Visitor to Georgia island finds third-grader's message in a bottle

Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A Florida woman's birthday wish came true when she found a message in a bottle while visiting a barrier island in Georgia.

Jacksonville resident Rebecca Bowling said she and her boyfriend took a camping trip to the Cumberland Island National Seashore to celebrate her Sept. 3 birthday.

The couple took a walk around the shoreline and Bowling shared her birthday wish.

"I was talking with my boyfriend, and I was like, 'You know what would be so cool? I've never found a message in a bottle,'" Bowling told The Post and Courier newspaper . "We were laughing about it, because that seems like such an antiquated thing. Does that even exist anymore?"

Bowling said her wish came true after just 10 minutes of walking.

"I was just stunned," Bowling said. "I know it might sound silly now, but I had said that I wanted to do it, and it was my birthday trip. I was like, 'This is a dream come true.'"

The glass bottle, sealed with a cork, contained a note dated Aug. 4, 2024, just one month before its discovery.

The note reads: "Hi, everyone. I am a girl. I love the sea so I thought I could write a message. Love, Parker."

Parker wrote she was from Charleston, S.C.

Bowling posted a photo of the note on Facebook in an attempt to find the sender.

"I would love to tell Parker I am also a girl who loves the sea and this is the best birthday present," Bowling wrote.

The post soon came to the attention of Parker's mother, Kate Early, who showed it to 8-year-old Parker and her father, Matt Early.

Matt Early said Parker launched the bottle while riding in the family's boat in the Charleston Harbor, near Fort Sumter .

"She really likes the water and the sea itself," Matt Early said. "She really does have this kind of affinity for the outdoors."

Bowling, a third-grade science teacher, said Parker has inspired her to assign her students to write their own message in a bottle-style letters.