Savannah to Titusville

This is something that dad wrote for one of our friends that I have adapted into a quick blogpost...

We have spent days visiting Cities like Beaufort and Savannah. 

As far as our Ocean Plastics research sampling goes, we have been forced, by ICW restriction of safety and need to "speedily" cover ground, to suspend the trawling until we cross to the Bahamas. Once there we will be sampling and analyzing frequently. In Savannah we had a nice visit with our Cape friend and former Frying Pan Gallery associate, Rebecca and her dog Shug. We found ourselves in Forsyth Park where a huge farmers market sprouted before our eyes and a  meet-the-author book event where we left with much of the local produce and many new books. Overall, we spent 2 days exploring Savannah taking in the architecture, the people, the food, and the brilliant city layout.... and ice cream. 

Dad's doppleganger

Farmers Market Produce

From Savannah we bounced our way down the coast to St. Marys GA on the GA / FL border where we spent Thanksgiving in the company of almost 150 other boaters at a celebration put on by the City and some local boating groups. At the end of August the town was ravaged by hurricane Irma, completely destroying the marinas and shoreside facilities. Despite the devastation, the residents and boaters rallied and pulled together to organize a feast that made us all feel at home. The City provides that Hams and Turkeys, the Riverview Hotel provides the dining room, and the sailors bring the sides and the desserts. Sarah and the kids did it up with pies and delicious mashed potatoes, a tight squeeze and quite a feat coming out of our tiny galley. We did experience a strange practice of the "Oyster Bake" where they pile their oysters over a fire with a wet towel on top. After a short "bake" they shovel them into piles on a nearby table that has 10 or so shucking knives and restaurant towels set out evenly around the perimeter. At the center of the table there is a hole with a barrel beneath. Diners crowd around the table and await the shovel man. Shovel man makes piles of steaming oysters that are then shucked by the diners onto plates and then carried off to their tables. Jessie and Stan and I jumped in and, using shucking skills learned from years (some of us) of Cape Cod living we all began shucking oysters and handing them out. A crowd quickly grew around the kids as apparently it is unusual for the local youth to begin shucking and handing them product. Every day of the many days we were there after, people recognised Jessie and Stan on the street and gave their thanks. It's a small town filled with great people.

Thanksgiving! After our extended stay in St. Mary's we headed South again visiting beautiful Southern gems like Jekyll Island and Cumberland Island where we hiked and cavorted on the vast beaches with wild horses and strange shorebirds. We did not encounter any gators....... On to St. Augustine where we saw familiar sailor faces - this becomes more and more of a fun pastime as the trip gets older as we are in the company of many people with similar plans to us. We enjoyed the town so much that we stayed an extra day... followed by another...and another. 

Stan with our Cape Cod friends!

We had a rendezvous with our Cape Cod friends who are moving South much faster than we are but stopping and returning home to work for periods where we pass their boat as it sits alone, waiting for them to return and pass us again. It's a nautical version of leapfrog. On again south to Titusville...