Saturday, March 31, 2012

Last night when I tried to blog, I couldn't get online, sorry. So, yesterday was another day spent in a doctor's office (this is making me feel really old). The doctors here in South Carolina have all been young, very knowledgeable, and compassionate. What more could I ask for? Yesterday, the doctor did an MRI and said I have a bulging disk that is pressing against my sciatic nerve causing me all of this pain. He gave me about 6 or 7 shots of cortisone in my back. Now we wait for 10 days to see if it helps. Immediately, the pain in my leg was gone, with only the back still hurting. However, this morning, it is back in my leg again. I am still hopeful.

On another note, when we arrived back at the marina, we met a couple who had docked here since we had left to go to the doctor. It turns out that the husband, Bob is from White Oak, in Cincinnati. I went to high school with a cousin of his. It is definitely a small world. They came to visit and we had a pleasant evening sitting on the back deck and chatting until the bugs got too bad and we had to retreat. They had some interesting stories to tell. I think that is one of my favorite parts of this trip, hearing everyone's stories.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Another day hanging out together. We play cards and talk, and read, and John fixes dinner. One day closer to being on our way again. We are so lucky to have each other. I can't even imagein being here alone.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Today was another doctor appointment. Other than that, we are both just hanging in there. Each day we both get slightly better. We can't wait to be back to normal, whatever that is.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Saturday morning John went to the grocery store for a few items we were out of. When he came back, he loaded the groceries in the cart to bring them down to the boat. He stepped into a slight hole with his good foot and caught himself on his bad leg and practically had to crawl the rest of the way to the boat. We are a pathetic pair.

So, this morning, we took John to an Urgent Care and the doctor said he has a pulled hamstring. She gave him a prescription for a muscle relaxer and an anti-inflammatory. We figure we will be here at Lady's Island Marina for at least one more week. We are anxious to feel better and get back to cruising.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Today was the long awaited doctor appointment. Dr. Plzak is a really nice doctor. He was easy to talk with and listened to what John and I had to say. He doesn't believe that I have or had a kidney stone. He gave me a prescription for a different pain medication. I hope this makes me feel better. He ordered more tests and made a appointment to see a back doctor. It was a long day and time will tell if this medication works.

We rented an economy car for the weekend. When John got to the car rental place, they didn't have any economy cars, so they upgraded us to a new Chevy Silverado truck. That's nice, but hard to get in and out, especially right now. We will be here at least another week.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

We are still in Beaufort, South Carolina. So far, the back is no better. Poor John is just waiting for this to go away so we can move on.

Yesterday John was washing the boat when he noticed that a sailboat that had been anchored in the creek, was no longer anchored. It was floating free in the creek. John called the guy at the marina who then rescued it and tied it to the dock. Apparently, he knows the owner of the boat. It turns out that he lost his anchor. Today they are towing him back out so he can anchor again. It's a good thing John noticed it or there may have been damage to another boat. My hero!

We are renting a car tomorrow for the weekend. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow and we need to do a little grocery shopping. I hope that I am able to go shopping with John or God help us with what John would buy.

Monday, March 19, 2012

There was no post yesterday because I spent the entire day in bed with back pain. Today John and I went to the hospital ER again. A nice man named Ernie who is on his boat here at Ladies Island Marina, gave us a ride to the hospital. We got there at 9:30 and left there at 3:30. It was basically the same drill as the last time. CT Scan, X-ray, and IV drugs for the sciatica. This time the CT Scan showed a kidney stone as well. What's up with that? The last time it was a calcified gallbladder with gall stones. Even the doctors couldn't get over that. Well, we are back on the boat, and just waiting until I am physically able to do my job as first mate. One day at a time.

St. Patrick's Day

From one extreme ......

To another.....

Thunderbolt, Georgia

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We left Isle of Hope Marina at 7:15 this morning, went around the first bend, and realized that we had forgotten to give back the gate key. So, we turned around and went back to drop off the key. Then, we pulled away from the dock a 7:45. Oops.

As we passed Thunderbolt, John read a sign that said "Home of the 1996 Olympic Yachting Events". I didn't know that.

We passed Hilton Head. Patricia Cornwall and John Mellencamp both have homes on Hilton Head. A friend of ours children played with John Mellencamp's children while they were vacationing on Hilton Head. Pretty cool, huh?

