All Wet
Last night Gladys and I hung with her neighbors Kat and Dustin. We ran out to get a few pizzas and then enjoyed them at their house. Their house is pretty amazing and only getting more so since they are in the middle of adding a pool and addition to the waterfront property. We opted to eat the pizza on a small little lookout on the very top of the structure. To access this spot you have to ascend a spiral staircase and then do a short vertical climb on a ladder-like feature.
The view up top is pretty amazing. With the height comes more wind, keeping the humid air from being more impactful. The height also gives you perspective of everything around you. The stars are much more visible down here due to a lack of light pollution in more populated areas. The first night I could actually see the faint outline of the Milky Way, something I have never been able to do in Florida. In addition to the pizza wine was consumed which cranked up the silliness of the interaction. At one point there was a near non-stop string of uncontrollable laughter going on. It was really fun.
Afterwards Gladys wanted to go down to the dock and look for her octopus. She does this quite often, shining a light into the water looking for one of them. They are pretty easy to spot due to their normal vibrant bluish color. One of them was around and it followed the light, evidently they find it interesting. Gladys has had a number of experiences where the octopus would come up and touch her briefly however this interaction was different.
Gladys was standing on a stone with her feet only covered by an inch or so of water. The octopus came all the way up to her and went over her entire hand and foot for an extended period of time. The interaction was cool for me to watch. Gladys was really touched by what happened as well.
Saturday started slower than Friday but we still went out and did snorkel run. It was shorter and in less deep water than the day before but still fun. In a way it was better because you are closer to everything. We had a particularly interesting interaction with two squid that stayed in front of us for a very long time, just observing us as we did them.
In the middle of the day we once again headed out to get a few things done related to Gladys’s work. When we got back we were invited to go out on one of Todd and Kat’s boats to travel down to an area called West Bay, one of the more resort/tourist parts of the island. I had not been on a boat in many, many years. We sat in the back and got splashed repeatedly from a combo of the boat’s speed and choppy water.
When we arrived at the beach Dustin docked right along the beach edge which was convenient. We all had lunch at a popular spot. While we were there two more friends of everyone showed up. After finishing our meal we headed into the water to float and drink some of the extra alcohol Dustin had packed. It was very chill.
The ride back to the property was pretty nuts. A storm was approaching, the resulting wind had really whipped up the water. Gladys and I got sprayed non-stop, we both looked like we stepped out of the shower by the time we got back, it was funny. I was actually cold, the warm shower felt good afterwards.
Tonight we are again hanging with Dustin and Kat which I expect to be another entertaining evening.