Good Morning People,

We have traveled to the Chesapeake Bay, which is a milestone. We spent a few days in Hampton touring a Air and Space Center(pics) and going to a Imax theater. That was the first time Lu has ever been to one, and what we understand, that is the biggest screen in the US. They also had a operating carousel, that they refurbished, which was built in 1920.(pics & videos). We made it to Deltaville for a couple of days. Not much there but that was ok. We walked, rode our bikes and enjoyed the scenery. That was the first time any of us saw an apple tree.(pics). The next stop was a marina in Heathsville. It is home owned by a couple and their son. Their names are Billy, Mary and little Billy. Very nice people. The marina name is Ingram Bay Marina. We really enjoyed ourselves. A cold front came through early one morning and guess what? GUMBO time.(pics) whooohooo.

Dixie cooked the gumbo and it was great. Even Billy and Mary thought so. We were about 5 miles before the turn to head up to the Potomac River which leads to Washington DC. We decided to head that way and see the sites. WOW it is so impressive. (lots of pics). We went to 3 of the Smithsonian Museums. The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial(my favorite), the White House and did alot of walking. We headed back down the Potomac River and stopped at Cobb Island and guess what? We are still here. The rate is $25.00 a week. WOW that is inexpensive. We rented a car and drove to Annapolis, then to Pennsylvania to visit the Amish Country. That was beautiful.We also stopped by a vegetable stand of a couple of Amish women. We bought cucumbers, tomatoes, and homemade bread and butter pickles. They are great. We visited a church not far from here named St. Ignatius which was built in 1798. There is a slave home that was used (rumored) in the underground railroad to free the slaves. Along the way we saw markers that were interesting, that path seems to be where John Wilkes Booth and his partner hide in the meadows until someone could get them across the Potomac to Virginia. We have pics in 2 different folders, cause we went 2 times.
We also passed through Port Deposit, MD, which has granite on the hill sides. And the homes are as close to the road as can be. We are going to head back to LA around the first week in October for a couple of weeks. Even thought we are enjoying ourselves it will be nice to be home for a little while. Later, L&M D&D

Hi y'all, the photo album of 08/17/10 was not suppose to post, so the first 29 pictures are from previous times that were not good enough to place on the blog, so just don't pay attention to them. And the rest of them, I usually go thru and delete the bad ones. Sorry.

Good Morning,

Southport was just a stop over to wash clothes and get fuel. The town was a little to far to walk. We didn't even eat out that night. (auhhh). Oh well we are happy just sitting in the cock pit chatting. The next day we had to pass by Fort Lejeune, which took us in the middle of where they practice maneuvers. Thank goodness there were none going on. We would have had to sit and wait(pics). We ended up stopping at Swansboro. We went walk a little and looked at old homes. We also saw a statue someone carved from an old tree.(pics) We ate at a little waterside restaurant and enjoyed. We even saw Elvis.(pic) Who said he was dead?
The following days we stayed at Oriential, which is a retirees town. There are not many children, only alot of friendly old people. Everyone you passed greeted you. There is a natural spring that sits next to a 200 year old tree(pics). The citizens built small cement benches so people could go sit in it. The house next to the tree has a church steeple bird house that I thought was really cute. (pic). We passed by a house that painted pictures on individual bricks that we also liked, it has a green door and pink roof(pics). On our way to Great Bridge, NC we anchored out and there were 2 fighter jets that kept passes. (videos, some should have been deleted, but remember I uploaded before I looked them over). Dixie and Dicky took the Dismal Swamp route, while Lu & Mike took the Virginia cut route. From what I hear from Dixie it was awesome!!!!! They walked trails and even took a canoe ride. We met up at Norfolk, VA. Dixie and Dicky went to the movies and saw Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lu &
Mike went see Eclipse. The city mascot is mermaids. There we walked the historic district & visited the mall. Dixie and Dicky toured the USS Wisconsin, while Lu & Mike took a city bus ride to a West Marine and then to Virginia Beach. That was a new experience. Well we are at Hampton, VA, just up the river from Norfolk. It is raining outside, so we will tour tomorrow.

