Team Finnegan Adventures

May 28-31 - In Trinidad with Simone

2011-03-04T15:55:00.000-05:00

For the last couple of years, Team Finnegan has had the good fortune to have a fantastic investment team. The leader of our financial team is Steve Coplin. Steve's critical right hand assistant is Simone Matthews. Over the months of working with Steve and Simone, we have become excellent friends. Somewhere along the line, Simone began to call us "mom and dad" and we started to call her "our girl".

Simone grew up in Trinidad and Tabago. She came to the states with her mother, brothers and sister when she was 13. After attending middle and high school in NYC, Simone attended and graduated from Florida State University in Tallassaee. Simone has been a US citizen for many years. Simone has been in the banking and securities industry for many years. She specializes in details, organizational skills and regulatory knowledge.

About a year ago while out to lunch with Steve and Simone, Robert suggested that it would be a lot of fun to visit Trinidad and Tabago with Simone as our guide. Simone agreed and thus we made our travel plans.

We flew to Trinidad and Tabago from Ft. Lauderdale on Carribean airlines, an easy 3 and a half hour flight. Simone's dad met us at the airport and drove us to the Hilton, our hotel. The Hilton, in the capital city of Port of Spain, is lovely with a wonderful restaurant.

The next day, Simone's Aunt Patsy picked us up for our personal three day tour of Trinidad. Just as Team Finnegan are hororary mom and dad, Patsy is an honorary aunt. Patsy is Simone's mom's best friend.

First up was a ride out to Maracas Beach, Trinidad's most popular beach. It is a lovely ride up into the mountains and then down to the beach.

Maracas Beach

Simone relaxing on Maracas Beach

Our personal chauffeur and gracious hostess, Patsy.

Team Finnegan on Maracas Beach

One of the most famous things about Maracas Beach, besides the view, is a unique, local food called bake 'n shark. Simone reminisced on many childhood trips to Maracas Beach to eat bake 'n shark. What is bake 'n shark, you may well ask yourself. First off, there is nothing baked. Bake 'n shark is a fried dish. First dough is rolled into a ball and fried.. This creates a puffy shell, sort of like a pita. Shark or other white fish is fried in a batter. The fish is placed in the puffy shell. Next comes the fun part. The diner takes the fish in the puffy shell to a huge row of tables containing many sauces and a wide variety of accompaniements. There are chopped tomatoes, lettuce, maybe avocados, mangos and many other things. The diner individualizes the bake 'n shark.

On Maracas Beach are many stands offering the bake 'n shark. Natually, we chose Patsy's Bake 'n Shark in honor of our chauffeur.

Simone prepares to enter Patsy's bake 'n shark.

The bake 'n shark in all of it's glory.

Robert enjoying a stag beer with his bake 'n shark

The view from the top of the mountain, looking down toward Maracas Beach.

After dining on bake 'n shark, Team Finnegan were well on the road to becoming regular "Trinis"....the local term for a person from Trinidad. However, another local treat awaited us at Patsy's house...the abundant and yummy fruit.

Simone points out the sapodilla fruit and demonstrates enjoying the creamy, caramel tasting fruit.

In order to sample coconut jelly and coconut water, Patsy broke open a coconut.

Patsy drove us to many parts of Port of Spain and surrounding towns. We saw many bright, colorful houses. This one took the prize of brightest house.

We had a reservation to take a boat ride at a nature preserve. Our big goal was to see the scarlet ibis. We learned that this was the nesting season for the scarlet ibis and thus a huge section of the preserve containing the rookery was off limits to give the scarlet ibis families privacy. This was disappointing, but I looked far overhead and saw this sight...hundreds of scarlet ibis.

For our second day in Trinidad, Patsy drove us far into the mountains to the Asa Wright wildlife center. I didn't take my camera, but on our hike with a guide, we saw some amazing birds. It was a significant adventure to find the Asa Wright wildlife center, involving steep, winding, narrow roads perched on deep canyons.

The second evening, Patsy joined us for dinner at the Hilton. After a yummy meal, we went up to the deck overlooking the city of the Port of Spain.

On our last day in Trinidad, Patsy drove us to the zoo, the sure place to see scarlet ibis up close.

We had a terrific time visiting Trinidad and Tobago with our daughter, Simone. We saw many lovely sites and enjoyed a taste of the interesting and multi-cultural heritage. Patsy was a knowledgeable and extremely informative local guide. We truly appreciated the fact that she gave three days to our adventure.

So long from the new trinis - Team Finnegan

May 8, 2010 - Chris graduates in Phoenix!

2011-02-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

We were honored to be able to attend the graduation of son-in-law, Chris Nielsen, from the University of Phoenix nursing program. We flew into Phoenix with the Nielsen family - daughter, Katy, grandson, Justin and granddaughter, Noelle.

