Wrecked Wednesday

Back and wreddy for Wednesday.

Departed from the homestead around 1145, Saturday, went speeding up I-95, averaging a  nice 80mph in the Roadster. We bought a FM transmitter to hook our MP3 player, so we got to hear the music collection embedded in said device.

It gets to be a pain to use the old fashioned CD's. Imagine how horrible it was back when we had only AM radios in our cars, how did we survive?

About halfway through Georgia, we found ourselves doing 35 in a Biblical Downpour, wherein the visibility was about ten yards and all the fellow traveler's were flashing their emergency lights. Very annoying to me, but we stayed safe despite the orange and red strobes which removed the braking lights.  I did look to see if anyone had deployed the life rafts on the side of the road.

The rain went away as we entered the Low country and we were directed by the signs to exit I-95 and turn onto old Highway 17 (Same one about two blocks from where I sit, now). The historic sign says "Blue Star Highway", in honor of the Veterans who fought in WW Eye-Eye.

I stole this image from: Image Source Page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenoss/1469722859/

Everyone who drives long distance would do well to jump off the arterial Interstate System and go on the Blue Star highways for at least a few hours. Good way to see how life is still being lived in the smaller towns.

So we had to do the last sixty miles or so on Hwy 17, watching our speed closely and enjoying the sights of the Low Country.

Downtown Charleston was a small maze, and we made one wrong turn which happily was corrected by making another right a few blocks down. (I like how the city planners kept everything rectangular, so no one would ever get lost)

We had to call the Hotel to find out where to park. Finally, we said "Heck with it" and let the Bell Folks do the Valet parking, which cost $25.00 per day.

Five bucks to the very nice Porter and we were in our room.

Beautiful scenery of the City parking structure behind us, but we were in Charleston!

We dined at the Charleston Grill 1830, sharp. We dressed in glad rags and were seated with Liz and Jayson as our servers. We ordered some interesting dishes and chose a Pinot Noir as the libation. Mickey, the Manager, came by and served our wine.

I mentioned to Liz that the superb food was bettering our experience at the hotel... Liz spoke to the manager and soon enough I was being grilled by Mickey as to the quality of our stay.

My main complaint was that there were no coffee pots in the room. Mickey asked and received our room keys... He returned a few minutes later and gave us back the keys and said that we would have our coffee.

Our room keys were upgraded to allow us into the private club on the 7th and 8th floors, but we didn't really know about that until the next morning.

Anyway, we enjoyed the jazz trio and had a dessert of Port with cheeses.

Got back to the room after that great dinner, somewhere about 2130. We sat down and pondered opening a bottle of wine and about two minutes into sitting there SWWBO noticed an ice bucket with a bottle of bubbly on the coffee table. And some chocolate dipped strawberries next to the Champagne glasses...

So our stay  (which was already looking up!) had just gotten better. Like fools we did drink that bottle, toasting our hotel and the great Manager Mickey.

There were some fuzzy heads the next morning, at about the crack of 0700. We cleaned up and went to the 8th floor for coffee. We found our selves in a very elegant lounge with large, ornate coffee urns along with smoked salmon, pastries and cereals. There were a couple large urns with various juices.

Things were looking up!

Anyway, the club lounge was gratis, so we breakfasted and returned down to the lower decks to begin our day.

We hiked to the City Pier, walked up and down the old streets and visited some of the Revolutionary period cemetaries. Because I was wearing the wrong shoes, I had to stop at a shoe store for new tennis shoes.

We went for lunch at the "Fleet Landing" restaurant, a little loud but great view of Patriot Point. For dessert we walked over to the Blind Tiger Pub. There was a pedal cab taking us home after that afternoon out, let me tell you!

Dinner for Sunday was in the Thoroughbred Club at the Hotel, I recommend the Lamp Pops, We had two orders. And while dining, we jammed with the two Piano plinkers, who provided for our entertainment. (We were the only ones there!)

