Trip Diary for January, 2007: St. Simons Island, GA Based

Jan. 1-7; St. Simons Island, GA and Orlando, FL: Up late after welcoming in the new year, we left after watching the Outback Bowl to show Chris around St. Simons Island.  Returning in time to watch the Rose Bowl, we enjoyed a great beef fondue dinner. We then stayed up til 1 AM watching the thrilling Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.  After that late turn-in, Tuesday started slowly with President Gerald Ford's funeral before we had lunch at Gnat's Landing and went shopping.  Wednesday we drove 225 mi. to Disney World's Old Key West Vacation Club to Keith and Sharon Hawks' condo.  Keith's brother, Melvin, and sister-in-law, Karann, were also there.  Thursday and Friday were delightful days at Disney parks with perfect weather.  Christmas lights were still up at MGM Studios. We left Old Key West at 6:15 AM Saturday in order for Chris to make his 11:20 Jacksonville return flight.  We were so tired upon returning that we went to bed at 7:30 PM!  After Sunday services at St. Simons UMC, we drove to Brunswick to restock before returning to watch football (at least Larry watched).

Jan. 8-14; seventh week at St. Simons Island, GA: Monday was a day for laundry, working at the boat and, in the evening, watching the Univ. of FL dominate Ohio State for the national football championship. Except for a brief trip for groceries and ice cream, Tuesday and Wednesday were primarily spent onboard relaxing, reading and working Sudoku.  A cold front had arrived, so temperatures were almost 20 degrees cooler  (lows in the 40s and highs in the mid-50s).  Thursday brought a warming trend with the opportunity to relocate from the far end of the face dock to a slip.  This cut in half the previous 1/4 mi. walk to the showers or parking lot plus we were no longer adjacent to a fueling station.  Boat keeping chores filled the remainder of the day.  Friday's weather was ideal with a high of 76.  After a relaxed day with modest cleaning, we went to Grogen's North for an excellent pizza dinner.  Saturday's weather was a carbon copy of Friday's with only 5-10 mph winds.  We took an extended 13 mi. dinghy exploration of the western side of St. Simons Island, especially the southern tip with its lighthouse before returning for Larry to begin watching the NFL playoffs.  Following Sunday church services, Larry returned to watch the Bears' playoff victory while Lola went on an extensive shopping expedition.  We then went to Pablos in Brunswick, the first good Mexican restaurant we have discovered in this area, for dinner.

Jan. 15-21; eighth week at St. Simons Island, GA: Monday was an especially relaxed day with a bit of shopping for new Sudoku books after lunch at Gnat's Landing.  We were up until 1 AM watching TV and playing that game.  Tuesday, the last day before the arrival of a cold front from the powerful winter storm moving east from Texas, was an opportunity to do a bit of maintenance work on the car.  We spent the entire evening dealing with a huge package of surface mail forwarded to us by Sharon Hawks.  Wednesday morning's 20-30 mph NW winds dropped temperatures by 25 degrees, making a cup of gourmet hot chocolate and Lola's delicious turkey noodle soup an ideal lunch.  Thursday we drove 65 mi. to Savannah for business and shopping.  We decided to start a new puzzle Friday, finishing it before dinner.  Rich and Lee Johnson arrived for a weekend aboard Crazy Eights and we joined them for an evening of good conversation and dinner at Gnat's Landing.  Saturday we worked aboard and then joined Johnson's for dinner at Barbara Jean's.  Following Sunday services at St. Simons UMC we shared a final brunch at Cafe Frederica with Rich and Lee before their departure for home in Fayetteville, GA.  The rest of the day was devoted to the NFL playoffs.  It was sad to watch New Orleans (and their former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees) lose, but Indy's second half surging win was a wonderful way to end the day.  About the start of the 4th quarter, a very loud "bang and rattle" in front of the boat startled us.  The jib sail on a boat just across our dock came loose in 20 mph winds.  While neither Larry or Rich (from nearby Circus) knew how the wrapping mechanism should work, they managed to get it re-wrapped and lashed down before the boat's pitching and rolling caused serious damage.

Jan. 22-28; ninth week at St. Simons Island, GA: We started another puzzle and did not leave the boat Monday.  Dolphins played in the marina behind the boat Tuesday morning.  After getting a pump-out and doing laundry, we left to bank, shop and eat dinner at Pablos.  Wednesday was entirely devoted to working on our income taxes with all meals aboard.  We spent Thursday morning planning and charting next week's departure for Jacksonville and the St. John's River.  Leaving the boat about 2:30 PM, we shopped and then had a late rib lunch at Sonny's.  We started another puzzle after returning, working on it until 12:30 AM.  Friday continued the sunny but cool (high 63) weather.  After brunch at Cafe Frederica, Lola got a manicure and pedicure.  Clear weather yielded a beautiful sunset. Saturday morning we finally got a diver, John Hashagen, to replace both exhausted shaft zincs.  Larry spent the afternoon pulling wire for additional electrical outlets while Lola done laundry and shopped.  Following Sunday services at St. Simons UMC we went to Palm Coast for coffee, scones and WiFi.  Larry began installing outlets onto the new wiring.  We enjoyed a delicious grilled pork chop dinner aboard.

Jan. 29-31; tenth week at St. Simons Island, GA: Our printer died, so we devoted Monday to Jacksonville trip to acquire a new one.  That provided an opportunity to visit another Kilwin's Chocolate and Ice Cream store. Larry spent the evening setting up the printer's wireless network; we can now print from either computer without moving them and reconnecting wires. Mail arrived from W. Lafayette Tuesday; the afternoon was devoted to responding as needed.  Wednesday Lola went alone on an extended shopping excursion while Larry finished installing last of the new outlets.

Water miles traveled to date: this month: 0; total, 6,360.

 Questions?  Just e-mail us.