#23- Taking Vancouver by Storm

It was Wednesday evening, three days into our trip to Vancouver, and Trav had just returned to the hotel room after his 9^th interview. He was supposed to be done for the evening but when the phone rang in the room, I knew that wouldn’t be the case. The caller was the GM of the hotel and he wanted to know if Trav could meet him on the roof to have drinks. We knew at that moment that more than cocktails were now on the table.

I paced the hotel room as my anxious gut wouldn’t allow me to sit. When Trav returned an hour later, he confirmed our suspicions. They loved him (of course!) and were extending an offer the next morning. The first thing I felt was pride. Of course they loved Trav, who didn’t!? He had endured grueling interviews for days and so far, everything about this trip had paid off. The first thing Trav felt was relief. The second thing we both felt was hunger. We headed to 'World Famous' Vijs but we weren’t exactly in the mood to celebrate. We had no idea what we were going to do.

My mind was a tangled mess. I couldn’t focus with everything that was swirling around in my head. I lost my room key, almost left my phone on the bus, and couldn’t form complete sentences. Canada?? Really?? This was overwhelming. We waited the standard hour for arguably the best restaurant in Vancouver and recapped our trip over jackfruit and red curry venison.

On the first day, we had arrived to Vancouver around noon and Trav had 2p meetings in the hotel. Things were off to a bad start when we were told that a room wouldn’t be ready until 4p. Since Trav needed to shower and change, and the health club didn’t seem to be a suitable option, we started to wonder if this trip was a bad idea. However, they found us a room and Trav got to his meetings just fine. Even though I was exhausted from being up at 3a for our flight, I hit the ground running. I took a map from the front desk and for the next four hours, I explored Vancouver on foot. My first stop was Robson Street since the hotel was Downtown. While walking and checking the sights, I looked to my right and saw water so I headed to the harbor. Coal Harbour is beautiful. The backdrop of the mountains, with the intense greenery of Stanley Park, is absolutely breathtaking. When the first sea planes crossed the horizon, I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Beauty like Vancouver can simply not be explained. I’ve never seen anything like it. I immediately spotted a seal playing in the harbor and watched it swim playfully through the boats that were returning with their fresh catches. Like dogs, the seals begged for scraps. I smiled ear to ear. I had only been in Vancouver for an hour.

When I first moved to Manhattan on 55^th and 6^th, I made it a point to escape into Central Park every day. I would get lost in its silence for hours, so naturally I gravitated to Stanley Park which takes up the entire northern tip of downtown. Hypnotized by its gorgeous greenery, I was surprised when the skies opened up and the expansive English bay was revealed. I had made it to Second Beach. I walked along the Sea Wall to English Bay Beach, after dipping my toes in the cold & crisp water. By the time I made it to the Art Installation 'A-Maze-ing Laughter', Trav let me know that he was done with interviews, and hungry. I gave him directions to meet me back in Coal Harbour. I walked back through the West End of Downtown, admiring the shops and adorable outdoor eateries along the way. I met Trav at a restaurant called Carderos. While sitting over the still water with the mountains as our backdrop, we drank Granville Island Pale Ale and ate coconut curry mussels. I told him I wanted to live in Coal Harbour. We quickly paid the bill, as reality set in, we were late for our fantasy football draft…

