On Sand Piles and Piles of Sand

We are alive and well and still in Daytona beach, FL. The weather has been spotty at best, with unpredictable wind and waves. Consequently, we just don't see any value in busting over to the Bahamas at this late date, right into the mouth of hurricane season.

One of the things we've done recently, is we spent the day on Friday visiting the "Art of Sand" displays in Cocoa Beach, Fl. We've spent some time reviewing the 130+ pictures we took there and think they're good enough to show on the blog.

About the "Art of Sand,", it's an annual sand sculpting competition (a far cry from me and my bucket on the beach as a child) offering the largest prize package of any sand sculpting festival in the world. The International Sand Sculpting Exhibit was open April 2, 2010 and ran through May 1, 2010. Exhibitors representing Italy, Russia, Japan, Netherlands, Canada, and the US created and displayed their works of art, which border on the miraculous, both in scope and in detail.

We’ve broken the pictures down into two groups, each representing half of the displays. There were two general, untitled and unauthored displays lining the entrance. These are shown first. Thereafter, we photographed the Sculptor’s signboard, which signals the beginning of a new sculpture. All photos following a signboard are different perspectives of that same sculpture.

Want to see a bigger image??? Just click on the slide show and it will open in a new window. From there, you can go on to full screen mode if you'd like.

We hope you all find this montage enjoyable.

ART OF SAND: PART ONE

ART OF SAND: PART TWO

Happy New Year!!!

Gordon and I want to wish all our friends a Happy New Year!!!

May peace break into your home (or boat) and thieves steal your debts... May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy... May love stick to your face like vaseline, and may laughter assault your lips... May 2010 be the best year of your lives!!!!

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Jeremy

We arrived in Columbus and boy what a shock to the system!!! Cold and snowy and a POD to unpack…it arrived a bit earlier than we did. After almost 4 years of not seeing or using this stuff it is hard to look at. Andie will be able to use most of the furniture in her new home and only a few things will be left in the garage. It is nice to sit down to my table again and all 8 of us will be able to eat together around the table. Andie is worried about the glass table… both Emeryn and Havyn have already hit their heads or chins on it. Havyn likes the fact that she can hide her toys in the grapevine base and Emeryn tries to get to them through the glass.

This has been a busy week!! Jeremy celebrated his birthday on Tuesday and we celebrated by taking the kids to Young’s Dairy. This was on of my kid’s favorite places to go when they were young. You could get raw milk, cream, cheddar cheese, and some really great ice cream!! They had a petting farm and you could also see them milking the cows. My how things have changed!!! No more raw milk or cream and the petting farm is down to some goats, 2 chickens, 2 calves, 2 duck and 1 a loud lamb!! Havyn, Emeryn, Jeremy and Andie enjoyed the ice cream. Gordon and I stuck to hot chocolate…toooo cold for ice cream!!!

After the ice cream, it was down to Clifton Mill in Yellow Springs. They put on a Christmas light display that is spectacular. There had to be over a million lights!! Havyn enjoyed herself, however Emeryn was cold along with Nana & poppa!!! I have added a slide show so you can see what we saw, but it doesn't do it justice.

From there it was on over to Fairborn and Giovanni’s Pizza for not only Jeremy's birthday, but also some early Christmas celebration. John and Debbie met us for a pizza dinner...it is still the BEST!! Between the 8 of us we consumed 3 large pizzas, Havyn and Emeryn both had spaghetti,too…we also had a forth pizza made for carry out, nothing better than cold Giovanni’s Pizza.It was great being back in a familiar place where many great times have been celebrated.

It was a long day and both girls fell asleep on the ride home. The snow is falling and they are predicting 4 inches by morning…oh boy it has snowed almost every day we have been here!! Hope it was a memorable birthday for his first birthday in cold Ohio…HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY

Fernandina Beach, Florida

We settled in at the Amelia Island Yacht Basin, luckily we were in the first slip from the bulkhead. This works out really well for Schooner and since they have a nice grassy area, Schooner is really happy. I checked in with friends Linda and Ally and Linda took me for a haircut…yippee…last haircut was in Surf City, NC!!! At least I will look good for Christmas.

I have been working on Emeryn’s Christmas stocking. but have hit a blockade. I have no stuffing! I guess I will pack it and try to finish it in Ohio or it will wait for Christmas 2010. Speaking of packing, did you know how cold it is up in Ohio?? Neither Gordon nor I have a winter coat!!! I am, however, packing 2 sweaters and 2 pair of jeans and my long johns to try to stay warm. We are back to wearing shorts now, so it has been easy to pack. Nothing we are wearing is going into our bags. I have even packed a bag for Schooner with her 2 t-shirts, raincoat, treats and bones to occupy her on the plane. This is crazy… I never used a diaper bag for my kids and now I have a doggie bag for Schooner!!! No she is NOT spoiled!!!

