Wednesday, October 11, 2017

September 13-16, 2017 Atalant, GA and back to Brunswick, GA

Wednesday, September 13
We left the condo late morning and had lunch in Cleveland, GA.  We found out this is where the Cabbage Patch Doll was originated.

We arrived at the home of our friends, Randy and Deb Louchart, about 2:00pm.  I helped Deb clean the back yard deck, patio and pool area with a leaf blower.  I have always wanted to try one of those.  Her leaf blower is a small battery powered one.  She calls it her Barbie Blower. 
Deb with her leaf blower
Great back yard

Thursday, September 14
Randy is having some health issues that involve mobility.  So Dave replaced a ceiling light fixture and fixed a toilet.  I worked more on the sidewalks and decks with the leaf blower. 
The guys watched a “guy movie” while Deb and I soaked in the hot tub.  Beautiful night outside. 
We found out Brunswick was open to residents today.  But we decided to stay until Saturday so we could celebrate Randy’s birthday tomorrow.
handy man changing a light fixture
Loucharts gave us a scarf for sun protection

Friday, September 15
We spent most of the day touring Atlanta.  Randy and Deb are working with a realtor and the contractors to remodel and do an addition to an older home in Atlanta that will eventually be their daughter’s home.  We had lunch with the realtor and her husband, friends of Louchart’s, to celebrate Randy’s birthday.  Then we drove by the realtor’s home to see their remodeling and by a home she just closed on.  That home had a tree on the roof and the brick on the front of the home was cracked.  We just kept driving and didn’t stop. 

We wanted to go out for a movie, but couldn’t find anything worth going to.  We ended up watching one at their home.  They have a great home theater/bar in their basement.  Times have changed from how we used to celebrate birthdays when we met about 30 years ago. 

Saturday, September 16
We had a nice breakfast and headed back to Brunswick, GA.  We took the state highways instead of the interstate to avoid traffic.  We stopped in a little town for some great local BBQ.  We made it back to the boat by about 6:00pm.  It was great to see the boat with no damage.  It didn’t take too long to cool off the boat so we could sleep there again.  Good to be home.
Glad to be back to the boat and see it in great shape
We have rope wrapped around this post.  The vibration during the storm loosened it enough to shift down the pole

September 9-12, 2017 Helen, GA and our VRBO condo

Saturday, Sept 9
Today, the hurricane hit the Florida keys.  What a mess.  We know a lot of people who have sailboats there, especially in Marathon, but no one personally.  My niece, Sherri and husband Bobby, have a home in Key Largo.  They had prepped everything and left.  We also know 3 South Dakotans and one couple from Colorado that have boats in the Punta Gorda area, north of Ft Myers, FL.  Every storm is so unpredictable.  We are wishing them all the best.

We spent the day watching football.  We love having a couch and tv.  We’re so easily pleased these days.  Our favorite college team won this afternoon, Roll Tide!!  We caught a few other games.  Dave has fun texting our niece, Melanie Krause, during the OU Sooner games. 
many people inner tube this section of the Chattahoochee river

Tonight about 11:00, the same drunk came back to our door.  We were still up, so Dave tried to convince him to leave again.  He tried our sliding door, too.  So we decided to call the police.  He came back while Dave was on the phone.  When the cops showed up, the guy was no where in sight.  Dave and the cop had a nice chat, and it was quiet the rest of the night. 

Sunday Sept 10
I found a Catholic church in the next town of Cleveland.  After mass, I found a Walmart.  I needed to pick up some contact cement for Dave.  The only pair of shoes that he brought along, sandals, were broken.  A store attendant had to check my ID to buy the contact cement.  Live is much easier when you have a car.
Beautiful wooden carved fountain
Pretty outdoor fountain

We decided to go out for a late lunch today.  We walked downtown to the Old Heidelberg restaurant.  We both had Jaegerschnitzel and weren’t impressed.  It was OK, but different.  The pork wasn't breaded and the gravy was ok.  I don’t think we will return. 
Helen, GA
Jaegerschnitzel and Hungarian Goulash
Helen, GA

We were back at the condo in time to watch the Green Bay Packers beat the Seahawks.  We spent the rest of the evenings flipping channels.  OK, we really haven’t missed tv that much.

Today, the owners of the condo called us and offered us to stay here 1-2 days longer at no charge.  They weren’t sure where we were headed, but they didn’t think we should be driving in this weather.  Irma was passing through Georgia as a tropical storm.  This was the first time Atlanta had ever had a tropical storm.  I guess we’ll stay another day and see what things are like by Tuesday morning. 

Monday Sept 11
We had wind and rain all day.  This condo is on the Chatahoochee River, but we are off the water.  The river did rise, but not out of it’s banks.  We were never without power.  We went to the Bodensee Restaurant for dinner.  Their Jaegerschnitzel and veal cordon bleu were great.  Their sauces and sides were much better, more authentic.

