A Birthday Bash!

Heather, Honoree, Lynn, Todd, Walt and Scott having lunch at The Holly Inn

Our fantastic friend Honoree celebrates her birthday every year with a lot of family and friends. And I mean a lot of them! This year over a hundred gathered at Honoree and Walt's home in Carthage, NC and we were lucky enough to be there. We've been friends since 2006 when we met in Trinidad sheltering from the hurricane season at Chaguaramas Bay. Since then we've buddy boated with them around the Caribbean, spent 2 months in Peru and another 2 months in France and Italy. More recently we cruised the Norwegian coast past the Arctic Circle. We visit them every year and they come up to see us in Vermont. So - very good friends and such fun!

The Carolina Inn at Pinehurst, NC

Honoree, Scott, Heather, Lynn, Todd and Walt touring the charming village of Pinehurst

We arrived three days before to help with the preparations and it was a good thing. Honoree and Walt are avid pickle ball players. They built a court on their property. Walt is a certified instructor and Honoree a competitor in the Master's category in that and several other events. But that day she had a bad fall on the court and broke her wrist. That didn't stop her though! She was a bundle of energy even in her cast. 

Lynn and I blew up a lot of balloons
but needed help tying them

Honoree never let her cast get in the way of fun - but
despite the photo, she didn't play pickleball.

Then we posed with our creations!

Two other cruiser couple friends joined us. John and Brenda Magruder and Lynn & Todd Fulks. Lynn and Todd came the following morning and we all went to the World Golf Hall of Fame in Pinehurst, followed by a tour of the Carolina Hotel and the small charming village. Finally, an excellent lunch at the historic Holly Inn, opened in 1895. 

Kelly and Will

We all pitched in with preparations for the party. Tables were set up in the "event space garage" and outside on the lawn. Balloons were filled and tied (a machine for the former but fiddly hands attempted the latter). It is a pot luck but all the paper products and tables were set for the food. Brenda and John joined us the next day and we enjoyed a festive dinner reminiscing about our cruiser days out on the newly expanded terrace. 

Corey Comer played for hours and it was a great
playlist of Rock and Blues favorites.

Honoree and Walt's two sons Will and Kelly came early in the morning. We had never met either and had a chance to really talk to both during the day. Folks started arriving around 1 PM and Corey Comer, an excellent Blues and Rock musician began to play. The weather had cooperated perfectly - sunny and around 74 degrees!  The tables were soon laden with food and people were helping themselves. Lynn and myself established a post at the high top table on the terrace and were joined by a variety of others including Honoree's sister Lily and her husband. 

Heather, Brenda, Honoree, Scott, Lynn, Todd and Walt (John is taking the photo) the night before the party

And here is John with Scott

Here's a shot of the party looking away from the "Garage" to the pickleball court at the right, the end of their home on the left with the terrace.

The pickle ball court was soon busy with players and remained so all afternoon. One of the highlights of the afternoon was the pickleball race across the pond. Kelly manned a kayak with leaf blower to assist the laggers! What a spectacle! 

The balloons towed the pickleballs across the pond.

And Kelly helped out the laggards. 

The birthday cake was fabulous, pistachio cream with beautiful decorations (see the photo) and there was enough for everyone. One of the tables was heaped with presents and flowers. Altogether a wonderful party!

Honoree cuts the cake and we all sing Happy
Birthday. This is their garage/barn/event space!

The Birthday Cake was beautiful and delicious and
served over 100. 

Many participated in the clean up so those of us visiting were able to sit around that night enjoying a "light" meal, wine and reminisces. Kelly had flown from San Diego so was staying in their trailer and we particularly enjoyed hearing his stories and ideas - an amazing guy. But it was an early night for us as we had a long drive the next day up to Washington DC. But what a wonderful time it was and sad to say good-bye.

Just a few of the presents. We gave Honoree a painting I did of a village we visited together in Provence, France. 

The Cruiser Reunion at the party: Scott, Heather, Todd, Lynn, Honoree, Walt, Brenda and John.

Columbia SC Visit with Family

We stayed in this Marina years ago in Scott Free.
It's on the Beaufort waterfront

At the end of the boardwalk a glimpse up the river.

Atter leaving Fripp Island we walked around Beaufort, SC and then spent one night at the Route 22 Drive-In, a Harvest Host member. Scott watched the movie, The Hail Mary Project and loved it. I was pooped and it ran from 8 PM to 10:30 and I couldn't manage that. We had one more night at the New Green Acres RV Park before continuing on to Columbia. 

Sam, Scott, Heather, LaVerne and Joe at Blue Marlin Restaurant

This was our first visit to Columbia, SC and we were very impressed. The downtown has been clearly restored and seemed very busy. We had an excellent lunch with Scott's niece LaVerne, her husband Sam, and son Joe at Blue Marlin. 

There were lots of benches and tables.

This covered section of the walk was covered in 
yellow flowered vines.

Spring was in full swing there.

The amphitheater for the Kirkin of the Tartan

One of the two bagpipers at the ceremony

It was a busy day seeing some of the city with LaVerne's suggestions. We walked along the River Walk in the morning - so lovely as you can see from the photos. It's a 12 mile paved biking/walking trail with benches and picnic tables. And good fishing we noticed! We started at the West Columbia Park just over the bridge from downtown and surprised a Blessing of the Tartans ceremony  (Kirkin of the Tartan) in the amphitheater. It was the end of the 16th annual Highland Games, bagpipes and all.

