On A Boat

If you're in the greater South Florida area and haven't yet made it to Peanut Island... for the love of over-advertised sporting goods, JUST DO IT.  

Here's a good time to introduce Jenn: my dear friend and roommate, 3rd year med student, Chinese food connousieur, lasagna-maker extraordinaire, beer drinker, and UF Gator Girl who has been trying to get Gannon and me to Peanut Island for years.  Thank the island gods Gannon did not have to work this weekend.  We went Sunday.  

We drove to Jenn's sister, Melissa's, home in West Palm and met up with her thoroughly entertaining and endearingly crass, husband, Carl, heart-meltingly adorable daughter, C.C., and their lovable canine bulldozer, Hank.  Around noon, SuperMom Melissa and Captain Carl (who, by the way, win at life and are as generous as their daughter is precious, turning me into an 8-track of Thank You's) loaded us, the baby, and the food onto their snazzy new pontoon boat* and less than 20 mins later we anchored on Peanut Island.  It was cloudy and gray with just a tease of drizzle, but I had heard magical things about Peanut Island from Jenn, so by the time we arrived I was ready for a world of relaxation and a bucketfull of crazypeople (one word) watching.  That's pretty much what I got. 

Peanut Island is a rectangular-shaped land mass covered with tropical foliage and surrounded with sand bars, around which people anchor their boats, BBQ and meander in the knee high tides all day, play loud, tacky music, and drink until everyone within eye shot is attractive and their best friend.  Captain Carl estimated just under 400 boats anchored at the 79-acre island on Sunday, and some of his family docked next to us.  Lucky for us, and my fiancee's incessant need for speed, they brought a pair of jetskis which they happily shared along with their hotdogs, burgers, beer, and Doritos.  (Cue: thank you 8-track.)  They win the award for naming their boat my new favorite boat name: "Shangri`la."  Others had emblazed on them names like Dos Cojones and Ship Faced... and about half of them should have been called "Hot Mess."  Needless to say, these people just oozed class.   

Before the day ended, the clouds vanished.  We basked in the naked sun, our tummies full.  Our friend and proficient photog, Matthew - whose snapping skills led me to deem him "The Miracle Worker" - scored some expert shots, Jenn earned a bruise after launching off a jetski, Gannon velcro-ed himself to the baby between launching people off the jetskis, and I learned to look out for sea urchins (sneaky spiky stinkers!).  It was nothing less than a blast.  

Thanks again to the SuperMom Melissa and Captain Carl for the memorable and fully saturated Memorial Day Weekend Experience!  

And of course, thank you to Jenn for getting us out there.  :)

*For a masterfully told and completely unrelated pontoon boat story, check out Garrison Keillor's, "Pontoon."