It was an ordinary day. Sitting in the family room with my wife Carol talking about all the funny things that have happened to us during our many years of traveling. Most of the events have happened during vacations in the Caribbean, but a few events are from travels to Hawaii as well as travel to the Chesapeake Bay area. Some of the stories I have written about in the past, but thought I should include them since they are part of the many hilarious misadventures that have been part of our travel lives.
1. While on St. Martin, I made a visit to an old friend, Bernadine, who took in stray dogs and cats. I was delivering a few bags of dog food to her. After I delivered the food, she asked me if I could take her to the vet with one of her dogs so I agreed. After the visit to the vet, on the opposite side of the island, she asked if I could stop at the grocery store while she shopped. OK! Then on the way home she asked if I could take her back to her house to get some papers and drive her to the Police Station. Did that! But, when she asked if I could wait outside the Police Station for her...and then told me it would only be an hour, I declined...telling her my wife was expecting me back at our rental...over an hour or more ago!
2. On another trip to the island of St Martin, we rented a room at a waterfront hotel on Orient Beach. Somehow I turned on the wrong switch in the bathroom and all the lights went off in the room. Went to the office and they came back with me. Couldn't find out what was wrong and we had to move to another room. Shortly after we had gone to bed they called and said I had blown a fuse and we could now go back to our room. Packed everything up and went back to our room. Stayed in bed an extra hour or so the next morning.
3. While on the island of Turks & Caicos, we stopped at a gas station to ask directions. Standing near the gas station was a woman with a young child. We asked if she could give us directions to a specific location and before we knew what had happened, she opened the back door and she and the child hopped in the back seat with my wife Carol and our traveling friend Sue. Luckily for her, we were going to the exact location where she and her child were going. Kept giving us directions until we reached our the destination and we all hopped out of the car.
4. On a beautiful day on the island of Turks & Caicos, we decided to take a self-guided tour of the island. When we took a turn in the road we saw a restaurant along the road with two elder gentlemen sitting on the front porch. Stopped to ask for ideas for our tour and enjoyed a very nice talk with the gentlemen. We asked where we might be able to see some of the flamingos that the island is famous for and which is also the national bird of the island. They told us that at one time the islanders used to eat the flamingos, but after realizing that tourists came to the island to see the flamingos, they decided to stop eating them.
5. After a long day of traveling, Carol and I, along with traveling friends Jere and Sue arrived at our destination on Barbados. We found our hotel where we had planned to stay and decided it was time to eat. Walked a few blocks and found a place where we could pick our meal from the enclosed counter in a small restaurant/store. Our meals were heated and we went to the front porch and sat down with our meals. When we had just about finished eating most of what was on our plates, a gentleman walked down the street, saw us sitting at the table and was soon standing next to us asking how we liked our meal. As he pointed at our food, he began to eat what was left over on our plates. We all assumed it wasn't the first time he did this!
6. While on a cruise, we traveled down the coast of California and eventually arrived at the west end of the Panama Canal. After crossing through the canal to the east side, we traveled to the island of Aruba for an evening. While on the island Carol, Sue, Jere and I decided to take a tour of the island. Found a fellow that had a brightly painted bus that seemed like it would be fun to travel in for our tour. Most tourists on the bus where in their late 60s, including the four of us. As the bus began to move forward, the speakers in the roof of the bus began to play the song "Born to be Wild". All on board, who were mostly our age, had a great time singing along. Can only imagine what those who we passed must have thought.
7. On a vist to St. Martin, Carol and I rented a second floor apartment near Orient Beach. Beautiful place with a great view of the Bay in front of us. The next morning when we opened the front door we were greeted with our new guests for the week...3 or 4 stray cats who just thought they would come in for a visit. They visited just about every day to see what we might have to feed them. Seems that just about every place we stay on St Martin has island cats that have a sense of whom they should visit when they are hungry. Must be the odor we emit that draws them to us!
8. Close to our rental on St. Martin was a restaurant that had a beautiful pool/restaurant that looked very inviting each time we passed. Naturally had to stop one evening and were greeted by a beautiful young girl who came to take our order. She gave me one look and said,,,"You have two different colored eyes." She was very observant...but when I looked more carefully at her I too said..."And, you do also!" We had the best time talking about our eye style we shared. Not many people have two different colored eyes and to meet one an island thousands of miles from home was rather special. Since that trip we have visited other years and when we arrive, we both remember our visits from previous years.
9. While on a trip to St. Croix, we stayed at The Divi Hotel with traveling friends Jere and Sue. One day on the beach we met a couple who were there to get married. We had a great time talking with them and they ended up inviting us to attend their wedding. They saw me taking photos at the hotel and asked if I could take photos and send some to them. We all enjoyed the wedding and I made sure they had plenty of photographs. Even had a chance to hear the groom sing a song to his wife which he had written.
10. While our three children were in high school, we would take vacations along the rivers that emptied into the Chesapeake Bay. We usually traveled with friends who also had three children about the same ages as our children. One summer our daughter invited a friend to stay a few days and enjoyed waterskiing with us. At the end of one skiing trip I decided to give it a try after everyone else had gone. I placed the skis on my feet and the life jacket around me and lowered myself over the side of the boat. When I surfaced my daughter's friend yelled to me..."Mr. Woods...didn't you have glasses on when you jumped in?" Ah...yes! I wondered what that was that I felt going down my leg. Figured it was a fish, but it was my prescription glasses. After my skiing was over, I borrowed my friend Gary's prescription sun glasses, that were close to my prescription, and headed back to Lancaster, PA to get a new pair of glasses so I could see to drive home after vacation. Never went skiing after that!
11. It was the year before that both our families traveled to a different location along the Chesapeake for a week of vacation when our youngest son thought he was bitten by a poisonous snake. He had found a few puncture marks on his arm after we had found a very large snake wrapped around the outboard motor of the boat we were using. Tad reasoned he must have been bitten by the snake and began to worry about it. We found there was no doctor nearby, but there was a vet. We drove to the nearby vet's office and asked if the marks were a snake bite. He said he wasn't sure, but if it was a local snake, it wouldn't be poisonous.
Well, we have had our share of best times while on vacation during our married life. To go with all the fun were some of the most unusual times that can be had while on vacation. Have you too had the same thing happen to you? I'm sure you must, since we can't be the only family that has funny things happen on vacation. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment