Nat and I were invited to Daytona Beach for our friend Chuck’s birthday. Not just any birthday though; this one was designed to be a surprise. Chuck’s girlfriend devised a distraction to get him away from the house. While he was away folks gathered at his house.
While we were waiting for Chuck this guy stopped by for a minute. Chuck wasn’t there yet so he left.
While the gang waited watching the gate to the yard Chuck naturally went inside first. He was steered out onto his deck for the surprise. At this point he’s just noticing how many folks are in his back yard.
About now he’s begun spotting faces in the crowd he never expected to see. Look closely and you’ll notice a tear.
In a matter of seconds he appears in the crowd and begins hugging. Friends, family, spouses, anybody in reach got hugged. This is one happy guy.
See what I mean? He’s not done though…
The two daughters helped plan this. Clearly Chuck has forgiven them for surprising him.
Chuck has finally gotten his fill of  hugging for now and is settled into eating and chatting.
Okay we may not sing well but the cake is another cool surprise. It’s in the shape of his business logo. Luckily nobody tried to put 60 candles on it. Unfortunately the only candles around were trick candles that light themselves.
Time to make a wish.
Much visiting, reminiscing, and some drinking and eating ensues.
Next day we hit the beach to walk down to the Ocean Deck for a drink and a snack.
Daytona Beach has rules about open alcohol containers on the beach. Ocean Deck is responsible in letting you know about the rules and (if you read the fine print) a quick happy solution to the problem.
Happy Birthday Chuck! We had fun watching you have fun.