We were extremely impressed with the determination of Chris to complete his bachelor's degree. It took several years, but he preserved while participating in family life as well as working full time as an RN. The hard work and sacrifices paid off before he graduated. While we were eating dinner at our hotel in Phoenix, Chris announced that he had just accepted a supervisory position with an impressive salary raise.

The graduation was held at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

Chris in graduation regalia

Chris with his very proud family - Katy, Justin and Noelle

Daughter, Katy, waiting for graduation to begin

Grandson, Justin

Granddaughter, Noelle

Chris, waiting to enter the statium

The graduates escorted into the stadium by the bagpipe band

Chris, in line to march into the stadium

Chris, in line to receive his diploma

Congratulations, Chris

You did it!!!

After the graduation, we went to a steak house near the stadium for a celebratory lunch.

Noelle got a big kick out of the complimentary cotton candy.

Congratulations, Chris, we are very proud of you. We are also very proud of Katy, Justin and Noelle for providing support to Chris during his educational adventure.

April 3, 2010 - Loren and Terri in Key West

2011-02-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

We always have a great time when son Loren and daughter-in-law Terri visit. We did something a little bit unusual this time. We caught the high speed ferry from Marco Island to Key West. This is the relaxing, fast way to get to Key West. The trip takes about 3 and a half hours. It is an interesting car trip up the keys, but it is very slow.

We made reservations at a bed and breakfast near the ferry station. Key West is famous for its unique, funky bed and breakfasts, among other things. Ours featured very relaxing hammocks.

During our stay, we spent most of the time wandering around town and of course, swinging in the hammocks. Key West is a very scenic, colorful, unusual town, a lot of fun to visit for about 24 hours.

One feature of Key West is the chickens running wild all over town. Visitors think they are charming. Some of the locals are less charmed, but the chickens stay.

Terri points out one of the colorful roosters

Loren, at the wharf

Walking back to our hotel, we spotted a manatee, happily slurping water from the hose. If you look below the water, you will see the shape of this gigantic, gentle animal

March 14-19, 2010 - Aunt Dessie and Cousin Joe visit Naples, FL

2011-02-21T15:15:00.000-05:00

Robert's Aunt Dessie and Cousin Joe live near Decatur, Georgia. We looked forward to their visit as they are very entertaining people and they love to share nature adventures. Dessie is Robert's favorite aunt. He has many fond childhood memories of summer trips to his aunt's home near Disneyland.

Aunt Dessie was 88 at the time of this visit. Besides her wit and sense of humor, Dessie is known for her fitness. She goes to aquatic fitness almost every day, plus she walks upwards of three miles a day. When Dessie walks, she does not stroll. I challenge a person half her age to maintain her pace. I'd estimate that Dessie probably walks at least an 17-18 minute mile, which is stepping out pretty good.

Cousin Joe is also an entertaining guest. He is extremely well read and knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics. Since two of his interests are history and nature, it is a lot of fun to share adventures with Joe.

The first day we took Dessie and Joe on one of our favorite walks to Clam Pass Beach via a very scenic boardwalk through the mangroves.

Robert and Aunt Dessie at the beach.

The second day we went to Corkscrew Swamp, an Audubon sanctuary. We have always enjoyed a trip to Corkscrew. Along the 2.5 mile boardwalk, are several different environments found in the natural Florida swamp.

Aunt Dessie, Cousin Joe and Glee in front of the Corkscrew Swamp vsitors' center.

Aunt Dessie on the boardwalk path

Great egret stalking gracefully

The cypress swamp with beautiful bromeliads

Some Corkscrew Swamp scenes

Little blue heron in Lettuce Lake

Black crown night heron on the bank near Lettuce Lake

Aunt Dessie relaxing at the visitor center after our wonderful walk.

On the last day of the visit, we took a ride out to Shark Valley, with a stop at the Big Cypress visitor center. Overlooking the deck at the Big Cypress visitor center, we have always seen HUGE alligators.

Aunt Dessie and Cousin Joe on the hunt for that big gator

Like this one, maybe?

Once out at Shark Valley, we saw many other alligators, plus some nifty birds, like this tri-color heron.

Male anhinga, drying out his wings after a fishing expedition

In full breeding plumage, this male anhinga has a wacko appearance, but the female anhinga probably is saying "hubba hubba"

Female anhinga, spearing a fish.

Green heron on lily pads

All too soon, our visit with Aunt Dessie and Cousin Joe came to an end. We look forward to other adventures with them soon.

Feb 25-Mar 1, 2010 - Andersens visit

2011-01-26T12:36:00.000-05:00

We were excited to welcome daughter Josie, son-in-law Charlie and grandson Jon from Houston, TX. What made the visit extra special was being able to celebrate Jon's eighth birthday.

Once again, I was way too busy enjoying the visit to remember to take photos. Once again, I was bailed out by a professional photographer daughter. Thanks, Josie, for letting me download these photos from Facebook!!!

We gave Jon some activity options for his birthday. He chose a shopping trip to Toys R Us, followed by a visit to the Naples Zoo.