We stopped for the day at Ladies Creek Marina. There is a restaurant on the marina property that the dock master recommended to us. We walked up for dinner at 5:00 and we waited 40 minutes for a table. The food was good and they had a guitar player outside. After dinner, we sat outside and listened to him until the bugs drove us away. Another good day on the water.

March 16, 2012

This is the marina we have been staying at since Tuesday.

The used oil waiting for pick up by the dock hands.

After all the fun yesterday, today we changed the oil and filters in both engines and the generator. It was overdue and feels good that it is finished for awhile. The weather today was warm with a nice breeze. I fixed shrimp scampi for dinner and just chilled the rest of the day. Tomorrow we are hoping to move along.

The Ides of March

The biggest and oldest tree in Savannah.

Juliet Gordon Low's House.

The New Eugene Talmadge Bridge

The haunted CVS Pharmacy.

Today John and I were supposed to go to Downtown Savannah and do the trolley tour. However, it didn't turn out that way. We both started out this morning thinking we were going to do just that, but John decided that he wouldn't be able to do all of the walking and stayed on the boat. So, I went by myself. It wasn't nearly as much fun, but I'd never been to Savannah before and felt it was necessary to see as much as I could in the allotted time. A guy from the marina drove me to the bus stop, and the bus took me to the trolley station. The tour was really enjoyable. St. Patrick's Day is a REALLY big deal here. The fountains all had green water in them. They are expecting a million people for the parade on Saturday. All hotels and motels are totally booked within 100 miles. My favorite part of the tour was the tour of Juliet Gordon Low's house. Juliet Gordon Low is the founder of Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts celebrated their 100 year anniversary this past Monday. The tour driver told us Savannah is the most haunted city in the country. There is a CVS here that he said wouldn't stay open after dark because the company was afraid the customers would see the ghosts. He also said Savannah is nicknamed Slowvannah. It took them 5 years to name the new bridge. The old bridge was named the Eugene Talmadge Bridge. After 5 years, the name they came up with for the new bridge is the New Eugene Talmadge Bridge. How original! There were two women on the bus from Dublin, Ireland. They said they came here because Savannah does a much bigger job of celebrating St. Patrick's Day. All in all, I found Savannah to be an attractive, pleasant, friendly city. I enjoyed the tour and I am sorry that John was not able to experience the downtown area with me.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Last night we borrowed the courtesy car and went out for dinner. We went to Sandfly Barbecue and ate ribs, beans, and potato salad. Yum Yum. However, around 2 o'clock this morning when I was awake because of heartburn, I wasn't nearly as happy with the previous meal.

We borrowed the car again today and John dropped me at the laundromat while he went to West Marine. He had a list with about 8 or 9 things on it, but they only had 3 of the items in stock. He was able to get a new flag and flag pole.

Anyway, we now have filled the water tank, filled the fuel tank, emptied the holding tank, taken the trash out, done the washing, and the ironing. So, that means tomorrow we can play. We are hoping to go to downtown Savannah and do the trolley tour. We've bought our e-tickets and arranged for a ride to the bus stop. I am so looking forward to seeing Savannah. Neither of us have ever been here before.

Pelican Ploppong. They crack me up.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Moon River of song.

Vernon, Georgia.

Red sky at morn, sailors be warned.

We pulled up anchor and were underway at 7:30 A.M. "Esmerelda" left at the same time we did. The sky was cloudy with a ribbon of red. That's a bad omen. There is a 30% chance of rain today. We passed Sapelo Island that was once owned by R.J Reynolds, the tobacco magnate. Now the island is the home of the University of Georgia's Marine Institute.

We had to cross Hell Gate. It's about a half mile cut between two rivers. The schoaling is severe. The guide books tell you to wait until high tide to make this passage because of how shallow it gets. That was good advice. We went through at high tide (8 foot) and at one point the depth finder read 7' 6". We probably would have hit bottom if we tried to go at low tide.

We must have a boat ghost on board. Today we are missing one of our "dingle balls" and our flag and flag pole are both gone from the flag pole holder. What's that about?

We spent most of the day cruising along without seeing any buildings or boats, just marshland and water. As we neared our destination (Isle of Hope Marina, Savannah, Georgia), we came to the town of Vernon with it's beautiful homes and boats. Then we saw Moon River that Andy Williams sang about many years ago. It was a good day on the water.

This video is for Clara. She kept asking me to get a picture of a dolphin. I finally figured out a way to do just that.

Monday, March 12, 2012

This is how the water looked most of the day. See how bendy it is?

This is the marsh along the shore.

