In the famous poem Invictus, the last two lines say something like this: 

"I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

Great thoughts to live by.     

Unless you are in the Florida Keys around Saint Patrick's day.

I am not sure how the patron saint of Ireland became such a huge influence on a few small islands four thousand miles away from his native homeland, but on March 17th, he grinds everything to a screeching halt.  One thing is for sure, after a few hours of celebrating dear Patty,  I wouldn't want to be the captain of anything.

Anyway, we were lucky enough to have our daughter Stephanie and her friend Jon fly down to visit for a few days.  Steph is on spring break from the University of Cincinnati (congrats!  Dean's List!!!) and Jon was able to sneak away from his new job to join us on the boat.  We didn't know that we would be subjecting them to the perils of St. Patty's day frivolity when we planned the trip but what the heck.  I am sure they have seen worse.

The first evening, Jon and Steph met our friends at Key's Fisheries.  If you are a sushi lover (like they are) its the best I've seen.  Couple that with excellent happy hour prices and you have a recipe for a fun evening.  I think they liked our friends.  Jon and Steph worked the room like political candidates in a tight race.  They didn't sit down the whole night.  As it turns out, Key's Fisheries was but a pale preview for the next evenings festivities.

The next morning, we all went to our favorite beach: Sombrero.  Quite frankly, its one of the best beaches I have ever been to.  Not too big, not too small.  Lots of shade (for me) and unfortunately for the kids, too much sun.  Despite our dire warnings, they got burned.  Badly.  Those one day tanning events never work out well and Jon and Steph would be feeling the pain for some time.  Ah...why youth is wasted on the young......

So that night we met up with our Marathon Madness group for a celebration at Dockside grill.  A favorite place for locals, they have killer food and wonderful drink prices.  We got there at five and the place was packed.  Luckily our 'cruise director' Bob had made arrangements with the ower to set up a table for 25 of us.  It took up almost the whole bar!  But we settled in for some food, fun and great music.

To say the least, a good time was had by all.  Especially our retired school teacher friend Candy.  Erin go Braugh Candy!

Yes, parents can still dance.

The rest of the evening's events must remain classified and have been redacted from this narrative.  But you can ask me about what happened later if you see me ;>) They kids had a good time and at some point in the evening mentioned that "your friends are more fun than ours!"  With that I totally agree.

At some point in the evening, as we were discussing 19th century poetry (LOL), I reflected on those wonderful lines from Invictus.  One should always be the master of his fate.   I thought we were on to a meaningful discussion of this poetic genre when someone yelled "My Captain!  My Captain!"

Apparently he was refering to his Captain Morgan rum, as he drained the last of his cocktail.

For at least one night near the ides of March, its fun to let karma have its way.   

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