Final week on the Potomic and return to Cincinnati 10/20/10

On October the 9th we attended an Oyster Roast in Lottsburg for the benefit of the local Republican Party. It was held at a local seafood company and featured baskets of freshly caught Chesapeake Bay oysters. Pictures show how they were steamed in wire baskets in large kettles. Real butter and hot sauce were provided: we brought our own fresh lemons.

The oysters were then dumped on a long concrete table were we "went to town" with our borrowed oyster knifes.

Live music, hot dogs, chips and ice cream were also provided for our enjoyment. We stayed till the end so we could meet Rob Wittmen, the gentleman running for congress from this region. His competition was a lady named Krystal Ball. What mother with the last name Ball names her daughter Kyrstal?

Now our journey winds down and we prepared the boat for winter storage. Over nine hundred miles from Florida's west coast to the Potomac River in Virginia at an average speed of ten miles per hour. Every mile was awesome. Filled with new sights and wonderful people. Now we're home in Mason to enjoy the holidays and spend the winter thinking "Spring" and new adventures.

Olverson's Lodge Creek Marina, Chespeake Bay, Va. 9 /27-?/10

We have settled into the rhythm of life at Olverson's Marina easily for it is a very friendly place. Many of the folks are members of the boating organization MTOA; some we have met before and some are new friends. Almost every evening people gather in chairs on the dock and share experiences and tell stories. Lots of laughter and good fun. Many are also members of the Tea Party and Mike and the gentlemen exchange like perspectives and views with much gusto!

Olverson's is located in the area of Virginia known as the Northern Neck situated between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers and reminds us of "Up North" in Michigan. Historic attractions abound in every direction: colonial settlements, fishing villages with maritime museums, Revolutionary War and Civil War sites.

Yesterday we visited Stratford Hall Plantation the 1768 ancestral home of the Lee's of Virginia. After touring the house with an elderly and very animated African-American guide, we stay for a concert of 18th century music. We thought it would be "interesting"; we didn't know it would be fabulous. The group, The Four Nations, were four world class musicians and the setting in the grand hall of the home was perfect. There were intriguing comments before each selection by a most charming musicologist. There had been a day long symposium prior to performance for some in the audience. At the concert itself there were probably forty in attendance. At the conclusion, there was thunderous applause and a sincere and prolonged standing ovation. What fun!

Norfolk, VA. (0) 9/24-25/10

We spent two nights in the Hampton Roads area. Hampton Roads refers to the metropolitan area surrounding Norfolk, VA. The first night on the Portsmouth side of the Elizabeth River and the second night on the Norfolk side.

Mike had been e-mailing his sister, Kris, who lives in the area in Virgina Beach. Mike and Kris reached each other by cell phone. It just so happened that Virginia Beach's largest festival, The Neptune Festival, was the next day. Miles of vendors along the boardwalk, a huge parade, a sand sculpture contest that draws artists from as far away as Russia and a ball on Saturday night. Kris had volunteered as a parade Marshall, and her and her husband, Rob, came to the boat and picked us up for a grand day at the beach. While Kris kept order on the street, the rest of us watched the parade from our comfortable canvas chairs and then took off for lunch to Wanda the Witches', Boneshakers Grill, a biker bar. The Boneshakers had ridden in the parade, along with the Shriner's in those little cars, circus performers, the national champion cheerleader squad, many high school bands and all branches of the military.
The treat of the day, by far, were the sand sculptures. Unbelievable in their detail, originality, and beauty. We got back to the boat in the evening just in time to see a wedding party board the neighboring sailboat and sail off into the sunset to be married aboard! As luck would have it, they had a beautiful night. The next day dawned gray and stormy.

One cannot pass through this area and not mention the Navy Shipyards. There are zillions of ships of every shape and size, most of them huge. We were an ant among elephants.

And, now we have arrived at our destination, Olverson's Lodge Creek Marina on a river off the south end of the Potomac. We'll be here until the middle of October.

