Cambridge, MD - Oxford, MD - Reedville, VA - Portsmouth, VA - Morehead City, NC - Isle of Palms, SC

What a fantastic month this has been as we welcome the fall season, however the weather in Cambridge, MD during our stay for the Grand Banks Rendezvous was anything but beautiful! Wind! Rain! Cold! -- like you wouldn't believe. We extended our stay there because of the weather and certainly didn't want to stick our nose out into the Chesapeake in that weather and invite disaster. Then we'd have to rename the bay Chesapuke Bay!

 

Some of the boats at the Grand Banks Rendezvous



Oxford, MD, our next stop, was at one time the preferred pretty place to live and is one of the oldest towns in MD. It's also listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and declares its official founding as 1683. It is cute, charming, well-kept, and quaint but dead as a door knob! From the water it appears to be a thriving marine center--and there are several boat yards but once you set foot on terra firma, it's another sad sight of what used to be. The high point (and ONLY point) is the Robert Morris Inn and Tavern. There were actually 2 couples in the bar---the only sign of life we saw anywhere. It is also quite historic, dating back to 1710, and overlooks Oxford's harbor. The village sports a grocery/wine/"necessaries" store and a library. After our walking tour we wanted a cup of coffee but there was none to be had! No coffee shop nor ice cream store. What does that tell you!!!



An Overcast Day on the Chesapeake Bay

 Continuing south from Oxford,  Reedville, VA, was our next hesitation.  In the 1800's it had the highest per capita income of any town in the U.S. A handful of fishing boat captains and factory owners caught and processed menhaden-a migratory fish that frequents the rivers that flow into the Chesapeake Bay rivers.  This fish is small, oily and not fit for human consumption but is useful for aquaculture, livestock feeds, pet foods, and cosmetics.   The mansions , built by factory owners and ship captains, still exist along Main Street (locally referred to as "Millionaire's Row") and are a testimony of that bygone era.  They are well-kept, but not overwhelming; a couple have become B and Bs, and the town is a nice place to hang out for a quiet day.  The once-diverse fishing industry has been consolidated into a single processing factory, Omega Protein, Inc. 


A Menhaden fishing boat returning from a day on the bay



This month was the first anniversary of our little Bailey Dawg's demise and apparently she returned to visit us. Something strangely wonderful occurred on the afternoon of her death and very near the time that she died. I found a tuft of her dog hair in a little curl lying on our aft deck. In the past year that deck has seen many boat washings, torrential rains, and high winds so her hair had not been there for a year. It was clean, fluffy, not dirty nor matted. It was surprising that we heard from several of you with stories of a similar experience. I believe that Bailey came back for a visit and just left her 'calling card'. Providence has a way of showing us things that defy explanation! Of course I've saved that little tuft!

As occurs in this cruising life, we were in need of a boatyard and a refrigeration technician so we went to Zimmerman Marine off the Mobjack Bay near Cardinal, VA. Four serendipities--1) We spent time with our friends Kate and Steve whom we met in Charleston 4 years ago. Their boat was also there for repairs. 2)We had outstanding service from this company. They will now be our boatyard as we plan repairs/and updates on the Chesapeake. 3) It was our good fortune to go to Annapolis to the Boat Show with Kate and Steve. What a great time of information gathering that was. We maximized our time there and visited every booth dragging home reams of material. The weather was warm and the day was fabulous! 4) While at the boat show we ran into Pat and Rick who are members of our trawler organization and who'd driven down from Alexandria for the show. That was a huge surprise and delight!!!

 

Flexibility is 99% of this lifestyle. We were delayed a day in Cambridge because of weather and 3 days at Zimmerman's due to repairs. Intentions were to have lunch with a high school classmate and her hubby in Norfolk but we had to blow on through hurrying to our southern destination.

Three of our children celebrate fall birthdays---Matt, father of 4 daughters resides in TX.








Matt Breaux, Son #2!

Courtney, mother to one daughter, is a SC resident.



Courtney Eidson, Daughter #1





Andy is Izzi and Joseph's dad and he is also a Texan.





Andy Breaux, Son #3

   




Andy's post-ride recoup

 Three of our off-spring celebrated their adventure into growing older and wiser. Fall is so beautiful and what a magnificent season of harvest to celebrate your birthdays. Happy birthday to each of you.

Martha and Jim, friends who live in Wild Dunes (Charleston), drove to Morehead City and cruised south with us for 5 days on our trip to Isle of Palms.  They were more than generous in bringing a sumptuous quantity of prepared food!  That was such a treat so no cooking happened during their visit which allowed more time for laughing, talking, and playing.



Martha, Laura, Bill, and Jim



We loved being back in our church, Seacoast Community Church, in Mt. Pleasant, SC. We enjoy visiting other churches as we travel but we cherish being back in our home church. The 10 days we were in Charleston absolutely flew! Instead of driving back to Greenville for our yearly medical/dental/optical appointments, we took care of that in Charleston/Mt. Pleasant and what a whirlwind that was of zipping all over the area. I'm sure our little car is glad when we're gone and dreads our annual return. Both of us got an A+ on our yearly physicals so we're done with all that for another year. It was so good to visit with our Low Country friends and look forward to "returning home" next fall.

This last day of October we drop our lines and continue south in our effort to stay a bit ahead of the cold weather. Hasn't this been a spectacularly glorious month!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fall has gotta be my favorite season--until Spring rolls around!

 

Till after Thanksgiving----

 

Bill and Laura

Currently underway and south of Charleston