People

From Sue:  We did a little sightseeing and an errand or two in Beaufort, SC today.  There is a historic district with many beautiful, old houses there and we spent some times admiring them.  Back to the ICW tomorrow.  A few weeks ago Richard cracked a tooth and so needed to find a dentist to take care of it.  We finally got around to finding one who could see him quickly.  However, it turns out that his office was about an hour's walk from the dinghy dock, so we were pretty tired by the time we made it there and back.  We did find a grocery store, though, and some ice cream, so the trip had other benefits.  Unfortunately, when we returned to the boat and I was putting away my money, receipts, and credit cards, I realized I didn't have my Discover card.  Turns out I left it back at the grocery store.  They still had it and would hold it for us, but we had to make another trip over there to get it.  Too far to make another round trip walking, so we called a cab and retrieved the card.  We decided to walk back and stop half way at a Greek restaurant we saw on the way over before.  The food was good and the baklava was about the best we've ever had.  Of course, we were pooped by the time we got back to the boat!

From both of us:  It occurred to us recently that in the last two months we've only seen 9 people that we know from our past life.  A few people we haven't seen probably deserve a mention, as they are making part of this trip possible.  We drafted Sue's sister Chris, and her dad Bob, into taking care of business back home.  Chris gets our mail and sends us a mail inventory almost every day.  She also pays our bills and makes sure things get forwarded or attended to as needed.  Bob has been doing some banking errands for us.  A big thanks, Chris and Bob.

From Richard:  Late this summer I was helping Mark, another sailing friend of ours, do a little project for his boat.  I'm sure Mark must have thought I wasn't paying attention when he volunteered to check on our house, mow the lawn, and make the driveway look like someone was home this winter.  I didn't accept right away, thinking I should give Mark a chance to realize what he was actually agreeing to do, in case he wanted to change his mind.  I didn't hesitate to accept his offer the second time he mentioned it!  Our neighbors might be a little unhappy to see us come back home;  Mark is spending much more time with lawn care than I ever did.  Are you really supposed to mow the grass in November?  And Mark keeps mentioning chopping and raking leaves.  What's that all about?  Thanks a lot, Mark.  It's nice not having to worry about the house and yard.

Today as we were coming back to our boat we noticed a boat from Ohio, so I had to check it out.  It's from Jewett, Ohio.  And the gal, Chelsea, is from a town near the Tartan factory.  Some of you may remember Eileen's and my comments about ours being one of the smaller boats going south.  They are doing the trip in a Catalina 27!  Jake and Chelsea are in their 20s, so I'm sure they will have lots of adventures and memories to look back on when they get to be our age.  Oh, to be young again...