After procuring bird food from the dispenser machine, Jon enjoyed feeding the white ibis.

The white ibis obviously can not depend upon unreliable humans to acess the food dispensing machines, so they have learned to release the food pellets with just the right probe of the bill.

The Naples zoo is a fantastic place to visit, both for kids and for grownups as well. It is small enough to experience the whole thing in a few hours, but it is very satisfying. The animals are close and there are many educational shows. Best of all, there are plenty of playgrounds dispersed throughout.

Josie, Jon and I enjoy one of the playgrounds. Jon is peering out from a bottom window.

Jon is having fun at the playground

Josie and Jon

After a yummy barbeque supper at home, Jon blew out the candles on his fun cake.

We enjoyed many fun activities, including a trip to the beach. Jon is such a good, adorable boy that it was a pleasure to have the Andersens visit.

Feb 24, 2010 - Twin lunch

2011-01-25T17:19:00.000-05:00

Every month or so, my friend, Erika, and I enjoy lunch out. Erika works at the Marco Island Chico's. She is an absolute whiz at putting together fabulous outfits for me and our relatives. Over the years, Erika and I have become excellent pals. We have a lot of common. During the summer she and her husband travel the states in their motor coach, while Team Finnegan does the same thing on our motor yacht.

One day while Erika was dressing me in a snazzy outfit, she mentioned that she owned the same jacket I was in the process of buying. One thing led to another until we had concocted this scheme to dress identically for our next lunch.

Needless to say, we had a hilarious time over lunch at the very posh Waterside Mall. After lunch we strolled around the mall and into the Waterside Chico's. We laughed even harder when one of the Chico's associates inquired, "Did you realize you are both dressed the same?"

The twins

Dec 19-26, 2009 - Cruise West cruise Sea of Cortez

2011-01-25T11:39:00.000-05:00

We had been greatly looking forward to our Christmas week cruise in the Sea of Cortez, leaving from Cabo San Lucas. We had taken a couple of other Cruise West trips. The company uses small cruise ships for 100 passengers or less with an emphasis on learning about the area from onboard experts. We received a brocure on the trip to the Sea of Cortez. We studied the itinarary with its focus on whale watching, kayaking and snorkleing. Sounded perfect.

Sadly, perfection is hard to come by, especially if your cruise is a good three to four weeks before the whales arrive. We discovered this fact from the locals on the second day. The kayaks were not usable. Unlike our other Cruise West trips, the food was not good.

What was near perfection was the beauty of the Sea of Cortez. We didn't see whales, but we did see many dolphins and sea birds. Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

Here is our Cruise West boat anchored out.

The Sea of Cortez is a very popular cruising ground

We went strolling along the beach and found this little crab

Since there were to be no whales, Cruise West took us in vans on a trip far into the mountains. First stop was this tree with flat, external roots growing on the rock.

Next stop was cliffs with pictograms created by indingeous people before the Spanish invaded.

The landscape seemed a very arid, high desert.

But up in the mountains, especially in the canyons, was a surprising amount of water with waterfalls and lovely oasis.

We traveled up to a small town with a church built by the Spaniards. This area was until recently, accessible only by dirt roads.

On the way back, we stopped at a family farm with a simple, but effective method of irrigation. The family has been farming here for many generations. We were welcomed with a tour and snacks.

We spent Christmas in La Paz. To celebrate, Cruise West arranged a fiesta with food and entertainers.

If you follow Team Finnegan's blog, you know I like to include hyperlinks with additional information and resources. In keeping with this, I attempted to bring up the website of Cruise West, both to give you a link and also to check on itineray details. Whoopsie daisy! I was astonished to learn that Cruise West folded up shop in September, leaving passengers on a round the world cruise stranded in Newfoundland. Some of these passengers had paid for their voyage with a check, as Cruise West offerred a discount for this payment method. Several were out as much as $50,000 with no reimbursement alternative but to email the company. Lesson: always pay by credit card and pass by that possible discount.

Nov 29, 2009 - Trip to Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest

2011-01-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

We headed out for a nature jaunt to one of our favorite places - The Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest. We never know what we'll see there, but it is always lovely and scenic as all get out.

Where is the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest, you may well ask? You drive out of Immokalee on highway 29 toward LaBelle. On county road 832, turn right. Basically, the park is in the middle of the state of Florida. One web site comments, "visitors can still walk in and observe pre-Columbian Florida."

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of a Florida forest. For those used to the alpine forest, there is quite a difference.

Along the east side of our favorite dirt road is private property. However the water and grass prairie in the private property is prime water fowl territory.

We saw a number of birds on our outing. The first was a turkey vulture.

A red shoulder hawk

This bald eagle was a looooooooooooooong ways away

White ibis in tree. The spotted bird on the right in an immature white ibis

Snowy egret

Pied billed grebe

Loggerhead shrike

Common moorhen

My personal favorite wading bird - the little blue heron

An anhinga, drying it's wings

A great egret stalking

Great blue heron

Finally, it wouldn't be a trip to Okaloacoochee without an aligator.