Coinjock, NC. (StM50) 9/23/10

We said a reluctant goodbye to Elizabeth City and headed south to Coinjock. Coinjock is a place you "go" in order to get "there". A sparsely populated area to say the least. Just the place you'd expect to find a great restaurant, right? Right! Our friend, Capt. Linda Howe, said "if you go to Coinjock have the prime rib." And we did! Just after we dock another trawler pulled in flying a MTOA flag, a boating organization Mike recently joined. We introduced ourselves and asked if they'd like to join us for dinner. We spent an enjoyable evening dining on superb food and engaged in good conversation. We just had to take a picture of Harrison's Marina when we pulled out in the morning.

Elizabeth City Docks (StM10.7) 9/20-22/10

Elizabet City, Harbor of Hospitality, and it lives up to its name! There is a gentleman who comes to the park at the city docks each day and catches lines to help the boaters dock at the complimentary town wharf. The second morning a different gentleman knocked on the boat just to make sure we had everything we needed. Even the Jehovah Witnesses stopped by to give us the Watch Tower and pray with us!

The city has the full compliment of facilities and attractions: museums, restaurants, music in the park and free rides to the store. Even a wine bar/deli combo that took our order for fresh baked bread by the loaf. Mike has been looking for oysters to feast on since we embarked and here we found them. On the lunch specials of the local seafood restaurant for $5.95! They were worth the wait!! The situation in the Gulf this summer coupled with the very cold winter has had them in very short supply.

We have been so fortunate in the weather with sunny skies and warm temperatures for a full three weeks.

Elizabeth City has been so pleasant, we've decided to linger an extra day and just "hang out".

Alligator River, NC. (StM.178) 9/19/10

Our third and last blog of the day and we are all caught up! We leave Belhaven going down the Pamlico River, through the "cut" connecting to the Alligator River in a stiff wind that is often abeam. Occasional waves of water on the upper deck. Just give me a large piece of canvas and I'm protected from wind and waves!!

Going down the wide Alligator River, Mike and I are trying to make out this structure in the distance. Oh my, its a long, long bridge with a "swing" at its center. Now, the guide book said we would need to open a swing bridge with a twelve foot clearance that opens on demand. Our experience to this point has been to anticipate a lightly traveled road in a rural area. This is a major route to the Outer Banks at Hatteras. We can see they are working on this bridge and have it down to one lane on this warm and lovely Sunday. Long, very long lines of traffic back up as they let each side through alternately. We approach and call the bridge. The tender responds, he will open when the traffic clears and, now, the drama begins. When the time comes, the bridge does not work. The workers are painting the bridge, not working on its mechanics. Several of the workers are carrying marine radios and we'd have to say, not particularly well train in radio etiquette. The workers, Ramon, in particular, attempt bridge repair. While Ramon is trying to get the bridge to swing, traffic is backing up for miles in both directions. Angry motorists are out of their cars pacing the bridge. We can hear the workers and bridge tender talking. "You'd think they'd have something better then a rope to move this bridge" Not the exact words used! "I've got something better in my truck." Next thing we know, Ramon comes streaking across the water in a boat. Tries again. No go. "We've got to let this traffic clear" Tender calls the city. Repairman is on the way. We watch a yellow truck make its way across the bridge. Workman on radio, "Why you think they're painting this piece of ......., if it doesn't work?" City maintenance works his magic. They all begin to make plans for what to do if this doesn't work this time. It's swinging!! We pass through to cheers and shouts from the workman. Just an hour and a half after the first call!

