Cabo Meets Kurosawa

MARGARET

Courtney and I soon learned that our flight had been cancelled, and after hours of toil on the phone, we realized that there were no flights, trains, cars or buses to get us down south in the next few days. Biz was trapped at home, unaware of the drama of our flight plans, with her phone still on silent from midterms. Courtney and I, meanwhile, desperately tried to salvage our vacation with the help of Continental Airlines. Alas, our efforts were unsuccessful.

BIZ: As my friends worked tirelessly to salvage our vacation, I was blissfully ignorant to it all, packing my massive suitcase until the wee hours of the morning. At 5:30 a.m., my alarm went off. I reluctantly, but excitedly, pried myself out of bed only to be confronted with a storm of texts and voicemails. Tears came pouring down my cheeks as our dream vacation was shattered. I had been excited to get to know 14 other girls and finally decompress after a tough semester. In the five minutes it took me to check my messages and see the 12 inches of snow that had accumulated, New Jersey became our cold, snowy prison.

COURTNEY: After some serious schmoozing and too many hours logged on the phone with the airlines, I found a flight to my hometown of Atlanta, Ga. My parents reassured me that some time on the coast of Georgia would be just what we needed, and the road trip to the beach from the city would be far from boring.

BIZ: Courtney extended an invitation to her house in Georgia. She and I had many mutual friends at the time, but I was reluctant to accept the invitation for fear of being an annoying tag-along and taking advantage of Courtney's hospitality. Both Margaret and Courtney could tell how upset I was and, thankfully, they continued to gently urge me to come.

COURTNEY: So, realizing it was impossible to get to Cabo - though half of the group had found a way there - and tired of the blistering cold, the three of us hopped on a plane from Newark, bags still packed for Mexico, and we were southbound at last. Margaret and Biz traded off driving my mother's Suburban through the state, stopping for southern treats like boiled peanuts, sweet tea, Chick-fil-A and of course, all foods breaded and cooked in bacon. When we finally got close, I called my mother for more detailed directions to our hotel. Motel, she corrected. "It was all that was left this time of year. It's the Sea Palms Inn, behind the KFC." My heart dropped. We pulled up to the most run-down, dirty stucco building and immediately we all yelled, "Welcome to Cabo San Georgia!" The external facade was a pretty good indicator of the state of the inside, as a crochety old woman informed us that our room (note: doors on the outside of the building) had a poolside view. Excitedly, we rushed to see it, only to find that our two-foot-by-two-foot window faced a stucco wall with an air conditioning unit, adjacent to the squat building used to house a greenish, humid indoor pool area.

MARGARET: And the room itself was ... wanting in certain amenities. We used Courtney's computer to watch movies since there was no TV. My favorite part was the unfitted sheets on our bed, which revealed a mattress below that was oh-too-similar to those in our dorm rooms. Needless to say, that made our jumping-on-the-bed session a little more entertaining.

We spent our days exploring St. Simon's island and lying in some much-needed sun on Sea Island. Biz introduced us to "jumping pictures" on the deserted beach, and we ate one night at Bubba Garcia's, trying to create our own Mexican experience.

BIZ: Initially, Sea Island, Ga., was a means of escaping New Jersey's temperamental weather, but the week there became one of the greatest, most serendipitous experiences of my life. Though I was at first reluctant to go for fear of imposing, I have never felt so welcomed. Margaret, Courtney and I still feel so lucky that our flight to Cabo was snowed in. We became incredibly close during our time in Georgia. I may not have ever discovered the southern delicacy that is boiled peanuts without these two girls, but even more importantly, the three of us strengthened a friendship that transcends those unexpected blizzards in life. Bienvenido a Sea Island!