Sunday, March 29, 2020

November 28-December 31, 2019 Thanksgivning and December highlights

Our marina provided the main turkey, dressing and gravy for our potluck dinner today.  This is usually the largest gathering of the year because many boats are heading south this time of year and stop here for Thanksgiving.  We met a new boater at our marina, Hood.  That’s her last name and that’s what she goes by.  She and I are members of a Facebook group called Women Who Sail.  So we had connected on FB before she arrived, along with 2 other women at the marina.  I spent part of Friday with her and anther boater, Nan from Wisconsin.  It was interesting to hear their different perspectives as female owners of boats.  Nan is selling her boat after about 20 years and Hood just bought her second boat, this one to live aboard. 
On Saturday, Dave and I went for a sail with Hood and one other sailor from the marina for her to check out her boat.  It was fun to be back on the water. 


Women Who Sail Facebook Friends Sherri, Mary and Hood

This is the overturned car transporter, Golden Ray.  It overturned in the St Simon's Inlet in Septermber

There are a lot of things to set up before the ship can be dismantled to protect the environment.
We had a Jimmy Buffett party at the marina to listen to a concert on XM Radio instead of traveling to Jacksonville for the concert.  Fun potluck with friends.



Pete had his first gig in Brunswick on December 15 at Tipsy McSway’s, a bar/restaurant downtown.  About 15 marina friends came for dinner and to hear him perform.  He was awesome, as always. 


 On December 20, I purposely set my alarm to get up and see a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.  It’s about 200 miles south of us.


Our 42nd anniversary was on December 17.  We had a nice dinner at home then celebrated on the weekend on Jekyll Island.  We decided to stay at the Holiday Inn on the beach this year.  We enjoyed visiting with other guests at the “Manager’s Happy Hour” at the hotel . 
On Saturday, we hiked Driftwood Beach and had lunch at Zachry’s Riverhouse.

I overslept for the sunrise




Pete joined us that evening.  We had dinner at the Driftwood Bistro.  We waited at the bar for our table and met a bartender from South Dakota.  She needed up knowing my niece’s husband.  Small world. 
After dinner, we drove around the island looking at the Christmas lights.  They do a beautiful job on the island.

 
 
 
My long time friend from South Dakota, Cheryl Ulmer, had the opportunity to ride with someone going through Brunswick and spend a day with me.  She helped me do my shopping before Christmas.  Not for gifts, but for food and liquor.  We went to the marina’s happy hour.  She has been here before, so she knew several people here.  Afterwards, we used Pete’s car to tour the Christmas lights on Jekyll Island.  We used to rent a limousine to look at lights and celebrate her birthday on December 21 in South Dakota. 

Pete had Christmas Eve and Day off.  It was great to just spend the day with him on the boat. My Christmas present from Pete was for him to sing with our church choir tonight at the Midnight Mass for Christmas.  He sang two solos, O Holy Night and Ave Maria.  I was sitting behind him while filming him, so pardon the view. 



On Christmas Day, we enjoyed another pot luck at the marina.  Then we watched football with other and played card games with our marina family.
I found the nativity scene on Jekyll Island made of driftwood


On December 27, we had a women’s luncheon at the marina.  It was a potluck lunch along with a potluck bloody Mary bar.  And we had a white elephant gift exchange.  Fun time.





December 30-I had to try out a new vacuum system for my frozen foods.  We bought sous vide bags and an electric pump.  They are used when sealing food in bags to be cooked in a water bath.  But they work great as freezer bags.  The I love the rechargeable pump.

About 3:00 on New Year’s Eve, Hood had a renaming party for her new-to-her sailboat.  Another boater presided over the ceremony.  Then she provided beverages and snacks for everyone.  She is a high school biology teacher, thus the name Symbiont.  She felt that she and her boat were in a symbiotic relationship.



 That evening, we played games with other boaters in the yacht club.  Pete and I made it to midnight, even though I didn’t plan to.
 