On day two Trav was up and out early for the second round of interviews. I was a little slower to rise as the incredible cocktails from the previous night’s dinner at Wildebeast were taking their toll. I was still in the room when Trav returned around 11am, shaky from too many cups of coffee, and we made a plan to again explore the city. We needed to get a handle on public transportation so we decided to try the bus. Needing exact change, Canadian, we had to exchange our money at the bank. May, the teller was incredibly friendly. I thought it was nice when she spent 15 minutes, unsolicited, circling everything she could think of on our map. But when she started to go over all of the different colors that Canadian currency comes in, I wondered if there was such thing as “too friendly”… We took the bus to Kitsilano. The waiter from the previous evening lived in “Kits” and I knew it was somewhere I wanted to check out after reading it has the “best beaches in the world”. Our feet hit the sand of Kitsilano immediately and yes, it is truly a beautiful beach. It’s definitely different than beaches I’ve come to love in Florida. The shores are rocky and the sand is landscaped with large logs. Yes, logs that people eat on, sit on, and use as back rests. It just happened to be the hottest day of the year in Vancouver and every log was taken. I didn’t notice a single beach chair so maybe they were on to something. Just as breathtaking as the view of the horizon is Kitsilano’s salt water pool, right along the beach. The longest pool in Canada is stunning. Another day of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. We made our way through the Point Grey neighborhood as we headed west to Jericho beach. Another gorgeous beach surrounded by miles of endless forest. After my fourth beach, I was content that there would be enough salt in this type of life.

We chatted over street tacos at Browns Social House on trendy West 4^th . As I fell in-love with the local Amber Ale, I told Travis I wanted to live in Kitsilano.

That night we dined in the hotel, exhausted from walking miles and miles exploring. The salmon was divine and so was the raspberry caviar sent over by the Chef who had recognized Travis. Vancouver was seriously pulling out all of the stops.

On Wednesday morning Travis had another interview and was up and out by 8am. I was ready when he returned an hour later and again, we took to the city streets. We took the sea bus across False Creek to Granville Island. Not even a 5 minute ride, this island was absolutely adorable. Home to the famous Granville Public Market, cute cafes and restaurants-all with water views- and fantastic little shops. Mesmerized by the market that seemed to have everything, we wandered the streets until we felt we had conquered the island. We then took the sea bus to Olympic Village. Since being home to the Winter Olympics in 2010, this area has done an incredible transformation. Gorgeous high rises lined the water front. When I spotted the Craft Beer Market on Salt Street, I told Travis I wanted to live in Olympic Village.


Now, here we were at Vijs trying to decide our fate. The coconut water in my vodka was as cloudy as my thoughts. There was no doubt that Vancouver is high on the list of the most beautiful places I had ever been. Could that beauty be enough to blind us from the high costs in Vancouver and the frequent rain? I couldn’t get those factors out of my head. Even as the voices of Granville Street told me we were home.

While sitting in the airport yesterday morning, the Offer Letter came through. We’re so grateful to have such an incredible opportunity offered to us and I’m so proud of Travis for solidifying this option for our family. Honestly, we have absolutely no idea what we’re going to do. We have until Tuesday to turn the page and choose our own adventure…

Read Next: #24- End of an Era, Sept 12, 2014

#22 What the Canuck?

As with all of God's plans of late, our next chapter started with a random phone call. It was late June, our gloomiest month and Trav had just started the laborious job search. It had been a crazy week already, full of conversations with large & small hotel groups and every time Trav answered a call from an unknown number, we wondered if it would reveal our new destination. We were just beginning to list alternate places to live when another random number appeared on Trav's cell. He took the call and it was the National VP for a widely-known hotel brand. He confessed that he had no idea how Travis's resume had wound up on his desk as he had no specific openings to discuss, but after reading Trav's story (recapped in his most recent work experience) the VP felt the need to reach out, in the very least, to see how he could help. The two hit it off as they discussed personal and professional goals over the course of the next hour. As the conversation closed, the VP thanked Trav for his time and promised to be in touch with any opportunities he came across, wherever they may be.

Be careful what you wish for.

A week or so later, July had arrived, complete with its own share of problems.  It was a particularly hot evening and the grey clouds had just moved in like clock-work before sunset. We had just finished dinner and were retiring to the couch for some quality time with our DVR when Trav read aloud an email he had just received. The first line read,  "Thank you for your recent submission of application for Food & Beverage Director - Vancouver, Canada". I could list 1.6 million things that came to my mind in that very moment,  but the three choice words that decided to pass my lips were:  "What the F*&K?!" Was this a joke? Canada?! Are you kidding me? After reading further, Trav found that an application had been submitted, on his behalf, by the National VP. Travis looked at me in disbelief and said "What do I say?" and for once, I was speechless.