Fountain in the Botanical Gardens - not as popular
as the Zoo.

The Skyway gondolas

The Congaree River view from the gondola

After lunch we went to the Botanical Gardens on the west side of the river and then crossed over on the gondolas to the Columbia Zoo. As it was a Saturday we joined enormous numbers of families enjoying both. Our favorites at the zoo were the 3 different kinds of penguins , the flamingos, and otters. But they had a wide variety of species in some lovely grounds. 

It was a full day and we were glad to relax at our excellent site at Sesquicentennial State Park We spent 2 nights there before driving west to North Carolina.

Beautiful Flamingos

Fun Penguins

Fierce looking Komodo Dragons

Adorable Koalas

Fripp Island with Dick & Debbie

I've always loved the marshes at every season and they stretch all up the coast of Georgia and South
Carolina.

One of the many pools at Fripp but this one was the
only one that was heated. Luckily we had a great
time there on the one day when it was warm enough
to enjoy.

Dick, Debbie, Heather & Scott at the Fish Camp Restaurant on Lady Island

Dick enjoys a specially made mock cocktail

And Debbie does the same with her high test one.

 From Savannah we drove just over an hour up to South Carolina's Hunting Island State Park, left "Baby" and drove a short distance over to Fripp Island where our friends Dick & Debbie rented a house for the month of March. We stayed there 4 nights before heading north again to Beaufort, SC.

The Rookery

We kept really busy every day. First touring Fripp itself and enjoying the heated swimming pool. Then walking the nature trail around The Rookery, a beautiful man made sanctuary for birds. And we saw a lot of them, both in numbers and diversity. We saw great egrets, snowy egrets, black-crowned herons, tricolored herons, great blue herons and anhingas, among others I'm sure. And alligators too, or at least one big one! And of course we enjoyed some wonderful meals at their home and nearby restaurants!

Black Crowned Herons

Only one alligator in sight - but it was big!

Snowy Egret on it's nest

The trail to the Bone Yard

Scott and I pose

And Dick and Debbie cuddle up!

Another day we walked into the Bone Yard - a white sand beach at Hunting State Park littered with beached driftwood and trees. 

Dick taking lots of photos with his "Real" camera

The Rest of Florida to Georgia in Photos

 

After our visit to Harpal & Jeannie (no photos sorry), we spent 3 nights with my cousin Joanie and her husband Kent. Here we are out for dinner in downtown St. Petersburg. We really enjoyed the  Museum of American Arts & Crafts Movement nearby. It was so interesting and huge we need to return for a second visit next year.

On another day we went down to Sarasota to the
Ringling Museum. We've been there before but there
is so much to see, it was great to go again. The detail
of the Howard Brothers Circus Model is jaw
dropping. This is just one small piece. Every animal 
and person is unique!

From the second floor you can see down to the
Model - so you can get an idea of the size. We
spent the whole afternoon in the Circus Museum
alone. 

We spent a night in Punta Gorda with Breck Thomas, a fellow cruiser from Tortugal Marina and part of our reunion group. Also visiting were Don & Rosie, formerly of Chickcharne, and hosts of the second Tortugeezer Reunion at their home in Montana. 

Breck, Don and Scott preparing to dock at a 
waterside restaurant for dinner 

Rosie and I enjoyed the view from the bow.

We had dinner overlooking Jupitar Outlet and Lighthouse with our friends and neighbors from Vermont, "Weezie" and Stan Duda during our visit to them. 

We had a wonderful visit with Diane & Mitch Korbey. Diane has been a friend for over 50 years. They were an inspiration to us, as they cruised on their sailboat for 20 years before we bought our boat. They joined us for our first trip south of the Bahamas, all the way down to the Dominican Republic. Our first night we enjoyed Jesus Christ Superstar at the Vero Beach theater and later had a great day at the 
Under the Oaks Art Festival. We were so impressed with the area we made reservations for two weeks at the Road Runner Travel Resort for next March!

PBS had 3 episodes of Antique Roadshow at the 
Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah. 
It's a huge place, the most complete antebellum
railroad complex in the U.S. We rode the train
around the property and made friends with our
guide. 

On the train in Savannah

With our guide we got had a private tour of
The Survivor, built in 1926 for Jesse Donahue,
heiress to the Woolworth empire.

The lighthouse at Tybee Island is the fourth one
at this site. The first was in 1736. This one was
first part was built in 1773 and an addition
put on in 1866 bringing the height to 154 ft. It's 
long climb and very steep and narrow as you can
see. Many people expressed surprise that we old
people made it!

Debra Boileau, formerly of Tango, has been a 
friend since we met in Trinidad back in 2006. 
She lives in nearby Hilton Head and spent the
day with us on Tybee.

The view over to the beach from the top

There were 3 lighthouse keepers and their families
housed in 3 houses - all beautifully maintained. I 
loved this kitchen, looking like someone just 
stepped out! 

Our favorite restaurant is Vic's On the River in
Savannah. We come every year. Scott let me 
off so I could get our table and the couple next to 
me asked if I wanted to join them, thinking I
was alone. I explained and we had a nice long
chat until Scott arrived. They were from Georgia 
and also had a boat. They left while we were
eating and just said good-bye. At the end of our
dinner our waitress had surprise for us. They
HADE PAID FOR OUR MEAL.   They didn't
say anything and we can't thank them. Wow! It is
a very expensive place. Life is amazing and
people are mostly just wonderful.