We were very happy with our trip to Okaloacoochee. Since we had forgotten to take a picnic lunch....again...we headed out to La Belle to look for a restaurant. On the way, we had two wonderful surprises. First, Robert saw a crested caracara on the side of the road. We had been looking for one for five years. Second, was a huge flock of wood storks, an endangered species.

Crested caracara, which is a member of the falcon family

Wood storks

After a very exciting outing, we found the KFC/Taco Bell in La Belle. Of course, this was followed up with a cone from McDonald's. Hey, Team Finnegan knows how to live large.

Thanksgiving, 2009

2011-01-18T16:45:00.000-05:00

Talk about a fun time!!! For Thanksgiving, 2009, we hosted two families with kids in similiar age groups....daughter Katy and family from Turlock, CA and daughter Daria and family from Williston, VT.

The most amazing thing about this visit was the four grandchildren played for hours each of the four days in either the pool or around the pool table and never once was there a squabble, harsh word or tear. They made up games and played in perfect harmony. It was so much fun to watch. Sadly, I was having such a great time that I forgot to take any pictures. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Fortunately, daughter Daria is a professional photographer who gave me permission to use the pictures from her blog.

Noelle, on the left, is Katy's daughter. Summer, on the right, is Daria's daughter. Both girls were 11 and in the sixth grade when this picture was snapped.

Enjoying one of the many pool games, Justin Nielsen, 15, Baxter Bishop, 9, Noelle Nielsen, 11, Summer Bishop, 11.

Baxter and his mom Daria are having a very happy day in the pool.

One day Katy, Daria and I headed out to Chico's on Marco Island for a shopping spree. My friend, Erika, is a whiz at finding just that right look, plus she is a lot of fun. We all had a blast, plus added to our wardrobes. Later that evening, Daria and Katy had a fashion show for the guys.

While we were shopping, the rest of the group went exploring the Everglades and Everglade City with Grandpa Robert.

We did not cook Thanksgiving dinner at home. Although initially a controversial decision, the benefits soon became apparent as we surveyed the feast available at our club. It was a yummy spread. Even more fun was walking away from the dirty dishes and strolling out to the pool area for a group photo.

On the left is the Bishop family - Daria, Andy, Summer and Baxter. In the middle are Robert and I. On the right are the Nielsens - Katy, Chris, Noelle and Justin.

Soon after the group photo, the kids put on their bathing suits and jumped into the resort-style pool at the Players' Club. While the kids happily splashed, the rest of us lounged.

Katy looking extra glamorous

Me being extra silly

The day after Thanksgiving, the Bishops had to leave. The Nielsens were able to stay a couple more days. We really enjoyed a kayak adventure through the mangroves with superb kayak guide, Joseph.

Sept 16-19, 2009 - In NYC with Frank and Lilan

2011-01-12T12:28:00.000-05:00

We were very pleased to welcome aboard Grand Fromage, our friends Frank and Lilan from Alameda, CA. We had originally met Frand and Lilan at Emery Cove Marina in Emeryville in October, 2003, where we docked our previous boat, Copperopolis. While we were boat neighbors at Emery Cove, Frank and Lilan were so welcoming to us and constantly invited us on their boat to share Frank's famous pasta.

We enjoyed sharing the sights of Manhattan with Frank and Lilan.

Robert points out the location of Grand Fromage in Jersey City from the top of the Rockafeller Center.

Frank and Lilan at the Top of the Rock

Lilan enthusiastically taking picture in Time Square

Lilan appears to like that picture.

Taking a brief respite in a very busy sightseeing day

Lilan on the boat to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. In the background is the old train station.

Frank and Lilan with the must-do, totally mandatory pose in front of the Statue of Libery.

Since it was the year of taking Grand Fromage guests to see the Blue Man Group, you guessed it....

Sept 10-13, 2009 - With John and Vivian in NYC

2011-01-11T20:04:00.001-05:00

We love to tie up at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. The view from Grand Fromage is fabulous. On one side is the Statue of Liberty. On the other side is Jersey City. Straight ahead is Manhattan. Liberty State Park, where the marina is located, has a very convenient little ferry to Manhattan.

What made our stay at Liberty Landing even more special was being able to share the experience for a few days with our friends from New Bern, NC, John and Vivian. One day we spent sight seeing. Of course, one of the stops was our personal favorite view site...The Top of the Rock or Rockafellow Center.

John and Vivian at the Top of the Rock.

Last year, when we were in New York City, we tried and tried to get tickets for the Broadway musical, Jersey Boys. Sold out. This year we were able to obtain four tickets. We highly recommend Jersey Boys.

It was by far our favorite musical that we saw on Broadway. Upbeat, fun, high energy, with wonderful songs.

