My eyes were leaning up against the time barely changing on the bottom right hand corner of my monitor. The whole day seemed to be dragging its feet behind my eager sentiments for 4:00 pm. At four I was going to the ferry to catch the 6:30 boat to Galiano with a mysterious concoction of people, most of whom I had yet to meet. My heart was pounding with its regular socially anxious zeal, and as usual I was wondering if I packed an appropriate amount of evening wear options and hair products.
Outside in the parking lot Aliya’s car pulled up to the curb, and she was riding alongside two other young ladies who I would become better acquainted with as the weekend progressed. One was a familiar stranger, probably because she wasn’t quite a stranger at all, Caitlin whom is the daughter of my old store manager, the second was an American by the name of Lauren and she seemed inviting by nature. We made our frantic drive to the ferry as the ladies reminisced about their previous Galiano expeditions (best known as GALAPALOOZA 1 & 2) and my anxiety began to dissipate slightly.
I don’t know if I have always been as socially awkward as I feel now… I can vividly recall being an outgoing and vivacious young wipper-snapper who was never timid to introductions and new social settings. Somewhere between being seven and being an adult I lost that natural flair for it. I had expressed to Aliya that I was nervous about a weekend spent with a group of people I hadn’t met before, to which she SHUSHED ME vigorously. I trusted that a friend I like and enjoy as much as Aliya would most likely only invite stellar friend types to join her at her cabin for the weekend.
When we arrived at the ferry our party increased, I was introduced to Emily and David. We sat outside on the ferry while we pulled out of the harbor and ventured to the southern gulf island. The sun was high in the sky but by the end of our voyage the sun was beginning to sneak away. We got to watch episodes of the OFFICE SEASON 4 and listen to music from Aliya’s fancy M A C B O O K. It was a relaxing way to ease into the experience that lay ahead. I thought it would all be very laid back and relaxed, and the weekend was going to be totally R & R oriented.
Wrong.
I had gotten myself a couple of bottles of red wine for the weekend, and lugged the bottle of tequila that I had bought for a previous getaway weekend that never got opened. I slipped in a mickey of gin for good measure, as a stiff G&T is essential to any mini-break. Everyone had some assortment of drinks assembled for their 2.3 day holiday. The fridge was stacked with bottles of coolers, & beer while hard bar lined the island in the kitchen. It was still a modest selection based only on my weekend getaways with Elise and Lola previously. I was assigned the flowery bedroom in the upstairs of the main cabin, as the couples took hold of the asian themed suites downstairs. There was room for everyone, and Lauren was quick to nab the hammock in the living room as her own sleeping quarters.
After we arrived I met Andrew (and/or) Porrit who had arrived earlier that day and was making pasta dinner as I strolled into the kitchen, so clearly I was won over by the culinary initiative. Hours later Caitlin’s boyfriend Jim came, he had travelled from Victoria. We dined, had some drinks and before you knew it we were in the hot tub and the vacation was ON. From the moment my bathing was on the vacation was ON. I couldn’t recall the last time I was neck deep in a hot tub drinking a marguerita. It’s possible it was the first time.
Aliya peaked in my bag and saw the tangled cords of hair dryers, and flat irons and velvet bags of blush and eyeliner. She looked at me with a simple “you would.” And explained to me (slowly) that at THIS cabin you put on the comfiest thing you own, and you don’t get out of it. I had brought a pair of yoga pants just to have something comfortable for lounging, and to be honest… I wore them the whole weekend when I was wearing pants.
I wish I could detail everything.
After the first night my initial fears about foreign strangers in close proximity to my awkward nature vanished. I knew that by the end of my first glass of wine my tongue would loosen up and my false reserved front would fall abruptly to the floor. By the time the marguerita was dwindling to nothing in the hot tub I knew the rest of the weekend would be a cinch. It was such a great group of people, all of whom were just delightful on my scale. When I got out of the hot tub to pour myself another glass of wine I noticed the hot tub had taken the effect of alcohol and kicked it up a few notches, but I just smiled and hopped back in the hot tub, wine in hand. We tried to watch a movie afterwards, but I had been up since 7:00 am and in combination with the wine and hot tubbing I was lights out on the bed behind the sofa.
I woke up at sunrise the next morning and looked around me. No one else had fallen asleep there on the couches or beds around the large screen TV, just me. I walked to the main cabin and meandered back to bed feeling a little rough from the bottle of red.
Saturday was a blast. It started with a big communal breakfast, scrambled eggs, and vegetables, toast with NUTELLA. Oh it was so delightful. I poured myself a large glass of orange juice and got myself energized for the day while the red wine flowed silently out of my system. We spent well over an hour in the sauna, played games, went on a beach adventure, jumped in the sea, cooked a huge dinner, watched the hockey game, and played croquet. Everyone would come together and part ways for different activities throughout the event filled afternoon, we were all slumped in the corner of the living room by 5:00 pm playing with Rorschach cards. The batteries were being charged for the night ahead’s unfolding activities.
Aliya and I stayed in the kitchen while everyone was piling into the media room with the huge TV to tune in for a CANUCKS hockey game. My indifference towards the hockey team and the fact I had never sat through a whole game left me thankful there was a dinner to be made in the first period. We BBQ’d chicken, and mixed up some salad dressing, Caitlin had prepared some yam fries for us to spice too. We gabbed in the kitchen while I cracked my second bottle of wine and then made our way to watch the game. I am quick to admit I don’t care for the CANUCKS, in fact I could care less. The room was buzzing with everyone’s enthusiasm impaled on the hockey game. I had predicted earlier in the day that (as usual) the Canucks would have their lead stripped from them and it would all fall apart in the last period (as usual) IT HAPPENED. It was clear they weren’t going to pull through and everyone looked flustered and pissed off. When the buzzer finally went off and the score was plastered over the screen what was supposed to be joyful victory drinking became bitter losing drinking.
The best kind.
Our crowd moved to the main cabin to pop bottles and drink away the sore from the losers and turn the frowns upside down. A big batch of margueritas were handed out as we decided what would be the best plan of action for the night. The verdict came to KING’S CUP. I had heard about KING’S CUP a ton from different people, but all my attempts at a drinking game (besides the COOL RUNNINGS drinking game) have failed. I seconded the idea, albeit never having played and we laid out the deck of cards and drew up the rules. I wish I could tell you my favorite part, was it Caitlin throwing a drink in Jim’s face? Was it having to admit I had done every “never have I ever”? Was it just the alcohol in general? It was basically the best time a girl could have without taking her clothes off. That is until people had to start taking their clothes off.
As the game progressed, a new rule was implemented: If you called someone by name, or a nickname you lost an article of clothing.
OH PANTS. They were the first to go.
When the deck of cards was over, I was riding good vibrations all the way to the bank. We were all in a state of disarray while we made the obvious decision of what to do next. CLEARLY: hot tub. We bounded down towards the hot tub and decided possibly as part of the game, possibly just because that everyone would have to be in the hot tub ni one less article of bathing suit then they would normally wear. A hot tub of fully naked and half naked people piled in, fueled on booze and drinking gamery having a hell of a time. It was the best. THE BEST.
I can’t tell you why it was the best, I just simply had the best time ever.
