Skip and Go Naked

Next week we are embarking on another trip with the usual suspects, this time to Australia. 

We’ve done Egypt, Vietnam and Cambodia with these guys. It’s like they all sit around and say, “How far towards the ends of the Earth can we drag everyone?” I haven’t thought a bit about this trip. I’ve been too consumed with the Minute Maid-Hornitos tragedy of 2026. 

Let’s start with the title of this post:

Skip and Go Naked

That’s the name of an alcoholic drink that my brother-in-law Tommy brought to the family. A reverse dowry, if you will. I don’t know what alcohol it contains though I will say I have skipped (fully clothed) after imbibing. The Skips are served in a fraternity-party-sized punch bowl with a ladle. 

My sister, Rebekah, concocted (or maybe stole, doesn’t matter) a recipe for the best frozen margaritas.  They are made with Hornitos Black Label tequila. At our family gatherings you’ll not find one properly set table but you will find a giant drywall-mud-sized tub of frozen margaritas.

Here’s the weird bit: Both family “recipes” use Minute Maid frozen limeade. Imagine my family’s outrage and defeat when Minute Made stopped making frozen limeade the very same year Hornitos stopped making Black Label tequila. 

Oh, this summer was dreadful. Every time we got together it was the same sad conversation focusing on how to forge ahead in this new world. The Husband stumbled upon a cobwebbed bottle of the Black Label on the back of a shelf. You would have sworn he won the lotto. Tommy tells the story of sacrificing his last can of Minute Maid to his Godson and under my breath I’m saying, “Damn fool. He’s not even your real son.”

So here I am, with a week to go before we leave. It’s time to shop for the missing pieces of my wardrobe. Instead of shopping for travel-sized necessities and extra underwear, I veer straight to the liquor store next door searching for that coveted Black Label. I don’t want to “go naked” but if I don’t get my act together, that’s where we’re headed. 

Follow my blog as we explore Melbourne, Hamilton Island and Sydney with dear friends. They are the exact right people to help me through these sober days. 

(I mean sober as in sad, but you knew that).