OK people this is getting harder and harder, lol
We left St Simons island and headed to Savannah by way of the ocean, (pic & video), it was GREAT. The ocean way took us maybe 11 hours compared to 2+ days via ICW. Once we reached Thunderbolt(Savannah) Dicky and Dixie were waiting with refreshments in hand to greet us. We visited a while, then headed into town for supper. The next day was wash day then that afternoon had a few drinks(pics) and took a ride upstream to Turner Creek to bring Chrisjen back to the dock where we first layed eyes on her.(pic) The marina was a shambles. That was disappointing. Headed back to Hinckley Marina to gear up for departure the next morning.
We decided to stop early this day at Hilton Head, BIG mistake. It was one of those 100 degree days. It was so hot. Left early the next morning and head to Beaufort, SOUTH Carolina (pronounced like the 1st syllable in the word beau-ti-ful)beau-fort. I bring that up, because the city in Beaufort, NORTH Carolina says in different. We enjoyed walking thought the shops and trying their food.
Made our way to St Johns Island Harbor Marina (Charleston). We rented a car and did some sightseeing. and of course shopping. They have a market very similar to the french market in New Orleans.(pics). Their historical district is very beautiful. Old churches with tall steeples(quite a few pics) and old buildings. One was the US Customs Building. man, if those walls could talk what stories we would hear. (pics). We grilled some steaks the night before we left to head to North Myrtle Beach.
We stopped before we reached Myrtle Beach, right off the ICW at a little pier belonging to an oil company. We hired a diver in St. Simons Island to scrub the bottom, but Mike wanted to check it out, so off into the water he went.(pics).
Made it to North Myrtle Beach the next day and stayed at the Barefoot Landing Marina. The owner (Mark King), brought Mike & I to West Marine and told us a little bit about North Myrtle Beach. The marina is part of a shopping complex (whoohoo), what a surprise, it has shops, restaurants, alligator farm, tiger shows, and a concert theatre. We ate at Wild Wing the first night, nothing special, but the second night we ate at The Flying Fish. We all enjoyed the food and the drinks were great. I tried The Hammerhead which was good, and Mike got Rummmm(roll your tongue) Punch, that was GREAT. In fact I ordered one after the hammerhead. They were 32oz. mugs. yumyum. Last night we stayed at Southport, North Carolina. We were tired, so we washed clothes and hung around the boat. Today we have stopped at Wrightville, but on our way we passed quite a few pelicans just sitting in the water. Looked like a sea of pelicans. (pic). And also, the US Coast Guard Eagle passed by us. It is a training ship for the guards.(pics). OK, I have caught up. Will try hard next time. Love Lu&Mike, Dixie&Dicky

Hi Y'all,
That's the slang here in Georgia. Well, we have relinquished our duty Saturday and it is just Mike & Lu again. The last 2 weeks of July we were entertained by one of our 4 grandsons. Each day we swan in the pool at the marina to release his energy. We went for boat rides, we rode bikes to St. Simons Island, shopped, fished, ate at restaurants, played cards, he played his PSP, and for the grand finale we rented a car and drove to Atlanta to the Georgia Aquarium. It was well worth going. Even Mike was impressed.
We are in Thunderbolt, which is right outside of Savannah, we have met up with Dixie and Dicky. We (all 4) took a little ride last night in our boat (ChrisJen), and took her back to the marina where we bought her (ChrisJen). The marina is about 4 miles up the Wilmington River. It was a nice ride with the sea breeze and the sunset.
We will be heading out this morning, heading (of course) north. I will keep up with the blog again. Sorry for the delay. xoxo, L&M & D&D

Hi Everyone, Just a quick note. We are at home in Louisiana for another week. We rented a car and drove in around the 30th of June for a wedding and Lu and Dixie were really missing their kids and grand kids. We will leave out around the 12th or 14th of July and head back to Georgia. Mike and Lu left their boat at Golden Isle Marina in St Simon's Island and Dixie and Dicky left theirs at Dallas Bluff Marina due to the fact that they had kin folks who lived near DBM and visited for a few days before the trip back to LA. Once we make it back to Georgia Lu will start the blog again. Till then, we will enjoy being with family and friends.
L&M, D&D

