...And then, they swarmed us...

"Go to Peddock's Island", they said.  "It'll be fun", they said.  What a bunch of liars!

My Saturday started out like any normal Saturday.  My husband, Jim, our friend, Matt, and myself made plans a few days before to go to Peddock's Island.  For those of you not familiar with the area, Peddock's Island is one of the Boston Harbor Islands and was used in the filming of "Shutter Island" with Leonardo DiCaprio.  It has beaches, camp sites, historical buildings... and bugs.  Lots and lots of bugs.

Jim and I were at our house getting ready to meet Matt for breakfast when I made a critical observation.

"We should stop and get bug spray.  Ours is dead."

Jim had a logical reply.  "Use the Skintastic stuff in the cupboard."

My reply, not so much.  "I don't like that stuff.  It makes my skin all sticky.  I want to get the Off Dry spray.  I like that so much better.  Do you mind if we stop and pick some up?  Besides, we can't really take it with us.  I don't want to leave your mom without bug spray, in case she goes into the garden."

Jim, Matt, and I met up and went out for breakfast.  I had a pancake with syrup.  Jim and Matt had eggs or an omelet.  I mentioned getting bug spray again in the car.

"What do we need bug spray for?", asked Matt.

"Well, we're going to be surrounded by trees and I'm sure there will be bugs."

"We'll be on an island.  I'm sure it won't be that bad."  Famous last words...

We got to Boston and bought our tickets to go from George's Island (another Harbor Island) to Peddock's Island.  We waited about an hour for our ferry to arrive and, in Massachusetts fashion, it was late.  A camping group behind us in line had to catch the same shuttle ferry that we had to catch because they were headed to a different island as well.  Our ferry called ahead to hold the shuttle ferry until we were able to get there.  As soon as we docked, we had to practically knock people over to jump onto the shuttle ferry.  I thought that would be the worst part of the day.

We got to the island and we were greeted by a creepy looking church right on the shore.  All of the windows were boarded up and it looked very weather-beaten.  Right away, I knew I had to get a picture of it.  We stopped to grab a few shots before leaving the dock.  We went into the Welcome Center, hoping to buy some bottles of water.  We were wrong.  They didn't sell anything on the island, like the bigger ones.  I looked to the right and saw the desk that the park ranger was sitting at.  On it, was a bottle of bug spray.  I thought about asking if I could use some, but felt kind of silly.  Maybe Matt was right.  How bad could it be?

We started down a trail that led to the buildings used in the filming of "Shutter Island".  This was the point of our trip.  We only had an hour before our return ferry came back, so we had to act fast.  Along the trail, we saw a random set of steep, cement stairs with no hand rails.  As we carefully made our way up the stairs, I had an itchy feeling on my left calf.  I smacked my calf and looked down to see a small smear of blood.  I knew it!  I figured since it was just the one so far, I'd be OK.  The farther we walked, the more we smacked and swatted.

After about 10 minutes or so of walking, we came to an unpaved path.  This was the path we had to take to get to the location of all the cool buildings.  We walked farther into the tall grass along our path.  We found a couple of beaches and some people sunbathing.  We stopped to take a couple of pictures of the Boston sky line and enjoy the view.  We turned the corner and walked through a rusty chain-link fence.

Jokingly, Matt said, "This is how most horror movies start out."

... And then, they swarmed us...

I've never seen so many mosquitoes in my life!  Those blood-sucking bastards were all over us!  The more we killed, the more landed on us.  They covered Jim's back, Matt's head, and my... everything.  We swatted, smacked, and cursed!  We were about half way to our destination, but it just wasn't worth it.  The swarm was too great.  This traveling party made the best decision... we headed back to town.

"HOLY SHIT, MEL!  LOOK AT YOUR LEGS!", Matt exclaimed looking at me from behind.  I had welts the size of quarters all over my legs, arms, shoulders, and neck.  One of those little fuckers even got my face!  MY FACE!  My legs and arms were covered in my blood and the carcasses of those winged douche bags. 

We got back to the Welcome Center and wiped down our bodies with some Wet Naps I happened to have on hand.  We assessed the carnage.  When everything was said and done, I had over 40 mosquito bites on my body.  "Oh, baby!  I'm so sorry!", Jim said looking at me with a look of pity on his face.  All I could do was laugh. 

"Well, we did say it looked like the beginning of a horror movie and it sure as hell ended like one!"  What else could I say?  I wasn't going to sit around and mope about it.  I still had to get back to Boston.  The three of us made the best of the situation. 

We ended Mosquito-Palooza 2013 with dinner in the North End of Boston.  I had a couple of drinks to numb the itching.  I still enjoyed the day, regardless of the previous events. 

Today, I'm doing well.  It's hard for me to sleep because everything rubs on my legs and they start to itch like crazy!  I've been woken up a few times during the night because of the relentless itching, but I'm slowly recovering.

The moral of the story, boys and girls... ALWAYS BRING BUG SPRAY!