Thanksgiving Day finds us at anchor in the lovely antebellum city of Beaufort, SC. It’s one of our favorite stops. We so enjoy strolling its wide avenues with marsh vistas, Live Oaks dripping with Spanish Moss, stately manors & warm hospitality.

This morning we bundled up…yes, it’s still rather cool & breezy & set out for a shore excursion. The captain, crew dogs & I walked several miles greeting other walkers with a hearty “Happy Thanksgiving!” It was wonderful walking again as we’ve been boat bound for several days at a time. Murphy & Trapper were thrilled too!!

This journey, our 5th now, has been particularly challenging with colder & breezier days punctuated by more frequent storms. Every week we put in somewhere safe for a few days before we can cast off again. Feeling behind on our goal of being in St. Somewhere sooner, we then rush from anchorage to anchorage as weather allows. Rarely do we have enough daylight or are in a place where we can get off the boat. We have gone 4 days on 2 occasions where none of us have touched terra firma! Thankfully, our crew dogs are well trained to do their business aboard. But I do have to keep them active & happy with games & plenty of healthy treats! So, we are making southward progress but there are consequences. This trend of traveling in fits & starts finds us not as cheery as we had been on our other trips south. Attitude Adjustment Hour occurs & all the hard edges of the daily” grind” soften. Then, a good night sleep further helps!

Tonight, I have a minor feast planned: a small turkey breast, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, sautéed kale & a yummy-looking apple-spice cake for dessert. I think we’ll even open up a delightful sparkling rose from New Mexico. Gruet is one of our favorite sparkling wines evoking many happy memories with my sister & her hubby in Angel Fire, NM.

We, indeed, have much to be thankful for…our tolerant family who forgive us our wandering spirit; our dear friends who so easily pick up the reins of friendship when we return to their company; our health; our safe & cozy boat; the freedoms we have in our country to allow spirited discussion & unfettered travel. Ah, so much to be thankful for!

Tomorrow, weather & tide permitting, we’ll go offshore at Port Royal Sound & cruise the northern Georgia coast. We’ll head into St. Catherine’s Sound & drop anchor at Walburg Creek. The next day, we’ll travel along St. Catherine’s Island, a wildlife refuge managed by the NYC Zoo. We always try to see if we can spot some exotic creature on its shores. Maybe this time we will! Next, we’ll pop out at Sapelo Sound, traveling further south along the coast of Georgia. In just two “short” days we’ll pull into St. Mary’s River that serves as Georgia-Florida border.

Why all this jinking & jiving in & out of Georgia? Well, the ICW through Georgia meanders so much that one feels you’ll never get anywhere! The switchback system of rivers, sounds & creeks constantly changes direction like targets in an arcade game. All this twisting & turning adds up! Traveling inland along the waterway adds more than 1/3rd turning Georgia’s 100-mile coastline into a 138 mile ride through marsh grass! We have done the entire route before & it is one of the most pristine & beautiful areas on the Atlantic. Many of its islands are preserved creating some of the most peaceful anchorages anywhere.

But, Florida calls. There, sunshiny days & walks along its sand shores are ever so appealing.

In the meantime, thank you for your friendship & support. Big warm hugs comin’ at ya! Happy Thanksgiving!