F-ing Canada? Are you serious? I was mad. No, I was fuming. I had been praying every second for an open door, promising to obediently follow any path revealed to us. I had been summoning faith from ridiculous depths on a daily basis, truly believing that an opportunity, just as mysterious as the Bahamas, was right around the corner, ready and waiting to answer all of our questions as to why this had happened. I couldn't swallow. The celestial pull towards Canada was palatable and I knew we weren't the ones driving this determined bus. I tried to tell myself to keep an open-mind but the thought of renaming my blog "How I became a Canadian Eh" made me want to cry.

I had never even considered Canada as a salt life replacement. Especially after recently deciding that Daytona was as far "north" as I ever wanted to live again. Not to mention, Canada would forever have a negative connotation in our household. Many years ago, Travis's family had taken a cruise that was supposed to spend a sunny week in Bermuda. Due to rough waters, they were unexpectedly re-routed to Canada! It rained the entire time, making it the worst vacation they had ever had and no one has gone back. I have heard the story 100 times and now somehow my life was on the same fateful cruise.

Vancouver and the powers that be were persistent, and like we did with the Bahamas, Trav and I kept taking each step through the newly opened door. 

Throughout the long interview process, Trav had been honest with everyone he spoke with, advising that although he hadn't actually applied for a life in Vancouver, he wasn't opposed to learning more. Just like the Bahamas, we decided to take to Google and found ourselves intrigued by what we read. We then started talking to friends and family and the curiosity continued to grow. People didn't just like Vancouver, they LOVED Vancouver. Other than Austin Texas, I had never heard such incredible enthusiasm for a single place from people who lived there. I didn't even know Vancouver had beaches, yet several of its beaches topped "top ten beaches of the world" lists. People came out of the woodwork to advise it was "the best place they have ever lived" and "the most beautiful place they had ever visited".  Huh!?

But who cares- Vancouver has rain and winters. Why, when we were exploring Florida in search of endless summers and year-round heat, were we even considering Vancouver? We asked ourselves that every day as we tried to push the Vancouver door closed gently. But the forces on the other side had other intentions.

We had been back from our Floridian adventure a week when Vancouver came knocking again. This time, a decision had to be made as Travis had made it to the final interview stages. They had given us two days time to decide if we were truly interested in the position and relocating to Vancouver. I prayed like never before for a "sign" and for two days straight, the sun didn't shine in Daytona. We had our sign.

Wednesday was "decision day" and that afternoon Trav received a follow up email asking for our decision. Trav transparently replied that we were interested, the position and the hotel brand were too good to pass up, yet, it was hard to advise definitely on relocation when we hadn't been to Vancouver before. He asked for more information, maybe possible realtors, that would help us get a better gauge on life in the Canadian city. We knew that wasn't the answer they were looking for, but all we had was honesty at this point.

Within three hours, Trav received an email from the Corporate Office's Admin Assistant with flight information for the following Tuesday. Wait. This again? We were reliving the Bahamas all over again. The flight for Travis on Tuesday was way too soon for us to get our things in order for me to attend the trip and check out Vancouver. Just like the Bahamas, we weren't going to be able to determine if the place was right for us without both being able to see it. Just like the Bahamas, the flight was out of Orlando (1.5 hours from Daytona), with a ridiculous lay over, leaving at 6:30am. So now what? I felt in that moment that it was very obvious that I had misinterpreted the "signs" and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into...

It didn't make sense for Trav to proceed with visiting Vancouver alone so, now in a precarious pickle, he again had to rely on honesty and reached out to the hotel advising on the predicament. If this would be the final rounds of interviews and they needed a decision shortly thereafter, he would need a little more time to arrange for his family to visit Vancouver at the same time, in order to be able to make a definitive decision. Within the hour, the Admin Assistant reached out with a flight for the following week and extended the visit from two days to four. Wow. We booked my ticket within minutes of confirming, and just like that, we were going to Vancouver.