Belhaven, NC. (StM.135) 9/18/10

Before leaving Florida, we had dinner with long time friends, Capts. Howard and Linda Howe. Linda gifted us with a scrapbook and journal to record our adventures. Both of which have been put to good use!! We knew they would be delivering a boat from the Chesapeake to Florida in September during the time we were headed north. We decided to keep in touch, maybe we could rendezvous along the way. We got the word they'd flown north and were on the water. We left Beauford and Mike headed to a free town dock at Oriental. In one of the guide books, I had read that there was a bakery in Oriental that made sticky buns and olive bread on Saturdays. A treat not to be missed. Upon arrival we discovered the free dock was already full. Cell coverage was absolute "0" and we couldn't contact Howard. Mike says lets not go in and pay for a marina when we don't know where the Howe's are and what the next plan might be, so we anchored out. Next morning we hit a pocket of cell coverage, reached the Howe's, and agreed to meet that night in Oriental. Sticky buns and olive bread were back in the plan! Just as we reached the harbor entrance at Oriental, we get a call from the Howe's. They've encountered some unexpected delays, and now have consulted the charts, calculated the distance and they can't make Oriental. Goodbye sticky buns and olive bread!! Maybe next time! They continued south; we continued north. In the afternoon, we decide to meet up at Belhaven and Linda suggested the River Forest Marina, a marina known for their fine food and lovely 1860's home, now a Bed n Breakfast. We arrive to find the owner has had his trials lately. He went away for a few days and his freezer went down and he lost all his food. Business had been slow, the restaurant was closed, he was out of both gas and diesel, but he would give us a golf cart to ride into town. The Howe's arrived. Howard was surprised to find that we had all the very precise and particular ingredients for his most favorite cocktail, even a fresh lime. We had hors d'oeuvres, a drink, and fun conversation before boarding the golf cart and heading to Fishhooks for a fine seafood feast. It was such a fun time. We saw them off in the morning and continued to wind our way north.

Beaufort, NC (StM204) 9/15-16/10

While in Hammock Bay at Camp LeJeune we shared the anchorage with fellow Marine Trawler Owners Assoc. members, John and Sue Winter aboard "Just Relax". In the morning as we were traveling they hailed us on the radio to say "hello" and see where we were headed. Beauford? We arranged to stay at the same marina and have dinner together that night.

Just short of the Beaufort Docks we came across the Coast Guard with their blue lights whirling. Mr. Mike calls out, "are you stopping us?"

All the young men shook their heads "yes" in unison. "When was the last time you were boarded by the Coast Guard?", they asked. "Never", we replied in unison. They boarded the boat and we continued the short distance to the dock. They took 45 minutes to do a safety check of all systems and safety equipment. They were very polite and pleasant.

We passed a very enjoyable evening dining with John and Sue. After dinner, John took the time to go over the charts with Mike pointing out characteristics of the terrain ahead.

I did the laundry and grocery shopped in a courtesy car provided by the marina while Mike attended "blue" engine room jobs. These water front towns do a grand job of maintaining water side parks and museums. And Beauford is no exception. I almost didn't go to the North Carolina Maritime Museum thinking I had seen more then a few museums in our journey.
That would have been a mistake. They had a building with exhibits and a building where local craftsmen were building gorgeous wooden boats. I learned about aspects of the marine industry I was totally unaware of and saw how safety equipment had developed over the years. The museum staff conducts hands on programs year round in seamanship for young and old a like. And, again, admission was free.

On the way back to the boat, we were stopped by a couple who said they had only been in town twenty minutes and did we know where the concert would be held? We replied, we'd only been in town twenty hours and had no idea. Well, how about in the small treed park directly in front of our boat? People started setting up chairs and a gentleman sat up his "music machine". He turned out to be a very talented professional musician who sang ballads from the 70's and 80's. A wonderful evening topped off by a fellow boater who came to the boat to tell Mike what a lovely well maintained and appointed vessel he had. Mike glowed.

Wilmington, SC (StM 298+12) 9/11-12/10

Captain Mike got the word that a bridge ahead of us was closed for repairs, so it was necessary to lay up for a few days. We looked at the charts, and decided Wilmington looked good. We headed twelve miles up the Cape Fear River for Wilmington's river front dock. Arriving, we found a thriving farmer's market in progress. And here, I thought fresh food might be problem! We met Shirley, the peanut brittle lady, the "pasta wench" with homemade mushroom ravioli, and, don't you know, a fisherman who raised goats on the side. He had a picture album of photos of his goats! We bought goat cheese and the goatherd/fisherman convinced Mike he HAD to try preparing soft shelled crab. A delicacy I fondly refer to as "roach on a plate". You fry the animal in its complete and natural state and eat the little buggers shell and all. Now, Mike had tried this once before in a restaurant, and not been thrilled. The experience did not improve the second time! Also that Saturday, Wilimington had a large arts and craft show for ten blocks along the main street. We viewed the booths and then found an outdoor establishment that had a bar directly on the street. We ordered beer and wine and followed the rules posted on the wall to a "T". We kept our drinks on our coasters so our elbows did not get wet, we kept our drinks on the inside side of the bar, and we did not say unkind or provocative things to passersby. We did have a delightful conversation with a gentleman in a Cincinnati Reds tee shirt who was a history teacher relocated to Wilmington from upstate New York who had been a dedicated Reds fan for forty years. Go figure!

