Lime In De Coconut Treasure Hunt

Sierra laid down the #1 ground rule for the week by saying that if anyone snapped at anyone, then that someone would have to suck the other persons big toe. Sounds pretty much like your typical family rules, right? Both girls did agree that they would NOT be snapping at their father during the week. Well, you’ll never guess who snapped at whom! Or maybe you will…

     Ok, ground rules firmly in place we began what was the Mother of all Scavenger Hunts…5 days, 6 islands, 132 items and 4 (adult) kids on 2 teams all vying for 1 hidden treasure.

Team Wright vs Team Rice

   



Every Easter I attempt to one up myself by coming up with some kind of game that puts the traditional Easter egg hunt to shame. Last year it was the Amazing Easter Race, with Savannah and Eliza taking home the golden egg, so this year Aaron and Sierra (Team Wright) were gunning for the prize.

     Shane and Savannah (Team Rice) jumped into an early lead by spotting a 3 mast sail boat, a mango tree and a deflated dinghy, all before we had even left the docks. The rest of the week was a frantic search for turtles, dolphins, dudes with dreads, frigate birds, frangipani, fat guys in speedos, barracuda, flowerdy shirts, dogs on SUP boards, sea planes, red stripe in a can and much more. At the end of the week Team Rice had a 105 point lead, which gave them a 105 second head start in the search for the “buried treasure”, which was really just a green coconut with the words, “This is the winning coconut”  written on it in black marker, and which I had imbedded into the rock wall of some ruins of an old sugar mill. Team Wright found the coconut first and won the treasure box along with the first pick of the loot inside said box. (Savannah, remembering The Rule didn’t say anything, but her sad face definitely said exactly where she would like to put her big toe.)  

     Her momma didn’t raise no dummy, so Sierra picked the piece of paper with the picture of that handsome dude, Benjamin on it, while Savannah’s first pick was a very cool cross ring. Sierra must have a thing for old white haired guys, cause she choose Jackson and Lincoln too, while Savannah, always the fashionista, scored some pretty cool jewelry and T-shirts. All in all there were probably 50 items in the box, and it wasn’t all just girl stuff. The booty included everything from  Cuban cigars, baseball caps, key chains, to water bottles, fake gold coins, rum, candy, and more, so the boys came away with some good stuff too.   

   

     Over the course of the week, besides scavenging we got in some diving, snorkeling and hiking. A trip to the Islands is not complete without a stop at Willy T's and a must-have tattoo, given by the bartender. The routine works like this: you tell the barteneder where you want your tat and he gives the spot a good, long lick and then smacks the sticker on the spot, holding it there for a few to many creepy seconds. I'm not sure who the girls got their smart-alecky gene from, but when they told the barkeep they wanted a tattoo and he asked where, Sierra raised her arm and pointed to her armpit, while Savannah gave him the bottom of her foot. I can report that he was not amused and said, "ahhh, c'mon girls, I ain't doin that, that's just wrong." (Authors note: and there is nothing "wrong" with licking random peoples boobs, butts and sweaty what-nots? What a relief to know the Willy T bartenders have standards.) They did get their tattoos in a less sweaty/dirty spot, so they have now been appropriately Willy T'd.

The whole fam damily

It was an exciting week, we had a great time and I'm happy to report that Sierra was the only toe-sucker! We will look forward to them coming back next year for the Easter Family Feud Week!  

It took some coaxing but I was able to get Savannah to try a taste of my Thai Coconut-Lime (with Chicken) soup (adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit). You know it's delish because even she liked it and there were NO ramen noodles in it.  See the proof below. Go to the "Recipes" tab at the top of this page to view it.