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CNN
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The first time Beverly Carriveau saw Bob Parsons, she felt like a “thunderbolt” passed between them.
It was June 1968. Beverly was a 23-year-old Canadian university librarian on vacation in Mazatlan, Mexico, with a good friend in tow.
Beverly had arrived in Mazatlan that morning. She’d been blown away by the Pacific Ocean views, the colorful 19th-century buildings, the palm trees.
Now, Beverly was browsing the hotel gift store, admiring a pair of earrings, when she looked up and spotted the man getting out of the taxi. The gift shop was facing the parking lot, and there he was.
“I was riveted,” says Beverly. “He was tall, handsome…”
We locked eyes so long, I was embarrassed,” she says.
No words had passed between them. They hadn’t even smiled at each other. But Beverly felt like she’d revealed something of herself. She felt like something had happened, but she couldn’t describe it.
Beverly rushed to meet her friend, still feeling flustered. Over dinner in the hotel restaurant, Beverly confided in her friend about the “thunderbolt” moment.
“I told my girlfriend, ‘Something just happened to me. I stared at this man, and I couldn’t help myself.’”
Then, the server approached Beverly’s table.
“He said, ‘I have some wine for you, from a man over there.’”
The waiter was holding a bottle of white wine, indicating at the bar, which was packed with people.
As a rule, Beverly avoided accepting drinks from men in bars. She never felt especially comfortable with the power dynamic — plus, she had a long-term partner back in Canada.
“I had a serious boyfriend at home and thought my life was on course,” she says.
But that evening in Mazatlan, after pausing for a moment, Beverly and her friend accepted the bottle of wine. Neither of them were quite sure why they agreed. And almost as soon as the waiter started pouring, the two women started panicking.
They weren’t sure who exactly had sent the wine, for one thing. The waiter had just gestured in the direction of the bar, which was packed. The man from the taxi did cross Beverly’s mind, but she couldn’t spot him, and there were a lot of other people sitting at the bar too.
“We started talking amongst ourselves, ‘What are we going to do? We have to thank him,’” says Beverly. “Which was pretty funny, really.”
Eventually, Beverly’s friend persuaded her to go and seek out the mysterious wine donor. Slightly warily, Beverly made her way across the restaurant to the bar.
She glanced around at the various people, sitting on bar stools, sipping margaritas and sharing appetizers.
A “thunderbolt” moment
Bob and Beverly were connected from the moment they locked eyes for the first time. Courtesy Beverly Parsons
Beverly returned to her table with the man from the taxi, much to the amusement of her friend. He introduced himself for the first time: Bob Parsons: a 30-year-old yacht captain from the US.
Bob managed a few yachts, he explained, and his main boat, the Sugar Shack, was parked in Mazatlan for the time being.
“We had a nice dinner and a chat,” says Beverly. “He was not aggressive at all, a very quiet, straightforward guy.”
Throughout the meal, Beverly and Bob kept exchanging glances at each other. Every time, Beverly felt the same “thunderbolt” feeling from earlier.
She was drawn to Bob. He was friendly and polite to her friend, too. But when his attention turned to Beverly, it felt different.
After dinner, Bob suggested the trio “go downtown, to the Copa de Leche.” This was a bar on the beach, he explained. Beverly hesitated.
“I didn’t know what kind of place that was. It was our first day,” she says today. “But my girlfriend wanted to go. And so I said, ‘Okay, but I want you to know it doesn’t mean anything.’ And he said, ‘I just asked you for a drink.’”
Bob, Beverly and her friend spent the rest of the evening drinking, dancing and chatting at the Copa de Leche, an Art Deco club facing onto the ocean.
“We had a nice time, but my father always taught me about sailors and Americans, and you know, you have to be careful,” says Beverly. “And I had Doug, my boyfriend at home. I wasn’t looking for anything.”
But for all Beverly’s reservations and hesitations, she still felt something distinct, every time she looked at Bob, that she’d never felt before.
“I was just flabbergasted, and I could not think of anything else,” she says.
For the next week of her vacation, Beverly saw Bob every day. She outwardly set boundaries — she was never alone with him, they always went out for the evening with Beverly’s friend completing their party.
But when he asked for her contact details, Beverly agreed, giving Bob her phone number and address.
After returning home to Vancouver, Canada, Beverly went straight to her mailbox.
She’d been thinking about Bob the entire plane journey home.
