04.14.06
Good times in Destin
Lucas would never hesitate to come and meet me whenever I was within driving distance of him. This usually meant Destin if I wasn’t in Birmingham, although I got him to drive over to Atlanta or Athens a few times too. I could just call him up and say, listen, I will be wherever in a few days (usually a good couple of hours driving from him) and he would say, ok, i’ll see you there.
Three summers ago was one of my favorite trips to Destin. Rob and I went down for a week and convinced Chance and Jen and Seph to come too. Then of course, we got Lucas to come on down, even though Chance made him leave the dogs in Auburn. We hired a guy to take us sailing one afternoon for Rob’s birthday and treated Lucas and Rachel and Lane to ride along with us while Chance and crew stayed behind. It was a great day – we drank about 2 cases of budweiser on the three hour boat ride, jumped in every time we got hot or needed to pee, and Lucas chatted up our captain, Brian, while Brian did a little fishing. When we got back, we got more beer and hit the beach for a few hours until sunset listening to music, talking and playing with Seph.
All of us on the boat
Our captain Brian was fishing since the rest of us really didn’t want to do anything other than sit there and drink. But once he caught a big fish, Lucas started getting interested. He went over and we took this picture while he pretended to be proud of his big catch (that Brian had caught).
The next summer, Rob and I planned our trip down to Destin again, but this time we thought maybe we should spend some time alone since we had never actually been down there just the two of us. But as the time for us to go down there came closer, I couldn’t stop myself from letting Lucas know we would be there so that he could come for just a few days on the weekend. Well, as it turned out Rob proposed on the beach the first day we were there, which was a big surprise for me. We had been back from the beach (now engaged) for about 30 minutes when Lucas called and said, we will be there in about 20 minutes. Now, we had never discussed exactly when he would be coming, but it seemed that Lucas had decided to come on the first weekend. It was pretty funny. When I told him we got engaged and showed him the ring and everything, I could tell he felt a little bad they had come down. But I specifically remember thinking, well who cares, Rob and I will have plenty of time alone and I was happy to have Lucas be a part of that day and I knew he had made a big effort to get down there. So we ordered pizza from Mellow Mushroom and settled into life Destin style with a movie. We also decided to go sailing again. We found the same guy to take us and this time Megan and Wes came with us too. It was a great repeat performance and we had started a summer tradition.
Even before we had the condo, our parents took us to Destin every summer for as long as I can remember. There were several summers when dad organized a deep sea fishing trip for the whole family to go on. This is after one of the trips, where we got to pose with our whole catch. Summer of 1995, me, Gabe, Lucas and John.
Another trip years earlier, Chance and Lucas getting down to business.
And even earlier, we were too little for the big trips then, but I think we would go down to the docks to see all the catches being brought in. Gabe and Lucas.
The year we finally nagged mom enough to take us to Big Kahunas.
Summer of 2000, Lucas in our condo posing silly.
Hmmm…me and Lucas, I would guess around summer 1990, when we still actually played on the beach.
We got the same house on Noreigo Drive on the bayside for a few years. This summer dad got us a windsurfer. Lucas was actually pretty good. This picture is off of the deck of that house of Lucas windsurfing. I couldn’t find pictures of the summer that we got a jet ski for the summer at this same house. That was a blast too. We could dock it right at the back of the house. Needless to say, Lucas LOVED that.
I have so many memories of beach time with Lucas and I know that it was one of his favorite places, as it is mine.
JudiMom said,
April 15, 2006 at 10:28 am
Lucas always wanted to go fishing but he was always very impatient with the whole ordeal with deep sea fishing which required lots of planning and effort on Jerry’s part to make sure it was sucessfull… One summer day I took Will Berry and Lucas over to the lake by Lagoon park and we fished all day and never even saw a fish….. He seemed to appreciate the deep sea fishing excursions after that.
One year we got up early and went out on the boat…. (I think it must have been the time Tarlie has posted with Lucas and Chance) in the morning.
I was sleeping down in the cabin and when the sun came up I came out to see how it was going. I was standing behind Lucas and all of a sudden he got a strike on his line. It jerked him so hard he went flying out of his seat…. I grabbed him by the shoulders and held him down with all my strenght until some one could get there to help…. Lucas held on for a while after they stapped him down to the chair but finally Jerry had to bring the fish in… it was a huge “wahoo”. It must have been 6 feet long and just beautiful…. We got it to the side of the boat and the crew was going to hook it with the scafe to bring it in …. but it got away. I mean to tell you it was the classic “You should have seen the one that Lucas caught but it got away” fish tale!!! I will always remeber having to grab him to keep him in the boat….
Rachel said,
June 2, 2006 at 5:14 pm
Living in the panhandle definitely brings back so many Lucas memories. I think part of the reason I wanted to live here was because of all the good times we had. Please give me a call if you come into town. I would love to see little Seph.
leehassell said,
January 27, 2007 at 7:12 pm
That picture from Big Kahunas is great. My brother and I were there one day (very well could have been that same day) and saw Lucas in line for one of the slides. This was before Lucas and I were good friends (in that I went to Collier Campus and he went to Frazier for elementary). After that day we became friends and that chance encounter grew into a friendship that lasted many years and still has a very special place in my heart.
I am now entering a special time in my life and it is very hard to think that one of my best friends is not going to share it with me. Laura and I are getting married this summer. Lucas meant so much to the both of us. It was Lucas that acted as our buffer the first weekend we felt like we may become more than friends. He rode with us to Atlanta for the New Years weekend in 2000-2001. I drove the three of us up there as a group of best friends and then drove Laura and I back a few days later as a couple and we have been together ever since. I still dont know how Lucas got back that weekend. Six years later,as we were deciding who was going to be in the wedding party, it was very hard for both of us to come to grips with the fact that Lucas wasnt going to get to be a part of it. Lucas, I love you and I miss you and you better find a way to be there on August 4th.
lane bailey said,
March 27, 2007 at 12:45 am
I am looking at the pic of lucas in the beach chair and I remember when that pic was taken. It was 2003 i think. I actually just got home from destin, and memories of Lucas swarmed my head….i would catch myself laughing for a bit, but then we drove by where ya’lls condo was and I was ovrwhelmed. I realized that all of our memories wont ever fade unless we allow them too and that would be impossible to do in my book. As Lucas’s Birthday is upon us once again, I am constantly remembering different “Lucas moments”. I also have your family comstantly in my prayers. On the way to work today I just asked God to be with each of you during this time and every day of every year. I miss you Lucas so much. You were such a great friend.