Monday, August 15
Last night, around 10:00, we decided to stop in Brunswick, GA. Hilton Head will have to wait for another trip when we’ve planned ahead a little better. The Golden Isles area is nice and if you don’t mind driving a bit, there are quite a few food choices at Exit 38. We noticed more fast food options closer to hotels and the highway at Exit 36A. Dave is also pleased with the results of the highway improvement work that has been going on seemingly forever in this area.
Today’s destination is our backup Walt (Disney) reservation in Orlando. On this trip, we decided to take an extra day of recovery/vacation—woo hoo!! We thought we might be exploring Hilton Head or Savannah today...maybe next time. Walt’s places are always dependably comfortable, and it will be a relaxing day for us. The Yacht/Beach Club has an excellent pool area and that’s where we plan to spend most of our time.
By 12:30 we’re beering and lunching by the pool, as planned, forgetting about the afternoon gym workout—oops. The pool has a neat current that pushes you around different areas and there is a fun slide! Even fun for adults!
Dinner at Big River Grill and Brewing Co. (you all KNOW the key word in the name of the restaurant for us!) Nachos for dinner, we haven’t had them in a while, yum! Post dinner fireworks at Epcot were actually viewed from the bridge on the Epcot side of the lake behind the Beach Club. Thought we might have been able to see them from the balcony of our room, but the view was obscured.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
A little sleeping in, an am gym workout and poolside recovery set us up for a nice departure. Walt has some excellent workout areas, the one at Old Key West is a bit small, and under-equipped, but the others have fulfilled our expectations. By 10:30 we were packed up and out before the 11:00 checkout time.
We were definitely looking forward to seeing the girls. We missed them a lot. Carol seems to like them, she takes great care of them, and all 4 dogs get along well. Home by 2:00 and it’s nice to be home. Puppies had a bath, and we spent the afternoon catching up on the “homework” and laundry
Another great trip
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Fishing Bay Annual regatta part 2
August 14, 2011
Sunday
Again, today, we were the first ready to launch! Even before the tractor guys were ready for us! When does this happen? Who ARE these Thinels, really? We made a smooth transition to the leeward side of the dock, and waited. And waited, and waited, for the RC to decide where to set the course. The wind kept building and the radar showed thunderstorms coming.
While we were on the ramp side of the street, John A. / John W. and Johnny K. / Joey B. used the hoist on the other side of the street where calmer waters prevailed. A shroud started failing as the Johns hit a wave on their way out to the course, and with little time to spare, in true Team Mad Sails fashion, Dave came through with a spare shroud that ended up working, John and John speedily replaced it at the dock and off they went. Good thing, too, they had a race/regatta to win! The Magic House Team Mad Sails worked excellent juju for first and second today. Johnny K. and Joey B. kept it tight with Mr Hubbard and son as the lead traded places throughout the race among the 3 boats.
Good work to all who raced today.
Forgot to mention that the 2nd race yesterday was thrown out. Bummer for JK and JB as they won it! Also, there was this crazy haze in the air yesterday, and even though we didn’t hear about it on the radio or TV (it was a fairly media-free weekend…nice!) we heard from some locals that the Great Dismal Swamp was afire! With the wind from the south, it sent gray air our way. It was very interesting, and quite unexpected when you licked your lips, you tasted soot!
Today, we had excellent timing, we left after saying good-byes between 12 and 12:30, and around 6:30 a cell of storms crossed I95 just before we arrived in that area of SC.
We were about 150 mi north of Savannah, and the clouds were still dark to our left, but a beautifully bright rainbow was shining through.
I will also say that as I write this on the supremely inferior notebook keyboard that has this annoying curse of the jumping cursor, I miss the clean typing of the desktop at the Wake’s where I was able to enter information without being concerned that my words might be jumbled due to the erratic behavior of the crazy keyboard. Miss you guys, and thanks again for a wonderful stay at the Estate, aka Magic House! It was great spending time with John and Sharon, John and Caroline, and John and Joe (hee hee, that sounds funny). Good times!
Sunday
Again, today, we were the first ready to launch! Even before the tractor guys were ready for us! When does this happen? Who ARE these Thinels, really? We made a smooth transition to the leeward side of the dock, and waited. And waited, and waited, for the RC to decide where to set the course. The wind kept building and the radar showed thunderstorms coming.
While we were on the ramp side of the street, John A. / John W. and Johnny K. / Joey B. used the hoist on the other side of the street where calmer waters prevailed. A shroud started failing as the Johns hit a wave on their way out to the course, and with little time to spare, in true Team Mad Sails fashion, Dave came through with a spare shroud that ended up working, John and John speedily replaced it at the dock and off they went. Good thing, too, they had a race/regatta to win! The Magic House Team Mad Sails worked excellent juju for first and second today. Johnny K. and Joey B. kept it tight with Mr Hubbard and son as the lead traded places throughout the race among the 3 boats.
Good work to all who raced today.
