When Norton residents Rachael and Ronnie Cool and their three children arrived in the Tampa area on Sunday, Tropical Storm Debby was there to greet them.
It wasn't until the next day that the clan of five could get outside to experience the beach near Treasure Island on Florida's Gulf Coast.
They were on a hunt for sea shells, Rachael Cool said in a phone interview this week.
They found shells — and a starfish, octopus, and a baby turtle they helped back into the ocean.
But they also found a message in a bottle.
The keen eye of Ella Cool spotted bottle at Tampa-area beach
In a modern twist to the story, it was tucked inside a Propel water bottle.
"My daughter noticed a bottle ... and I noticed there was a letter and my husband ran and grabbed it," she said.
While the Cools collected shells and helped a baby turtle back into the Gulf waters, they held on to the bottle, spotted by 8-year-old Ella.
"We waited to get back to the condo to open it," Rachael Cool said.
Once there, the family, including Ella and her 5-year-old twin siblings Ryleigh and Greyson, gathered round to find out just what they had discovered in a plastic water bottle.
"My kids were very excited to open the message and have their dad read it," Cool said.
From Dallas to Tampa to New Jersey
Ronnie Cool, who owns MC Tree, a tree-trimming and removal service in Norton, read the note aloud.
Turns out it had been bobbing around for nine years.
The message was written by a then 16-year-old girl on April 15, 2015.
In it, she tells a bit of her personal history: She was born in Dallas, Texas, and moved to Tampa for 13 years before relocating to New Jersey.
"Why would anyone move from Florida to New Jersey?" she wrote in the note.
The writer ends with an apology: "Sorry I didn't leave any money. Treasure this note."
'It was pretty cool'
Rachael Cool, a local bank branch manager, posted about the message on Facebook right after the beach trip.
"A lot of people have said, 'Oh my gosh, that’s interesting to find,' " she said. "A couple people… (are) looking to see if they can find the girl."
A New Jersey woman who meets some of the details in the letter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rachael Cool said about 15 family members are gathering in the Tampa area for the vacation, hoping the storm clears for good.
She was a little surprised that the bottle preserved its contents so well.
"It was pretty cool that we were able to read it," she said.
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Norton family on vacation finds message in a bottle on Tampa-area beach
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