Some of you may know we once lived here in Fernandina Beach; that was 1982-83. Just before we moved I spotted a girl downtown that looked just like a girl I had gone to college with. But what’s the chance a girl from Enid, Oklahoma would be in Fernandina Beach? Come to find out ,it was her and she is still here!!! Debbie and her husband Wes had us over for dinner and it was 1973 all over again!! Debbie had met my sister prior to coming to Oklahoma State and the to of us both pledged the same sorority ….yep ya never knew I was a sorority girl. Debbie and I quickly became the pledges of terror. We came up with some great pranks to use on our sisters and par took on one or more of the $1 pitchers of Coor’s Stillwater had to offer. Wes and Gordon left us after a few minutes of reminiscing and went to cook the steaks!!! I guess we bored them. It was a great time after all those years to catch up. We have 2 other sorority sisters not far from here so we will have to plan a DZ reunion next year!! Debbie gave us her car so we could get around for a few days before we fly north…what a lifesaver it has been. THANK YOU, thank you, thank you Debbie and Wes!!

And wouldn’t you know… our bestes friend Dan and Debbie, stopped over night here, too!! We got to show them a bit of Fernandina Beach and take them to dinner at the Seaside Inn. We had great seating to look out at the ocean but a heavy fog rolled in and all we saw was soup!! Dinner was fantastic and again it was great to spend time with them. They were off early the next morning and wish them safe travels until we catch up to them again!!

We are picking up our rental car to get us to the airport, 6AM flights require not asking friends for a ride!!! Soon we will be in the home state of icy cold Ohio!!!

Brunswick, Georgia with Friends

After our late arrival the other night, it has taken me awhile to recover. Traveling a ditch in the dark is scary. You all know how well I see, especially without my contacts, but this is hair raising!! When we finally made the turn up to the marina, I was never so glad to see our dock and smiling faces!!

Brunswick is a really neat town and the docks are about center to Main Street. Schooner has a great grassy area to stretch her legs and by the way she has decided that playing with a golf ball is fun. She even retrieves it!!

We spent a day putting up Christmas lights on the boat. We trimmed the Bimini top in colored lights. I couldn’t talk Gordon into running lights along the life lines, it was too much trouble!!! Trouble is putting up lights on the house in 20° temperatures to me !! I pulled out the tree and decorated it and Gordon finished off the decorating the salon with the last of the lights. It isn’t the same as our home used to be, but when you add glade evergreen candles and put a burning fireplace video on the TV it comes close.

Sunday, we enjoyed a fabulous brunch with Dan and Debbie at The forth of May Café, it was definitely in the top 5 brunches of all time. The place was decorated beautifully for Christmas and the chef worked overtime with his presentation of the food. There was so much to choose from and we did really well at taking our time tasting everything!! I must say the eggs Benedict and the Mac & Cheese were my favorites.

This morning we walked around town with Dan and Debbie checking it all out. They have been here a couple weeks so they know it pretty good. Brunswick is a scrimping/ boat building community and still has many boats along the docks. Some offer fresh caught shrimp for sale, but we passed today. The American Cruise Ships that cruise the East coast and waterway make a stop here also. We met some of the crew and it sounds like it would be a fun trip for the non-boat owners out there. We stopped in a couple shops, which I will have to go back to, and checked out the Towns “Christmas” Tree and all their decorations. It is nice to see a place where it is still ok to say merry Christmas and not have anyone offended! We stopped at Foxes Pizza for a beer and a bite before heading back to the boat. Looks like we will be getting some rain and wind tonight….aaahhh its winter!!

BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON

It’s Friday, the 27th of November 2009. Thanksgiving Day has come and gone and with it, the last vestiges of the turkey, cranberry sauce and the rhythmic tattoo of the rain that fell throughout the day.

I was up before dawn and, as I waited for the coffee pot to deliver up its magic elixir, I was treated to a magnificent sunrise off of the starboard bow. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the light breeze that wafted up from the south felt almost warm in comparison to yesterday’s weather.

After the mandatory walk with Schooner, I stopped by the marina office and asked if one of the dockhands could assist us with our lines. We arranged to meet in about 15 minutes and when I arrived back at the boat, Kim was up and ready to go. As if on queue, two dockhands appeared at 7:30 sharp, helped us with the dock lines and we were on the water within 5 minutes. Next destination, Brunswick, GA.