Forgot to mention that the 2nd race yesterday was thrown out. Bummer for JK and JB as they won it! Also, there was this crazy haze in the air yesterday, and even though we didn’t hear about it on the radio or TV (it was a fairly media-free weekend…nice!) we heard from some locals that the Great Dismal Swamp was afire! With the wind from the south, it sent gray air our way. It was very interesting, and quite unexpected when you licked your lips, you tasted soot!
Today, we had excellent timing, we left after saying good-byes between 12 and 12:30, and around 6:30 a cell of storms crossed I95 just before we arrived in that area of SC.
We were about 150 mi north of Savannah, and the clouds were still dark to our left, but a beautifully bright rainbow was shining through.
I will also say that as I write this on the supremely inferior notebook keyboard that has this annoying curse of the jumping cursor, I miss the clean typing of the desktop at the Wake’s where I was able to enter information without being concerned that my words might be jumbled due to the erratic behavior of the crazy keyboard. Miss you guys, and thanks again for a wonderful stay at the Estate, aka Magic House! It was great spending time with John and Sharon, John and Caroline, and John and Joe (hee hee, that sounds funny). Good times!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Fishing Bay YC Annual Regatta
August 11, Thursday, 2011
Yesterday, Dave noticed the van needed attention and took it to the Honda dealer. UGH..Serpentine belt, another belt and the belt tensioner needed replacing/fixing. At least they weren't busy and things were fixed that day. Seriously, since we were planning to leave Thursday. The guys mentioned the brake pad thickness and replacement needed, Dave called BS on that and said no, thank you.
Thursday, am: Boat loaded, cages and dogs, supplies and luggage in tow, as we're making a stop in Orlando to drop the pups at the dogsitter. They love to ride in the van. Carol (dogsitter) has a lovely Golden Retriever, Lucy, and a small white dog...Maya maybe? The girls have stayed with Carol a few times and she was recommended to us through the kind folks at HoundHaven. She volunteers there. Lucy loves to lean into you and hold hands. Small white dog...doesn't like much.
Leaving Tampa, an accident in the opposite direction stops traffic for several miles. We were pretty thankful that we weren't heading West.
Noon-
Successful dog droppage. Lucy looks cute with her summer 'do. Little white dog, Mia (I was close) also with a close-cropped do, happy in the warm weather.
Interestingly, the paper mentioned the Persied meteor shower this weekend. May be a late night Fri or Sat to observe. A full moon is also scheduled. Wondering the significance (when you're driving many miles, you get to thinking about many things), might be fun to see some fireworks in the night sky.
For this trip we are reading the "Burning Wire" by some guy named Deaver.
It is amazing how quickly time goes by when you're fascinated by the law enforcement and forensics teams solving crimes of a perpetrator who is motivated to kill using the electric grid flowing through NYC. At 3:00 pm I was thinking how long it took for the clock to advance to 3:20. Then the action in the book started taking off and it was 7:00pm before I knew it.
Dave had a conference call, we had to stop for gas and got a Frosty and Fries to go...irresistable.
Decided on Exit 121 in NC as our destination for the evening. There were several hotels, and we grbbed coupons from the Visitor's Center, to score the best non-priceline deal. Fairfield did the bait and switch but Country Inn and Suites came through with the 64.99 thing so we were happy. several good experiences with them in the recent past so that is a heads up for travelers.
Friday August 12.
Excellent stay at the Country Inn and Suites in Wilson, NC. Met some friendly folks in town for a family reunion.
9:00 am Fueled up and ready to go! Mapquest says about than 3.5 hours-Fun!
John Wake routinely checks our progress, "Are you there, yet?" (Paying homage to Hans) Nice to have a homing beacon guiding us in.
We're on the home stretch, Hwy 33 to Deltavile. The corn is so dry, very sad. All the houses are red brick or white. A new observation: we didn't recall Crepe Myrtles growing so large here on our last trip. Soy beans are looking good, not nearly as dry as the corn. I thought I may have been exaggerating during blog posts on our first trip up (NACs '07) but, really, there is a lot of corn!
The Wakes have generously offered us a place to stay, as well. We are super fortunate to be so close to the club. Sweet setup, excellent home. Definitely a HUGE staircase up from the Dockside (aka Taj Mahal) Inn.
12:00 noon! Beer me! We're in!
The Wake's house was built on the land that has been in the Wake family for generations. Family settled here from England and Dad was born on this site. The present house was built in '92. I noticed a town named Wake on the map and John said it was named for his grandfather's cousin. There's a post office there, and on a reunion, a picture was taken of the family in the building. He said it was a good thing the family wasn't any bigger! They wouldn't have fit!
Saturday, August 13, 2010
First day of racing. Who ever knew the Thinels to be the first folks out of the house, to the boat, in the water and on the end of the dock on a day of racing. Crazy talk, right there, but it was true.
John and Sharon have been excellent hosts. Food, lodging, friendship, a nice run this am, without deer, though. At the club, the wind was light when we splashed the boat, but I was dismayed to feel the wind increase as we waited to for the Skipper's meeting.