Monday morning was the time to get out and change hotels to the Embassy Suites, by the Performing Arts Center. We gathered our gear together and had the Porters carry our gear to the Roadster. As they were loading the trunk, Clay, our Porter from Saturday pointed to a pair of Luxury Coaches just in front of our car.

"You know who belongs to those, right?" He smiled and pointed.

Indeed we did. And we drove off to Patriot Point.

Finally Friday Again!

I need to get a keg of good beer for tonight. Thinking of Sierra Nevada... will have to call one of my mate's to go get it for me. Phil?

This commercial is one I loved watching in the late 90's when I only had four channels on the boat tv, back when we lived in St Katherine's Dock. Listen to the unexpected Manchester accent on the dude;



The road trip begins late morning tomorrow, after hair cuts and last minute packing. We will be staying at some youth hostel in downtown Charleston, hopefully it will be adequate for the Barco Crew.

Two ships I served aboard were homeported in Charleston; Strike Trawler Deyo and El-Rod. I never really got to see the town, I was usually headed to one of the Sailor watering holes or too busy loading or unloading our gear. This time I will be forced to be a tourist.

Saturday evening we will dine at some bowery beanery which requires a dress t-shirt. The flophouse has some sort of voucher to pay for our hash so the evening is planned and will be executed accordingly.

Sunday we will wander about downtown. Watching the Detectives.

Monday is when we shall move to the Airport Convention center and stay at the Embassy Suites (At last, a reputable Bunkhouse!) and at about 2000 we get to watch Elvis Costello and the Imposters. I am looking forward to the concert since I really enjoyed the last one. It's kind of nice to be able to run off on a junket like this on sort of short notice. Just a five hour drive (Right!) and we are in vacation mode.

I can't believe it has been a year since the last big trip. It would be nice if I could go on another one. By the way, Beaujolais is still available in Newcastle, Australia. The price for a cruise ready 1979 CSY 44 with new paint is around $100K.

Me wish'm I could scrape up the money. Imagine the great sail from Australia back to the U.S.! By the way; I am available to deliver this fine vessel if one of the readers would be interested in purchasing Beaujolais. I think Roger would, too.

Speaking of availability for travel; Mel! I'm still interested in moving your trawler from Michigan to Florida. You know where to find me.

Two weeks since my last blurb

For my dwindling list of readers; Great Apologies.

No real excuse... It is the middle of the summer here in North Florida and the afternoons are sultry and leave no desire in the normal person to move out of shade or air conditioning.

The Fourth of July was the normal good time, as expected. I got to meet some really nice people on the dock during the brief staycation, including a fellow Navy retiree named Dave, who happens to be a member of the Yacht Club. I find that the two of us make up the enlisted portion of the club, only there to confound the retired Captains and Commanders.

It has been hot and sunny with various thunderstorms dumping down much needed water in the afternoons, so the boating has taken a back seat to relaxing.

There are some big things happening on the personal front, tomorrow. Somebody is having two meetings the result of which may improve our life style, significantly. Please think positive thoughts for us!

Mom just came by my j.o.b.  in her "new" car, it seems she left her mailbox key in her old car. The afore-mentioned car, which is now living in my garage, pending further sale to whomever  would like a 1996 Thunderbird. Cheap. The Mom-Cat made a good deal for herself, trading her T-bird for a 2003 Chrysler 300M. I wish I could be so shrewd in my car dealings...

I was asked earlier, "Where is the next trip heading?"

Charleston, next weekend. We will hang out downtown at a fancy three fork hotel and go watch Elvis Costello at the Convention Center.

No, the Barco will not be traveling. That would take two days to get there along with about 500 gallons of diesel. Nope, we take the rapid transit. We can drop the top once we get off I-95 on the hour long stretch to the coast, where we can enjoy the low country and all its charming finery.

Our friend, The Phil-ster will be keeping the kitteh's fed while we are a-traveling. I hear he likes to swim and frolic as nature intended in our pool when we are away. That thought alone will ensure nobody slinks their way into our yard or home. Yuck!

We will return home early next week.