We attended the light opera, "A Secret Garden", presented in the recently restored 1858 Thalian Hall. In the morning, I walked up town to church and the Captain of my Heart took the ferry across the river to tour the battleship, North Carolina. In the afternoon, we both visited the US Coast Guard Cutter, Diligence, which was soon to be deployed to the Caribbean to check out any suspicious activity. There were 17 symbols displayed on their vessel each one representing 500 pounds of confiscated drugs, so we assume suspicious activity abounds.

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Southport, SC. (StM 309) 9/10/10

We cruise on down the waterway and into Southport, South
Carolina where the Captain pulls into a free 0ver night dock at the restaurant, The Provision Co.

What a hoot!! Their service procedure is unique. They take your name and ask for a personal item to be left with the "hostess". In our case, my glasses' case. When they call your name, you look through the restaurant until you find the table with your personal item on it. Then you go the kitchen tell them your name and what you wish to eat making a selection from the chalkboard.


Then you go to the coolers and make a choice of beverage. Should you want another drink, you go back to the cooler whenever you want. When your dinner is ready they come out and shout your name. You hear your name and wave your arms vigorously in the air. When you're finished, you go to the cash register, tell them your name, what you drank and pay!

Georgetown, SC. (StM 403) 9/8-9/10

We pulled into Georgetown, South Carolina expecting to anchor out and dingy in, but the anchorage was full, of mostly of old abandon boats. We ended up staying with the nice folks at Boat Shed Marina. Piggly Wiggly to the rescue again!! They came and picked me up to shop for groceries and drove me back. In the morning we walked to town and enjoyed breakfast at Thomas' Cafe, (Captain Mike was enthralled with the yellow grits) I got my hair cut, and we went to the Kudzu Bakery where fresh bread and goodies were procured. Mike suggested we go the Rice Museum and I'm thinking...a rice museum??? How interesting can that be?? Very! The docent was an elderly lady (elderly means older then us!) and very committed to local history. The museum, a product of the Georgetown Historical Society, was extraordinarily well done and admission was free. In addition to explaining the labor intensive procedure for growing rice, they also had on display an American made sailing vessel from the 1720's. It had been recovered from a local river, and removed from the water in the summertime in the presence of alligators and snakes to keep local curiosity seekers from plundering the site. Winter would have been the preferred season when most of the wild things were hibernating. The the roof of the Historical Museum had been removed and the boat lowered in with a crane. We took the River Walk back to the boat where we were tempted, but did not feed the alligators! Just before the marina, we stopped at the shrimp docks and bought fresh shrimp from 10 gallon buckets for our dinner.

Charleston, SC. 9/5-6/10

And, we're off to Charleston, and the Charleston City Marina, home of the Mega Dock! The marina is huge and the Mega Dock lives up to the name!! The transient dock itself is a quarter mile long and you're not out of the marina yet. Due to it's deep harbor, many truly large private vessels come into port here. One of our neighbors was the yacht, Grand Finale and can be seen on the web by googling, Grand Finale yacht. The marina offers a shuttle service departing every hour to all the local sites. They even came to our boat with a golf cart to take us to the shuttle stop. On Labor Day, we took full advantage of this service and did it all. We took a carriage ride and our guide was a college history major, sampled the fare of a shop featuring local Carolina wines, browsed the extensive market house, took a ferry to Fort Sumter, the site of the first shots of the War of Northern Aggression, (Civil War to us from the north), ferried over to Patriots Point and toured the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown. Earlier in the day, while on the carriage tour, we passed a restaurant called Jestine's Kitchen. The guide made the comment, "When there's a line outside Jestine's, the only thing it means is they're open". We thought we would end our Labor Day holiday with dinner at Jestine's and, because it was now after marina hours, called a cab. We pulled up to Jestine's only to view a sign saying, CLOSED. Not open on Monday's!! Now what?? We're sitting in a cab with the meter running. Cabbie says, there's a restaurant on the next corner I like a lot. Off we go to Sermet's. Now, it took a while, but we finally noticed that the colorful art on the walls were all signed "Sermet". Here, the owner was the artist and the chef!! The food was gourmet: seacakes with avocado ravioli in cream ginger sauce. All and all, a delightful experience. We stayed a little latter on Tuesday, and returned to Jestine's Kitchen for lunch for the best "soul food" ever. Now, of course, the local chamber instructs guides to refer to this style of cooking as "Carolina Cuisine"!

