Reunion

Jacket weather at St Augustine Beach, doing what
we do best

As we’re sitting around this coooold winter, pretending to be busy, we keep seeing how warm the temperatures are in Florida.  Sue starts talking to our boating buddies who used to keep their boats with us at “Hell’s Bar” marina outside Chattanooga, and the idea of a reunion creeps into the conversation.  We hadn’t been together as a group in about 3 years.  Two of the couples (Roger & Laura and Ken & Betsy) have already been smart enough to move to Florida, but the other two of us (Clint & Leigh and Sue & yours truly) still try to freeze our patooties in the middle of the country.

Eating our way around St Aug

So Sue gets busy on the internet, and finally finds us a nice big beach house to rent for a couple days on St Augustine Beach.  We set the dates for the reunion as March 5-9, and, wouldn’t you know it, a strong cold front comes through the area on March 5!

Just before the get-together, we are saddened to hear that Laura had a death in the family, and she & Roger will not be joining us for the reunion.  The rest of us missed them terribly during our few days together.

Sue shucks her first oyster!
(say that quickly 3 times!)

The other 3 couples tried to live up to our reputations, as we ate and drank our way around St Augustine.  Clint & Leigh were our guides, since they had been in the area several times.  We ate at all the good restaurants (and one not-so-good).  We went to the cold beach & squished some sand between our toes.  We told one sea story after another (some of which were actually true).  But most of all, we re-connected with each other and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.

It was a great way to break out of the winter doldrums.  There will probably be another reunion of the “Hell’s Bar Yacht Club”.

Acting like tourists in St Aug

Main tourist attraction

The crews of M/V Fruition and S/V Nemo

And then, on our drive back north from St Augustine, we stopped outside Savannah to visit ANOTHER boating couple who we traveled with last summer from North Carolina and around the Chesapeake Bay.  Bill and Jeanie from their S/V Nemo met up with us several times at several different places around the Bay, and helped us eat many many crabs.  They were just launching their boat for the spring, and will probably be heading north for the summer again.  It was great breaking bread with them again!

 

The definition of "contentment"