A Sunday Afternoon at Sea (and then some)

Sunday – Ryan’s birthday! (As I said, he had been MIA most of the weekend, and I hadn’t actually seen him since Friday night.) Jay and I drove around town, looking for breakfast. After a hilarious conversation about spanking (my misunderstanding), we finally ended up at New York Café. They were out of Nutella-Stuffed French Toast, which made both of us sad. Instead, we ordered chorizo & eggs (him) and the fruit & yogurt bowl (me). After breakfast, we went into the grocery store to pick up fruit and champagne for our skiff ride. Since the boat belongs to Ryan and Devon, they keep it docked in town down by their sailboats. Rain and boat gear, however, is all kept at Jay’s shack, two miles out of town – which means that I had to leave him at the docks to fetch the boat and drive Ryan’s piece-of-shit car (that’s not a lie and he knows it) down to their place of work so that he would have it later when he got off.

Once Jay arrived with the skiff, we grabbed some rain gear and headed out into the sea. Saw the birthday boy real quick, who yelled to us about whales up ahead. Once we got around the bend, we cut the engine on the boat and sat for a few minutes in silence. Then out of nowhere, to our right came the sound of water spewing into the air – and sure enough, we saw the fins and tails of 3 different beauties come up out of the water. They couldn’t have been more 100 yards from us. The coolest part about being in Ketchikan is that I got the same experiences that tourists get, without having to pay for them. ;) We sailed onwards, drinking our champagne straight from the bottle and eating our blueberries, tossing them into each other’s mouths to see who could catch better. Docked at California Head Island and did some hiking...,me in my Toms and skinny jeans. I swear, I meant to wear better shoes – but then forgot them at the shack.

I could not even begin to explain the views we saw that afternoon. Just absolutely breathtaking. We cut our engine again in the middle of a large, open area of water, and just let ourselves float for a few minutes without making a sound.

Surrounded on all sides by calm, blue waters, we could hear the salmon jumping right next to us and eagles calling out, off in the distance. Jay tried to do some fishing, only to discover that some bastard had unscrewed the crank on his pole. The ride back into town was chilly but beautiful, with the clouds rolling in and the late afternoon sun just peeking through. We pulled into the docks, right next to Ryan’s sailboat, and I spent a few minutes watching Jay get all the loose ends tied up before trekking back to the apartment. “Wanna take a shower? *insert winky face*”, he said. “Um, no.” I mean, yes…but not with you. In Joey’s…just no. Damnit. So, guess who was cold and dirty the rest of the night? Yep, this girl.

We decided to head back to the cafe that evening, hoping that

we’d run into the cute waitress I had seen there a few days prior. But no such luck. Jay ordered a beer & pickled hearing, while I had wine and tried not to throw up (because you know, fish is gross.) Now, I don’t know if he’s brave, or was just trying to embarrass me, but as our waitress brought over a second round of drinks, Jay turns to her and says, “Now, my friend here saw this cute girl working a couple of days ago – dark hair, wearing converse. Any chance you could help us out?” Waitress looks at me as I’m trying very hard not to meet her eyes – or blush – and says “Oh yeah, that’s Danielle. She’s new. Pretty cool, and from San Diego.” Walks away. Well thanks, man. I’m officially bright red now. After a third round of drinks, we cashed out and moved on in search of a real meal. Per Jay’s suggestion, we headed in the direction of the Cape Fox Lodge, where we ran into David. Actually, got stalked by David—who texted me and said he had seen us through the window at the café. The lodge sits at the top of the incline -- or “funicular”, as apparently they’re called anywhere outside of Pittsburgh. I ordered myself soft pretzels and more wine. Had to. It was a bit awkward hanging out with the two of them. Because, you see -- I came to realize that I had somehow become the center of their attention. I love hanging out with Jay, but...we share a mutual friend who has an interest in him, and I'm not about to get in the middle of that. And with David, I just never felt that way. So really, it was a bit weird being with both of them together.

Following dinner, the three of us ended up at Asylum (as always), where we sat upstairs and split a pitcher of Blue Moon. Why, I have no idea. We’re in Alaska, for Christ’s sake. Shoulda had a Raspberry Wheat or something more native. I put “Cool for the Summer” on the jute box and exclaimed that I wanted to go dancing – asking Jay, “Aren’t there any clubs on this island?” He kinda laughed, looked around, and said “This is it! Sometimes we push the foosball table outta the way.” Oh Lord, I need to go back to the city. I texted Joey at some point to come rescue me – and although he did show up, he only talked to Jay for about two minutes and left without even acknowledging that I was there – the damsel in distress. I was quite literally hanging over the banister, yelling “Hey! HEY! ROVINKSY. GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE.”, while David just laughed.

Leaving the bar was quite entertaining, with the boys headed in opposite directions but both looking back at me like, “Who you gonna follow home?” I actually debated it for a split-second, but ended up with Jason. Good life decision there. He and I rocked out to Demi and Lorde (thanks, YouTube!) the whole way home and somehow managed to not get arrested for public intoxication, despite the fact that I was dancing all over the sidewalk, using my phone as a microphone. I’m sure Jay was amused, at least. :) I did manage to rip the loop right off of my clutch, though, while attempting to climb the bridge at Creek Street. Haha, whoops. At least I was feeling good enough to just laugh it off. Once we got back to the apartment, Jay called for a cab, but after about 20 minutes, decided that he was too tired to wait for it. Watched Pitch Perfect until we both fell asleep. Woke up the next morning to find that Sam had somehow come in at some point of the night and flopped down on the bed between us. I was so confused in the morning when his phone started ringing. Took me a second to realize – “That’s not my phone. And Jay doesn’t have a phone.” Without opening my eyes, I blurted out, “Is that Sam’s phone?!” And then once I did open my eyes, I saw Sam standing there – but I thought for a second that he was Joey, so I smiled and say “Hey!” … then realized it was Sam. Literally yelled “God damn, I cannot keep track of who’s in this bed!”