Fruit salad like you've never had it

(This Summer Breeze Fruit Salad is a favorite of mine because it brings back memories of my first trip to the Bahamas, of when I began to appreciate rum and the permeating flavors of island cooking — ginger, coconut and RUM! And it all tracks back to when I met my husband, Tom . . . )

In "Bibi's Gulf Coast Kitchen," columnist Bibi Hutchings takes you on a culinary journey across the coastal south. Come for the great food writing, stay for the delicious recipes.

It wasn't until I met my husband that I spent any real time on a boat. Although I always loved the water and had friends with boats over the years, I never learned to sail or spent nights anchored out before knowing Tom. I had also never traveled in a small airplane before, but like boating, that too became a normal part of life as I married both a "boat guy" and a pilot.  

Tom grew up on boats and spent much of his younger adult years sailing around in the Caribbean, racing sailboats and delivering boats through all sorts of weather and conditions. Thankfully, he respects my less adventuresome spirit when it comes to the water, so our adventures are usually only as wild as jumping in the boat to go to dinner. But we have taken a few lengthier trips along the Intracoastal Waterway, a 3,000 mile, mostly inland (meaning it keeps you out of the Gulf of Mexico) water route that actually runs in front of our house and extends along the Gulf Coast from Carrabelle, Florida to Brownsville, Texas.