before we quit due to drunkenness and exhaustion, one of us had more green cards, and it wasn’t Lucy.
In the mornings, coffee on the porch. (Perhaps my single most favoritest activity in the world.)
Then, off to the beach! I had only one day there and it is very important to maximize beach time. Sunscreen at the beach is tres importante, aussi. So is champagne.
That’s Megan applying sunscreen to her champagne-drinking sister, Kristen. Kristen, the only non-mom in attendance, is moving to Bahrain and plans to marry a Bahraini Sheik, and we are all invited to the wedding.
Lucy might have been a little overzealous with the sunscreen, but it was cute.
So, after a whole day on the beach, wherein we drank and ate our weight in alcohol and Spicy Thai Kettle Chips, all the while solving all the problems of the world, and looking at every People Magazine written since February, we headed in for showers and the sunset viewing.
Here is Lucy driving the limo cart with Stacey, Monica and . . Ashley. Hard to see. All you need to know is that it was the slowest golf cart in all of God’s Creation (God loves golf!) and it had nothing to do with being weighted down by a full cooler.
On the way, we ran across this big guy. Picture doesn’t do it justice, but if I were to have lain down next to him, he would still have a good foot on me. I thought the picture was funny, because I was still in the golf cart and when he came across the pond at these girls, it would be all “objects in viewfinder are closer than they appear” and i would have the gator dinner on camera, and then I would floor it, because I am a coward. Also, out of view are the family of three deer about 20 feet away from him.
The sunset thing is not a bad idea: Spending every night taking a moment to note the passing of day into night, the sun disappearing behind the horizon so quickly, just a symbol of our fleeting time on this earth. . . What? No, i don’t do that anymore.
Mostly, I stand around and take pictures of people at sunset because it makes me look like a better photographer than i am. Like Stacey. Windblown Stacey.
Or Megan and Monica. Aren’t they just glowing?
Lucy, Jenn, and Ashley. . .
Or the boardwalk from which we watched the sun set.
And a final sunset, because that is my current happy place.
Oh, and right before we left, we heard a Whippoorwill. I never hear those at home.
I had a great time and can’t wait to go again. (Assuming i am invited, as I didn’t break anything.) It was so awesome to get away for a while, and actually be able to relax. Also, Beer. And Beach. And wonderful conversation.
Oh, and I had a great drive back, too, with Lucy. We ate oysters on the way out of town, because that’s what you do. Good times!
Life really is just better at the beach, especially if you’re with friends, sipping a cold one, having someone drive your lazy ass around seeing the view from the golf cart.
