First mate's log:

October 3, 1970

Wow, we took another celebrity over to our island: Don Drysdale from the Dodgers! He's heard of Mr. Brady's designs through Ginger and other celebrities, so he's staying at the Beachcomber, the new hotel that's been built near the lagoon. Mr. Brady is designing a house for him, but it'll be built in L.A. of course. He'll stay on our island until the plans are done, and then take them to a builder in California.

Yeah, I got his autograph. I remember him even when he played for the Dodgers in Brooklyn.


Carol Brady's diary:

October 5, 1970

The boys are very excited that their father is working on designs for a house for Don Drysdale the baseball player. Greg in particular had his head turned by Drysdale's praise (including that Greg could be a "bonus baby," whatever that is), since the boys were practicing in the backyard and Greg has made the junior high team. (On our tropical island, sports aren't really affected by seasons.) I know more about baseball than I did a few months ago, but I really think he's taking it too seriously. Mike isn't worried and thinks it's just a phase.

To be honest, I'm more impressed that there's going to be a touring company production of The Music Man on Blenford on Friday the 16th! Even though Ginger has a small role in it, she's unable to get us tickets, as it quickly sold out. It's times like this I wish we weren't so isolated, or as isolated as we used to be, so I wouldn't get my hopes up. Still, Mike promises he'll try again next time something similar comes along, whenever that will be.


October 7, 1970

Greg told me he wants to drop out of school! Well, he'll finish junior high, since he's made a commitment as study body president, but he says he's much more interested in baseball than politics. Mr. Drysdale told him he has real potential, so Greg doesn't see the point of high school. His parents want him to go to college (off the island obviously), but he doesn't think he'll need a college education to play professionally.

I figure he might change his mind by the time he finishes junior high, and I know he wasn't really coming to me for advice. Sometimes the kids just like to tell me their problems because I'm not intimidating like other adults, and Mary Ann says I'm still just a big kid myself.


October 10, 1970

Mr. Drysdale's praise continued to go to Greg's head all week, even after Mike had the athlete return and talk about the downside of professional sports. Greg was talking about not going to high school, as if he expected to be recruited to the big leagues at in his early teens! The only thing that brought him down to earth was today's game, where he ignored his coach's instructions and played badly. Mike had a good talk with him, which Mike told me about afterwards. He encouraged Greg to just make baseball one part of his life, not an obsession. (I'll be happy to never hear another sports factoid as long as I live!)


October 13, 1970

Well, Greg bombed at his baseball game on Saturday, so he's going to continue to play but not build his future around it. He did ask me for advice today though, because his parents are going to hire a babysitter and it's kind of my fault. Well, mine and the Skipper's. See, Ginger has a little role in a Blenford production of The Music Man and she gave me and the Skipper tickets to see it. We're proud of her success but it would've meant having the crew take the ferry run that Friday night, and the Skipper is kind of possessive about his ships.

Anyway, I suggested the Skipper sell the tickets (cheap) to Mr. Brady, because I remember Ginger saying she felt bad she didn't have any to give to Mr. and Mrs. Brady, who really want to see the show, because they're big fans of old-fashioned musicals. So he did, but then when Mr. Brady surprised his wife with the tickets, she said they can't go because Alice has a special date to redecorate Sam's apartment that night. So they're going to get a babysitter for the kids, which both Greg and Marcia resent because they're teenagers, old enough to be babysitters themselves.

This time I did recommend that they tell their parents how they feel, since it's different than Greg hoping to join the Major Leagues instead of go to high school. They're both pretty responsible kids, and it's just for one night.


October 15, 1970

Well, Mike and I reluctantly are going to let Greg and Marcia babysit tomorrow night. Mike got us tickets to the show after all, which normally I'd be simply excited about. Unfortunately, Alice has a special date with Sam that night and I didn't want her to give that up, just to sit our kids, when she's so devoted and self-sacrificing anyway. But all the other sitters in the neighborhood are busy on Friday. And, as Greg pointed out, he and Marcia are teenagers now, although they always seem younger when they're your own.

The plan is that Mike and I will have dinner in a fancy restaurant over on Blenford before catching the show. We've fallen out of the habit of date nights, so this is a special occasion, for us as well as Alice. I just hope everything will be all right.


October 17, 1970

One thing about having more people on the island is we now have a small police force of six officers. And last night the Bradys and Alice were almost arrested in their own backyard! I heard about it this morning, after church. They were worried about the kids, especially since the phone was tied up. (Jan had a long conversation with her best friend Gloria.) And then Mrs. Brady thought she smelled smoke, but it was just the neighbors having a cookout. Anyway, Greg and Marcia had to vouch for them, which was embarrassing for everybody.


October 19, 1970

Well, date night didn't go as we expected, for us or Alice and Sam. Cindy got the sniffles before Mike and I set out, and I couldn't stop worrying about her. It turns out that Mike and Alice were worried as well. (Sam wasn't, but he hardly knows Cindy.) Mike and I both snuck phone calls at the restaurant but the line was busy. So we admitted we were both concerned, and we skipped dinner to go back across the water to check on her. And then I smelled smoke at our house, so we went around to the backyard, and Mike tripped on a patio chair. (The smoke was just from the Dittmeyers' barbecue.)

Well, Greg managed to get Jan off the phone (after she tied it up most of the night), so he could call the police. (Yes, we have a very small police department on our island now.) And two officers went to investigate, arriving right after we ran into Alice. Tiger slept all through this by the way. Anyhow, Cindy's sniffles had died down by the time Marcia tucked her in, so Alice went back over to Sam's, and Mike and I returned to Blenford, missing the overture but catching the rest of The Music Man. And, yes, everything was fine by when we got home for the night, although I don't know if my nerves could take another round of the kids sitting for their siblings again any time soon.