Tuesday, Sept 12
We can’t get back to the marina yet, probably not until Thursday or Friday.  So we spent another day in front of the TV.  We are loving this guilt free laziness.  We decided to go back to the Bodensee for dinner.  I tried the Zigeuner schnitzel and Dave had the wurst platter.  The zigeuner sauce was sweeter than I liked, so they brought me the gravy they use on their jaegerschnitzel.  Much better.  Then back to the couch.  And the condo owners offered us another day.  So we’ll see what the roads are like in the mo
Good Beer

Zigeunerschnitzel and wurst platter

It as hard to leave the condo

September 8, 2017 Helen, GA Oktoberfest

We had no trouble with traffic taking back roads instead of the interstate all the way to Helen, GA.  On the back roads we saw a sign “you pick scuppernong”.  Well, I had to look that up.  Scuppernong were mescadine grapes.  I first saw them here 2 years ago.  They are white or red and larger than the usual grapes we see. 
I saw this in the paper at the hotel.  So true
We stopped for gas at a station that had a Chester’s Chicken built onto the station.  One of their sides was breaded and fried corn on the cob.  Dave had to try it, but he didn’t think he would ever have to order it again.  The mainland of Georgia is beautiful and interesting.  We listened to Dave Ramsey on the radio for awhile.  He asked one couple what they would tell others about working down their debt.  He said “embrace the suck”.  So we decided that would be our motto for dealing with hurricanes-“embrace the suck”. 
breaded and fried corn on the cob

Helen, GA was such a beautiful Alpine village.  We checked into our condo and decided to check out the Festhalle.  We could walk to the hall from our condo, only about 2 blocks.  We could hear the German music when we approached the building.  They had a 4 piece German band from Florida, not Germany.  There was also an accordion player that would rotate with the band.  They served about 6 different bratwursts with sauerkraut, rotkraut and German potato salad.  We had dinner and a few German beers.  One of their domestic beers was Leinenkugels from Wisconsin.  I mentioned that I was familiar with Leinenkugals because I had family in Wisconsin.  He was impressed that I knew how to say “Wisconsin” correctly.  I guess my northern accent came through. 



Chattahoochee River



enjoying a German beer and pastry on our deck

murals on the outside of the Festhalle

 


Great German food

German band
murals inside the Festhalle

 

They had a special area for kids to dance
this guy wasn't camera shy
Accordion player that rotated with the band



At the end of the night, the band came over to the only table remaining.  We just happen to be at that table.  Hee Hee

About 2 or 3:00 am, we had a visitor.  A drunk tried to put his key in our door.  Dave told him through the door that he was in the wrong place.  After getting they both got a little louder, he left.

September 5, 6, 7, 2017 Hurricane Irma preparation

Sept 5 Tuesday
We are watching hurricane Irma in the Caribbean and it’s possible path up the east coast.  Today we decided to rent a car and move some of our things to a storage unit.  Then we will have our own transportation rather than share a 2 door car with another couple.  And this way we can make our own plans. 

We have friends in Atlanta that are from South Dakota.  They always offer their home to us, so that may be our plan.  Or we will have a vacation weekend somewhere out of the hurricane path. 

Sept 6, Wed
Today, we picked up a Jeep with room to haul some boat items.  We rented an extra storage unit at the same location of our existing one.  We spent the day loading big items, like our Honda generator, our air compressor, and Sailrite sewing machine to name a few.   I also started cooking the food in our freezer.  We plan to turn off the power when we leave.

We decided to go to Helen, GA.  It’s a small German community north of Atlanta in the mountains.  They are starting their Oktoberfest this weekend.  They have a Festhalle with German bands on the weekends in September and everyday in October.  We found a condo through VRBO right in town, walking distance to the festival. 


Sept 7, Thursday
Today Dave took off the solar panels and the canvas (bikini and dodger).  He tied up our 2 dinghies, one on the bow and one on the davits.  We wrapped our outboard motors in contractor garbage bags and tape.  We taped the port holes on the inside and out.  Water can be driven in through the seals, if the wind is strong enough.  Can’t name everything, but we worked pretty hard for a couple days.  Inside, I packed the perishable food to go with us, gave or threw away the rest.  I stuffed towels in the cupboards to keep things from rattling around, especially anything with glass. 
storage unit

The marina had a hurricane preparedness meeting at 6:00pm.  The main thing I learned was that we may need a copy of our marina invoice to prove we have our “home” in the area when we want to return to the marina.  Our driver’s license say Florida.  We left town right after the meeting.






Since all of Florida looked like it was going to be affected by hurricane Irma, we figured the highways were going to get very crowded.  Our county was already determined to be in a state of emergency.  We drove north and west and ended up spending the night in Statesboro, GA about 40 mile west of Savannah.  We found a Wild Wings Cafe near our hotel.  It is our favorite chicken wing restaurant that we discovered in North Carolina.  You don’t see very many of them further south.  While we were there, we saw on the TV that Savannah would be under mandatory evacuation starting Saturday morning.  And Interstate 16 would be on “contraflow”.  That means all 4 lanes will be open to traffic leaving the coast.  This hurricane  business is still new to us.

August 22- September 4, 2017 Brunswick Landing Marina and dinghy drift

Aug 22-Sept 4
Back at Brunswick Landing Marina, we went about regular boat repairs and marina life.  The owners of the boat next to us returned for a few days this week.  We met Paula and Dave Innis when we were here 2 years ago.  They are leaving this week to house sit in New Zealand.  Sounds like something we should think about in the future.  They are letting us and another couple use their car while they are gone.  Sure makes life easier.

One different event was a dinghy drift.  About 10 boats tied together and shared appetizers on the water.  The plan was to stay until sunset, but we were rained out.  Good thing it was a warm summer rain. 

The marina threw a Labor Day party for us.  They provided Subway sandwiches, soda pop, beer and wine.  All the boaters brought sides and desserts.  We had the picnic outside on picnic tables in the grass.  We were all pleasantly surprised that there weren’t mosquitoes.  That has not been the case all summer.  I was even stung twice by wasps just outside of the yacht club house.  Oh the joys of living near the water and in the south. 

And we have some awesome sunsets at this marina.



we were meeting at dock 1 (out of 15 docks)

This guy was trying to move all the boats tied together further away from shore



starting to rain