Hi,
Left Cocoa Beach Saturday Morning and ended up in Titusville, where the Kennedy Space Center is located. Did not visit the KSC, we would like to go back by car in July once we have visited home for a couple of weeks. The town was not close by the anchorage, so we decided to stay on the boat that day and rest. Early that afternoon we noticed some people starting to congregate at a pavilion on shore. They had a pa system playing instrumental music, when all of a sudden we heard the tune "HERE COMES THE BRIDE". It was like we were there, we had audio and looked at the ceremony thru the binoculars (just kidding). We did look one time, to see what the bride was wearing. The wind was in the right direction so we listened to the DJ perform the ceremony, sing and play music. Sunday morn. left for New Smyrna City Marina. Along the way we had to pass in a cut where the people stood on the shores and fished. (pic). We also got a pic of a manatee's tail. Don't laugh, these things are really hard to spot. Ronnie has been living in Fl for over 2 years and he just saw a manatee not to long ago.
Made it in 3 hours. It had an historical district, so we walked and found a nice little restaurant. Ate and walked some more. Went back to boat and sat in the cockpit watching the pelicans and egrets. (pics). I have a video of a snow egret on our bow line, checking out the fish. We called to rent a car for Monday and went get groceries. Then we headed to the ocean. (video). We also did some shopping in the little shops along the beach road. That night we found a seafood restaurant called Blackbeard. The food was good according to 3 of us. We headed to find the light house, but it was on the other side of the inlet. Once we returned to the marina, Mike started feeling bad. Dixie and Lu stayed up with him till 11 o'clock. He thinks the shrimp he ate were not good. (probably right). It was not a good night for him. Next morning the car was returned and off we went. Ended up at Palm Coast Marina. Hit the bed early and left early, while the tide was high. Ended up at St. Augustine. Headed to West Marine to search for a few parts. Next morning went roam through the historic district. (quite a few pics). Took video at night of light house and moon. Will write later. Love Mike and Lu, Dixie and Dicky

Once we left Stuart the east coast was finally in site. Reached it in an hour or so, whooo hooo, along the way we noticed a dinghy with 4 or 5 smaller dinghy's behind it all in a row (pics) it was the cutest. Looked like a human version of mama duck with her young in tow. We ended up anchored out at Fort Pierce. Mike went for a swim and cleaned the bottom of the boat. Lu sat out and read a bit. Dixie and Dicky decided to stay in Stuart a few days. The next morning we were ready to move on when a neighboring boat owner motored over and asked Mike for help to haul him up the mast to repair his anchor light that broke during the night. They were Jacques and Patricia DeVall from Vero Beach, which is where we were heading. They said the city marina was a nice place to dock and the city bus passed right there. It has quite a few routes around town. The only route we were interested in was the beach and a shopping center. So, off we went. The beach(pic of Atlantic Ocean) had a really nice park with statues of sea turtles(pic) every so often. Like the pelicans in Lafayette. The shopping area there was upscale. So we did some window shopping and of course found an ice cream parlor. (pics).
The next 2 days were spent in Cocoa Beach. Their historic district and main street are only 2 blocks away from the marina. As we were walking along the dock, heading up to the marina office, I noticed a few jelly fish (pics). Neat little creatures, but not something you want to play with in the bathtub. We did alot of walking, looking and shopping. We ate at Ryan's Irish Pizzeria and Pub. (go figure). Have to say it was delicious. Mike had a Stromboli and Lu had a ham & cheese sub. We visited a hardware store that has been in business and same location for 125 years (pics) It reminded us of Dixie Hardware, before renovations to the opera house.It had everything you could imagine. Also took a few pictures of the shopping and historical district at night. Hey maybe once the trees on main street in Crowley have grown, lights can be placed in them, like this main street has. This is another one of the interesting places we have stopped and enjoyed. We are now hoping to make our way to Titusville, near the space center. Later, Lu & Mike