Saturday, March 28, 2020

November 21-26, 2019 Alabama Road Trip-ROLL TIDE!

On Thursday, November 21, we drove to Daphne, Alabama.  We hadn’t been there since we moved aboard our sailboat in December 2013.  We drove around the condo complex where we had lived and through Fairhope past where I used to work.  We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Felix’s Fish Camp.  We enjoyed the local seafood-crab claws, oysters and shrimp.  We must say that we like GA shrimp better.

On Friday we went to the Mecca for crawfish, R&R Seafood Restaurant.  We have not been able to find boiled crawfish east of Alabama.  This place has the best seasoning!  At this time of year, they serve crawfish until they are gone.   That’s why we arrived when they opened at 11:00am.  We bought a total of 10 pounds.  We ate 5 pounds at the restaurant (no sides) and took 5 pounds with us.  If you’re not familiar with crawfish, you only eat the small tail.  Dave does suck all the gunk out of the head, but not me.  That afternoon, we drove to Tuscaloosa, AL.  We enjoyed more crawfish in our room that night with cold beer.

 
GAME DAY!  The main purpose of this trip was to attend a football game at the University of Alabama.  We have been supporters of their team since we moved to Alabama in 2012.  ROLL TIDE!!  We were able to take a shuttle to the game.  Dave didn’t care how much it cost.  He hates driving in traffic.  We arrived early enough to see the team enter the stadium.  The students and fans line the sidewalk and cheer them on about 2 hours before the game.  Then we walked around the campus and the stadium before the game.
I am not good at editing videos.  After the camera levels out, you will see security escorting the coach, Nick Saban, right behind the two guys in hats.  Then the team follows them in. 
lobby of our hotel

 
 

They had statues of all the coaches.  There was a long line waiting to take photos.  We didn't need to be in the photo
Seeing the inside of the stadium was awesome.  It was fun to see all that happens that you miss on TV, and especially on Tune In Radio.  The “Million Dollar Band” was impressive with all 400 members.  And there must have been about 10 different cheer/dance/flag teams.  When the band formed an elephant and played Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, I came up with my own theory on why their mascot is an elephant.  Because of the tusk in Tuscaloosa. 


They won the game, even without their starting quarterback who had a broken hip.  They played Western Carolina Catamounts, a smaller school.  That’s why we could afford the tickets.  It was really a fun day for us.

On Sunday, we drove to Fort Payne, Alabama on Look out Mountain in the north eastern corner of the state.  We visited South Dakota friends, Vern and Ella Shafer.  We met them through Ski for Light.  Ella is originally from Georgia, about 2 hours across the state line.  They bought this cabin on a couple acres of land and spend their winters here and summers in South Dakota.  Since it was close to Thanksgiving, Ella made her typical southern Thanksgiving dinner, which was delicious!!

 
On Monday, we walked around their property and to the nearby nearby river gorge.  Beautiful view and peaceful area.  We headed back to Brunswick by early afternoon.  On the road, we decided to visit a friend in Atlanta, Deb Louchart.  After a nice evening, we drove home on Tuesday.  It was a great road trip between the game, friends and food. 







November 6-20. 2019 Porch Fest, Brunswick, GA

November 6-20 highlights
On Sunday, November 10, the historic district of Brunswick hosted a Porch Fest.  There were about 10 homes that allowed their front porches to be stages.  Then local musicians performed for free for one hour at a time.  The acts changed on the hour.  Some repeated or moved to another stage, but others only performed one time.  There were food trucks in a centrally located park.  It was a great day with hundreds of people mingling the streets.  There was no charge for the entertainment. 




friends from the marina
November 18-Pete was cooking dinner on the dock using their grill.  Had to capture this sunset.


Pete’s 32nd birthday was November 20.  He made arrangements to return to Rapid City, SD to play with his former band at the 85th anniversary of one of their favorite bars, the Brass Rail.  But before leaving town, we had breakfast at our favorite local restaurant, Maggie Mae’s.