Since there are three of us in this family and two of us were going to be gone for four days, Bob- for the first time since arriving to Florida, started to stress me out. Our first call was to Trav's parents. And when they said they would drive from New Jersey to hang out with Bob, there weren't enough words to describe how grateful I was. Hallelujah. The stars were certainly aligning.

That was step one. As mentioned, Bob is a beast and the condo we are living in is booby-trapped with land-mines in the form of ankle-biting dogs that make Bob go insane. That's the last thing Trav's parents needed after coming 1,000 miles to pet sit so we knew we needed a professional to walk him three times a day. I have interviewed at least 100 dog walkers for my company over the last 6 years, yet never have I interviewed a dog walker for Bob. I was completely freaking out when everyone we called advised they don't come to our part of Daytona. I had to resort to the Vista Print business card for a pet sitter in the lobby of the condo building and when she was five minutes late to meet us and Bob, I was going to lose my mind. But then, Allie showed up and thank God, she is awesome. A girl after my own heart, she walks dogs and works with Sea Turtles. God had sent us an angel. We'll see if she can handle our demon of a dog...

We had received a list of neighborhoods to check out from Vancouver's human resource department, so I started with Pinterest. I pinned for hours until my board looked like a travel magazine. I was officially excited to visit Vancouver. It didn't matter if it wasn't our end-game, we were getting the chance to see Vancouver, apparently one of the most beautiful places in the world!

I drew the worst hand-drawn map you have ever seen, to try to get a sense of where everything in Vancouver was, and I made a list of everything I wanted to see while Travis was stuck in meetings. He has interviews scheduled for four straight days so I knew it was up to me to soak up as much of the area as possible for salt life recon. I researched the top beaches and the top parks and everything a tourist and local should do in Vancouver. We made reservations on Open Table for restaurants we had read about, and reached out to realtors to see potential places to live. The more homework I did on Vancouver, the more the rain and winters seemed to slip from my mind.

We leave on Monday and I have no idea what Vancouver will bring. We have learned at this point to not have any expectations. As with this entire journey, we are just along for the ride.

Will we be singing O Canada?

Read Next, #23- Taking Vancouver by Storm, Aug 29

#21- Looking For That Loving Feeling

I had been praying for Jesus to take the wheel every moment since this whole mess started. So on the drive from Tampa back to Daytona (the shortest drive yet), I was disappointed at what I was feeling. I was confused. I thought that by leaving Daytona in search of our new salt life, that we had finally put closure to the Bahamian love lost in chapter one and were well on our way to what would be an amazing chapter two. We had just experienced two incredible weeks in three tropical new places and all we had to do was choose our own adventure. But I was numb. We had one of the best vacations we have ever had- but I didn't feel a spark, or an intense long-term connection with any one of the places we had just visited and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why.

While going through our new options on our first week back in Daytona, we found ourselves on a constant seesaw of whether to go the corporate route or carve our own path. One had paychecks & benefits and the other had risk & excitement. We had no idea what our future held. One thing that was for sure, my mornings were no longer filled with prayers of resentment and abandonment. Instead, I was so grateful for the recent Floridian experiences and was so ready for the next leg of this journey. In my heart, I could feel that things had changed. I felt convinced that we were that much closer to discovering our final destination. Everything had led to this. The whole reason we had left New York was sure to be revealed in the form of opportunity in Miami, Key West or Tampa... right?  It had to, right? Wasn't that the master plan?

And then it hit me. Chapter two had never even started. Our entire trip had still been part of a very challenging chapter one...