Hi Guys,
Left early the next morning and ended up at LaBelle City Docks. Met a young couple from Alaska with their 18 month old son and another on the way. They were preparing their boat to be placed at a marina and fly back to Alaska to have the baby. They will return when the new baby will be 6 months. I have a few words to call this. Walked into town, ate supper and headed back to the boat. The following morning we were on our way to Lake Okeechobee. Going down the water we met up with some swimming cows.(pic) This part of Florida is Cattle Ranches. Once we crossed the lake we were at Port Mayaca Railroad Bridge, (pic) which raises to 49 feet. We called that morning to check out the situation and was told the bridge was at 49.1 ft. Dicky And Dixies mast on Me Nou is 48 feet tall with 1 1/2 feet of antennas. So you can figure our concern. Mike and Lu went under without any fear since the mast on ChrisJen is 43 feet. Next was Dixie and Dicky's turn. We all held our breaths and Me Nou went under the bridge with the antennas bending backwards. After the crossing the antennas flopped forward and we all yelled. Mike and Lu grabbed each a beer to celebrate. (pic). We called Dixie and Dicky they were doing the same thing. We pulled into Indianatown Marina. (pic) Did a little walking in their storage yard. There was so many boats on stands it looked like a boat grave yard. This is one of the places where snowbirds store their boats and head up North for the summer. Mike and Lu rode their bikes into town, not much to see. Dixie cooked meat ball stew that night. yum-yum. She is a really good cook. On our way to Stuart and the East coast we had to go through the St Lucie Canal Locks. (2 videos & pics) The drop would be 14 ft. That was the greatest drop in water level we have ever experienced. Made it to Stuart that afternoon and moored on a mooring ball. Only 4 miles for officially being on the east coast. Ok, talk later. Going to the marina to pay for the over night stay on the mooring ball.
Love L&M, D&D

Hi Everyone,

We traveled all day through Clearwater, Pass-A-Grill, and across lower Tampa Bay area. Stopped at Seafood marina in Cortez for the night. Not much to say about this, Mike and Lu went eat, while Dixie and Dicky went wash clothes. Up the next morning back to traveling. They even have ferries here. (pictures). Felt like Cameron, except this one was rather small in size and only had to cross the bayou. Made our stop for the night at Placioda Cove, just short of Boca Grande Swing bridge. We dropped the anchor and the dinghy's and took a ride to Gasparilla Pass. We went shell hunting, came back to boat for supper and some chit-chat then hit the sack.
June 7, had short run to Charlotte Harbor, which took us to Matlacha (picture). Matlacha is where Ronnie and Karla have their home. We anchored at their dock (2 pictures). Lu started washing clothes and we visited with Matt (Karla's brother). He was kind enough to lend us his van to replenish groceries and fuel. Thanks Matt. Mike took a swim in the pool while the rest of us sat around, talked and had a few drinks.
Got up late. did a few projects, then Mike and Lu went to coffee shop and stopped by to say hi to Bob, who is a family friend of Ronnie's. Dixie and Dicky did some projects on their boat today, as well. That afternoon Mike lit the pit and we all sat around and told stories. The next morning Dixie and Lu took a couple of hours to walk into town to get in a little shopping then headed back to the boat for 11:45. The canals are shallow and that was the time for high tide.
Made it to Cabbage Key and docked at their marina. Went eat at their restaurant (pictures). It is full of one dollar bills with peoples name on them. The story goes along time ago some one said he would leave a dollar at the restaurant and try to go make his fortune, if he failed he would not be broke, cause he still had that dollar, so the tradition started as you can see in the pictures. It was told to us by the waitress there is about 80,000., on the walls. Dixie pressed on the post and there was a nice cushion. (not just a bill then wood). We walked up the water tower (pictures) the view was gorgeous (pictures). the pictures do not do it justice, I took some of our boats tied up at the harbor. Back on the ground heading back to the boat we noticed 2 or 3 turtles wondering around. (2 videos) along with ducks just sitting under a tree. It was a real treat to visit Cabbage Key. After we made our way to Captiva Pass where the water was 10-13 feet deep about 100 yards from the north side of the beach. We decided to anchor there for the night. (pictures). Dropped anchor and dinghy and headed to the beach for some more shell hunting. We had a northerly breeze so we sleep outside in the cockpit that night. The breeze stayed all night, it actually got cool and the stars were bright.
Well it is time to head east. We are going through the Okeechobee Waterway, which is a passage that runs through Florida instead of going around by Key West. That will be another trip. (possibly winter) We are trying to head up the east coast and go as far as we can before the cold weather gets us .
Well till next time, Love Lu and Mike, Dixie and Dicky

