She moves!

Early in February we turned the pointy end south to head for Marathon, where madness and mayhem had already begun (and we were missing it!!).  The Captain was deliriously happy to be moving again, and Serendipity was straining at her leash.

Outta here!

George and Terry (s/v Serena) traveled the first bit with us, and we anchored at Dragon Point in Eau Gallie the first night.  We enjoyed dinner aboard Serena, and bid a fond farewell to our good friends.

Beauty and the beasts

After a few anchorages (and lots of rain), we had to wait 3 hours one afternoon for the Don Ross bridge to be repaired, with no guarantee that it would happen in a manner timely enough for us to reach our anchorage.  The marina closest (and which could accommodate our 6’ draft) wasn’t really public, but when we called they seemed very anxious to have us dock there for the night.  As usual, I asked their rates on the phone and $1.50 sounded like a reasonable per-foot charge.  When we pulled into the cove we were amazed at how large the marina was and how large the boats were.  We tied up and the Captain went to check in.  As he left the boat, I jokingly said “hope they didn’t mean $150!”.  Well, no joke.   Too bad we didn’t have time or the weather to take advantage of the beautiful grounds and pool!  It was late and of course there was the electroshock therapy that needed to be done on the Captain…..

small boats at the marina

must've misunderstood.....

Ft. Lauderdale is one of our favorite stops, so we were glad to tie up in New River at Sailboat Bend.  We rented a car and got some shopping/reprovisioning done, and were able to reach the mechanic to whom we’d mailed our ham radio.  Sadly, it couldn’t be revived, but he had another one that fit our needs.  We walked into Los Alamos for happy hour, where the Captain was happy to see the UT basketball game on the bar TV.

Las Olas

cute little tug

do NOT want his job!

a cold one, coconut shrimp, and UT on the screen....one happy Captain!

small cabin in Lauderdale

We celebrated our 39th anniversary in Biscayne Bay (one of my favorite anchorages) with a beautiful sunset.

starting to relax into the cruising life again

anniversary sunset

We spent the next night in Rodriguez Key, then eased into Marathon on the 16th.  We were met on the dock by Bob and Katie, William and Judy, Bob and Stephanie, and Rick and Therese.  Bob had (of course) made plans (what?  Bob?) to have a pizza party on the dock.  We met some new best friends and reunited with old best friends.  Let the games begin!

Boot Key Harbor!!

What a cute little bottom

Serendipity does NOT appreciate being left closed up for months on end.  The inside was pretty grim, with fur and rust growing on everything.  We’ll never leave her unplugged and closed up again for that long.  Things that had survived very well for 8 years suffered, and it took a while to get everything cleaned up and aired out.

The bottom wasn’t difficult to repaint, once the sanding was done and the blisters scraped. The stripe under the cap rail proved to be more of a challenge, however. The first coat of paint was kelly green (as opposed to the former emerald green), so it had to be removed. The weather didn’t always cooperate, as it couldn’t be too windy (or obviously wet) for sanding and painting. As a result, the bottom had three coats long before the stripe had two. It would never do to mention the size of the bottom as opposed to the stripe, or to mention that the Admiral did the bottom and the Captain did the stripe.

Captain Green Stripe hard at work

the looooong way up

We met a great couple next to us on the hard, Gordon and Jeannie, and we enjoyed a meal or two and a trip to the flea market in Vero with them. 

making those lists for traveling

I've seen so many shots of gourmet meals that I wanted to share the feted beans 'n greens 'n pinot

silly Bob wearing my pink flowered reading glasses

After a little repair work, new zincs, and a lot of scraping, sanding, painting and packing, we were ready to be IN THE WATER again.

Happy Holidays to all

As much fun as it is to cruise, it’s also good to be back with the family (especially for Christmas). The whole family gathered on the farm and we had the usual fun cluster.  Two little girl cousins and one little boy cousin (another is on the way!) made it an easy stop for Santa and of course made it more fun for the bigger kids (senior kids??).

Tennessee tannenbaum

family mayhem on the east side of the living room

and on the west side

now you know who REALLY plays Words with Friends

We parked the Tioga in the driveway (Jay’s Man Cave and happy hour hideaway) so we wouldn’t overcrowd the house and could add a bed or two).  Too much food and too many gifts made it perfect! 

After the cleanup we loaded up the rental car to return to Titusville (with a brief tiling stop in Chattanooga) and check on Serendipity.

when you buy tile at Lowe's you get a free kitty

Brittany with her two lap dogs

yay!  border done!

now this is how you play beer pong...get it right!

or you have to take a drink

instructions from the peanut gallery

NOT well received

but they don't care!

game on!

Boats and houses and beaches oh my!

Honeymoon’s over for sure!  Back to remodeling houses in Tennessee and working on the boat in Florida.  We helped Jesse and Brittany with tiling in their bathroom and did a little more work on the farmhouse to get a rental house ready, then left for Florida to visit and work on the boat (she’d been on the hard for 4 months without attention – longest we’d ever left her).

