Identify the Mystery Item

I went to a beach wedding over the weekend. (Congrats Jeff and Lynette!). At the reception, all the guests were given a bag filled with beach-themed favors. In the midst of the wedding excitement, I didn’t pay much attention to what was in my bag. But as soon as I got home on Sunday, the kids anxiously watched while I poured the contents onto the living room floor.

“Cute luggage tags.” Lauren held up a flip flop shaped favor.

Chris grabbed the M&Ms and made short work of those.

Drew was fascinated by the flip flop key chain.

And then came this.

“Is that a bookmark, Mom?” Drew asked.

I looked at the package for help, but there were no identifiers. “I don’t think so, honey. It’s too thick for a bookmark.”

“It’s a pen, right Dad?” Chris took it over to his mechanical engineering father who works with complicated machinery all day long.

“Well, it does unscrew.” Bob removed the top and peered inside. “But I don’t see any ink.”

Drew piped up. “I know!  It’s one of those old fashioned pens you use with the bottled ink. You probably have to dip the end in ink to get it to work.”

“I don’t think so.” I examined the item closely and tried unscrewing the bottom. No clues there either.

We put the item on a table in the living room and all afternoon as we passed it by, we'd come up with another possible use. Table decoration?  Hole punch? Sand digger?

When we couldn't stand it any longer, I called my friend, Sandy who’d also been at the wedding. Immediately she replied, “it’s a wine stopper. You know, for storing a bottle of wine after it’s been opened.”

To her credit, Sandy didn't laugh.  Much.  And she saved the name calling for when she got off the phone and told her family how naive we are.

I shared this information with Bob who gave me a strange look because obviously we don't drink much wine and on the rare ocassion when we do, it's nothing fancy.

"Why in the world wouldn’t you just screw the top back on your bottle of wine if you don’t finish it?” Bob asked.

Then he paused and added, “Better yet, why would you even open a bottle of wine if you’re not going to drink the whole thing?”

Obviously we don’t get out much.