A Kayaking Adventure

Okay, guys. For those of you who know me, you know I don’t really appreciate subjecting myself to the torture of outdoor creatures. For example, camping. Although I know I will eventually have to suck it up and go camping with my hubby, the thought of sleeping near raccoons and mosquitos and ‘lions and tigers and bears, oh my!’ just gives me the heebie-jeebies. I mean, right? A bear could literally just walk its hairy, scary self right over to your tent and have a snack – and based on the way I get devoured by mosquitos, I am prime meat! Plus, I mean, you have to potty WHERE? Yikes!

Well anyway, for our birthdays we always plan surprise adventures for each other. So, this year, I decided to take Matt *gulp*… kayaking. Since it was a surprise, I had to hide my anxiety and try to both physically and mentally prepare.

Here is a little sample of the phone calls (yes, plural) I made to Kayak Amelia:

Me: “Um, hi. I am bringing my husband kayaking this weekend. Um… what should we wear?”

Lady at Kayak Place: “Just regular clothes, maybe a light jacket, wear shoes – you probably won’t get wet.”

Me: “Um, okay. So are there like… alligators?”

Lady: “No, this is salt water – alligators need freshwater”

Me: “Whew! Snakes?  What about Sharks? Sharks live in salt water!”

Lady: “I think you will be fine”

Me: “Um, so what if we get lost?”

Lady: “We give you a map. People do not generally get lost”

Me: “Well, can we get stuck? And um, what if it tips over?!”

Lady: “Then you will get wet! We provide life jackets.”

Me: “Um, okay. Well, um. Thanks – bye!”

The night before, I paced back and forth, I was drenched in sweat, I began hyperventilating – totally kidding! It is not THAT bad – geesh people, give me a LITTLE credit! I did pack us a picnic lunch, though.

When we arrived at Kayak Amelia I was immediately welcomed by, you guessed it, creatures. I am not joking – I was bombarded by GIGANTIC mosquitos. I was convinced I had just been injected with West Nile by way of their little blood suckers. Don’t fear- I kept a smile on my face. This day was about Matt and he was excited.

We go inside, get a run-down of the map, and ya know, get to it. Um, yes, just get to it! Helllllo? Don’t we need a lesson? Aren’t you going to warn us of the shark zones? Aren’t there demon fish we need to stay away from? I found peace in the fact that Matt spent summers at Aquatics Camp and knew what he was doing – and the fact that we were in a tandem kayak so he could fight off creatures with his paddle while I crouched down.

He held the kayak steady so I could step into it, he followed after and we began paddling. Then the lady shouted that I was holding the paddle the wrong way/paddling in the wrong direction and suddenly it was a bit easier to get moving. Ooopsie!

I wasn’t exactly comfortable with the wobbling of the boat and kept getting startled by splashes in the water – then I realized they were just jumping fish and, generally speaking, I can handle fish – even if they are JUMPING out of the water! Of course, every time we passed a fisherman I ducked my head down. I mean, I wasn’t sure if they could see us and I didn’t really want a fishing hook gouging out my eye!

So off we went, against the tide and against the wind, headed to the beach and working hard to earn those blisters. About two-thirds of the way there and an hour & a half in, we stopped off at a little island to take a break and have a pb&j. We took some pictures, watched some crabs scurry around, & even found a treasure:

Once I relaxed, I realized the peace and quiet was nice annnnnnd that we were IN the Lion King! I mean, we really were – the trees we paddled by looked like we were in Africa! Okay, chill. I know there was no water in the Lion King and that was kind of a big deal… and I know that I have never been to Africa so I don’t really know what the trees look like… BUT that did not stop me from busting out in song “Nants ingonyama bagithi baba – in the cirrrrcle of liiiiife!” (those are really the words, I googled it) – I was waiting for Simba to jump out of the trees (and surprisingly, I would have been okay with that. He just looks so cuddly!)

Finally, we arrived at the beach! That is, after we raced passed the family that started at the same time as us. Two tandem kayaks attached by a cord – family of 5. And by the way, did you know you can hear clear as day across the water? I mean, it was like we were in the middle of their conversation.

Sister to Brother: “Ughhh!! Move your butt!!”
Brother to Sister: “I just farted so there! I moved my butt!”

The sand on the beach was like the Florida version of snow. It was so light and fluffy that if you ran & jumped into it, you would land with sand up to your shins. It looked like King Kong left foot prints in the snow, err, sand.

In all seriousness, it was absolutely beautiful.

After we spent some time on the beach eating a snack, jumping in the sand, and exploring, we attempted to climb back into our little kayak. We pushed it out into shallow water and Matt held it steady so I could step in and get seated. Then, as he tried to step in, the boat began floating away. Um, hello! I am in the boat! So I used my paddle in an attempt to grab land and Matt, having picked up a little speed, quickly stepped into the boat. Only…the boat leaned wayyy right and then it leaned wayyy left. I, of course, leaned the opposite direction in attempt to overcompensate (okay, maybe I was flailing) but it was no use. I knew what was happening. As Matt tried to go from a standing position to a sitting position, the whole kayak, including me and all of our worldly belongings, tipped upside down to be made one with the creatures of sea.

Okay, that’s not true. I just wanted to see your faces!! Again, TOTALLY KIDDING! We weebled and we wobbled, but we didn’t fall down!

Are we all clear that we did not tip over? Okay good. So yes, after our beach visit we climbed back into our kayak and began the trek back.

This time we were traveling WITH the tide and WITH the wind. It was glorious. We just set our paddles across our laps and coasted. Ahh, such a nice breeze. Beautiful sunshine (speaking of sunshine, did I mention that despite the fact that I prepared both physically and mentally, I did not prepare by way of sunscreen? I mean, I was totally fine but my poor hubby. He burns so easily!). We waved hello to other kayakers, fishermen and even birdies. After safely coasting back to land, we carried our kayak back & headed to find some Amelia Island ice cream.

After driving 20 minutes in the wrong direction and turning around to drive 40 minutes in the now right direction, we finally arrived and oh the aroma of freshly made fudge that filled our souls. Ice cream cones, some strolling, & oh, did I mention my hubby bought me Toms? Yes, my beloved Toms that I had exactly one year to the day somehow vanished and Matt bought me a replacement pair after being Tom-less for, like, 7 months! You don’t understand what a tragedy this was. Plus, with each purchase Toms donates a pair to those in need so I mean, it was quite the charitable doing.

Anyways, all in all, we had a great little adventure and in case you were wondering, yes, I would totally do it again! I would even venture to say that, despite the possibility of death by wildlife, it was awesome! If you are considering a kayaking trip in your future, please be forewarned that the next day you will discover that there are muscles in your back and arms you didn’t even know you had!