As for August or September? Nothing etched in wax, yet. But stand by for Action!

http://youtu.be/-YyTfxeJxvQ

Later on:
I happened to be cruising the net and found this little gem;

http://www.cruciandictionary.com/

It is a glossary of common terms used by the residents of St Croix. Sometimes I like to slip in a "dem" here and there, purely for the fun of it. Very good memories of sailing into Christianstad at the Green Cay Marina.

It is summer, after all.

Summertime in Northern Florida, again. Comes around every year at the same time, usually during the hottest months.

Every morning I hit the Weather Underground website and look for the familiar circular cloud formations erupting off of the Cape Verde Islands and try to extrapolate which direction the coriolis effect will spin these clouds (usually curving to the right) like God's spitball going to the inside of Florida's East Coast batter.

We are in a drought, though. The fires have been pretty bad and the smoke has made our blue skies look more like L.A's smog. We need more rain.

The Fourth of July weekend will no doubt be hot and clear so any boating we do will be necessarily close to home. There will be a fireworks barge off of the Yacht Club which is paid for by the Timuquana Country Club and the Florida Yacht Club and we have our reserved berth ready for the Barco to be docked during the festive weekend.

A free berth.

This means we will move the boat a whole 200 yards to enjoy a view to the East from whence the fireworks be 'splodin', about two hundred yards away on the river.

The theme here on this blog is living well. We intend to live well for all those who cannot.

There is a pool and grill adjacent to the docks and this means American Burgers and Dogs, mixed libations and the sound of children shrieking their joy as they splash recklessly in the cool water. Their Mom's will recline in the hot sunlight wearing skimpy bikini's and hoping no one notices the third martini the Cabana Boy has brought out. Snicker.

The Barco will have traveled a couple hundred yards to this vacation getaway. But I hope you reader(s) will understand that the temperature will undoubtedly be in the high 90's with an almost equal humidity. So we will be enduring a bit. In the shade. With airconditioning in the cabin and an almost endless ice supply being created by our own ice machine.

Sacrifices will be made. For the Greater Good (TM)

As for this week, I am wrapping up an online course for Insurance and will take the finals in a day or so.  After that I will pay the State for the opportunity to take the official licensing test which will provide me the license and opportunity to open my own office. Don't get me wrong; This does not mean I actually will, there is laziness and taxes to consider. There is also the outside forces of the crappy market and depressed industry to deal with and the market may make it so I can't do anything new, today. But as a dutiful and loyal American, I must at least fake the effort to get ahead.

There will be about another couple weeks before my grand plans come to fruition. That, and I have a dollar ticket on the Powerball every Wednesday and Saturday, so I can at least have that going for me, which is nice.

Plan 9 From Outer Space

One of my favorite films! It's like watching a train wreck; you can't look away lest you miss some minor detail of crapulence.



Not one person associated with this film ever worked in Hollywood again.

Here is a cool memory;

We had just moved to London in September 95, and we happened to be watching the London Sky Cable, which showed NBC from New York. This particular version of The Tonight show came on at 5:30 in the late afternoon, sometime in October. So we finished dinner and switched on the Tonight Show and were pleasantly surprised by this very performance.

Didn't even know Jimmy had put out a new CD, so we went right out and bought this at the Virgin Record shop in Piccadilly. "Barometer Soup" became our theme CD for the rest of our stay in London. I really love the first two songs. And the last one, "Mexico".

Great memories. Let's all go and make some new ones, ok?



I can't resist putting this one up, too.

I took this at our weekend at Long Key, Florida

More traveling photos; Destination: Glacier Bay!

That's right!

I have been running out of ideas for anything but reactionary political commentary for the blog until I had to turn an old computer on this morning.

Looking for a resume from 2005, I was.

Came upon a trove of photographs from a cruise to Glacier Bay, way back when. Maybe about seven years ago, to be more exact.

Mom J. Cat decided that she was a'tarred of hearin' about all the boating I and SWWBO had been doing, so she calls up saying she had scheduled the three of us for a cruise to Glacier Bay onboard a Holland America Cruise Liner.