We feel that we live in the Magic House! John Wake and John Aras were first in the first race, John Kreidler and Joe Brake were 2nd and we were third. sweet! While we waited, and waited, and waited for the race committee to set the course and start the 2nd race, the sea breeze increased and Dave and I were concerned about how this next race would go. I don't know the exact results, but John K and Joe B were first, John A and Wake were third and we were also in the single digits to finish. I'm tickled. Afterall there were several capsizes and breeze is not out thing so, all good.The race committee finished us for the day, but we had some discussion on our boat about being ready for the next race. I was concerned about being able to jibe downwind, but we hung to make sure the day was finished.
phew.
Back to the house, into the pool and John K made some serious margeritas. Love this place. An hour till dinner back at the club...we'll see how it all washed out. Later...
Yesterday, Dave noticed the van needed attention and took it to the Honda dealer. UGH..Serpentine belt, another belt and the belt tensioner needed replacing/fixing. At least they weren't busy and things were fixed that day. Seriously, since we were planning to leave Thursday. The guys mentioned the brake pad thickness and replacement needed, Dave called BS on that and said no, thank you.
Thursday, am: Boat loaded, cages and dogs, supplies and luggage in tow, as we're making a stop in Orlando to drop the pups at the dogsitter. They love to ride in the van. Carol (dogsitter) has a lovely Golden Retriever, Lucy, and a small white dog...Maya maybe? The girls have stayed with Carol a few times and she was recommended to us through the kind folks at HoundHaven. She volunteers there. Lucy loves to lean into you and hold hands. Small white dog...doesn't like much.
Leaving Tampa, an accident in the opposite direction stops traffic for several miles. We were pretty thankful that we weren't heading West.
Noon-
Successful dog droppage. Lucy looks cute with her summer 'do. Little white dog, Mia (I was close) also with a close-cropped do, happy in the warm weather.
Interestingly, the paper mentioned the Persied meteor shower this weekend. May be a late night Fri or Sat to observe. A full moon is also scheduled. Wondering the significance (when you're driving many miles, you get to thinking about many things), might be fun to see some fireworks in the night sky.
For this trip we are reading the "Burning Wire" by some guy named Deaver.
It is amazing how quickly time goes by when you're fascinated by the law enforcement and forensics teams solving crimes of a perpetrator who is motivated to kill using the electric grid flowing through NYC. At 3:00 pm I was thinking how long it took for the clock to advance to 3:20. Then the action in the book started taking off and it was 7:00pm before I knew it.
Dave had a conference call, we had to stop for gas and got a Frosty and Fries to go...irresistable.
Decided on Exit 121 in NC as our destination for the evening. There were several hotels, and we grbbed coupons from the Visitor's Center, to score the best non-priceline deal. Fairfield did the bait and switch but Country Inn and Suites came through with the 64.99 thing so we were happy. several good experiences with them in the recent past so that is a heads up for travelers.
Friday August 12.
Excellent stay at the Country Inn and Suites in Wilson, NC. Met some friendly folks in town for a family reunion.
9:00 am Fueled up and ready to go! Mapquest says about than 3.5 hours-Fun!
John Wake routinely checks our progress, "Are you there, yet?" (Paying homage to Hans) Nice to have a homing beacon guiding us in.
We're on the home stretch, Hwy 33 to Deltavile. The corn is so dry, very sad. All the houses are red brick or white. A new observation: we didn't recall Crepe Myrtles growing so large here on our last trip. Soy beans are looking good, not nearly as dry as the corn. I thought I may have been exaggerating during blog posts on our first trip up (NACs '07) but, really, there is a lot of corn!
The Wakes have generously offered us a place to stay, as well. We are super fortunate to be so close to the club. Sweet setup, excellent home. Definitely a HUGE staircase up from the Dockside (aka Taj Mahal) Inn.
12:00 noon! Beer me! We're in!
The Wake's house was built on the land that has been in the Wake family for generations. Family settled here from England and Dad was born on this site. The present house was built in '92. I noticed a town named Wake on the map and John said it was named for his grandfather's cousin. There's a post office there, and on a reunion, a picture was taken of the family in the building. He said it was a good thing the family wasn't any bigger! They wouldn't have fit!
Saturday, August 13, 2010
First day of racing. Who ever knew the Thinels to be the first folks out of the house, to the boat, in the water and on the end of the dock on a day of racing. Crazy talk, right there, but it was true.
John and Sharon have been excellent hosts. Food, lodging, friendship, a nice run this am, without deer, though. At the club, the wind was light when we splashed the boat, but I was dismayed to feel the wind increase as we waited to for the Skipper's meeting.
We feel that we live in the Magic House! John Wake and John Aras were first in the first race, John Kreidler and Joe Brake were 2nd and we were third. sweet! While we waited, and waited, and waited for the race committee to set the course and start the 2nd race, the sea breeze increased and Dave and I were concerned about how this next race would go. I don't know the exact results, but John K and Joe B were first, John A and Wake were third and we were also in the single digits to finish. I'm tickled. Afterall there were several capsizes and breeze is not out thing so, all good.The race committee finished us for the day, but we had some discussion on our boat about being ready for the next race. I was concerned about being able to jibe downwind, but we hung to make sure the day was finished.
phew.
Back to the house, into the pool and John K made some serious margeritas. Love this place. An hour till dinner back at the club...we'll see how it all washed out. Later...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)