Tarpon Springs

Once we tied up at the city marina in Tarpon Springs, we headed to Mama's Greek Restaurant. The food was great. Mike ate roast leg of lamb with roasted Greek potatoes, yes he did!!!!! Walked around and window shopped, then headed back to the boat. The next morning we were off to the stores with Mike and Dicky right behind us. The population of Tarpon Springs is mostly Greeks, due to being the sponge capitol of Florida and probably the US.(pictures). Their main street is definitely for tourist, shop after shop after shop. (pictures) Mike and Lu shopped till the afternoon and then headed to a dive shop where Mike bought him a spear gun and a diving hood. Dixie and Dicky were still hitting the shops. They came back to the boat around 8:00 that evening. Ronnie and Karla from Tampa, came visit and ended up spending the night. We had a fantastic time. The next morning all 6 of us went to Tarpon Springs Diner in Ronnie and Karla's truck (picture). We all enjoyed ourselves. Once we returned to the boat it was back to shopping for us 3 ladies. The men opted out. While the ladies shopped, Ronnie taxied Dicky and Mike to get fuel for the boats. Karla and Ronnie left around lunch, while Dixie and Lu did not skip a beat on the shopping. Lu and Dixie returned to the boat around 4pm. The guys were napping. Look what island time can do to a person. Meet the new revitalized Dicky. (pictures) Dixie said she likes a man with long hair. lol We sat outside till 9:30pm. then, we all prepared to depart from Tarpon Springs in the morning and headed to bed.
We were out of the slip by 6:30 the next morning on our way to Anna Marie Island. We are back in the Intracostal, so it was slow going. Had bridges to call for them to open up and they only opened every half hour, so we would have to float around waiting.(picture) Once we reached Anna Marie Island the marina was to shallow for our boat, so we headed a little further to Cortez, which is where we are for the night. At the seafood marina. Love y'all, Lu, Mike Dixie and Dicky

St Marks Light house

Hi,
Spent a week in St Marks, it is a simple living on the water, town. Not much to do, but we enjoyed the time. We ate at a local restaurant called Riverside (go figure). The food was good and service excellent, thanks to Angel, Linda and Janet. They also provided live music on Fri., Sat., & Sun. Friday the generator was delivered, so Dicky and Mike began putting it back together.
All went well. Sat we spent the day preparing to leave. Left early and hit the gulf heading for Steinhatchee. We had 3 ft. seas and Mike said steep chop. Sometimes it was like riding a rocking horse. Got into Steinhatchee River around 6:30pm looking for anchorage, when we noticed a lady standing on her dock. She hollered, where y'all heading? We explained and she offered us to tie at her dock for the night. Come to find out she and her husband (deceased) were avid sailors years ago. Her name is Rhoda Moehrings and long time citizen of Steinhatchee. Dixie called her a guardian angel. Dixie and Lu decided they wanted to spent the next day there and the men went along with that. Back in Apalachicola Dixie an Lu figured they would buy a charm at each stopping point or should I say shopping point, so off they went following a good nights rest. Dicky came along with us, while Mike stayed at the boat and got the bikes back in working order. Salt air sure can mess things up. We met up with Rhoda that afternoon and she kindly drove us around town and to a small waterfall up the river. We returned and went walking some more and went into this wood shop. We met the owner appropriately named Stickman. He was really interesting to listen to. Went back to the boat and both bikes were on the pier so Mike and Lu took a ride around town, before the no-see-ums came out. Did I tell y'all about the no-see-ums. OMG they are horrible. I will take our mosquitoes any day at least you can see them.
The net day we were off to Crystal River not much to say. The seas were real calm an enjoyed the ride. We anchored in what Dixie called an anchor city, went to bed. The next morning we went get fuel at Pete's Pier and met a nice young lady by the name of Cassie. She said her boy friend was from Lake Charles (small world). She was very friendly and gave us good information. Then headed out for Tarpon Springs. The water was beautiful, Dixie sat on the front of her boat almost all day. Dicky even walked up to the front to see what all the excitement was about. Lu went back and forth, front to back. there was so much to see, due to the water looking like a swimming pool. Mike kept saying all day, if we had the time he would anchor and go snorkeling. Well, he kind of got his wish, he ran over a crab trap and the rope wrapped around the prop and stopped the engine. So into the water he went to cut the rope away. No damage to report, the engine started right up and we were off again. Made it to Tarpon Springs and the city marina, but this is another story yet to come. Hope all is well at the home-fronts. (Crowley and Lake Arthur). Will have another blog soon, now that we are back in the intracostal, we should have better signals.
Love Lu, Mike, Dixie, & Dickey (posting more pics and video)

