Monday, October 1st

On our way back to Enterprise to return our car we stopped at the grocery store again for some aluminum foil and Splenda which we forgot yesterday... old age. On our return, we charged our batteries and had a visit from some neighbors that we hadn't met. Barry and Susan stopped by with a rather strange invitation. Last week Kathy and Donna took the bus to the grocery story and while waiting for the Brown B to get them back home, a lady pulled up and asked if they were boaters and if they wanted a ride. Her offer was accepted and she drove them back to the dinghy dock. It seems that a week or so before the same lady had given Susan a ride back from the same store and she had given the lady a boat card with her email address.

Yesterday Susan received an invitation form the husband of the good Samaritan lady to dinner and included "Second Wind" and "Sapphire". So tomorrow night the six of us are going be dining with absolute strangers.

We left for town to pick up some foam brushes and to find a notary republic to resign some of Kathy's retirement papers (for the 3rd time). The dock area at the center of town is being rebuilt for the boat show and it interesting to watch the huge tents go up and new piers sunk to hold the temporary docks that take up most of the mouth of Spa Creek. We stopped for lunch at an oyster bar and I had the best fried oysters yet served on a sandwich with chopped tomato, lettuce and a little dressing.

Back at the boat we spent the rest of another perfect day... sunny and mid 80's, getting another coat of Cetol on our teak.

We were still full at dinner time so I made a BLT salad and called it good. Some folks stopped by later and we sampled the Pumkin' Ale that Jack and Debbie had sent along with us... it was very well received.

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The Runaway Dinghy

About a week ago, Mike was washing the boat and he apparently stepped off the dinghy without tying it up. I went up above shortly after and some people on shore were shouting and waving at me-the dinghy was on its way to shore. They were hoping it would get there so they could take it for a ride. Luckily, one of our neighbors saw what was happening and went to rescue it. He brought it back to the boat and we tied it up securely. Since the dinghy is our mode of transportation to and from shore, it is a relatively important piece of equipment. One does not swim in Spa Creek. It seemed that was a lesson learned-what if we had been in a lake, or it had been a windy day?

Well, of course this is not the end of the story. The past week when Mike was working from the dinghy on the teak on the outside of the boat. I was cleaning something below when he shouted that he needed me. Yup, there was the dinghy making its way to shore. "Call someone, quick!" Well, I didn't see anyone about on the back of their boats, so I called Ken and Donna on the cell phone. Ken jumped in his dinghy, picked up Mike and set out after the wayward dinghy. It was by now hiding under a dock near shore. Once again, the dinghy was brought back to the boat and securely tied.

Now, Mike says he did have the dinghy tied up the second time, but must have knocked the rope off with the extension cord. I think there may be other explanations. Maybe we didn't go to shore enough those days and the dinghy just wanted to go? Maybe someone THOUGHT they had tied up the dinghy... Whatever the case, we hope the dinghy does not run away from home again-especially not while we are here!

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Our trip to Delaware, September 28-30

On Friday at 9:00 we over at the nearest dinghy dock (about 50 yards away) waiting for the Enterprise people to bring us a car... and they did. After taking care of the paper work we brought the car back to the end of the street and went back out to the boat to get our stuff...and all our dirty laundry. We had not only invited ourselves over to Jack and Debbie's for the weekend, but also planned on doing all our laundry while there.

By the time we got out of town and over the bridge it was noon so we stopped at the Crab Shed for lunch. We've been there before and like both the food and the atmosphere. As I was finishing my fried baby clams, the phone rang. It was the alternator place saying that they had finished rebuilding ours a day early and that we could pick it up anytime. We drove down to Easton to pick it up and then east to the Delaware Bay.

When we arrived, Kris was there hanging out before work. We opened our mail that had been forwarded there. Kris is a huge UM fan so the sports sections that were included were perfect...thanks Davey. Kathy started our laundry and Debbie arrived shortly after. Then we were off to the wine tasting. On Friday afternoons the owner of a nearby wine store sets out snacks and offers samples of about six different wines. The food was excellent.... crab dip on bread, a eggplant based salsa, and apricot -chili meatballs. We are trying to find a good Chardonnay to purchase for ship stores but haven't found the right one yet. I mentioned this to Debbie and we were off to another wine store where the proprietor could help us with the selection.

Jack was home by the time we returned and steamed some crabs (the largest I've ever seen) some shrimp, corn and new potatoes. We had a feast on the porch and crashed shortly after.

On Saturday, Jack had to work and Debbie and Kathy went shopping which left me to watch football for the first time this year. During half time of the Notre Dame Game, I went upstairs to take a shower and couldn't turn the TV back on when I returned. There were just too many buttons. Debbie and Kathy returned shortly and were able to get me back on line.

Saturday night we went in to Rehoboth for a Punkin' Ale at Dogfishhead ( a micro brewery) and then dinner a very nice Mexican place. The food was perfect.

On Sunday morning we said good bye for about two hours and left with lots of gifts, clean laundry and a toast with 150 year old Grand Marnier.

The ride back was uneventful and we arrived abut 2:00. After calling a friend to deliver us back to our boat, we started the engine to charge the batteries and then headed to the grocery store while we still had the car to haul things.

It was a perfect weekend... we hope that Jack and Debbie can get to the boat sometime so we can attempt to return the hospitality.

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