First off, I mentioned that I was not eager to go back to sea on any ship, at least not one I was not in command of.

Not to be deterred, Mom said that she always wanted to go on a cruise...

Ok. We'll go along.
But I made my own reservation in which we had a suite with a balcony, yadda-yadda. Mom got a private cabin with a big window.

Flew out of Lauderdale  and our arrival in Seattle was a pleasure, the weather was unusual in that there was a sun in the sky and no clouds.

Dinner was at an Ethiopian eatery (I had Goat!) and our special guest was a friend from London named John, who was a Flag Aide down at the Naval Station.

The next day we moseyed over to the cruise terminal with our three bags, a boom box with CD's of appropriate sailing music and three jugs of hooch, which were buried in the bric a brac so as to not be seen by any inspectors. (I heard that you weren't allowed to bring any alcohol, which may be true. I didn't get caught)

This was a seven day voyage to Glacier Bay with stops in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan with a final visit to  Victoria, BC! Of the ports listed, I had only been to Victoria, oh so many years ago when I was smarter, thinner and way better looking.

The Cruise Line instructed us to bring appropriate clothing so I had a dark suit, a blazer and a Tux along with cold weather attire for the icy weather that would surely greet us. Cruise liners like playing dress up as if we are all David Niven, Fred Astaire and Myrna Loy. With foul weather sailing gear.

Mom had a bottle of Champagne and Fish Eggs with toast sent up to our suite which was unexpectedly welcome, this being especially good since our heads were not quite right after the evening before. Ethiopian goat has an odd effect. It couldn't be that beer and wine out on the town, could it?

It was a rapid blur and we were underway for the Straits of San Juan da Fuca, in the afternoon sunshine. In Seattle. In September. Fueled by the nice French bubbly, we looked forward to this new experience.

You might ask, "Is a cruise expensive, do you have to bring a lot of dough?"

No, there are many levels of cruising traveler. Some will spend all the money yet only receive the same entertainment satidfaction that someone staying in a little cabin down in engineering deck will enjoy.

On the first dinner, our dining companions were a bit eclectic; Four ladies were together doing their annual Alaska cruise. (I will refer to them as the Snoop Sisters) They were nice enough, but I could tell they weren't amused by my beer and wine intake. They drank water with their dinners.

DILLIGAF? Besides, I happen to know what fish do in water.

Dinner is included in your ticket. In fact, all food with few exceptions is complimentary. That includes the two in the morning burger and pizza sent up to your cabin.

Word.

We found it was convenient to prepurchase 15 bottles of wine in addition to grazing at the various watering holes. This took care of our dining needs very easily. We could even order wine from our stash from other venues on the ship. You made the order and a runner came and brought the goodies about five minutes later. The stash of Rum and Gin?
Untouched. Wound up carrying it home. Should not have bothered to carry the excess weight.


Back to the Snoop Sisters; They were tucked in a four berth cabin about four decks below our suite, the total cost for the four ladies was about $800.00. Total. Not each. That included shows, eight meals a day, and all that. Oh, the cabin had a private head so those ladies were not suffering.

Makes total sense to get a few close friends and go on a cruise!

Somehow, the snoop sisters stopped by to visit our suite, they were passing by and noticed me standing in the doorway, so I reluctantly let them in. The oohed and awed about the  two room suite and we even had a private balcony!

Well, um, yeah. We paid about $3K for this slice of heaven which I was beginning to think was money well spent.

The four snoop sisters departed and we called room service for our afternoon cheese and crackers, to be served with our usual St Michel chardonnay.

There were bars and cocktail joints throughout the huge ship so it was easy to cruise through the day with a buzz on, if that was how you rolled. Or rocked.

We got to Juneau and I had scheduled a surprise for Mom; Helicopter rides to the glaciers! A thousand bucks got us on a six passenger helicopter with an all afternoon jaunt to three separate glaciers including a ten thousand foot climb to see the Juneau Glacier fields. Amazing stuff.

Afterwards it was off to the shopping streets for dumb turista stuff, fur slippers, beer mugs, t-shirts, etc.