The ICW is serene today, not just quiet, but serene. This section of Georgia is primarily wasteland; comprised of tidal swamps and long abandon rice fields from a bygone era. There’s little or no traffic and we’re alone out here with sounding dolphin, wading birds hunting the shoreline and osprey surveying the entire scene from aloft. It’s the kind of day that makes the whole “cruising” lifestyle worthwhile.


For once, the current and tides work to our advantage and, at a consistent 7.5 to 8 knots, the miles fall rapidly behind us. As the sun begins to fall in the west, it becomes apparent, however, that we’re going to be 25 miles short of our destination at dark and 10 miles beyond any safe anchorage. A few quick phone calls are placed and some last minute arrangements made and we have a place at the Brunswick Landing Marina and our friends on the sloop, “About Time” waiting at the ready until we arrive. There’s only one “Oh, by the way” to this plan; the last 25-odd miles will have to be run through the twists and turns of the ICW in total darkness.


As the red ball of the sun vanished below the horizon, we poured out from the Little Mud River, into the Altamaha River. For the next hour, we ran north on a flood tide, reaching Buttermilk Sound, near Broughton Island, as the last gray bit dusk was snuffed out and we passed into pitch blackness. There was no water, no land and no reference for the next 11 miles, as we steered to the blinking red, green and yellow lights of the ICW markers.

Finally, we passed into St. Simon Sound at 8:00 pm. There, a sea of blinking lights that were visible in all directions greeted us. Lights from houses, businesses and cars along the shoreline blended with navigation markers, tower lights and other boats upon the water. It took a few minutes to get our bearings, but we soon realized we were entering the shipping channel that leads up to Brunswick, GA.

From the channel, it was another two hours (we were sailing against the current now) up the Brunswick River to the marina. We radioed ahead to “About Time”, who met us on the dock and at 9:30 pm, we were tied up safe and sound. It had been quite a day, 90 miles, traveled in 14 hours and of that, over three hours had been in the dead of night. Yes, it had been quite a day at that.

Isle of Hope, Georgia Thanksgiving

We arrived at the marina last night around 2pm and we were the last boat on the dock right behind a really big yacht!! This is the first time we have stayed here, we usually stay at Thunderbolt and get the free Krispy Kremes and newspaper each morning. We are trying out some new places along the way this trip and this place sounded really good. The marina offers a free loaner car for 2 hours so we used the car to locate WalMart...I needed a few things for our Thanksgiving dinner!! While out, we stopped in for dinner at Uncle Bubba's. For you that don't follow the food network, Uncle Bubba is Paula Denns brother!! We started off the meal with charbroiled oysters...yum, yum!! They were very similar to ones my mother used to make; oyster on the half shell, roasted over an open flame with garlic butter and covered with Parmesan cheese. Gordon had frest whole catfish, roasted potatoes and cole slaw, nice southern dinner! I had the shrimp po' boy with Deens' famous Mac-n-cheese and cole slaw. and we both finished the meal sharing chocolate creme brulee'. What a great meal after a long day on the water!!



We got moving early Wednesday morning so we could catch the bus into Savannah at 8:45am.The bus ride into Savannah took about 45 minutes and we made many stops taking on people and letting them off...thank you public transportation...total cost $3.00. Once in downtown Savannah, it started to mist a bit, so we sought out a place to get some breakfast/lunch. We were told to try Huey's, a southern/Louisanna style eatery. Really good food, right on the waterfront. Then it was off to walk and shop for the day. The waterfront is littered with eceletic , antique shops and candy and peanut stores!! Peanuts are the only thing Schooner eats thats not dog food so she was in seventh heaven cleaning up the peanuts people had dropped!! Can't wait to get to pick those piles up!!! We had a great time, we even stopped in at Lady and Son's, Paula Deens place for a bite before hailing a cab to take us back to the marina. That cost us $20...buses don't run after 5!! I put together an collage of our day, so I hope you enjoy!!

Today is Thanksgiving!!! We started the day off watching the Macy's Parade. One day I would like to be in New York to see it, I just don't think TV does it justice. We talked with all the kids, sisters and some friends, (if you didn't get a call, we ran out of minutes) But we hope everyone had a blessed day. Gordon and I are both thankful for the many friends we have, new, old and ones to come our way, We are blessed with good health and if things improve with the economy we will be able to keep on traveling!! We had a traditional turkey (breast only) dinner with all the trimings including cranberry salad from Ohio. I think this is the first Thanksgiving it has been just the two of us....almost just another day on Current Jumper. We ended the evening watching a wonderful Georgia... sunset!


Moving farther south in the morning>>>