Dec 3 - Dec 14

Happy Christmas Season!

We have been on the move since the last blog and could not believe it has been 11 days since I have checked in with whats been happening! As you can see by the pics, there has mainly been cold and overcast days. Thank goodness we have been traveling south and the temp has not dropped below 50 during the day.

We left Charleston on the 3rd and headed to Lady’s Island Marina in Beaufort, SC (pronounced Bew-furt as opposed to Bow-fort in N Carolina!). We had a great 7-day stay and met new friends. Darin and Monica also cruise on a Mainship 430 (same as ours) that they bought just a few months ago. They sold their home and moved onto their boat without any previous boating knowledge. They have a YouTube series called Yard2Yacht   that is great to watch if any of you have the notion to take up this lifestyle.

We also hung out with Bob and Kat who are new to cruising as well. There were lots of belly laughs and a wee bit of drinking. Kat is the new queen of Farkel (dice game). We hope to meet up with all 4 again in the future.

The first 3 days in Beaufort were not as much fun as the last 3. Derek got a gastrointestinal bug that ripped through him pretty bad. Not to be too graphic, but the smells in a small living space were enough to make me search for my N95 mask!!!!! I think my nursing antibodies saved me from the same fate. Of course I have a whole pharmacy on the boat, except not one pill of Imodium! Thankful for the use of a courtesy car at the marina to make a Walgreens trip.

There was a restaurant about 100 yards from our slip that we visited while in Beaufort. We walked from our boat, and about 3/4 of the way there we noticed Gypsea following us. Normally when we get near other people, she will shy away and head back. This time she prances her little butt right up to the restaurant door with us. Derek picked her up and walked in and asked for a table for 2 and 1/2 people. The awesome manager says sure, we welcome dogs, why not cats! The porch is totally screened in and he says, don’t worry she can’t get out. We took a picture and then Derek escorted her back to the boat. I would have been mortified if she were to jump up on someones table while they were eating. Gypsea was a little upset that she wasn’t able to enjoy the shrimp dish she chose on the menu.

Next stop was in Savannah at Delegal marina. We only stopped for one night, but will make another stop here next year to spend some time in the city. I did get a chance to take a few pics of the iconic live oaks dripping with moss. Derek loves cruising through this part of Georgia. There are marshy flat grassland as far as the eye can see and it seems we are the only ones on the water. In 7 hours of cruising we will see only 2 or 3 other boats. Its just us, the dolphins and the sea birds following behind us. I have come to call them the flying monkeys like on the Wizard of Oz.

We then cruised on to Sunbury Crab Company restaurant and marina. This is the ONLY thing in Sunbury, GA! It was another one-night stay. The restaurant was a seafood dive with live music. I don’t know where all the people came from, but it was packed. It was the BEST seafood so far on our trip. It put the fancy restaurants in Charleston to shame. The owner, Elaine, took a shine to Derek and sat with us at our table. She was absolute southern charm. Her husband, son and grandson were in the band and provided great dancing music. We will definitely be back even if we have to detour from our course.

Finally, we are in Brunswick, GA at Brunswick Landing Marina. This is where the boat will stay while we head home for Christmas. It will be 3 days of cleaning the boat and packing. And just like on the show Chopped, I will be trying to piece together meals with our last remaining food supplies. French toast with brussel sprouts is on the menu today!

After 600 miles of safe traveling, Gypsea pulled a fast one on this last stop in Brunswick. She went out one night and didn’t come back for about 20 hours. Her AirTag pinpointed her last location about 50 yards away and never moved since 6:37 am. It was like she vanished from that spot. We figured she had lost her collar there, but it was not found. Of course it was a parking lot, and visions of her being hit or picked up went through our minds. We would take turns searching throughout the day. Then out of nowhere, she walks right up to Tater while on his walk. Hungry and cold, she bedded down INSIDE for the night.

Well this blog has gone on long enough for today! We would appreciate prayers for safe travels home in the rental car. We can’t wait to see family and friends. This blog will pick up again prolly in March.

Merry Christmas everyone. Be blessed and safe. We love you!!!

Well they said it was inevitable, and it seems the situation we couldn’t imagine has arrived. We have actually spent over a week without having to fix something on the boat! Of course I’ve probably just jinxed it. And I have no doubt that needed repairs are still in our future (its a boat for goodness sake), but for 7 blessed days the maintenance log book has not been opened.

We spent Thanksgiving in Georgetown, SC. Derek volunteered to help set up tables and the buffet at a restaurant in town which served 1000 free meals as a food ministry. They gave him 2 dinners to bring back to the boat. It was a true southern feast…fried chicken, turkey, ham, collard greens, corn, mac n cheese, beans, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry and mashed potatoes!!!! Georgetown was a great stop and made our I COULD LIVE HERE rating.

Next stop, Charleston. There is so much to do that we decided to stay a week. First and foremost…the restaurants! Derek was chatting with a couple (go figure, right?) who were varnishing the wood on their sailboat next to us. At some point in the conversation the fact that I’m a foodie came up. Then the fact that the man won Top Chef (on TV season 14) came up! He is Jamie Lynch and owns 2 restaurants in town, Tempest and Church & Union. So we had to go and the meal did not disappoint. I included a pic because the restaurant Church & Union is as stunning as the food.

Secondly…the shopping! I was in heaven. I had to leave Derek on the boat for a day while I wandered around the historic downtown area and the hundreds of little shops there. Derek doesn’t do browsing! I can spend 20 minutes just smelling candles on one display!!! There is a 4-city block area called The City Market that is like our craft fairs…so that required a repeat visit. Our credit card is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The city is big and we are not used to the noise and traffic. The marina is big too. It takes 6 minutes at a fast walking pace to get to the laundry, showers and front gate from our slip. There are also separate codes on the doors of these facilities along with separate codes to the 2 gates to take Tater to a poop area off the docks. Well it never fails that Derek will get almost to the gate and not have the slip of paper with all the codes on it. Back he comes mumbling and grumbling with a confused dog who just wants to take a crap. He gets the codes and heads out again. I am thinking of putting the codes on his arm with a Sharpie.

Charleston also has some awesome graveyards dating back to the 1700s. We walked around one listening to a podcast giving info on it. According to history, a 14-yr-old girl named Annabel is buried there. She was from a very wealthy family in Charleston, but was in love with a soldier that her father despised because he was a nobody. The father (a top ranking military man) had the soldier sent away to another posting to end the relationship. A year later the young girl died of disease. The soldier came back to Charleston to be at her funeral, but was not allowed entrance. The father was so adamant that the soldier not be near his dead daughter that he bought 6 graves for his daughter so the soldier would not know which graveside to visit. The soldier was Edgar Allan Poe and his poem Annabel Lee was written for her! We never found her gravestone, but most from the early 1800s are worn down and hard to read. Poe went on to marry his first cousin, 13-yr-old Virginia Eliza, when he was 27. Hmmmm.

We will be heading home in about 2 weeks. I need my grand baby fix. Please keep us in your prayers.

Love to all