2010-05-22

2010-05-22

Island Time

Hi Family & Friends

We are still in St. Marks Fla. waiting on a generator for D&D's boat. I want to take this time to thank a few special people who have helped us prepare for this trip. I will not mention all, but as time goes by hope not to miss anyone. Being able to write these blogs and set up everything took special friends like Richard S.,Davis D., Karl F.. We have received many e-mails which we try to respond to when we are able, if we have internet, but believe me it's not like at home . I would like to thank a few others that are taking care of home affairs for us like our two daughters, the Richards, Paul C., the Abshires & the Leonards, we are grateful for them. There are others like the Woodards, the Nelsons and more who we miss seeing.
We work on small projects each day and some how think of all of you. We are still adjusting to living on the boat, and the NO-SEE-UM's make the mosquito's a joy. The Shields Marina has been very nice to us, yesterday they lent us a Yukon to use, and guess where we went, wrong! , to a state park which has a spring where they filmed the Monster of the Black Lagoon and where Tarzan did his thing, then we went to WAL-MART haha! We have taken a couple of dinghy rides up the St. Marks River and also the Wakulla River, clear water, saw many fish, turtles, a raccoon, a gator and some people that looked straight out of Deliverance, many types of trees in the same spot, like a Pine next to a Cypress, then a Palm, a Magnolia and some we could not identify.
OK, time to take a nap, get some more rest for the next project, like laundry which takes a half day.
We hope to update again soon. Hey! Bill and Ernest tell everyone at the station Hi.


Love Y'all
Lu & Mike

Hi,

  Doesn't this look like home? I really enjoyed heading to Apalachicola, reminded of Lake Arthur. We made it a short running day and had a great time in Apalachicola. Had sandwiches for lunch then Dixie and Lu hit the town. they did some heavy site seeing in the little antique shops. Then Dicky and Mike came meet us for great food at the Grill restaurant. And on to the ice cream parlor for some Blue Bell ice cream cones. Headed to bed around 8:30pm, so we could have an early start the next morning. According to the chart plotter we had a 49.9 foot bridge to pass under so we had to make it at low tide.As we approached the bridge the gauge read 62', lots of worry for nothing.Well, we motored thur St. George Sound, then out into the gulf, it was great. Lu ran to the front of the boat every time the porpoise came to greet us, she became obsessed with taking moving pictures and talking to them, and they showed off right in front of the boat.She would tell me, you should see the babies.We made our way to the St. Marks River late this afternoon and found a place to dock at the Shields Marina. D and D are still having generator problems and hope to get a tech. to check it out Monday. We will stop for now, would like to upload video for Grandsons to see. have to figure that one out. We will head to wash clothes, get supplies and finish more projects while we are docked.