Beaufort, SC. 9/2-3/10

Onward to Beaufort, South Carolina. Now, that's Beaufort pronounced B-U-Fort and not to be confused with Beaufort, North Carolina, pronounced Bow-Fort. Got it? The guide books speak of the wonderful garden there. Now, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer and I'm looking at the map to see how to get to the garden only to realize I'm sitting in it! And it is spectacular. It is not only a river side park, but a true garden with flowers of all varieties. We had docked at the free day dock and with the help of a young local man, obtained the phone number of the Piggly Wiggly. The store's manager drove down to the dock, drove me to his store, and returned me and the groceries to the boat.

Right there by the dock was the station for the carriage ride tour through the town and we decided to hop on. I can't remember the guide's name, but I can tell you the horse's name is Duke. Duke hails from Ohio Amish country and is a Belgium work horse. Belgium's are known for being large and Duke is one of the largest Belgium's alive. Larger than a Clydesdale. I'm 5'8" and look how much taller Duke is then me!! The tour was a treat telling about the daily life of the elite before, during and after the Civil War. We ended our day with dinner out at Luther's, a restaurant sitting in the garden with a water view of the river. We left the day dock and anchored out that night. In the morning, Captain Mike, discovered a problem. His fresh water pump was smoking! Never a good thing. He decided to spend an extra night in Beaufort, go into the city marina and take advantage of their courtesy car to get to the nearest West Marine Store. Fortunately, they had the required pump in stock and he was able to install it that afternoon. Me, I did my "pink" job. I did the laundry and sat in the park!

Savannah 8/31 & 9/1/10

After anchoring out for two nights, we headed into Savanah. Originally, the city was laid out in the early 1700's around a series of squares. Each of these squares provided a park on every block. We had always heard how lovely this city is, but we did not understand that it had fallen into virtual ruin by the 1950's. A restoration effort, mostly privately run, began. Old homes were bought up at prices in the $20,000 range and with slow, costly, and tedious effort, restored. Today homes in the "historic" district sell in the millions. We docked right downtown along the river on lower River Street. We boarded one of the many tour buses that showcase the city and using our "on and off" stickers, made the tour bus our "taxi" for the next two days.

We toured many of the old homes and churches, rode past Paula Dean's restaurant, visited museums, lunched on Market Square, spent a delightful evening listening to music in an Irish Pub on River Street and heard repeated historic interpretation from our many tour guides on the bus. Every guide begins describing the original charter granted James Oglethorpe by the English King. Oglethorpe had four rules when establishing his colony. There were to be no "hard" spirits to drink, only Protestants (no Catholics or Jews allowed), no slavery, and no lawyers. He thought lawyers to argumentative! Needless to say, neither these rules nor Mr. Oglethorpe stuck around very long.

We discovered that Savanah is a huge container port with 125 of these big babies arriving and leaving each week. Their size and the number of container they can hold are astounding. The city is our third largest port.

Marsh 8/30/10

We leave Fernadina and head north to Georgia. This is the first time in eleven years "Bodin's Buoys" has been out of the state of Florida. Upon departing, we encounter a shrimp trawler engulfed in sea gulls. It is an experience for the senses: both sight and sound.

We enter "true" marsh land. From horizon to horizon the landscape contains nothing but tall grasses dissected by winding ribbons of water. No houses, no trees. For a day and a half, we come across only one other boat. A sailing vessel whose mast we spy above the high grasses long before we can see the boat itself. Morning on the marsh. I enjoy my cup of coffee. But I must share, I'm no "marsh-mellow"! Hailing from the mid-west, I like a little more variety in my landscape.

This is our third post of the day. Having experienced technical difficulties in the beginning, we're playing catchup now.