Since this was the year to take our NYC guests to see the Blue Man Group, of course this was a must do for John and Vivian. We started out with a trip to a New York pizza joint. What made this outing to the Blue Man Group so special was that in the middle of the show, John was picked to go up front for one of the skits. What a hoot! Vivian has never forgiven us for taking them to the show because John's answer to all requests for chore sharing ever since is "I never had to --------- when I was with the Blue Man Group"

The Petersons with a Blue Man

Once again, we were in NYC on 9/11. From our marina, Liberty Landing, we had an unobstructed view of the twin spotlights that are lit on the anniversary of this sad and horrific event.

Sept 9, 2009 - Ft Jefferson, NY to NYC with John and Vivian

2011-01-11T20:04:00.000-05:00

While we were leaving our marina in Ft Jefferson, Captain Robert noticed a sizeable fish boil in the water right ahead of Grand Fromage. Our friend, John Peterson was handling the lines. He used the radio earphones we use while docking, to suggest Captain Robert cut the engine and drift through the boil. John immediately cast a fishing line into the boil and 10 seconds later had caught a blue fish. John immediately cleaned and filleted the blue fish. Anticipating a very yummy fish barbeque when we arrived at our slip in Jersey City, we bagged up the fish with marinade.

We enjoyed a scenic ride up Long Island Sound, passing some huge houses on the east shore.

Scenic lighthouses

Still in Long Island Sound, the East River begins after crossing the bridge ahead. We had our first exciting view of New York City. Over the radio, we learned that the East River would be closed at the Manhattan Bridge between 12 and 1. We were certain that we would be able to make the closing, at our current rate of speed.

As Law and Order fans, it was fun to cruise by Riker's Island

Cruising up the East River

The Chrysler Building

The United Nations Building

The Empire State Building

As we cruised up the East River, we began to see more helicopters in the air, plus Coast Guard and military vessels in the river. We learned that the East River would be closed due to President Obama visiting the United Nations Building.

We were nearing the end of the East River, with two bridges to go. We could see the Statue of Liberty on the other side of the Hudson from the Broklyn Bridge. We were becoming increasingly confident we would be able to clear the two bridges before the closing. We greatly anticipated tying up to our slip at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. With boat chores complete, we'd be able to kick back, prepare and enjoy our blue fish for lunch.

Luck was not on our side. As we prepared to cross under the Manhattan Bridge, Coast Guard vessels commanded us to halt and hold our position.

After treading water for an hour, the Coast Guard released us to continue our voyage under the Manhattan Bridge and finally, under the Brooklyn Bridge.

I am happy to report that our blue fish barbeque lunch was worth the wait.

Sept 5-8, 2009 - Mantauk, NY

2010-09-18T17:28:00.000-04:00

As much as we hated to leave Block Island, we had an advance reservation at the Montauk Yacht Club for the Labor Day weekend. Robert had discovered that it was difficult to obtain a reservation for this very popular boating weekend.

The Montauk Yacht Club was not our first choice for the Labor Day weekend because of the nightly price of a slip, but it was available and it looked fabulous on their website. Part of a hotel resort, it appeared we would have a pretty swank weekend. Yes, it was going to be the most expensive marina stay ever, but we would enjoy the many amenities and facilities. I mean, according to their web site, the marina was "named by Yachting Magazine, as a top ten marina destination in North America, Mexico and the Bahamas."

Perhaps our stay in Montauk was influenced by the fact that it was the Labor Day weekend and despite the cost and the recession, every slip was occupied. Most of the boats seemed to be occupied by families with many children. The place was packed to the gills.

Let me state that the cost of this marina was wildly exorbinant....2 times more than we have ever paid. I know I may be overstating this, but according to our experiences in other high end marinas, we expected extra value for our money. For example, in a few other marinas we had received complimentary newspapers, perhaps muffins and fruit delivered to our boat in the morning. At the Montauk Yacht Club, the only special thing was each boat had it's own garbage can that was emptied once or twice a day.

There were many downsides to our stay. Most marinas require children to walk on the docks and wear life vests. Here, children were running, riding bikes and playing on the docks with no life jackets. The marina bathroom was shared by the hotel guests using the pool. It was filthy and water sogged. The much touted spa was closed.

However, the very biggest downside were the prices and service at the hotel restaurants. Sure we understood the season is short, but the menu prices were astronomical. We felt gouged. In the coffee shop, a cobb salad was $18.00. Basic breakfast was $16.00. For these prices the servers were grumpy and unwilling to make any substitutions....if the combination wasn't in the computer, they couldn't or wouldn't accomadate us.

Ok, what about the town of Montauk you may ask? It seems everywhere the prices were jacked up 2-3 times for the summer season. During a haircut, I was told by the beautician that during season the locals can't afford to eat out. As soon as Labor Day is over, the prices immediately plummet.

Enough whining, we did enjoy a few nice walks along the beach. Montauk is the peninsula at the very north east end of Long Island and is reknown for the fishing.

The famous Montauk lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in NY state.

