HAMPTON, N.H. (UPI) -- A man discovered a message in a bottle cast out to sea by a New Hampshire family while on a Caribbean vacation.

Clint Buffington, a musician and writing teacher from Utah, discovered the ancient looking message while on vacation in Turks and Caicos.

"[I found] this coke bottle half buried in the sand -- looked like it had been there since the beginning of time." he told WMUR. On the paper, there was something written in pencil -- like handwriting -- it said, 'Look inside.'

Buffington found the words "return" and Beachcomber on the note, which eventually led him to the Beachcomber Motel in Hampton, N.H., and to Paula Pierce, whose father wrote the message 50 years prior.

"Oh my God. That's my father's writing," Pierce told WCVB upon reading the note from her late father.

"It's incredible. He wrote this. His hands were on this," she said. He's been gone 26 years and he put this in a bottle and it survived.

Pierce's father's joke message managed to travel thousands of miles before being discovered by Buffington decades later.

"Return to 419 Ocean Boulevard and receive a reward from Tina, owner of the Beachcomber," the message read.

When Pierce's father originally wrote the message $150 would have paid for seven nights at the Beachcomber.

Buffington heeded the note's call and opted to deliver the note himself.

"It didn't take me long after opening that bottle to realize this one doesn't belong with me," he said. By the way, it doesn't say mail it to 419 Ocean Boulevard, it says return it, and that's what I am doing.

Pierce rewarded Buffington for his dedication and fulfilled her father's promise by presenting him a check for $150.

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