Have I mentioned how much we love staying at Brunswick Landing Marina in Georgia? Free laundry, frequent happy hours, friendly staff – what’s not to like? This Saturday we took a day off from neverending boat projects and really had a blast participating in the first annual Cruisers’ Challenge – an Amazing Race style scavenger hunt on land and water around the marina.

Capt. Mike and I joined our dock neighbors Ann and Frank as team Happy Dreamers 😁 We donned our matching team bandanas and hopped into our dinghy at 10am to tackle our first challenge. We’ve been in one place for so long, it felt strange to be getting splashed in the dinghy once again! We drove to the gps coordinates of our first clue and got really excited when we saw a huge airboat tied up to the dock at our destination. Yep! It was waiting for us! We hopped in, and zoomed off into the bay, traveling much faster (and much louder) than we had in our dinghy! The airboat captain dropped us off at a nearby island where we were given our challenge – each team member had to chip a golf ball into a target. We crushed it! Two minutes and 30 seconds and we were done and back in the boat.

Other teams were lining up on the dock waiting their turn for the airboat as we scanned a QR code for our next clue. Back in the dinghy and back to the marina! Challenge #2 required us to throw a life ring around a floating buoy, again all 4 of us had to successfully ring it, and we were timed as we tried. This is not easy!

And so our scavenger hunt continued. Each time we completed a challenge successfully, we’d get a colorful wristband to prove we’d finished that station. Then we’d scan a QR code to get the coordinates of our next stop, and off we’d go! Or challenges included:

• Using a dock line like a lasso to tie a cleat hitch from a distance
• Building wine cork sailboats and racing them across a “pond”
• Making state fair style lemonade
• Learning to cast a fly fishing rod
• Singing a round of Row Your Boat
• Solving puzzles and riddles
• And even throwing an axe at zombies!

We didn’t win the race, but we sure had a great time! And the fun just kept on going! The marina held a customer appreciation oyster roast yesterday evening with three massive coolers full of oysters, a potluck of side dishes, and free wine and beer. I don’t think I’ve ever shucked an oyster before, so it was fun to learn! Mike says he doesn’t like oysters, but he sure ate a lot of them 🤣 Were very grateful to Brunswick Landing Marina for hosting such a fantastic event.