Here is a lobster pot that will no longer be bothering us.

One very positive thing occurred in Montauk. On Labor Day, our friends, John and Vivian Peterson, flew in from North Carolina to JFK and came by the Long Island bus out to the marina. Thanks to John and Vivian, our last night in Montauk was full of a lot of laughs and stories.

Sept 2-4, 2009 - Block Island

2010-09-14T11:53:00.000-04:00

Robert always likes to make our marina reservations as far in advance as possible. This strategy has served us well. However, he could not make a reservation for our stay on Block Island. It isn't like he didn't try. Sadly, all but one of the marinas that had facilities to accomodate Grand Fromage were full during our designated dates. The one marina that wasn't full, Payne's Dock, wouldn't give us a firm reservation. Robert tried several times and was told each time, "call us on your way and we'll see what we can do". We were facing insecurity. What did this mean????

It was with some trepedation that we left Newport for Block Island. As per instructions, Robert called Payne's Dock while we were under way. He was told, "bring her in and we'll work it out." Okie dokie. This wasn't security, but it sounded like they'd take us.

What we found out upon arriving is that all boats are accomodated one way or another. These people are the "pack in the boats" experts. They have their methods and the methods work, as long as you are ameniable to being rafted to other boats. All of the boats rafted together made for a jolly, party atmosphere. You had instant friends. You had instant relaxation. Payne's Dock was a hoot and a half.

After we were expertly tied up, Robert wanted to settle our bill and thus inquired the whereabouts of the office. The reply was "we don't have no office, why would you want the office?" Robert said he wanted to pay and was told, "pay one of us when you leave, that's good enough for us."

Three sail boats rafted up behind us.

We unloaded one of our scooters for some sightseeing. What a beautiful island. We had a great time exploring. Here are some pictures of our Block Island adventures:

We had a wonderful time on Block Island. It is both beautiful and adorable. The residents are eccentric, but warm and welcoming. It is relaxing and unpretentious. If we ever have an opportunity to return to Block Island, we will definitely jump at the chance.

Aug 26-31 - Newport, RI

2010-09-13T11:27:00.001-04:00

After an easy and enjoyable run from Onset, MA, we entered Newport Harbor with a very brisk wind and a strong current. From our last entry on Newport, you may remember that Newport is big boat land, plus it is a very popular destination for every size boat. What you may ask, do I mean by "big boats"? Grand Fromage is 65 feet and in most marinas we are one of the bigger boats. In Newport, the big boats are a 100 feet, 120 feet, 180 feet and more. Grand Fromage looks like a dingy parked next to these boats. Also these big boats all have uniformed staff swirling about doing every yachtly task.

When we are close to our marina, Robert always gets on the radio to notify the office of our imminent arrival. At my request as the deck hand, he asks whether we will have a port or starboard tie up and whether the dock is fixed or floating. Robert also requests a dock hand to take our lines and tie us up at the dock. We then put on our earphones and I go down to the deck to prepare the ropes and fenders. After months on board Grand Fromage with many trials and errors, not all of them pretty, we have evolved a workable and practical routine to bring our boat safely into port.

Following our routine, I had set up our lines and fenders for a starboard tie up. As we approached the dock, we saw not one, but several dock hands waiting our arrival. The dock hands were not only several places on the dock, but a couple were even on other boats. The common denominator was all dock hands were holding up fenders to protect the dock or another boat. Obviously more than one boat had previously done a bit of dock or boat bashing in the attempt to turn the corner. Uh oh. Another egad moment. Add a good size gulp to that.

We quickly became aware that we were to bring Grand Fromage halfway down a fairway and then turn left into a very narrow slot between two docks filled with huge boats. At this point, halfway down the right dock, Robert was to bring Grand Fromage sideways into our starboard tie up with about two feet to spare on all sides. Okie dokie. After coming to terms with the reality that I couldn't hide under the bed until it was all over, I tied more fenders to the port side of Grand Fromage, plus added a couple more to the bow. I held a big fender and stationed myself where I could protect another boat if need be. However, Robert is quite the captain. For all the wind, current, big boats, narrow fairways, he safely put Grand Fromage into our slip without coming close to any of the obstacles. Yeah, Captain Robert!!!!

Newport, RI is an interesting and fun stop with many things to see. We had spent one night there earlier in the summer on our way to Boston. In case you missed it, here is a link to the blog entry for our first visit to Newport. For this visit, we planned more days for sightseeing. To facilitate this, we bought multi day passes for the mansions so we could pace ourselves, mansion-wise. We also bought multi day bus tickets to get around town.

Below are some of the mansions we toured, very impressive. However we found ourselves saying over and over "this is over-the-top, "you've got to be kidding", "holy moly", "alright to visit but I wouldn't want to live here", "I couldn't live here, I'd have to behave"....that sort of thing. Click here for the Mansion Society webpage with more pictures.