This is the Catamaran "Esmerelda" anchored along with us.

Our day began a little later than usual. We didn't haul up our anchor until 9:00 A.M. The tide behind Cumberland Island was 7 1/2 feet. That's something we are not used to, being river boaters and all. The weather today was like the past couple of days: cloudy, cool, and a little breeze. The high today was 68 degrees. Last night, after dinner, I made dough pretzels. It seems weird to be able to do that while at anchor. It had been a really long time since I'd made them. It was cool enough that the oven felt good instead of making the boat too warm.

Today we cruised 68 miles. We went as fast as 12.2 mph and as slow as 6.7 mph without touching the throttles. After we passed St. Simon's Sound, the ICW became narrow, and shallow in some places and very twisty. For the last four hours or so, we saw only one house, one jet ski, and one catamaran. There are marshes on both shores most of the way. We are anchored in New Tea Kettle Creek with the above mentioned catamaran. It's a quiet, peaceful place to spend the night. The tide here is 8 feet 3 inches. Wow! Early in our voyages, we met a man from New Zealand who told us that on the ICW, if you run aground, just wait until the tide comes back in and float off. With 8 feet of tide, I see what he means.

We saw several groups of dolphins today, but I am the kiss of death as far as they are concerned. Every time we see them, I run down to the bow and try to take their pictures or just get them to swim with us for awhile. As soon as I get down to the bow (sometimes even before I can get there), they swim away. I tried really hard to take a video of them today, but to no avail. Sorry.

Sunday, March 11,2012

Kingsley Creek Railroad Bridge beyond the Highway Bridge.

Doesn't this swing bridge look funny?

Awesome!

We got up this morning missing an hour of sleep as all of you did as well. We had a difficult time getting away from the dock. The current was so swift and the eddies were swirling all around us. Another boater walking his dog happened along and gave us a hand. The tide causing the current actually helped us once we were away from the dock. We were moving at a really rapid 10.2 mph. Don't laugh. That's good for us. Once the tide started coming in, we dropped down to 6.5 mph at the same rpms.

We passed the Kingsley Creek Railroad Swing Bridge. There is no bridge tender here. Apparently, when a train comes, the bridge closes on its own with no warning to the boaters. So, you have to be aware of what's going on here. The bridge is in the middle of a paint job. No one was working today (Sunday), but it was covered in a white tarp.

We ended up anchored alongside Cumberland Island in Georgia. A woman named Mrs. Carnegie died and put in her will that her horses be allowed to run free on this (her) island. So, since that time they have multiplied and still run wild on Cumberland Island. We've not seen any yet, but I'm hoping to see some before we leave here tomorrow. I am trying something new. I took a video with my camera of the area where we are anchored. I hope it is viewable to you.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

We are still in Jacksonville at the municipal dock. Yesterday we were able to get electric service after several tries with our credit card at the kiosk. Today we were not so lucky. The machine kept timing out and so tonight we are charging our batteries on the generator. Oh, well, electric would have been nicer, but this will work.

We did not get the rain last night, but it was pretty windy. Today was cloudy, windy, and cooler than it has been in awhile. As long as the weather is okay in the morning, we plan on moving on north along the ICW.

This morning at 6:30 we were awakened by very loud speakers saying, "Check, check, check". There was a 9 K race that started at the stadium at 8:30. We were told they had 22,700 + people participate in the race. Wow! Why they had to check their speakers so early is beyond me. They had installed them last night and they were working fine when we took a walk up to see what was going on.

Jim McGowan and a friend named Pat came to visit this afternoon. We had a nice chat and got caught up with each other. His broken leg is healed and things are back to normal. We really enjoyed seeing them.

Friday, March 9. 2012

Naval Air Station Jacksonville

Plane coming in for landing right over us.

Jacksonville Sky Line.

We left Georgetown Marina at 8:00 A.M. yesterday morning. We cruised to the free dock at Outback Crab Shack on the Six Mile Creek. We arrived at 3:00 P.M. and headed for the bar for some ice cold refreshments. We sat at the bar talking for a couple of hours and decided to just stay there and eat dinner. So, we moved to a table. We both ordered ribs and after 20 to 30 minutes, the waitress came back and said they were out of ribs because of a big catering job they had just sent out. She was very apologetic and said that if we ordered something else off of the menu, they would take 20% off. So, we ordered the boiled seafood platter that is supposed to feed 2 people. When the waitress brought it out, she said they felt so bad about not having the ribs, they put extra crab legs, shrimp, and crawdads on the platter. It was huge. It would have fed 8 people. When we couldn't eat any more, the waitress brought out an aluminum roasting pan and a piece of foil for the top to take the leftovers back to the boat.