Before leaving for Florida, we spent some time enjoying October in Tennessee.  We took a short trip to the Cherokee National Forest (one of our favorite sledding and camping places in winters past) to see all the gorgeous fall colors, and I went with our daughter to her tenth college reunion.  The reunion was fun, especially seeing Julie and her friends and former roommates visiting while their kids ran around – seems like only yesterday we were lugging boxes up three flights of steps in the dorm and having ten girls over for hamburgers!

modified camping

what a beautiful sight

no words needed

Carson-Newman

the college girls are mamas now

John traveled with us to Florida, stopping in Chattanooga to tile on the way.  He was ready for a brief vacation, but not sure if traveling in an RV with your parents counts.  We traveled down the west coast of Florida, visiting old haunts from our Bradenton days two years ago and checking up on old friends at Twin Dolphin.  We spent the day at the beach on Anna Maria Island, made memorable by the parking ticket we received months later for parking the RV in the public lot by the beach (no signs, no warning, no ticket on the windshield – just a friendly request for a donation to the police department).  It was impossible to get in touch via phone or e-mail, so we reluctantly paid the piper. 

yikes!

my three guys

Jay and John relaxing on the beach (while getting a parking ticket!)

the outstanding Dali museum in St. Pete

We stopped in RV parks along the way, and much to the delight of John most were populated by grey panthers.  Only a game of horseshoes and a pool kept him from jumping off the roof of the RV.  He flew back to TN from Orlando before we went to Westland Marine in Titusville to work on the boat.  We stayed in the RV at the marina while we worked, and talked Bob and Katie into leaving their boat there while they went back to Cincinnati for Christmas.  Candy and Phred were driving south in their RV for their annual stay in Marathon, and they stopped by also.  We enjoyed a reunion with both couples, and were  joined by George and Terry from Port Canaveral for dinner. 

Jay, Bob, Katie, Candy, Phred beside the mighty Tioga (in the marina yard)

The marina celebrated Thanksgiving with the residents on Wednesday, providing turkeys and side dishes while the boaters brought side dishes.  It was very well attended and very good!  For our REAL Thanksgiving, we took a road trip to Port St. Lucie, where Julia’s (m/v Sea Pearl) sister Rosie lives.  She graciously invited us to join her, Joe and Julia, and Bob and Stephanie for Thanksgiving dinner.  She’s a very gracious hostess, and we had so much fun and SO much good food!  We really appreciated being with such good friends for such a great feast.

Julia and Rosie

patient Salty Dog

the guest of honor

what a beautiful table and what a great group!

NOW we’ll go back to Tennessee to get the farm ready for 16 people to stay for Christmas!

Southbound

We left NYC and spent the night in a lovely Sam’s Club parking lot (landscaped just for us, complete with picnic table).  We’ve decided Sam’s is the best (free) overnight, since they’re not open all night and tend to be somewhat removed from night traffic and activity.
Stephen and Pam (m/v Tide’s In) were in Washington, DC, so we stopped by for a quick visit.  We hadn’t seen them since we returned from the Bahamas in June, so it was fun to catch up and enjoy an evening on Tide’s In.  It was originally billed as happy hour, but as usual we turned it into happy hourS.  But what fun!  We didn’t tour Washington since we’d been there just a couple of years before (and our feet were still sore from stomping all over NYC).

Pam was so excited to see us that she squeezed Stephen's head

We left DC and traveled to Hampton, VA because Bob and Stephanie (m/v September Song) and Joe and Julia (m/v Sea Pearl) were there.  we were able to stay in the Enterprise parking lot near the docks (it’s hard to dock a Tioga), so we were near the boats and able to play.  We hadn’t seen those kids since spring when we left the Bahamas.

Bob about to cry because he's seeing Jay after all this time.....drove Steph to drink

those kids!

our marina slip

been a long time!

Nice visit!  Time to go further south.  Rusty and Nancy were in New Bern, NC, having spent time there after returning from the Bahamas.  They were there for hurricane Irene, but thankfully had no damage.  We parked in yet another parking lot beside a marina and enjoyed a visit and dinner on Summer Wind then a quick tour and lunch in New Bern the following day.

New Bern ahead

so that's where they've been!!

Monday we bade Rusty and Nancy farewell and traveled to Seabrook Island, SC to visit Jeff and Dot, long-time friends from both work and play.  Even though their neighborhood is gated and highly restricted, we were able to park the RV right in their driveway (don’t even ask about the looks we got from passersby).  We enjoyed dinner at their home and took a tour of the newly renovated (with Jeff at the helm) club facilities.

beautiful Ravenell Bridge in Charleston

idyllic back yard in Sea Brook

Jeff and Dot

We left Seabrook and headed for home.  We’d had such a great time seeing new places and old friends, lots of memories and photos, but Tennessee looked pretty good too!!

we're back!