Birthdays in Paradise?

Danielle and I both have December birthdays, so during the year we lived on a boat, we were looking forward to spending our birthdays in the islands -- or at least basking on a sunny beach.

But we didn't quite make it that far south soon enough. Just a few days before my birthday, we had our coldest night of the trip with a low of 34 degrees in Charleston SC. And by the way, we did not have heat on the boat unless we were plugged in at a dock (which we were not). Thank goodness for long underwear and blankets!

For my (Tom's) birthday, we were in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Actually, we never made it to St. Simons Island proper. We spent our time at the marina filling our fuel and water tanks and emptying our poop tanks. Then I took an Uber to the grocery store and West Marine, where I purchased (among many other things) a filter funnel for fuel. After that, I took the dinghy back to the marina to fill our spare fuel jugs using my new filter funnel. I squeezed the high-speed fuel hose too hard, and the diesel splashed out of the funnel and all over me! Add laundry to the list.

When the chores were finished, we weighed anchor and headed south, still hoping to find warm weather. Next stop, Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island deserves a blog post of its own, so for now, I'll just say that I did get to spend some time on a beach on the day after my birthday -- though it was too cold for sunscreen, swim suits, and tropical drinks.

By Danielle's birthday, we were in Florida. We docked the boat in Ft. Pierce, rented a car, and drove to my parent's condo in the Tampa area, where we spent Christmas. We talked the family into babysitting for a couple days and we checked into a hotel on Clearwater Beach. Despite being in Florida, it was still too cold for the beach or pool, but it was nice to have a little quiet time after the trip down the coast and before the Christmas holiday. And the fact that we made it to Florida by boat was setting in and definitely a cause for celebration!

The highlight of both of our birthdays was being treated like royalty by the kids -- at least for a few minutes. They made us crowns out of construction paper, draped blankets over our shoulders for robes, and pretended to be our bodyguards. Sure, basking on a sunny beach would have been nice, but the royal treatment was a reminder that a little creativity is all you need to make memorable magic moments.