But this time, we weren’t dressed up like people.

Meredith, Jenna, Michael and I had been planning our costumes for this event for weeks. And here it finally was….The Annual SEA Creatures Ball.

Jenna ordered some glow-gel and some hairpieces that light up. We bought sequined blue dresses and wore them with leggings, tights, and, in Michael’s case, boxer shorts. We put blue paint and glitter in our hair and hung the light-up barrettes off our tresses and dresses. The glow gel was dotted onto our exposed skin and clothing. Michael did his nails with it and the splattered blue glitter all over them. Michael bought dowels and attached strands of blue rope. We glued ribbons on each “wand” and tied them into bows. We started the dressing process at our house, and finished in the parking lot at the Palms Hotel, where the affair was being held.

Does Meredith have krill in her teeth?

We entered the party and some people actually understood that we were “Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates“. We were blue, we glowed and sparkled, and we had whip-like flagella. Yes, we were creatures of the sea (or at least nutrient-rich bays like the one off Vieques which we visited on our honeymoon).

The auction/fundraiser was very different from past years. There was not a sit-down dinner or even buffet. It was sort of a free-for-all, which was confusing and disappointing. There was a complimentary wine bar which somewhat made up for the lack of organization of food. The silent auction items were many and varied, some wonderful things and packages, but there were no minimum bids on any of the items. People could literally steal fabulous, expensive donations. It was extremely different from the fur ball two weeks ago, where there were hardly any silent auction items and there was NO live auction, but at least there were minimum bids.

Just like the fur ball, nice things could have been packaged: A two night stay at a local B&B with a couples massage and some flowers or a Buck Island trip. (The fur Ball had NOTHING like that, just individual items, and no one asked us for a massage donation, which we would have gladly provided). And, actually, there were a few great packages, which we stole one of. The one we got was a 5 night stay at the Palms Resort, an island flight tour with Captain Al, and a half-day trip to Buck Island with Big Beard’s. We got it for $250. It was very sad. Many of the live auction items could have been silent auction items, because they were not remarkable. Like an hour-long photo session with a little-known photographer (?). I didn’t get it. And there were almost TOO many live auction items. We weren’t able to pay attention, especially to the early ones that were so unimpressive. Rashidi was the auctioneer (I remember when he wrote the local sports news for the Avis), and he was excellent. But I still couldn’t get into some of the boring items.

Anyway, there were some nice live auction items like a trip to Dominica and a trip to Old San Juan (at the Gallery Inn, which is an amazing place). We bid on both of these, but lost, and that’s okay, because someone with more bucks than us is supporting SEA and that’s way cool.

Michael wanted to play the “rescue a turtle” game, so he shelled out 20 bucks for a chance and won a tee shirt and a gift certificate to “Off the Wall”. Meredith won a package with an air tour by Bohlke and Jenna won a beautiful Maria Henle print.

All in all, it was worse than the Fur Ball foodwise. The SEA Creatures Ball’s scattered and unimaginative buffet was unsatisfactory. It was better than the Fur Ball as far as auction items were concerned (and especially since there was an actual live auction). But I wish that after so many years of doing this kind of thing, that both of these worthwhile organizations would get it just right…..