On the third night, we had a formal party in which we had to dress for dinner. I think we looked pretty good in our finery, since I was not renting a tux (Owned Tux's since 1990!) I felt cool for school.

More stops came just about every day, we hit a few of the ports made famous from the Klondike Gold Rush days. It was all rainy, cloudy and cold, just like Northern Europe. Gut there was always a Craft Beer joint nearby, so I was a happy traveler.

Final visit was Victoria, but I was partied out and didn't feel any obligation to go ashore (My old Ship; HMCS Provider, AOR 508 had been home ported there when I was attached with their Air Det. And we were only there for a six hour period so it was not worth the taxi fare to the downtown area.

We were back in Seattle on the seventh day and we were off and running for home.

Now the good part; Evidence!!!

View from our hotel in Seattle.

View from ship before leaving port

Pool on the Lido Deck

Vancouver Island

See the normal weather?



Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay is a granite fjord carved by glaciers which flow and recede.

Juneau Airport where we joined the helicopter tour. This is on approach for landing.

Heading for the Glaciers!

First view

View to the left

Glacier at work grinding away at the rock. The debris is the grey stuff.

Faint view of Mountain Goats

Approach for landing

Piece of Glacial ice.

Glacier ice is not anything like what your Kelvinator puts out. The stuff made artifically is a weak example of the fine art of Glacier Ice. First off, the water in that cube was probably frozen over a thousand years ago, it is as compressed as ice can be when being smashed by thousands of tons of ice and rock as it moves inexorably from the mountain to the sea. If you put one of these cubes in your drink the cube is reluctant to return to a liquid state.

That and it is about 32 degrees F up here.

Runoff. Note our chariot up above.

The tour provided Mukluks for our feets.

Crevasse. One does not hike around glaciers unhindered.

Ol' Einstein be lookin' down the crevasse.

Runoff that refreezes.

We must have been about 6000 feet up.

Juneau Icefields

Note the rock debris in the glacier. And it was raining.

Watch out! That glacier is coming right at us!

Glacier rubble

Don't say we didn't warn you... It's closing in!

Mom is kind of stuck, she doesn't get around too well.

Heading back to Juneau. I think I can see Russia from here, to paraphrase Tina Fey.

Last view of the moving ice.

All the modern conveniences including quality heath insurance.

Glacier Bay

It was getting colder and the anticipation was building as we traveled 65 miles up bay.

Most people watched from airconditioned vista points. Not us. We're Yachties!

There it is, Hopkins Glacier!

Amusing bit of ice

This giant cruise ship just hovers near the glacier. In total silence the you can just make out the creaks and groans. Finally, like a thunderbolt! a chunk of glacier breaks off and goes into the water. I think they call it "Calving".

Mom J Cat

"Yep. That's granite, alright."

Warming up with some wine in our setting area.

Heading into Sitka.

Sitka

Russian Orthodox Church

Old Folks Home

Over to Ketchikan



View of Ketchikan from Ship. Cold and wet and it is September.



Downtown Ketchikan

Ketchikan Marina

Ketchikan Yacht Club

Creek in Ketchikan



Salmon



Lido deck and one of the many afternoon parties

They gave out funny dutch hats for last night's party

Yes, we danced, every night.

Molson's Canadian says I'm a Love Guru. Truth.

One of the lovely ships staff in traditional Dutch/Malaysian dress

Tres Amigos

Vancouver Island in better weather

Victoria Harbor

Looking towards Victoria

The final evening was spent in the most formal dining room away from the Snoop Sisters and others. We had a fine beef dinner with Chateau Ste Michel wines and some thirty year old vintage Port.

Our first Cruise was a total success. Our bar tab for the three of us which included gewgaws came to about $1400.00. So cruise for two, private balcony suite and bar tab was about a total of $4K. Flights were cheap, maybe about $400. So, seven days in a five star hotel with changing scenery and someone delivering breakfast literally in bed every day... Hmmm. This was better than bringing our own boat. We will do this more often.

Have a fine weekend, everyone!