Merry Christmas!!

Christmas in Bradenton is beautiful, because the streets, sidewalks, and particularly the area around the waterfront (lucky us....our marina!!) have great light displays. It's a good place to get in the spirit, but the family Christmas is in Tennessee.

We went to Gatlinburg to visit with Mike, our marina manager, and his daughter Lauren, who had flown up for a ski trip before Christmas. It was fun to revisit our old haunts (we both worked in Gatlinburg before college, and Jay and our sons taught skiing and snowboarding there for several years) and have a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. The mountains were beautiful, and the lights through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg were impressive. We took the opportunity to display the Twin Dolphin burgee in a new location (and a much colder one than it's used to).

We had the opportunity to visit with lots of friends before the serious cooking began for Christmas. We spent an evening with Windy and Linda and Bryce and Sue in Kingston, catching up and reliving (embellishing) our boat stories from the past.















We had a special welcoming sign at Bryce and Sue's, and also a warm welcome from their menagerie.












We stopped at Lee and Ann's for an overnight while we were in Kingston, and enjoyed their castle once again. We also went to a party at Sid and Donna's, and were thrilled when we walked in and saw a room full of friends from our old marina, Blue Springs. It was fun to catch up and see friends we'd missed.

Even with the bad weather, the family made it to the farm, and we had a gorgeous white Christmas. As pretty as it is in the warmer climates, there's nothing like snow on Christmas (and snow cream, and snowmen, and cold feet and noses and cute girl cousins together). Santa found us, even though not everyone had been good all year......




















































Surprisingly, the Captain had an assortment of Cousin Eddie Wear in his stocking. It was hard for Santa to find all the special accessories, but the look was pretty comparable (and thank you, Brittany, for letting the old fart wear your soft new robe). We took the RV to Tennessee to store for the winter, and also used it as an annex while on the farm (it served double duty -- extra sleeping space for the family and a hideout for the Captain's brown water sessions). It was bittersweet to park it, even though the reason was so we could leave to cruise again in January.

Reunion

It's always good to see old friends, especially if it's been way too long since you saw them last. We met Lynne and Mike through a mutual friend, and our first meeting was hiking into Big South Fork's Charit Creek to spend the weekend in a rustic cabin. We immediately felt like we'd known them forever, and have since gone back to Charit Creek and also spent a week on a houseboat with them on Norris Lake. And it's always a hoot!

Mike and Lynne are spending some time in their condo in Bonita Springs, and drove up to visit us at Twin Dolphin yesterday with Mike's Dad Charlie. Since Mike grew up in Crossville (well, he got older there anyway), he already knew the Mayberries. We all visited, had a great lunch at The Pier, showed them our boats, and enjoyed happy hour at Mattison's. We caught up on as much as we could remember, trashed the mutual acquaintances that needed it, and shared a few stories. Some of them were probably true.




We already miss them, but hope to see them while we're in Tennessee for the holidays. Thanks for driving 3 hours to visit!

So much to be thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving from grandkids Micah and Madison, a picture sent from the farm in Tennessee by their mother Julie. What a great tree for climbing and sitting. And what lucky grandparents we are!






Mattison's Riverside provided turkey and fixings to the marina residents, who brought potluck for a Thanksgiving dinner by the pool. Not the traditional Thanksgiving setting for native Tennesseans, but a wonderful dinner with great weather (80s and sunny) and good company. The Captain and Admiral surprised themselves (and everyone else) by being the last to leave...at the staggering hour of 9 p.m.!! It obviously takes us longer than some people to discuss world peace....

Hat Favre

It was retired....now it's not. The Mayberry birthday hat was too famous to retire, so Poor Old Judy got to wear it again. She was treated to an evening of fun by her daughters Allyson and Kathryn, beginning at Twin Dolphin and continuing at Mattison's and Cork's. One of the best features of the hat now is the coonskin tail in the back, which is really a toy weasel. Necessity is truly the mother of invention!

Goodbye friends.....and hello again

Tuck and Kathy, our neighbors on the infamous C dock at Twin Dolphin, have worked all summer (in blistering heat) getting their boat ready to cruise again. They've sanded, primed, painted, scraped, sworn, sipped, sewed, and cleaned for months. Finally, after having produced an almost brand new boat, they planned their departure for Saturday. We were sad to see them go, but happy for them too. We had a little get-together Friday evening to say goodbye....toasts all around and have a good trip. Saturday morning the guys helped them cast off and they headed for Egmont Key to spend the night before heading south for the Keys. S/v Mariah looked majestic (and clean and shiny) as they left.




























































And then on Sunday morning............here they were! Unfortunately, the transmission refused to go in reverse and the VHF radio chose to not work. So they're back making a few repairs before they leave again. Tuck also had a bad cold, so he got to convalesce back on C dock. We really think they just wanted another party.

Turn around, settle down, go again

We got back from Tennessee on Thursday, and left Friday morning for the RV show in Tampa. We were joined by Lyle and Mickie in their new motor home, and had a good time looking at all the choices available in the show. Some were small enough to drive onto our boat, and some were large enough to house a family of 6 -- in style! Prices range from a few thousand to a few million, so there's a lot to look at.

After leaving the show Saturday afternoon, we went to St. Pete because our friends Jerry and Lynn (we traveled for a few weeks on the Great Loop with them aboard m/v Sea La Vie) were there for a week's visit with Lynn's brother Jim. We spent a wonderful evening visiting in the garden paradise at Jim and Jorge's house.





The company was excellent, the scenery superb, and a good time was had by all. The Admiral got a great fur fix from sweet Roxie.
























We convinced Lynn and Jerry to join us Sunday afternoon at Ft. Desoto Park for dinner and a walk on the beach. It's a beautiful park on the north side of the Tampa Bay shipping channel and was voted one of the best in the nation for beaches and facilities. Each campsite was private, with tropical greenery on both sides. Lyle and Mickie came back to join us, and we spent two nights being lazy, wining and dining, and enjoying the company. We rolled out the chairs, grills, rugs, music, and maybe one or two adult beverages. Lyle made his special coffee drinks each afternoon, and they are SOME kind of wonderful! Mickie loves to cook, we love to eat, and life was good. We continued the tradition of photographing the Twin Dolphin burgee by having Sade and Bubba (her new little brother) hold it for us.

Headed north (but not for long)

We had the pleasure of spending a few days in Georgia babysitting for grandchildren Madison and Micah while their parents got a much-needed break in South Carolina attending the annual Marine Ball. Madison and Micah are of course perfect children, having come from an excellent gene pool. They truly light up our lives, and the only problem is not getting to see them enough.

We headed for Tennessee afterward to visit oldest son John, the Admiral's mom, and youngest son Jesse and his wife Brittany. All are fine, and even though we nearly froze on the trip north, the weather turned gorgeous for the week we were there, with temperatures in the low 80s. Jesse and Brittany are house-shopping in Chattanooga, so we got to crawl around as part of the inspection team. Hopefully the search will end soon with the perfect house.