We had just been through the toughest break-up of our lives. While we lived and traveled through Florida, our heart was always in the Bahamas. Even when the relationship with the tropics was so obviously over. Like any painful break up, those deep wounds needed time to heal. There's never any time-frame on how long it takes to get over love lost, all I know is that with each day that passes, the pain of a broken heart lessens a little bit. We had been mourning the loss of our 9-month love affair. One that instead of a clean break, had been a very messy tear. The Bahamas and our little pink house had moved on; all while we sorted remnants of a life previously lived from a Daytona storage unit. Like a jealous ex, I was still Facebook-stalking and hadn't canceled my Google alerts. Pining over a life that could have been, we had spent the last several months void of motivation. When we left for Miami, we patted ourselves on the back for taking matters into our own hands, but the reality was that we were in no shape to replace a love as great as the Bahamas. It wasn't clear to us at the time, though Chandler from Friends would've seen it from a mile away. We were so obviously still in Phase 1 of getting over someone. We were still in our sweatpants...

It's true when people say that there are definite phases to getting "back in the saddle" after a broken heart. We had clearly spent the last few months, moping around, trapped in the "what ifs" and "how comes". And just like Chandler had traded in his sweatpants for strippers to get over a girl in Friends, we used three unique locales to get over the Bahamas. While all of them were incredible finds, they just weren't the marrying kind. 

Don't get me wrong- Miami is HOT. The kind of hot you can't wait to show off to all of your friends. It possesses a heat that sizzles and an energy that, when together, you can't imagine there's anywhere else you would rather be. Miami is the life of only the best of parties and never tires or quits when the sun rises. Always a challenge, Miami never settles down, keeping even the most confident intrigued. The euphoric glitz and glamor is easy to lose yourself in, but equally as easy to forget when you leave. However, a piece of Miami never leaves you- it's that number that you keep because you know she'll always be up to answer your call.

Key West is a beautiful, yet sophisticated, temptress. Although much more relaxed than Miami, Key West definitely knows how to have a good time. Sunset sails and quiet evenings at home are Key West's idea of a perfect evening, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, especially since we're looking to settle down. Key West believes in romance and fairy tales, complete with happy endings, and perfectly paints a picture of constant leisure. And even though she impresses everyone she meets, it doesn't take long to realize; there's just something missing.

And then there was Tampa, the one who stole my heart. Tampa is the girl next door, the one sure to win over parents and friends alike. Tampa has everything one would need, completing the perfect package. Tampa's sunny disposition made it so easy to envision a future, complete with the white picket fence, dogs and kids. Things would get serious quickly as Tampa wasn't one to mess around, clearly having a master plan of forever. Tampa's the one that when you do say good-bye, you wonder if the regret will remain forever...or at least until you meet again.

Our exploration of Florida may not have revealed the end-game to this journey, but it did help us realize that our life was going to be amazing, even without the Bahamas. Unbeknownst to us, we needed this trip to pull us out of our proverbial sweatpants and get us back in the game. When we came back to Daytona, we found that we had finally been reimbursed for the thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses this disastrous move had cost us. This signified that all ties to Trav's previous work were finally severed, for good. I knew in that moment, that we were finally ready to play.

So thank you Miami, and Key West, and Tampa for showing us that sunny skies, turquoise waters, and white sandy beaches exist in places far closer then we ever imagined.  We'll never forget you for showing us that there are definitely other fish in the sea...

Who knows what fishing we'll find in the official start of Chapter Two as we embark on a journey to the most unexpected International destination.

Read Next: #22 What the Canuck?, Aug 22

#20- Bucket-list Challenge Accepted

The rain chased us out of the Keys- so intense that we could barely see inches in front of us on the five-hour, white-knuckle, drive to Tampa. Dropping into Tampa over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans over the Tampa Bay, was exhilarating. The view was amazing, and expansive. Parts of me immediately missed the quaint charm of Key West.

For our time in Tampa, we had rented a vacation home on Home Away, thinking it would be nice for all of us to have a break from hotel living. After pulling into the driveway, and getting settled, we were able to take in the incredible views of the water surrounding two sides of the large house. We realized instantly that we had made the perfect choice. The house and its dock were located on a beautiful channel that weaved through dense greenery for miles before filtering out to the Tampa Bay. 

