8/8/06--Visiting Sis....jetski's, Irish tan & Apple Cider Vinegar!!

So this past weekend I took the brood up to J-town....Jacksonville....Jax...to visit my sister and her husband John.  We had an excellent time, mainly because we had decided to go there in lieu of going to Key West, where the hotel rooms were running like $200 a night....so even if we had a terrible time in Jacksonville....we were going to save money.  So....on Saturday the bro-in-law offers to take the kids and I out in his new jetski's.  It was really nice of him to offer that, but I felt really bad that Kim, on her birthday, couldn't participate because of her recent hand surgery and the stitches, etc.
The last thing she needed was to get the wound doused in some lovely river water.
So the five of us, sis...bro-in-law..myself...and the two youngun's went (cue the Springsteen music)....."down to the river....".  (Okay, allow me to say, if you are as big a Bruce fan as I am, that right now you are going..."I LOVE that song!")
So we're going to a "secret location", at least....sort of.  John must know half the people in Jacksonville, because I swear to God the man has more connections than a Lego set.
So the location we're going too is a boat ramp that apparently not a lot of people know about, owned by this semi-crusty old lady named Ms. Clark.  The drive was fairly interesting in getting there.  We drive off the main road and procede down this dirt path, past some fairly beat up looking trailers and a group of people that could best be described as the extras from "The Hills Have Eyes".  We get to the boatramp, which is located right off this.....well....I suppose its either an inlet or a small pond, depending on your own particular outlook.
The water in the small inlet could best be described as....uh....not clean.  This isn't a spot to go swimming, ya know?  I'm looking out there thinking..."God, please don't let me fall into the water HERE."  So John backs the trailer into the water and gets us all set up and ready to go.  He & I go out for a quick spin just to make sure I have a feel for how powerful the watercraft is and know how to turn it on and off, etc.  Then we go pick up the my sister and the kids.  Rene gets on with her husband, the kids get on with me.  Now, I need to point out right here (as a reference for later in the day) that on the way to the water we had stopped off and gotten some sun-block.  I was already to go!
Of course, did I mention that as we were leaving I forgot to put the sun-block on?
So mind you, the whole morning all Kellie had been saying is...."Don't get me killed."
Five minutes after we're out into the river that changed too..."Go faster!"  We made our way into the main part of the St John's River, which is one of the biggest rivers in the country (3 miles wide at one point).  As we got used to the jetski's, John and I had fun racing each other, breaking off into circles and generally, trying to scare our riders.
As we got towards the later portion of our trip...I made one of those....hmm.....decisions that...AT THE TIME...seemed like a really good idea.  You know those sort of things I'm referring too?  Yeah, I thought so.  Anyway, my brilliant idea was that I was going to let each of the kids have a quick turn at actually operating the jetski.  The one that I had gotten up to 51 mph.  Yeah, that one.  So Kellie is first, and as she slips into the driving position you can just tell that she is really psyched.
I begin to tell her that she needs to slooooowwwwllllyyyy squeeze the accelarator.
Yeah right.  So after a couple of aborted attempts, she's beginning to head towards the sort of swampy area by the inlet, so I tell her to turn and head the other way.  So she turns.  Suddenly.  As in....way too hard and way too fast.
As my head broke the water I forgot that my sunglasses were on my head.  $7 down the drain...or should I say, into the river.  We managed to get back on the craft as Rene and Johnny laughed (sort of ) sympathetically nearby.  Johnny remarked that we had continued a fine family tradition since my brother had done the same time the first time he had taken a ride on the jetski's.
So after we had finished and were making our way home, I sort of glanced in the old rearview mirror and noticed the redness beginning to take hold on my face.  Yep, it looked like I was on my way to having the old Irish tan.  After I got back to my sister's house, she applied a liberal amount of aloe vera to help the sunburn I was actively developing.  We went out to dinner that evening, where Andy continued his new found obsession with fried chicken, and it was pretty obvious that my face was going nuclear.
My sister suggested when we got home that I try one of her.....home remedies.  Trust me, she has a zillion of them.  This one involved putting apple cider vinegar on my face in order to "bring out the heat" on my face and to eventually turn my burn into a St Tropez tan. 
A few days later, I can honestly report that my sunburn improved quite a bit.  At least on my face.  Of course, I still have to explain why the top of my head has a glow that would make 3 Mile Island proud.  My sister named it George.

Later,
Jeff