“I was frantic,” she recalls. “You couldn’t afford phone calls in those days, we had to write to people — we didn’t have communications like we do now. So I was hoping I’d have heard from him, and I went through all the mail and there were no letters… but at the bottom was a note from my roommate that said: ‘Who the hell is Captain Parsons on the Sugar Shack?’”
When Beverly saw the note, she laughed out loud. She already knew, in her heart, that she had to give this connection a chance. The fact he’d called already cemented this certainty.
“The next day, my boyfriend, the one I had for three years, Doug, came to see me. And before he even had his jacket off, I just said, ‘Doug, I’ve met somebody.’”
Beverly told Doug that this “somebody” was based in Mexico, that nothing had happened between them, but she’d felt a connection she couldn’t deny. Doug was surprised, but took it relatively well.
“He said, ‘Well, that’s crazy. You better go down and figure this out.’”
Reuniting in California
Beverly decided to trust her instincts, follow her heart and take a chance on Bob. Courtesy Beverly Parsons
Throughout July 1968, Beverly and Bob wrote letters to each other.
“But writing back and forth to Mexico was a bit crazy,” she recalls. “Took forever.”
Then, towards the end of July, Beverly got a call from an unknown number. It was the wife of the owner of the Sugar Shack, who explained they were heading to California to pick up a new motor yacht the following weekend.
“She said, ‘Our captain wants you to fly to San Diego for the weekend, and he asked me to get you a hotel room,’” recalls Beverly.
Without hesitation, Beverly said she’d be there.
She knew it was “crazy.”
“I’d only known him a week, never been alone with him…” she says today.
But Beverly couldn’t stop thinking about Bob.
And if it hadn’t been love at first sight in Mexico, Beverly and Bob knew for certain they were falling for each other following this whirlwind weekend in San Diego.
Beverly enjoyed being in Bob’s company.
“He was not aggressive at all, he was just a very quiet, straightforward guy, not effusive,” she recalls. “He was tall, handsome… he didn’t know he was, that made him even more attractive. He was a presence.”
And together, they just clicked.
A librarian ran off with a yacht captain in the summer of 1968. It was the start of an incredible love story
By Francesca Street, CNN
17 minute read
Bob Parsons was an American yacht captain. Beverly Carriveau was a Canadian librarian. One day in Mazatlan, Mexico, a “thunderbolt” passed between them, and their lives were never the same again. Courtesy Beverly ParsonsCNN —
The first time Beverly Carriveau saw Bob Parsons, she felt like a “thunderbolt” passed between them.
“This man stepped out of a taxi, and we both just stared at each other,” Beverly tells CNN Travel today. “You have to remember, this is the ‘60s. Girls didn’t stare at men. But it was a thunderbolt.”
null
It was June 1968. Beverly was a 23-year-old Canadian university librarian on vacation in Mazatlan, Mexico, with a good friend in tow.
Beverly had arrived in Mazatlan that morning. She’d been blown away by the Pacific Ocean views, the colorful 19th-century buildings, the palm trees.
Now, Beverly was browsing the hotel gift store, admiring a pair of earrings, when she looked up and spotted the man getting out of the taxi. The gift shop was facing the parking lot, and there he was.
“I was riveted,” says Beverly. “He was tall, handsome…”
null
Eventually, Beverly tore away her gaze, bought the earrings and dashed out of the store.
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“We locked eyes so long, I was embarrassed,” she says.
No words had passed between them. They hadn’t even smiled at each other. But Beverly felt like she’d revealed something of herself. She felt like something had happened, but she couldn’t describe it.
Beverly rushed to meet her friend, still feeling flustered. Over dinner in the hotel restaurant, Beverly confided in her friend about the “thunderbolt” moment.
null
“I told my girlfriend, ‘Something just happened to me. I stared at this man, and I couldn’t help myself.’”
Then, the server approached Beverly’s table.
“He said, ‘I have some wine for you, from a man over there.’”
The waiter was holding a bottle of white wine, indicating at the bar, which was packed with people.
As a rule, Beverly avoided accepting drinks from men in bars. She never felt especially comfortable with the power dynamic — plus, she had a long-term partner back in Canada.
“I had a serious boyfriend at home and thought my life was on course,” she says.
I was riveted. He was tall, handsome…
Beverly on the moment she saw Bob for the first time
Prior to traveling to Mexico, Beverly had spent a year exploring Europe and working in the UK. Throughout this period she’d politely declined whenever men in bars had offered to buy her cocktails.
null
“It wasn’t like I’d never met men before,” she says today. “I’d been all over Europe for a year.”