We were sitting in Adirondack chairs on the deck, only minutes after arriving, when we first noticed something disturbing the water off the dock. We hopped up and walked the short grassy slope down to the water's edge. Only a few feet away, we could see a group of 3 or 4 manatees playing in the inlet. We couldn't believe our eyes and watched their every movement for as long as we could, until the dark made everything impossible to see. It was finally dinner time so we headed out for groceries, and we talked the whole time about our amazing manatee encounter.

I have to admit that my lifelong premonition of dying by bull shark has hindered my interest in any marine mammal that won't actually eat me. Before descending on Florida, I could pick a bull shark out of a line-up but had no idea what a manatee was. It made the first time I met one in open water, a very interesting experience.

On what was a very warm Memorial Day earlier this year Trav and I, and his mom, were in the waves in Daytona. Up to my chest, trying to cool off, I was suddenly distracted by a very large sea mass emerging part-way from the water to my immediate left. As soon as I turned, the slimy body that had just surfaced was continuing it's movement through the air and water, opposite the current, and in my direction. I could feel my brain trying to compute what I was seeing, with logic, but the brown and rough skin of this sea creature did not fit the Dolphin profile. Overriding my brain, my gut told me to run fast. My screams for Trav and Laurie to get out, followed me to shore and when I tried to explain what I had just seen, I could hear myself use words like "sea monster" and "barnacles". We laughed about it later, but what I had seen was permanently imprinted on my mind; I just had no idea what it was.   

A couple of weeks later, in the surf, probably even in the same spot, I heard a noise to my left that again, made me turn immediately. It sounded like water being pushed through a snorkel, and again, it was coming from a large brown body, now completely submerged, but swimming directly towards me. There was another error in that instantaneous moment that your brain runs through 1,000 scenarios as mine was computing "whale" and had me backing up quickly. Logic quickly returned and while I still continued to back up, the noise that I had just heard comforted and intrigued me. I didn't run and instead watched it swim by, unphased, as I called out to Travis. He also stood still, watching it swim by, in amazement. It didn't surface again and we finally lost sight of it.  Neither one of us could explain what we had seen and my sea monster now had two witnesses. I stopped Google-ing "what kind of sharks kill people in Daytona?" and started learning more about the sea monster we had been swimming with. That's how I met the manatee. 

Though it may not have been love at first sight, I was now enamored, feeling so blessed to get to see my new fascination play so freely in the backyard. It made me realize that finally overcoming the challenge of losing the Bahamas had opened the doors of a much more welcomed challenge. Starting with "Surviving the Perfect Storm", we were knocking things off our new bucket-list, compliments of Tampa.

  I could barely contain myself on day two, rolling over as soon as my eyes opened to look out the window at the inlet, trying to spot the manatees. We had the kayaks and paddle boards in the water at the crack of dawn and Bob dog-paddled and paddle-boarded the morning away.  Around noon, we beached the kayaks and boards on the small patch of sand, along the house, that we had been using to launch the toys all morning. We had only been in the house for a few moments when we noticed through the large bay window that the manatees had immediately taken over the beach, and one was even enjoying a quick sunbathe. It clicked that the owner had mentioned while showing me the grounds that her dog was "friends with one of the manatees". I deal with pet parents daily, so at the time I had naturally overlooked the comment and continued with the tour. However, now I couldn't believe my eyes. She even said her Golden Retriever's manatee friend had white spots. Through the trees in the yard, I could definitely make out the white spotted belly before the manatee returned to the water. Could they have seen Bob swimming and thought he was the other pup calling to play? This was too crazy. Not sure if Bob has a bucket-list, but "Having a doppelganger with a manatee friend" may be on there somewhere.

We had completed our daily mission of spotting manatees for the day and rewarded ourselves at the nearby brewery, Cigar City. I’ve been hooked on their brew, Jai Alai, since I arrived in Florida as I always try to drink local when “traveling”.  Trav thought that I was a weirdo when Jai Alai was the first beer that I ordered. The Sertoma Smoke was next, and simply amazing. Capping it off with a Cucumber Saison (vacation or not, it was still before 4p) provided the perfect sampling. I have a thing for breweries, so naturally, Cigar City was a no-brainer bucket-list score. Thank you Tampa.