The last mansion we visited was my favorite. I could definitely imagine living there. For starters, the family that owned it was not part of the ritzy-bitzy set who owned the huge mansions. This last mansion was, in my mind, a home and not a gigantic stage set for ritualistic society drama reenactments.

There is a lot more to Newport, RI than mansions. It contains more colonial homes than any other place in the USA. It is a wonderful place to stroll and admire the homes and the scenery. There are also many musical, artistic and other cultural events to enjoy.

One last story about Newport and culture....one evening after dinner we decided to go for a stroll. We had just left the marina when we passed a large tent that appeared to be getting ready for an event. We stopped to inquire what was going on. We were told it was the last event of the season for the Newport comedy series. The performer was Frank Caliendo and there were a few tickets remaining. We strolled into the tent and enjoyed an hilarious, delightful evening.

August 25, 2009 - Leaving Boston

2010-09-11T13:29:00.000-04:00

Before leaving Boston, there are a few photos we wanted to share.
How times have changed! The Charlestown Five Cents Savings Bank was started in 1854.

We ran into this on one of our walking jaunts.

Study this sign carefully and see if you can see why we thought it was so darn funny

Clue: have you ever rented an aparatment?????

We had a wonderful time in Boston and surrounding areas. Now it was time to leave. We pulled out of the marina early because we had a long ride down the Atlantic and then through the Cape Cod Canal to Onset.

A few pictures leaving Boston. Note the blue sky.

We had a pleasant ride out of Boston Harbor, successfully avoiding barges, sail boats and fishing boats. We had decided to go a few more miles out in the Atlantic, to cut down on the lobster pots around the buoys. We had no more arrived at our waypoint to go down the Atlantic than the fog came in thick and fast. Uh oh. We had arrived at an "egad" moment.....go back to Boston or follow our route in the fog. We reviewed our navigational preparations and decided we could safely proceed with our route.

We had a long, tiring day with constant viligence for lobster pots and other boats, but we were proud to make our goal. It was a relief when the fog lifted before we arrived at the Cape Cod Canal. The town of Onset looked mighty good when we pulled into our slip.

Aug 23-24, 2009 - Boston

2010-09-09T17:53:00.000-04:00

Daughter Daria, granddaughter Summer and grandson Baxter visited us in Boston. Always a treat to see them, it was especially exciting because they arrived on Daria's birthday!!! First was a birthday lunch at a nice resturant near the marina.

The birthday girl with grandchildren Summer and Baxter

Next on the agenda was a trip on the "T", Boston's subway to a mystery location. For the ride on the T, we needed to purchase Charlie cards. Click here to learn why it is called a Charlie card.

Daria, Summer and Baxter waitng for the T train to arrive.

Walking with the grandkids to the mystery location

The mystery location revealed! We enjoy a laugh-filled adventure with The Blue Man Group

After the show, pictures taken with a Blue Man

Here is a picture of my lovely daughter, Daria, or as we affectionately call her, DW Bob. As her mom, called Mom Bob, as it were, I am very proud of my girl. Daria is an award winning photographer with photos in the Burlington Free Press, People Magazine, Vermont Life and other publications. She and our son-in-law, Andy, have a very successful wedding photography business. You'll enjoy browsing both their website and their blog.

We stopped at a park on the way back to Grand Fromage. I think you'll understand why we are very proud grandparents.

Aug 21, 2009 - Concord, MA

2010-09-08T13:50:00.000-04:00

One of the highlights of our adventure this summer was our trip to Concord, MA in the rental car. Not only was the countryside beautiful, but the historical information was fascinating and extremely informative. We were following the trail of the first shot fired of the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775.
We started out at the Minute Man National Park visitor center. Besides some interesting exhibits, there was an extremely terrific film on the events of April 19, 1775. Click here for the Minute Man National Park website that contains some historic content, plus pictures. I won't retell the fascinating story, but if you follow the links, you will pick up quite a bit of detail.

The Battle Road from Hartwell Tavern toward Lexington

The Battle Road leading into Hartwell Tavern

Hartwell Tavern - click here to read the significance of this restored building

During the summer months, rangers in period dress answer questions about Harwell Tavern and the first battle of the revolutionary war. They also talk about the life of people in 1775.

The picture below is from an alcove off the kitchen and shows some of the equipment used in doing laundry in 1775. How would you like to do laundry for a family of nine children using these implements? You wouldn't need a gym membership.

One of the rangers gave an extremely interesting talk about the history of the tavern and of the family that lived there. Two of the rangers in period dress then demonstrated how a musket is fired.

The rangers were quite willing to answer any question. In this picture the ranger is explaining to Robert that in the 1700's, there were many less trees, as the trees had been cut for homes and for farmland. Because of this the minute men had a much greater view of the British.

All of the fields were separated by stone fences.

We drove into Concord for the next phase of the adventure. This is an adorable town, filled with lovely, well-maintained historic homes. I could have spent a lot more time exploring Concord. We had lunch at the Colonial Inn, which has been a dining establishment since 1716 and an inn since 1889.