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But that evening in Mazatlan, after pausing for a moment, Beverly and her friend accepted the bottle of wine. Neither of them were quite sure why they agreed. And almost as soon as the waiter started pouring, the two women started panicking.
They weren’t sure who exactly had sent the wine, for one thing. The waiter had just gestured in the direction of the bar, which was packed. The man from the taxi did cross Beverly’s mind, but she couldn’t spot him, and there were a lot of other people sitting at the bar too.
“We started talking amongst ourselves, ‘What are we going to do? We have to thank him,’” says Beverly. “Which was pretty funny, really.”
Eventually, Beverly’s friend persuaded her to go and seek out the mysterious wine donor. Slightly warily, Beverly made her way across the restaurant to the bar.
She glanced around at the various people, sitting on bar stools, sipping margaritas and sharing appetizers.
null
And then, she locked eyes, for the second time, with the man from the taxi.
He was holding a drink, and tipped it forward to acknowledge her. This time, he smiled. Beverly felt herself blush again.
“I got all flustered,” she says. “But I asked him if he’d like to come over and sit with us.”
A “thunderbolt” moment
Bob and Beverly were connected from the moment they locked eyes for the first time. Courtesy Beverly Parsons
Beverly returned to her table with the man from the taxi, much to the amusement of her friend. He introduced himself for the first time: Bob Parsons: a 30-year-old yacht captain from the US.
null
Bob managed a few yachts, he explained, and his main boat, the Sugar Shack, was parked in Mazatlan for the time being.
“We had a nice dinner and a chat,” says Beverly. “He was not aggressive at all, a very quiet, straightforward guy.”
Throughout the meal, Beverly and Bob kept exchanging glances at each other. Every time, Beverly felt the same “thunderbolt” feeling from earlier.
She was drawn to Bob. He was friendly and polite to her friend, too. But when his attention turned to Beverly, it felt different.
After dinner, Bob suggested the trio “go downtown, to the Copa de Leche.” This was a bar on the beach, he explained. Beverly hesitated.
“I didn’t know what kind of place that was. It was our first day,” she says today. “But my girlfriend wanted to go. And so I said, ‘Okay, but I want you to know it doesn’t mean anything.’ And he said, ‘I just asked you for a drink.’”
Bob, Beverly and her friend spent the rest of the evening drinking, dancing and chatting at the Copa de Leche, an Art Deco club facing onto the ocean.
“We had a nice time, but my father always taught me about sailors and Americans, and you know, you have to be careful,” says Beverly. “And I had Doug, my boyfriend at home. I wasn’t looking for anything.”
But for all Beverly’s reservations and hesitations, she still felt something distinct, every time she looked at Bob, that she’d never felt before.
“I was just flabbergasted, and I could not think of anything else,” she says.
For the next week of her vacation, Beverly saw Bob every day. She outwardly set boundaries — she was never alone with him, they always went out for the evening with Beverly’s friend completing their party.
But when he asked for her contact details, Beverly agreed, giving Bob her phone number and address.
After returning home to Vancouver, Canada, Beverly went straight to her mailbox.
She’d been thinking about Bob the entire plane journey home.
“I was frantic,” she recalls. “You couldn’t afford phone calls in those days, we had to write to people — we didn’t have communications like we do now. So I was hoping I’d have heard from him, and I went through all the mail and there were no letters… but at the bottom was a note from my roommate that said: ‘Who the hell is Captain Parsons on the Sugar Shack?’”
When Beverly saw the note, she laughed out loud. She already knew, in her heart, that she had to give this connection a chance. The fact he’d called already cemented this certainty.
“The next day, my boyfriend, the one I had for three years, Doug, came to see me. And before he even had his jacket off, I just said, ‘Doug, I’ve met somebody.’”
Beverly told Doug that this “somebody” was based in Mexico, that nothing had happened between them, but she’d felt a connection she couldn’t deny. Doug was surprised, but took it relatively well.
“He said, ‘Well, that’s crazy. You better go down and figure this out.’”
Reuniting in California
Beverly decided to trust her instincts, follow her heart and take a chance on Bob. Courtesy Beverly Parsons
Throughout July 1968, Beverly and Bob wrote letters to each other.
“But writing back and forth to Mexico was a bit crazy,” she recalls. “Took forever.”
Then, towards the end of July, Beverly got a call from an unknown number. It was the wife of the owner of the Sugar Shack, who explained they were heading to California to pick up a new motor yacht the following weekend.
“She said, ‘Our captain wants you to fly to San Diego for the weekend, and he asked me to get you a hotel room,’” recalls Beverly.
Without hesitation, Beverly said she’d be there.
