Help me brainstorm getting a watermelon to a friend 3,000 miles away.

[Grasswire2]

I have a good friend who lives on Long Island. He suffers from Parkinson's and is isolating himself for the duration of the pandemic.

He told me the other night that he is craving watermelon.

Is there any way to deliver a medium sized watermelon so far?

I googled all the farm stands in the area but didn't see any that would deliver a single order.

I don't know if amazon would do that.

He gets his groceries once a month from a former student who picks them up. But I just wanted to surprise him with this. He's always helping out others.

Any hints?

[nocoincidences]

1. I have Amazon Prime and

use Amazon Now for groceries, mostly wine when I run out early. If you have this available check if they will do that. They will deliver just about anything, I think.

[Grasswire2]

2. I do have amazon prime and use it a lot.

But I don't see any way to change the delivery address on a grocery order to send a gift to someone else.

[nocoincidences]

4. That could be a problem. I have never tried to do that.

[Kali]

3. talk to one of those fruit boquet places

https://www.ediblearrangements.com/

[Grasswire2]

5. hmm.....I'll check that. Thanks for the idea. nt

[Kali]

7. also try calling and talking to somebody if the fruit stands have contact info

tell them what you want to do, ask if they have any ideas. all they can do is help or say no...

[Grasswire2]

10. true

I asked him if he could drive to a farm stand if all he had to do was open the window to get fruit, and he said the closest is 40 miles away, so no.

The virus scare plus the Parkinsons is a bad combination.

[Kali]

11. yeah not good

40 miles is pretty far. does any local grocer deliver? I have had groceries delivered to another house (it was kind of a pain to do as I had to set up an account for it but who knows might be useful again in the future)

[nocoincidences]

6. Good idea!

Their fruit is really fresh, when I have been gifted with this!

[Kali]

13. that's good to know

I have been tempted to send before but was nervous it might be kind of gross if it took any time at all traveling.

[Captain Zero]

8. FedEx. Hope you have a big bank account.

Good Luck.

[Grasswire2]

9. not big enough to ship a watermelon coast to coast. LOL nt

[dweller]

12. i'm thinking a heavy duty drone

and a butterflynet ...



✌🏼

[Dan]

14. He gets his groceries once a month from a former student who picks them up

Why not get ahold of this person?

[Totally Tunsie]

15. Is he a Senior? Maybe the local Senior Center would have

a volunteer who could purchase and deliver to him. Then, it's just getting them the few dollars for the purchase, or offer to make a small donation to the Center. They might be willing to do it even if he's not a senior.

Would a local grocery store make a delivery to him?

LOL - years ago, when I lived in Illinois, there was a gal in the neighborhood that didn't drive. One day, desperate for a can of tomato paste, she called the cab company and had the driver buy it and deliver to her house. (No one else was around to help her.) She said she tipped him well.

[RockRaven]

16. I've never tried to order groceries for a different address than my billing address, but

since the Covid lockdown started in the spring we've been doing all of our groceries online (some especially vulnerable people in the household plus the ability - and privilege - of being able to work from home made the attempt of total isolation a worthwhile experiment).

For me, in Northern CA, I've had success getting decent produce from both Instacart orders from my local stores -- both regional/national chains and family-owned ones -- and from ordering directly from the corporate website (in my case Safeway, but NY would be a different corporate grocery hegemony).

So, to be explicit, and despite whatever reservations or caveats I might have, if I wanted to deliver a watermelon to someone in a different location I would probably check and see if Instacart was available with any of his local stores AND if if Instacart allows a deviation between billing and delivery addresses (suspect so but need to confirm).

[intrepidity]

17. Worst case scenario, you cannot get him the fruit

Then send him this link to watch, it may almost be as satisfying:

[Laffy Kat]

18. So many stores are delivering groceries right now.

Stores and florists deliver fruit baskets all of the time, seems like a watermelon would be much of a stretch.

[lapfog_1]

19. well... there is always this

?height=300&width=400

[LisaL]

20. I googled and found this website that claims to deliver in Long Island.

It has a phone number so you can call them. I have never used them so can't vouch for anything.
https://rusticrootsdelivery.com

[Grasswire2]

26. FOOD PORN

Gosh. Beautiful stuff!!

This seems really reasonable, too, for the delivery.

[Sedona]

21. Instacart

I have groceries delivered to my mother all the time. Use his address and your credit card.

https://www.instacart.com/?click_id=Cj0KCQjw4f35BRDBARIsAPePBHylmmsTkeBhrJwZtWXnZ2pYDXA761ycoetXG8WQgGkx_9xQKhgtWuMaArVJEALw_wcB&utm_medium=sem&utm_source=instacart_google&utm_campaign=ad_demand_search_brand_mkag_us-na-catchall_exact_us_LTV_Control&utm_content=accountid-1732890876_campaignid-10842730530_adgroupid-107888322198_device-m&utm_term=matchtype-e_keyword-instacart_targetid-aud-300134955297:kwd-297369219725_locationid-9010805&kskwid=6106601&ksadid=6107308&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4f35BRDBARIsAPePBHylmmsTkeBhrJwZtWXnZ2pYDXA761ycoetXG8WQgGkx_9xQKhgtWuMaArVJEALw_wcB

[jmowreader]

22. Try this

Key Food is a supermarket on Long Island that works with a delivery company. Their number is 718-361-7471.

They open at 7 a.m.

What I would do in your situation is to call the store and ask to speak to the manager. (Be sure to tell the person who answers that they did nothing wrong.) When said person answers, explain the situation: "I am calling from the West Coast. I have a friend with Parkinson's who lives on Long Island and I want to get him a watermelon. If I give you my debit card number, can you have your Instacart driver deliver a medium-sized melon to him?"

[keithbvadu2]

23. Uber?

[Atticus]

24. Trebuchet? nt

[LuckyCharms]

25. If you have the money to do it...

Contact a few of the farm stands close to the person you want to get the watermelon to, turn on the charm, explain the situation, and offer them enough money to make it worth their while to deliver. Offer a fair price, but don't get too outrageous. You'll find one that will do it.

Good luck.

[Grasswire2]

27. Hooray! A watermelon is on its way in a couple of days.

LisaM's hint worked. Great customer service, reasonable prices.

Thanks everyone for helping by kicking the thread.