Good Saturday Morning Family & Friends,

Remember the last post I told y'all I would get permission from Dixie to tell her story? Well I got it. so here goes. I believe it's one of those stories that you just had to be there, but I'll try. We (Lu, Mike, Dixie and Dicky) were heading back to the boat from Margaret's and Buddy's house after supper in Orange Beach, with Dixie driving. We were chatting and missed the rode to turn on so we decided to go Bear Point, which was just a few miles further. We all had wine except for Mike. So I guess we should have let him drive. We turned around and headed back to try and find the street sign so we could turn. It happened to be on the other side of the road so Dixie would move into the on coming traffic lane (with no cars coming, of course). When it wasn't the street she would get back in her lane. this was done about 4 or 5 times. All of a sudden there were red lights shining in the back. Yea you guessed it COPS. Now Dicky and Mike are holding half opened bottles of wine between their legs and Lu has a glass of wine in her hand. We pulled over and the cop told Dixie the reason he pulled us over was that we were swerving and doing 30 in a 55 mile an hour highway. Dixie is trying to talk and rummage through her purse for her license. Yea you guessed it NO LICENSE. And Lu is thinking Dixie quit talking before the officer can smell the wine on your breath. Dixie could only find her TWIC card ( it's a card the home land security issues to people who have to or want to go into ports being unexcorted, they do a background check on your life's history) She offered that to the officer and explained her license was left at the boat. He asked us if we were putting down the boomers. I'm sure by now most of you know what boomers are, if not they are the absorbers that are laid in the water for the oil spill. She replyed that we were just traveling. He took her TWIC card and ask her birth date, went back to his car returning in a few minutes. Well this you will never guess. He came back with the statement, Uh mam, do you realize you are driving a deceased womens car? Well that did it we all pop out laughing. Dixie said yes sir, this car belongs to a friend of ours whose wife just recently passed away. The officer was smiling by this time. Mike put the back window down and I noticed his last name was Long, which happened to be the same last name as Margaret and Buddy (where we just left from and remember I told y'all she wrote a book, well she just happened to autograph a copy and gave us each one) . Lu picked up the book and showed it to the officer and ask if he knew the Longs, because that is where we were coming from. Yea, you guessed it, NOT. he was from up in Tennessee. He asked what street we were looking for and told us it was 2 more down and to be safe. We left that KIND Officer Long and went on our way. Yea you guessed it, we MISSED the road AGAIN. We turned around and Thanked Officer Long one more time, cause he was following us and we made it back to the boat, laughing so much.

Needless to say my girls were not happy when I told them that story.
OK now for the update. We waited for D&D to catch up in Panama City,fueled up and headed further down the ICW. We found a nice little cove to anchor in. It was great, nice breeze, nice wine, and nice friends. Woke up the next day on our way to Port St. Joe. We pulled into a marina tied up and walked to a Piggley Wiggley and did some grocery shopping. Then we found a shrimp boat dock to tie up to had Mike grill some steaks and sausage. ummmm was delicious. D&D brought their chairs and sat on dock and visited. Then off to bed we went.