She knew it was “crazy.”
“I’d only known him a week, never been alone with him…” she says today.
But Beverly couldn’t stop thinking about Bob.
And if it hadn’t been love at first sight in Mexico, Beverly and Bob knew for certain they were falling for each other following this whirlwind weekend in San Diego.
Beverly enjoyed being in Bob’s company.
“He was not aggressive at all, he was just a very quiet, straightforward guy, not effusive,” she recalls. “He was tall, handsome… he didn’t know he was, that made him even more attractive. He was a presence.”
And together, they just clicked.
I couldn’t wait, and so I didn’t wait. I thought…‘If I don’t go, I’ll wonder the rest of my life.’
Beverly, on the moment she decided to run away with Bob
“I flew home Monday morning, and with my jacket still on, typed my resignation, and gave it to all three departments that I was working for — political science, economics and sociology — and I sent them all a letter,” she recalls.
“And I called Doug and I said, ‘Well, you told me to figure it out. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I have to do it.’ My parents were shocked, but my friends were even more in shock, and I just couldn’t help myself. I knew it was stupid and wrong, because, you know, people didn’t do this kind of thing then.”
But whenever Beverly encountered concerns or hesitations from her loved ones, she remembered the moment she’d seen Bob for the first time. She relived the weekend in San Diego in her mind. She knew this was the right decision.
“I was so excited,” she says. “I couldn’t wait, and so I didn’t wait. I thought…‘If I don’t go, I’ll wonder the rest of my life.’”
Moving to Mexico
Beverly moved to Mexico to be with Bob. Shortly after, he asked her an important question. Courtesy Beverly Parsons
Beverly arrived in Mazatlan at the end of August, 1968. She and Bob were thrilled to be together.
In Mexico, Bob managed four boats: the Sugar Shack, El Hefe, Gold Coaster and movie star Jerry Lewis’ boat, Pussy Cat 2, later called Shady Lady. Beverly started working on board the yachts in an informal capacity.
One day, Beverly and Bob were both on board, when Bob sought her out.
“He came out of the engine room, wiping grease off his hands, and he said, ‘I would like to get married,’” recalls Beverly.
Beverly was totally taken aback. And then she surprised herself by thinking about Doug, the ex-boyfriend back home. And her parents.
In her shock, she actually mentioned Doug aloud to Bob.
“He said, ‘Well, if you were concerned about Doug, you would be in Canada, not here,’” recalls Beverly.
Still in disbelief, Beverly said they should call her parents. Bob agreed. So from the boat, they dialed Beverly’s parents, thousands of miles away in Canada.
“We called on the single-sideband, which means that you call from a radio to a point where an operator can hook you to a telephone,” recalls Beverly. “And by the way, the whole ocean can listen to the call, because it’s on the radio.”
The operator connected the phone, and Beverly’s mother answered.
Shouting into the phone, Beverly told her she and Bob were going to get married.
“You had to say, ‘over,’ when you’re supposed to talk and everything,” recalls Beverly. “And so she’s saying ‘over’ all the time, and we’re screaming into the radio — I don’t know why we had to scream, but we were screaming.”
Eventually, the message got across. And Beverly’s mother’s response was matter-of-fact.
“She says, ‘Well, if you’re getting married, you’re coming up here and getting married in the church.’”
Beverly was surprised, she’d expected her mother would object or suggest her daughter should wait.
Meanwhile, the radio operator, who could hear the whole call, “was laughing so hard.”
“The whole conversation was so crazy,” reflects Beverly.
She woke up the next day feeling vaguely dazed. Happy, yes. But still kind of in shock.
“I’m getting married,” she thought. “I need a dress.”
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Beverly’s mother was busy pulling a last-minute celebration together.
“My mom, in three weeks, found a cancellation of a beautiful place, planned a seated dinner with a live orchestra for 90 people, all by herself.”
A new friend Beverly had made in Mazatlan helped her sew her wedding dress.
“I would go to her house at eight and sew my wedding dress, hand seeded pearls all over the veil. Did the veil too — Mexican lace.”
As Beverly perfected her wedding dress and sought out material for bridesmaid dresses, she found herself thinking about the decision to marry someone she’d only known a few months, and analyzing what it meant.
“I was excited. I was scared. But my thinking was — I followed this man from Canada to Mexico. I’m going to follow him wherever he goes next. So, therefore, I must be in love, and getting married is just fine, the right thing to do,” she says.
“So we met end of June, I came down [to California] in July, went back to Mexico in August, and flew up to get married in September.”
