Return To The Blue Lagoon

"Happy Birthday, America!" Sennen yelled. "Happy Birthday, America!" Ailyn echoed while swimming in tourmaline blue waters of a cove of nearby Tiganakia island. They had tried yelling it from the boat, but we wouldn't let them – so the open waters of the cove were their haven to celebrate America's Independence.

Being in Greece, nothing felt as Fourth of July as hitting not one, but three beaches with swimming, watermelon, ouzo, wine and an outdoor lunch (although not barbecued). Emily and I did the same day-long boat excursion in 2010 when I felt elated to dive into water of a shade I had never seen before. After all, Greece and I share a passion for the color blue which is present nowhere in the world like it is here. Even the "average" sea water here its a rich hue of blue I have seen nowhere else. Emily and I noticed after our year of travel that if you look at an album or collage of Greece photos, blue simply jumps out at you.

And of course, anybody in their right mind who loves sun and swimming wants to jump into it. Sennen takes after me in many ways, and jumping off our excursion boat into refreshing tourmaline water is absolutely one of them. "I love it here! This is a great boat adventure!" he said swimming around Tiganakia. He started by using his "donut", but when we got the sense that he could manage to swim safely, we let him take it off, "I'm free, I'm free!" he yelled as he swam with joy.

The Aegean has a higher salinity than other seas and oceans and as a result, it's pretty easy to tread water and swim. Thus, we almost effortlessly moved through the incredibly vivid water for almost an hour without getting tired. When we finally did return to the boat, the crew was offering refreshments of which everyone happily partook. 

Our boat next took as to Arki, a very small island with three tavernas, a guest house and a couple of rental homes. The beaches weren't so usable, and the stop was really a ploy to try to get us two spend money at the very little the island had to offer. After a coffee, restroom break and a quick walk around town, we sat on the boat and discussed other excursions we might want to do in the near future while taking in the beauty of the area.

Luckily, or next stop, Marathi was only 10 minutes away and was where we had two and a half hours to get lunch and swim in the beautiful, swimming-pool calm water of this tiny island. There, we could choose among the three tavernas which were clearly kept alive by excursion boat trips and a handful of yachts bringing swimmers. 

Nine years ago, Emily, an Italian guy named Luka and I. ate at the second taverna. Today, we went to the end of the beach to the third, less traveled taverna. While its menu resembled that of all tavernas, it of course had its handful of specialties. Emily tried the boiled octopus (which she rated "eh") and Matheus had the stewed wild goat which he rated very highly – and which Sennen also liked. My only local delicacy selection was their own farm-made goat cheese which was a little more aged and crumbly than standard feta. 

Of course, before we could even make it to the restaurant Sennen and Ailyn had dived into the water and swam their way to lunch. We let them swim and play in the shallow, clear water near the restaurant while we ordered and waited for our food – and then again as soon as we had finished. With the exception of a brief moment when Sennen stepped on something in the seagrass that stung him, the kids were in the lightest, happiest mood I have seen them in a long time – particularly Sennen who seemed to have rejoiced in the clean, rich-colored water. It was the easiest and most fun day we have had yet.

When we were done, the boat took an hour to return us to the Patmos port. Sennen decided to sit behind the captain so he could see everything about how the boat was driven. "It was pretty boring, actually," he concluded afterward.

We went home, showered and I cooked dinner. We ate a fairly simple, home cooked dinner as a family – dining slowly "like Greeks!" as the kids said and having very lighthearted banter and conversation. It was a thoroughly enjoyable Fourth of July in Patmos. Of course, it lacked any sentiment of American patriotism.

But the day was indeed a wonderful reminder of the freedoms we Americans have – among them the freedom to travel freely, which has not existed for as long as people might imagine. As Americans, we have access to the vast majority of countries on earth and our government places no restrictions on where we can go and when. We are here enjoying everything Greece has to offer thanks to our liberties and the economic success of our society. There's no doubt we have real and serious issues to face as a nation – perhaps more now than ever – but we should never lose sight of all the blessings that are ours nor forget that the American experience has faced many difficult and critical moments before, which we have somehow navigated. Perhaps like our boat today, we will find ourselves in resplendent, clean, calm, vibrant waters again in the future.