For a while now a friend and I had been talking about renting a boat to take out to Lake Travis. The reason for delay? We couldn't bring ourselves to spend upwards of $600 (!!!!) for just one day of fun. So when Just For Fun Watercraft Rental offered half price Ski Boat rentals through the "Groupon Mini-Me" email giant, LivingSocial, we leaped at the opportunity.
We decided to use our 3 hours this past Saturday, May 15th, 12:30-3:30pm. About two weeks ago I called to make a reservation and noticed the lack of professionalism with which Brandon, the college-age-sounding guy on the other side of the phone, had while speaking to me. I brushed it off and felt excited that we were finally going out on the boat!!
Monday, May 10th rolled around and Mark Murray, my favorite weather man, was forecasting rain for our day on the lake! My pessimistic side thought "Of course it hasn't rained in three weeks and the day we need it to be sunny it's going to pour", but my optimistic side decided to put it on the back burner and wait until Friday to be upset. We all know Austin weather can change in an instant.
A humid and soggy Friday, May 14th arrived and I checked the updated hour-by-hour forecast for Saturday. The "60% chance of Thundestorms" had transformed into "mostly cloudy with 20% chance of showers". And we all know what 20% means... it looked like although it woudln't be a sunburned day we had wanted, at least we would be wet only from swimming in the lake.
About mid-morning I received an expected text from my girlfriend who was coming in town from Houston just to be on this boat we had reserved: "I looked up the weather and it should be less cloudy in the afternoon, so let's push our reservation back." I agreed.
I picked up the phone to adjust our time to 2-5pm. Lizzie, the person I was speaking to this time, informed me my reservation was no where to be found. And to make it worse, told me she wasn't surprised that it happened because I had spoken to Brandon. A moment of panic washed over me before I said with desperation "Well I hope there is still a boat available for us!". She assured me there was and confirmed that I would be booked for 2-5pm. I felt frustrated with my corrrect judgement of Brandon from 2 weeks before, but relieved that Lizzie sounded more confident and attentive. Only 24 hours until we'd be on the water!
Saturday, May 15th: Lake Day! I woke up at 11:30am and immediately rolled over to see if the light coming through the blinds was actual sunshine or just the oddly bright glare the overcast skies can sometimes shed... Bingo! The sun was out!! The Gods had listened and parted the clouds for us. Or so it seemed.
We arrived at Emerald Point Marina at about 1:45pm for check-in. The moment we entered the floating office I could tell it was a chaotic day for them. They were understaffed, the phones were ringing off the hook and there was a line out the door. I heard the manager mention "Everyone cancelled when it was gonna rain, then the sun comes out and all hell breaks loose." He was right. Just For Fun doesn't require reservations and walk-ins are welcome... a recipe for disaster if you ask me, but I'm a bit neurotic with my planning. My guess is that half of the 30 people in line didn't call ahead like I did (twice).
My boyfriend and I made it to the front of the line and presented my name for our 2:00pm booking. "I don't see it here..." she said. Then the girl she was working with pointed to my name, which was written at 12:30-3:30pm. Once again, panic washed over me- except this time it was mixed with pure shock. How on earth could two separate people, on two separate occasions, fuck up my reservation?? That's when I decided that Just For Fun wasn't only the name of the business, it was the work ethic of Brandon and Lizzie.
If I could offer any piece of advice for anyone that ever makes a reservation, no matter how big or small, GET THEIR NAME. It's a good thing I did because I was able to firmly say who I had spoken with both times I called and it got us on a boat. Although they didn't seem interested in making sure we would be coming back (we asked for a free tube worth $5/hr and they said no), at least they were willing to offer us a boat that would have been otherwise unavailable at that time. I would now like to apologize to whomever didn't get on the water yesterday because of Brandon and Lizzie's mistakes.
Our 3 hours flew by as we thought it would, but it turned out to be a perfect mini-expedition. The boat was nice, the sun never hid and the water was just right. We tubed, wakeboarded, went to see Mansfield Dam and The Oasis from the water side view... and our beloved Iguana Grille, a spot from which I've gazed at the lake dozens of times, now I was gazing at it's brightly colored umbrellas from down below. If only I could have had a yummy melon margarita like I would be if I were sitting up there...
My overall one word rating for the day: Pleasant
Overall rating for Just For Fun: Disappointing
Although I'm sitting here wishing I would have bought more than just one deal... maybe I'm more forgiving than I thought...
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