I've said it once and I'll say it again. Memorial Day Weekend on Lake Martin is the best weekend of the year. An unofficial start to summer-where the smell of fresh cut grass, smoking grills, sunscreen, and fresh water comingle to create the most amazing aroma that you can never bottle and place on a shelf. You close your eyes, wiggle your toes in that red clay, and breathe it in. In that brief moment, you may be 5 or 25, but it doesn't matter. Summer is still summer. It feels and tastes the same, and that tingling you get when it arrives never fails to enduce high excitement.
This year, the weather was flawless and the sun beat down relentlessly as we lounged lazily like lizards, basking in our 30 SPF. The water was both cool and refreshing as we dove in and did our first tricks of the season off the Bain's high dive.
The cold beer (snuggled in it's custom koozie) and minty grapefruit drinks flowed endlessly as we bantered back and forth, reliving MD's of summers past, while occasionaly pausing to belt out Rhianna and/or Dirt Road Anthem.
We road pontoons to Chimney Rock and "tied up" with old friends. The rows of boats bobbed to the beat of the music and as we watched teenagers jump from the rocks, one couldn't help but hope that the day would never end and our one bag of Doritors either. Sadly, both would. We also had the marine police stalking our row of boats, and for some reason, that too, felt warm, fuzzy, and wildy familiar. We turned Rhianna down just slightly.
Memorial Day is flip cup tournaments, hamburger/hot dog binges, and late night boat rides to Sinclair's. While wearing your caftan, you have a yearly high school reunion and awkward drunken coversations with everyone you used to know... all the while downing red wine because you truly can't taste the beer anymore. Slowly the party peels away and begins to pass out on the boat until the last few standing are ready to head for home.
Memorial Day is Ray Bans and a sand covered dog.
It's a pyramid-sorta kinda.
It's the wind in your hair, not unlike Iris's.
It's solving world peace while also managing to ignite widespread debate ;)
It's the perfect Bloody Mary, a sailboat, and a super competitive volleyball game that makes you ache for days.
It's pouring milk in a friend's eyes because it is organic and has healing powes. It's hot tubs and 10 girls getting dressed together in one room.
It's sitting on that old familar hill, listening to bands with one hit wonders, and knowing every word.
It's the one million laughs and inappropriate things I can barely recall but that I can't say on the blog anyways.
It's our yearly tradition.
Amen.
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