A family looking for seashells in Bradenton Beach found something a lot more special: A message in a bottle that had traveled all the way from Hawaii.
The family texted the number on the message and found out that the bottle was thrown into the ocean eight years ago.
Paris Hoisington and her 11-year-old daughter, Josie, pointed out the area of Anna Maria Island where the treasure washed ashore on Sunday.
“We were just looking for seashells and sand dollars, and we found something way cooler than that,” Paris said.
Josie said that at first it looked like trash in the water.
“I was walking and then the waves were coming and the bottle almost went, but I grabbed it really fast,” Josie said.
Josie found a tiny bottle, with a piece of origami inside and a message.
“She ran up to me and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, mom, look what I found!’ And I couldn’t believe it. It was incredible to find,” Paris said.
The message in the bottle read: “Hello people who found this. You will be happy that you found this. Why? Cause you will know me with this number.”
Paris said she texted that number and got a response from a 21-year-old woman, saying she and her brother made the bottle and sent it out eight years ago in Hawaii.
“I said, ‘You’re kidding!’” Paris said.
Paris’ family is visiting from Michigan, and they’d already planned to throw their own messages in bottles into the ocean.
“We got our own message in a bottles to do. The kids already filled them out. I believe this one is Josie’s. So we’re going to put these in the ocean and hopefully we’ll get a response back,” Paris said.
She said it’s a kid’s dream to find a message in a bottle at the beach, and it has made their Florida trip even more special.
“It’s truly amazing what little tiny objects can go places in the world and connect two people from each other’s side of the world,” Paris said.
The woman in Hawaii said she got the idea because she also found one when she was a kid.