Dad's Day on Black Bear and the Beach

I was up at 545am. My sinuses and cough bothered me all night long. More than anything, I got up early to try to get some relief.  I encountered Mike O’Connell around 615a. Said he and the wife were up until 2am. It was Father’s Day. The guys planned to golf, though I wasn’t sure what time exactly.

I made coffee, cleaned up the back patio, then headed out for a run at 633a. I decided to run north.  Even though it was early there were a ton of folks already out and about, and many of them running. I ended up running about 6 miles, or from one pier to another then back. There were a few thin clouds masking the rising sun making the warm humid air a little more tolerable for duration of my run.

I was back at the house at 730a. Mindy was just walking out to the beach to greet me. We hung out on the back ocean facing deck having coffee and enjoying the view. It turned out to be a lovely morning.

By 8-830am all the adults were up and moving about. Kenny made a tee time at Black Bear golf club for 1048am. According to a local golf course map, there were literally 50-60 courses within 15 miles of our beach house. Once our kids were up, Mindy presented me with Father’s Day cards and gifts. The kids gifted me a Earth DVD (think Science Channel) along with a card. Mindy gifted me Alice Cooper tickets for a mid-August performance at promo west as well as a Golf Galaxy gift card. Wow! Very nice.  

We called my dad around 930am to wish him a happy Father’s Day. We all talked to him, Me, Mindy and the kids. Me, Kenny, Mike and Mike left for golf at 945am. We were all excited to get out on the course together on such a lovely day.

We arrived at Black Bear golf club around 1015a. Nice! While our clubs were graciously taken around to the cart area, we headed inside to pay our fees. We joked with the club pro when he asked if we were locals or out of towners. Kenny answered with ‘whatever’s cheaper’. They ended up giving us a Father’s Day special rate of $36.50 each with cart. Very cool! A course like this at home would cost well over $50.

The starter chased us down as we pulled up to the number one tee box. Said he wanted us to play the back first. Said otherwise, we’d end up in the middle of a tournament already underway. He just about had a coronary! No worries.

I didn’t start very strong and wasn't driving particularly well either, but come the third hole my fortunes turned to the positive. And even though there was water lining almost every hole. I managed to keep my ball dry throughout. I shot a 44 on the front. To spice things up, Mike O’Connell introduced the idea of earning ‘dots’ for various accomplishments including wining the hole, greens in regulation, drives in the fairway, made putts longer than the flag pole, and sand saves.

After about five holes on the front, or the back nine, a storm moved in with lightning and rain. I darn near had to plead with the guys to stop and head to a nearby shelter. We waited under cover for about 30-40 minutes with a couple other groups, one a local group and then a twosome from somewhere close to Lake St Mary’s in NW Ohio. He was wearing Buckeye garb.

The rain delay, however inconvenient, ended up being somewhat of blessing. Before hand it was almost too hot and steamy. Afterwards, it was much more tolerable. We had plenty of time to cool off too. After 18 holes of golf all four of us were able to claim a birdie on our score cards. That doesn’t happen too often. I played well, shooting a 90. And that was after leaving several missed opportunities out there too.  I shot the low round and ended up with the most dots, too. What I was most proud of was that I didn’t fade on the final few holes like I have the last couple years.

It was already after 4p. The girls had phoned a few times asking us to stop and pick up a few things. No problem. Mindy  went to the grocery right after we left for the course, but she apparently forgot a few things.

We stopped at the Duff Street Crab House in NMB before stopping at the local IGA for the items the girls wanted. There, Mike Mullins settled up for losing the dot game. I had only one beer, a Sam Adams, Boston Lager. The others each had two. We ordered some boiled shrimp and a plate of raw oysters as well. I ate two shrimp but none of the oysters. The others were pretty buzzed. I was the only one not drinking on the course.

We stopped at the IGA just a few blocks from our beach house. It might be the nicest IGA I’ve ever seen. There, we picked up cheese, bananas, ice, and a few other items. We were back at the house by 530p.

Mindy said things got a little crazy at the house during the afternoon. Said a strong storm blew through too. We ended up grilling steaks for dinner. As sides we had potato and macaroni salad. The steaks were very good. The first steaks I’ve eaten cooked over charcoal in a really long time.

I didn’t have but two or three beers all evening long and started feeling sleepy sometime around 930p. I headed to bed even before 10p. Kenny, Mike & Julie were out extra early too. Good night SC moon!