Thanksgiving Feast...

St. Mary's put on another awesome Thanksgiving party. We dined with friends John and Mary along with almost 300 others. The feast included 30+ turkeys and hams, over 150 side dishes, not to mention dessert.....holy cow!! The weather also cooperated. After days of cloudy and cool weather, the sun decided to shine for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful day!


The Admiral
11/25/09

PS. Dave R., we haven't forgotten your request for interior photos. Look for them sometime soon!!

Jekyll Island...

We had special guests arrive at Jekyll Island. Dave’s Mom, Dad and brother Matt drove down to enjoy the holiday with us. We viewed the Island’s history Museum, walked the Millionaire’s village and enjoyed each other's company.

The Admiral
11/21/09 – 11/25/09

Continuing South...

We left Savannah and continued the trek south towards Florida. Along the way we saw some beautiful old classic boats. Pictured here is a 1929 Trumpy named Freedom which had just been restored and was on her way to a party. What fun. Over several days, we would see her travel up and down the ICW with her guests.

One evening after dropping the hook, we went to work installing the new deck fittings. With Dave in the engine compartments below and me up on deck we were able to get them secure and can once again get our holding tanks pumped out. Hurrah!!

Next stop Jekyll Island Georgia.

The Admiral
11/19/09 – 11/20/09

Savannah...

A new port of call – Savannah!! We both were looking forward to Savannah, but for two very different reasons. The Admiral – exploring and history. The Captain – food. We had read in 1000 Places to See Before You Die that Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah was listed. Since then Dave’s palate has anxiously looked forward to the fried chicken and good southern cooking that would await.

I have to admit, it was delicious. We arrived shortly before they opened. It was easy to find. It was the only place that had a line already forming outside. Once inside we were seated at a big dining room table with 6 other people. And the food – oh my! We passed bowls of potatoes, collard greens, black eyed peas, creamed corn, sweet potatoes, green beans, bbq pork, fried chicken, rice, pot roast, pork ‘n beans, cole slaw, biscuits and the plates just kept on coming. We all finally reached a point that we just had to stop passing food around because there was no room left on our plates. And the result – our bellies full like after a good Thanksgiving meal. (Note the photos taken were after we’d all eaten. We are embarrassed at how much we all ate and even more embarrassed at how much we didn’t.)

So what next? Well we needed to walk off some of that food so we boarded a bus and road around the city before choosing our stop to begin our walking tour. We walked along the waterfront and the old cobblestone streets. We even walked past a praline shop and Dave didn’t go in – the first time – just another sign of how content our bellies were from lunch.

Back on the boat, Dick and his crew at Sail Harbor Marina were extremely helpful in getting us parts for the boat, giving us a ride to the bus stop and more. For boaters in the Savannah area in the future – we highly recommend them!

The Admiral
11/17/09 – 11/18/09

Charleston Departure...

Ahhh…the sun! Weather was clearing nicely for our departure from Charleston. One last stop, the fuel dock, to get the holding tank pumped out and we would be on our way. But not to be!! The deck fittings for both holding tanks are stuck – and stuck good! Dave tried a pipe wrench, a hammer, you name it we tried it, and the caps would not come off. Hence, no pump out in Charleston. Fortunately, we have plenty of holding tank capacity to take us through until we can get a repair.

About 25 miles down the ICW road from Charleston we dropped the hook went to work removing the fittings from the deck. Once removed, more effort spent heating up the fittings trying to get the caps off and more wrestling with big wrenches. The result – the caps are still stuck. So for now we will ride along with holes in the deck until we can get new parts or a repair.

Ugh….who would have thought! Fortunately, the sunrises and sunsets still make all the good stuff much better than the occasional bad.

The Admiral
11/14/09

Boat Chores and Catching Up with Friends...

With two more days in Charleston it was time to make sure we were well provisioned for the next week and to spend time with friends. First the provisioning: our primary mode of transportation when on land is our feet and our bikes. With the grocery store 3 blocks away we chose to walk. Along our journey we pass a huge parking lot which holds the cargo that comes off big ships. In this case the cargo is usually imported cars. A boatful of Mini Coopers had recently arrived and we couldn’t help but take a photo for Jacquelyn, our niece and Mini fan back home.

With Pat on Cat Maudy we dined at AW Schucks, one of the local restaurants that is recommended and one we had not had the opportunity to try in the past. Dinner was great and spending time catching up with Pat even better.

We had time to spend time with John , Mary and Goliath on Marylee also. Not having seen them since they left for the Bahamas in February, we talked stories of our boat adventures, exchanged books and enjoyed dinner in.

While it would be great to stay and spend more time with friends, it is time to move on. We would be leaving Charleston in the morning.

The Admiral
11/12/09 - 11/13/09

Patriots Point...

The weather system created by Hurricane Ida continued her wrath. Skies remained overcast and the rain continued to pelt from above. It was cold and miserable.

Dad and I chose to go over the Patriots Point, Charleston’s Naval Museum as it was mostly indoors. Lucky for us it was Veteran’s Day and Vet’s and their guest were admitted for free. We even got a ride out to the dock to avoid the rain. We explored the WWII aircraft carrier going up and down levels to see the working and living areas of the ship. We viewed the historic aircraft on board. We even enjoyed the mess lunch on board where we went down to the mess hall and got in line to receive our meal on a stainless steel tray. Pretty cool.

Despite the weather, it was another great day touring Charleston.

The Admiral
11/11/09