It's 3:00am and the cell phone alarm signals it's time to wake up.

Today is a supposed to be a big day. Driving down to Tampa from Tallahassee at 4:30am. Flight from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale at 11:45am and then another flight from Fort Lauderdale to Treasure Cay, Bahamas at 3:35pm. After that a short boat ride to Green Turtle Cay, a small island in the Bahamas.

What our view will be looking at in just a few hours

Shortly before 4:30am we get the cars loaded up and head Tampa.

My girlfriend (Morgan - @morganannwood), her brother (Mason), their cousin (Madison), and myself in one car with me at the helm. My girlfriend’s dad (Bruce), my girlfriend’s mom (Monique), and my girlfriends aunt (Kim) in the other car with Bruce in the driver’s seat.

As the other car pulls out of the neighborhood, they circle back around to the house because they forgot something.

We proceed to get on the interstate and head to Tampa.

After driving for 1 hour 45 minutes, the troops are starting to get hungry and need to use the restroom.

We stop in Gainesville and get some Chick Fil A from the drive thru.

@morgannwood doesn't really eat Chick Fil A and wanted some tea from Starbucks, so we head to Starbucks in Gainesville.

While at Starbucks, we all go inside to use the restroom. Like all Starbucks, the staff is incredibly friendly and goes out of their way to welcome us. After using the restroom, we load back up and head towards Tampa.

Madison forgot her antibiotic which she just got yesterday from the doctor. Another prescription gets sent in to the CVS in Tampa, just minutes from the airport.

If you have ever made the trip from Tallahassee to Tampa before, it's only a 3.5-4 hour drive. This is all well and good except the Target pharmacy doesn't open until 9am and we are expected to arrive at the pharmacy at 8am.

With 1 hour to burn we walk around Target, Petsmart, and Whole Foods until the pharmacy is open.

After getting the prescription we are headed to the airport.

We are right on schedule. It is currently 9:45am and we get parked and head to the ticket counter.

Upon reaching the Silver Airways ticket counter, the attendant asks for our passports.

Morgan says

Mom, we need the passports for everyone. Can you get them out of your bag?

Monique replies

Here is the folder with all the passports.

I take the folder from Monique and begin to pass out the passports.

While passing out the passports, Morgan goes into the folder and helps out. She looks through the folder and counts the passports.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…. There are seven of us, but only six passports. Mom, where is Sevin’s passport? I put it in the folder.

Monique replies

It should be there. Look again.

Morgan’s face starts to turn to a concerned look and then she says back to Monqiue

You have the black passport folder, don’t you?

The concern look quickly turns to an upset look and the

“Oh shit moment happens”

My passport was still in Tallahassee (3.5 hours away) and our flight is in 2 hours. It was placed into the wrong folder.

The scramble begins

• How can we get the passport?
• How are we going to get me to the Bahamas?
• When can they get me to the Bahamas?
• What airport can they fly me out of?
• What airport can they fly me into?
• If you fly anywhere other than Tampa, what are we going to do with the car when we return?

The Silver Airline attendant says she will get it figured out. We try to figure out how fast can I get my passport and what is the earliest time I can get to either the Treasure Cay or Marsh Harbour Airport.

In the meantime I call my father, @iconchout, to tell him what happened and see if he can meet me halfway, which would be around Gainesville. He said he can go to Morgan’s house, get the elusive passport folder, and begins to head for Gainesville.

The airline attendant and I research the following possible airports:

• Orlando
• Tampa
• Miami
• Fort Lauderdale
• Jacksonville

In the end, the earliest flight happened to be out of Tampa tomorrow morning. I would fly into Marsh Harbour, which is a 30 minute boat ride from where we are staying in Green Turtle.

The Silver Airlines attendant books the ticket and doesn’t charge anything to move the ticket to tomorrow. I gave her a $20 bill and thanked her.

Now I just needed to find somewhere to stay.

I call my friend John, who lives about 30 minutes from the airport, to see if he is in town and if he can house me for a night?

His responds in Spanish with his American Accent
“Mi casa es su casa” (My house is your house)

John tells me he will leave a key for me at the front desk.

Success! Now I just need to meet up with my father in order to get to the passport.

He was now on his way from Tallahassee heading south to Gainesville and I got in the car heading north from Tampa to Gainesville.

About 70 miles south of Gainesville, I run into bumper to bumper traffic. At this time, my father is already in Gainesville and waiting for me to get there.

At least an hour and a half away, I needed a way to get the passport while allowing him to get back to Tallahassee.

Plan B – Have him leave the Passport somewhere?

What is the one place that would be willing to hold this passport? What is the one place I could trust to hold something this valuable?

The answer is easy - Starbucks

I called the Starbucks I visited earlier in the day and explained the situation to them. They said they would gladly secure the passport until I get there.

Success! Now I just had to get to Starbucks and pick up the package.

After another hour and a half on the road I arrived at my location.

I spoke to the assistant manager and he said he would get the manager and would be with me shortly.

After waiting for a few minutes, the manager says

Are you the one picking up the package?

I responded

Yes. That is me!

She verified my driver’s license with the passport and handed the package over.

After she handed the package over she said,

What other place that you know hosts churches, has study groups, and now securely holds assets for individuals.

Starbucks

With the package in hand, it was time for another 2 and a half hour drive to Palm Harbor, Florida.

At 4:45pm I had the key to his place and I was home free!

Now I just have to get to the airport for the trip tomorrow!

I have to give props to Silver Airlines. There were only two attendants on staff and they did a wonderful job assisting me to coordinate the transfer of the ticket to the following day.

Starbucks – I cannot thank you enough! You guys are amazing!!

And of course a huge thank you to my father who took 5 hours out of his Saturday to drive down to Gainesville just to drop off my passport! You are the best! I love you!!

Lesson has been learned:
You cannot check too many times to make sure you have everything you need! Even if you think they have it, check again! And again!

I can't wait to be reunited with my friends - only a day away!