The next day was our ‘search for a local beach’ day, and as recommended by our “landlord”, we decided to try Honeymoon Island, which is actually a state park. We waited in the line of cars (boo) to pay the fee (boo) to enter the park. As soon as we entered, we found the giant parking lot indicating the public beach, and noticed its propensity to fill up fast. We grabbed our chairs, and nestled into a small patch of sand among the many beach goers, just big enough to set up our chairs and umbrella. I looked at the already crowded water and felt content with my surroundings. That might sound surprising, due to my life-long stance on personal space, so I'll back up. When Trav was paying the entrance fee, I noticed the sign  noting the water conditions for the day and noticed the flag was colored purple. I had never seen a purple flag before so I looked down at the color descriptions to find more information. As Travis was pulling away, all I could make out was "Dangerous Sea Life". Wait, seriously!? Suddenly the crowd that was now surrounding us had a new purpose, they were shark bait. I would feel more comfortable with my chances of survival while swimming now. 

Since we were on the west coast of Florida at this point, the water we were swimming in was the Gulf. The beach beneath our feet at the water's edge was rocky enough to require shoes, though the water was so clear that in moments of incredibly bright sun, you were able to spot a sand path that led out to chest deep water, with sand that was soft enough to allow us to stand comfortably. As opposed to balancing on a moss-covered rock. The wave-less water was cool enough to be refreshing and we spent most of the morning in the water. 

We were pretty hungry when we took our seats in our beach chairs to eat the lunch I had packed at the condo: sandwiches and a couple of beers. I had just pulled half of my sandwich out of its wrapping when I felt the wheat bread and salt water make a paste in my mouth. I had half of my newly bitten sandwich in my left hand and happened to lean slightly to the right as I looked for my beer that was in my beach chair’s cup holder. In leaning to the right, I must've raised my left arm with my sandwich ever-so slightly. It was in that very split second, that I felt an intense yank on my sandwich-bearing arm, in the immediate upward direction, with incredible force. Stunned, with a million things running through my mind, I immediately turned to yell at Travis who was sitting on the incriminating side of me, and very close, as we were both crammed under a single umbrella for shade. Travis had the same confused look on his face which immediately told me he was not the culprit. It was in that instant that I looked up and saw a seagull straight ahead of me, now staring me down, with a piece of turkey hanging from his beak. Within seconds he and 5 of his henchmen, who were quickly growing in quantity, were moving with purpose towards me to finish the job. It took me only a second to realize that I had been cased, and this bird Front Boss had pounced on the slimmest opportunity by flying between Travis and I, under our beach umbrella, and grabbing my sandwich with such determination. It was quickly evident that this bird did not expect to come out empty-handed. I wasn’t sure who was more mad as we stared each other down, him or me. The squawks from the park bench behind me, obviously the exact spot where this plan was born, became more intense by the second and I knew the Mafia Don of this operation was advising his thugs that he had me surrounded. When kicking sand and one-armed “shooing” didn’t work, I’d be lying if I said that I didn't become a bit intimidated. I have known seagulls and their aggressive food-stealing antics from growing up in San Diego, but these were a gang far more sophisticated than the crew responsible for stealing my pizza as a child.  I finally had to come to my feet to physically chase the birds off, and as I did, I heard an older man, part of the party next to us, say to his wife in the most southern of accents:  “well, I haven’t ever seen anything like that before..”  You can say that again. I sat down and looked at the large bite, not of my doing, that was out of my sandwich and Trav and I laughed as we asked ourselves if the last 30-seconds had really just happened. My heart was still beating from the adrenaline but we had knocked one more down off the bucket-list: "Memorable waterfront meal" 

This was the day we were supposed to check out and head back to Daytona. Since we didn't have anything to hurry home to, we extended our trip with an email to the landlord, from the beach, who was happy to oblige. We had remembered a random conversation with a woman we had met in Key West,  and immediately made another reservation for bright and early the next day. 