2010-05-22

Hi Y'all,
I'm not going to say sorry for the delay this go round. Seems that we have to be on line to blog, instead of typing and then importing. Oh well we'll get her done. Left Dauphin Island early with wave action again. So, we tucked behind D&D which made it a little easier.
Made it to Orange Beach around 1 pm and meet up with Clyde (long time friend of D&D). Lu started washing clothes while Dickey went get supper(fresh oysters), Mike and Dixie washed off the topside of the boats to remove the salt. Later on we were invited to another long time friend of D&D, Margaret and Buddy Long. We were treated to supper which consists of fresh raw oysters, fried oysters and Ling (cobia) along with sides. Our desserts were orange rolls and Orange beach pie. (another version of key lime pie). You see Margaret is an historian. She has written, "The best place to be The story of Orange Beach Alabama". They are also big Alburn fans and here I come with my LSU wine glass. Had a really great time and hopefully will see them again on the way back. Had an interesting ride back to ChrisJen, but this is Dixie's story and need to get permission to tell. Hopefully in our next blog we will back track to tell it. The next day Mike and I went to Wal Mart and West Marine to get supplies and do a few more projects. Dixie rented a car to head back home to her grandsons graduation. Bed time was at 11:30. We decided to head to Navarre Beach the next morning.
Not to much to tell on this day, just made it to Navarre Beach. We are having fond memories of our family vacation that we had September '09 here. We found a hole that we were able to anchor in close to shore. We enjoyed the sunset then hit the sack. Woke up on sand, no problem, Mike started the engine and motored off. We are heading to Destin.
Made it to Destin around 11:00am. Anchored in Destin Harbor. had boats all around us. We dropped the dinghy and motored to shore, went eat and walk around a bit. We'll waite for D&D to catch up in the next few days. To bed at 8:30 pm.
We played lazy today, napped on and off. Did not take a dinghy ride to shore. Bed early. woke up this morning on a mission to buy groceries. Dinghed to shore and meet this guy named Russell. In talking to him, he stated he knew where Kaplan was. (shocked). Come to find out he went hunting with Greg Girouard from Kaplan, so Mike called Ernest Girouard, whom he worked with at the research station. Come to find out Greg is his brother. (small world). We walked to Target and Winn Dixie. Just as we were loading the dinghy here comes a small thunderstorm. Did not last but maybe 20 seconds, but they were big drops. Stayed cloudy all day. Took another ride to the jetties and Crab Island. More fond memories, this is where we would vacation when the girls were growing up. We noticed a sailboat ashore on its side pass the jetties. We didn't remember seeing it there when we came snorkeling in September. We went eat at Harry T's, so we asked our waiter (Mike) if that was just an attraction or was that a mishap. He said it was real and happened in June '09. Strange we didn't notice it on our vacation. Oh well. Lu ate chicken salad croissant and Mike ate fried oysters. Time to head to ChrisJen and get some rest.
Woke up early, watched the sunrise and wade anchor at 7:20am, then to East pass heading to the ICW. Long slow day today, made East bay and Sun HarborMarina at 4:30pm. next to Hathaway Bridge, Panama City. Docked the boat and headed to wash clothes. Met Gary and Jan, sat and chatted awhile. Then headed in for the night.

Hi Family and Friends,

Sorry for the delay on the updates. It has been a little diffucult to get into the swing of things. We left the LAYC Monday, May 3rd. The first few days were uneventful, a stop @ Intracoastal City, then to Morgan City. No oil or closures on the ICW to report.
On Wed. heading into Houma we were boarded by HOMELAND SECURITY, all of our paperwork was in order so no search was necessary. Once we tied up @ the Twin Bridge Marina the pit was lit. We enjoyed rib eyes, broccli and green beans, not to mention a couple of bottles of wine. After, we watched the tows go by, only feet away. By Sat. we made it to Biloxi, the wind had increased to 25kts (time to come into safe harbor), we stopped @ the City Marina, right next to the Hard Rock Casino. Needless to say, that's where we ended up. The buffet was great, Lu stuffed herself with King crabs and Dixie played the slots. We had another great evening. When we retired to the boat we listened to the VHF to hear that there would be a smallcraft alert tomorrow so we decided to hold up another day. So, Sun. became a project day and we also rode the bikes to the grocery store for supplies, Just a 2 mile round trip, not a bad ride.
Monday we left Biloxi. The wave action was a little intense, but we made it to Dauphin Island without breakage. We heard someone hailing Me'Nou (Byler boat), Dicky responded, and it was Troy T. another member of the LAYC. He and his family were on vacation and noticed us on the ICW. Once we were anchored Troy came out to meet us. We live in a small world. Had another late night of enjoying wine and good friends.
I will stop for now, time to hit the bunk. Have interesting story to tell on next update, and hopefully some pictures.
Love, Lu & Mike

Retiring to some is like starting a new life, but not here. Life is too short, and it's been hard to keep the dust off the patience shelf. Some say we are too young, young is only how far you are from a coffin.

Well, Chrisjen (our boat) is almost ready for our voyages to new shores. We will finish our land duties soon, sell off the unneeded, store the home treasures, give our love to our kids and grandkids, tell friends we will keep in touch and disappear into retirement.