McLellanville Shrimp Festival.

We were invited aboard Gold Fish a Gradywhite fishing boat (200 hp) to ride the 25 miles to the shrimp festival. My face is sore this morning from the sun and the force of the wind racing by at 30 mph across my aging elasticity. We were there in less than 45 minutes, in December the same stretch took us 6 hours in Ruth. At the festival there was a parade of the shrimping vessels and a blessing of the fleet. Seafood was in abundance, shrimp galore and Frogmore stew? So for 8 bucks you got a plateful of shrimp either boiled or fried, coleslaw and 2 hushpuppies. It will be hard to eat shrimp in Ontario again, since it is always previously frozen. The shrimp in North and South Carolina has spoiled us.
There were crafters to browse at the festival and I avoided my usual weakness of collecting pottery pieces. There were some great creations with whimsical crabs and turtles on the sides of casserole dishes. It was a delightful festival with a good mix of things for the very young and the older folks. We arrived back at Belle Isle just after 6 and had Steve and Mike aboard Close Knit for a tour and a drink. Miss Bridget was happy to see us; it had been the longest we had left her alone. There were no accidents and nothing had been destroyed.

Teak.
Everyone here is kicking themselves that they did not make an offer on Close Knit before we did. Al started the teak and the difference is outstanding. She indeed will be a pretty girl when she is complete. (See pictures on Picasa.)