As we were walking back to the boat with the fish, we met two brothers who had just arrived on their sailboat. We stood and talked to them for about an hour. Very interesting people.

This morning, we left Six Mile Creek and headed for Jacksonville. There were a bunch of Naval aircraft flying low and landing and taking off again at the military base in Jacksonville . I took some pictures of the base and the planes. I will try to post them to today's blog. We got to the Jacksonville city dock at noon. The last time we were here, our two boats were the only ones around. This time there are three sailboats and a cruiser here. We've met a couple of the people. The one lady said she had to call a cab the other day to take her husband to the hospital. He has a MRSA virus. She spends all day at the hospital and then the nights on the boat. We feel bad for her.

We get to see Jim McGowan again tomorrow. We visited with him on our way to Sanford and we get to visit with him again tomorrow. He hasn't changed since we were dock neighbors in Cincinnati about 10 years ago. We are looking forward to it.

The winds are supposed to pick up with scattered thundershowers tonight. We are glad to be tied to a dock. We are also glad to be on the move again. Adventure awaits us at every turn.

Leaving Monroe Harbour Marina

John at the Georgetwon Marina.

Cows we saw along the way.

This is all the farther the bridge opened, but it was enough.

This is why we had to wait for the bridge to open.

We left Monroe Harbour Marina in Sanford, Florida at 8:10 A.M. yesterday morning. It was 70 degrees, mostly cloudy, and no wind. We cruised about 60 miles and ended up at Georgetown Marina after crossing Lake George. We had to have two bridges raised for us to pass through. I am posting pictures from the first one. The people at Georgetown Marina were really nice. A boat came in around 9 o'clock lst night and docked next to us. John and I went out to catch their lines. Here, they had left Monroe Harbour today as well, and the one man on board waved to us as we were leaving our dock this morning. They are from Defiance, Ohio and own an appliance store.

We sat out on the aft deck for several hours last evening just talking. Both of us enjoyed the evening. We had no cell or Internet service there. So, that is why I am blogging now. Sorry about that.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Mom loves 4th of July parades and carries her parade in a bag. So, we thought she would enjoy a patriotic parade for her birthday.

Mom danced with all of her grandsons.

Then she danced with her great granddaughters all at one time.

We left Cincinnati on Monday around 11:30 A.M. in a rental car. We have left our car behind at home because we are about to be on the move again. We arrived at Monroe Harbour at 1:45 A.M. this morning. We went to sleep for 4 hours and then went to the grocery store before we had to return the car. There is a very nice couple here whose names are Mary and Buddy. Buddy was kind enough to come to the airport (where the car had to be returned), and drive John back to the marina.

I am putting a couple of pictures on from Mom's party. It was so much fun. As long as the weather cooperates tomorrow, we will be leaving here and cruising upstream.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Mom's 80th party was a blast! There were so many people there that we had not seen for many years. My voice was scratchy still from surgery and all the talking today hasn't helped it at all. Mom danced with all of her grandsons. We had a parade with John Philips Sousa music playing. The grandchildren and great grandchildren each had 2 lines to say about what was happening to or around Mom when she was their age. It was pretty cool. We had a senior group that came to sing songs from Mom's era and told a couple of jokes. Each of us children each brought 2 appetizers and each of the grandchildren brought an appetizer as well. Everything went off without a hitch. It was not a surprise. In fact, Mom was consulted about what she wanted in regards to her party. Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!!

We are leaving in the morning to drive back to Sanford, Florida. Then, shortly afterwards, we are going to cast off our lines and move along the east coast, heading north. We are hoping to catch up with Norm and Sue at some point along the way, in the not too distant future. We are looking forward to moving again.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

We have been busy this week visiting with family and friends. We have gone out to dinner once and lunch twice. We spent a couple of hours today setting up the hall for Mom's birthday party. It looks really nice and the festivities are tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow. I spent a few hours at my Mom's house looking at some of Grandma Lux's keepsakes. My new trusty portable scanner came in very handy. I wish I could have stayed much longer looking at Grandma's things.

One of our granddaughters ended up going to the ER this afternoon. She had a massive bloody nose and acted lethargic afterwards. She turned out okay, but we don't like those kinds of scary things to happen to our grandbabies.