Our alarm went off at 4am the next morning. We got ready, made coffee, and hit the road. The drive to Crystal River, Florida took us over 2 hours and we pulled into the dive shop before the sun was even thinking about rising. We were given two wet suits and snorkel gear and watched a safety video. I knew this was the only place in the world where we could “legally” snorkel with manatees but I had no idea until watching the video that swimmers could even touch them... I couldn’t wait.

When we got on the water, the Pontoon Boat Captain advised that it was currently the "off-season" for manatees, with the "peak season" being in January when there could be 600-700 manatees at Crystal River at one time. How amazing. He explained there were about 15 resident manatees that lived there year-round, and  he would do his best to find them but offered, and even stressed, no guarantees.  The boat headed out, on a slow and steady pace. For the first 20 minutes, other than a 3-foot alligator (we are in Florida..), things were looking bleak.

This was a new kind of snorkeling trip for me. Most of my excursions had been pretty “by the book” except for one trip where Trav and I swam with nurse sharks & sting rays in the Caribbean. For that particular experience, we were taken out into the open ocean, where a large fish tank had been built to keep the sharks and rays contained. All of the snorkelers were dunked into the tank with the extra large fish that were probably drugged. It wasn’t anything like seeing the shark in Key West, completely free, in its own environment, doing its own thing. So when the pontoon boat started navigating canals that were people’s backyards, searching for any sight of manatees, I knew right off the bat, this was nothing we had ever experienced. Having watched the manatees that had visited the house each day, I was aware of some of the things to look for, and saw the circles on the water’s surface almost immediately. Within minutes, the boat of 7 emptied into the water and as soon as we put our masked faces in the water, we were watching the manatee eat breakfast, on the very shallow floor.. It was amazing. We followed the manatee around like paparazzi for what seemed like hours, getting as close as possible. Sometimes it would change directions so fast that it was coming directly for me and my heart would jolt as I tried to get out it’s giant path. All of the dots were connected getting to see these beautiful animals so clearly and so personally. 

We swam and explored the most beautiful springs and made friends with our boat mates and Captain as the sun came up, and the hours of morning ticked by. We swam with another grazing manatee before heading back to the dock, arriving back before 11am. On the way to the dock, our tale was told again in response to questions from fellow travelers, also all traveling with a story, through Crystal River. The Captain shook our hands as we got off the boat as we were the last ones to leave. As he did, he addressed that life had definitely thrown us "one hell-of-a bucket of lemons". He added that he couldn't be more impressed with our attempt at kick-ass lemonade. I couldn't have said it better. We smiled ear-to-ear as we recounted our experience and looked at pictures and videos we had taken over a greasy breakfast at a nearby diner. Due to the lack of tables, we shared a table for four with an elderly couple we had never met. We exchanged the hot sauce and creamer as needed, as we crossed off another bucket-list item, on day 3 in Tampa, before noon:  "Making unlikely and unforgettable friends". 

We extended our trip in Tampa one more night, as we continued to fall in love with the city by the bay. We had an awesome lunch in historic Ybor City and even caught a Rays baseball game at Tropicana Field. We had a great day at Busch Gardens but mostly filled our final days with swimming, kayaking, and exploring. And each day, our manatee friends made sure to stop by. 

As I signed the guestbook, the last thing on our list before leaving, I thanked Tami for letting us continuously extend our amazing stay in Tampa and told the next guests to keep an eye out for our new manatee friends.

We drove back to Daytona, upbeat, knowing we were headed back to the beach so the vacation wasn't over. I can't put a name to what I felt because it's still too soon to be "thankful" for the Bahamas experience. The Bahamas would have brought new experiences all of its own, however, without its capsizing, we wouldn't have gotten to know Florida like we have. The memories from our experiences here will always be some of the best we've ever had. Sometimes it must just take a lot of large lemons to make such sweet tasting lemonade.

Here's the awesome Go Pro video from our trip: https://vimeo.com/102043099

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