After lunch, we headed to the Old North Bridge, site of either the first or second shot of the American Revolution - depending on who is telling the story. Whether the first or second shot, it is diffinitively the site of the "shot heard round the world." The area around the Old North Bridge is extremely scenic and peaceful. It's hard to visualize this pastoral scene as the start of the American Revolution. To learn more about the Old North Bridge, click here.

The restored Old North Bridge....this is where 90-95 British light infantry soldiers gathered at the near end of the bridge.

On this hill on the other side of the Old North Bridge stood 400 minute men and other militia waiting to make sure the British regulars caused no harm to their village.

The statue of the minute man

Here is the plaque commenorating the event on April 19, 1775.

We drove around the adorable town of Concord. There were many interesting homes open for tours, but sadly we had run out of time. However, we did see the front of Ralph Waldo Emerson's home.

I was especially pleased to find the home of Lousisa May Alcott, author of my favorite childhood novels.

As we were driving out of town, we saw a sign to Waldon Pond....I mean this became an instant "must see"! Waldon Pond was indeed beautiful, but it was a shock in several ways. First, it was huge, what I'd consider a lake. Second, it was a wildly popular local swimming hole and beach. People were streaming in to take a dip or lounge on the bank. However I did walk a bit down a trail and found a lovely, tranquil shot of my idea of Waldon Pond.

The park built a replica of the humble cabin of Henry David Thoreau.

Inside the cabin is a replica of the minimalist lifestyle of Henry David Thoreau.

The park also erected a statue of Henry David Thoreau

I'd love to go back to the Concord area and explore some more. You never know.

Aug 19, 2009 - Salem, MA

2009-09-04T08:07:00.000-04:00

Our second journey with the rental car was to the town of Salem, MA. Although known for the witch trials, we were interested in discovering more about Salem's life as one of the first major, prosperous, seaport towns. We started our explorations of the town with a stop at the visitor's center. To find the major historic landmarks, the tourist follows the red line, just like Robert is doing.

Below are a couple examples of the buildings.

We followed the red line to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the first historic national park.

Sadly, the Friendship, a replica historic ship visitors can usually explore, was off in Maine for repairs. However, there were still many other things to see. Robert studied all of the exhibits carefully in an attempt to earn his Junior Ranger badge.

From walking around the Maritime museum, we could see evidence that Salem is still very much an active and bustling sea port. Here is a big barge off loading what appears to be coal.

We went off of the red line to find a place for lunch. The menu indicated that the resturant offered a lobster that they cleaned and cracked. Sold. Robert indicates a thumbs up for the lobster.

After lunch we wandered back to the Maritime museums for a couple of ranger tours of historic homes.
First was the Narbonne house, built in 1675 by a butcher. The ranger gave a very interesting description of middle class life during the time the house was originally built. She showed how the house had evolved over the centuries, with various additions and adaptations.

The second home she showed us was the much larger Derby house, build in 1762. The first picture is the outside of the Derby house. The second picture is a look at the kitchen.

Our last adventure in Salem was a tour of the House of the Seven Gables, inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's book. Built in 1668, the house is the oldest surviving 17th century wooden mansion in New England.

Aug 18, 2009 - Gloucester, MA

2009-09-01T15:09:00.000-04:00

While in Boston, we rented a car to see more of the surrounding countryside. Our first day we took the drive north to Gloucester, MA, one of America's oldest seaports. Click here for a history of Gloucester. It was also home to the Andrea Gail, the boat lost during "The Perfect Storm", which was partially filmed in Gloucester. It is also home to the first art colony.

Gloucester is still very much a working seaport and home to Gorton's fish.

An interesting boat on the hard next to the visitors' center.

The next two pictures are two sides of Rosie's Wharf, home to the Andrea Gail before it was lost at sea during the perfect storm

The view of Gloucester harbor from the art colony side

A cute house in the art colony

In the movie, "The Perfect Storm", the crew and friends gather in a harbor side pub called The Crow's Nest. This is a real place frequented by fishing people, but it is across the street from Rosie's Wharf and not on the wharf itself. For the movie, a wharfside, temporary Crow's Nest was constructed. The picture below is of the original, real Crow's Nest.

This familiar statue, "Man at the Wheel" was erected in a park on the Gloucester Harbor in 1926 to memorialize the thousands of Gloucester fishermen who never returned from the sea.

Team Finnegan in front of the Man at the Wheel

As part of the Fishermen's Memorial, there is a multi-panel plaque with the names of the 10,000 Gloucester men who have been lost at sea. Below is the entry from the men from the Andrea Gail.

The Glousester harbor lighthouse.

Aug 13-16, 2009 - First days in Boston, MA

2009-08-30T16:06:00.000-04:00

On Aug 13, we awoke in Plymouth to very grey skies and inclement weather. It was a day to stay in port, not embark on a voyage to Boston. The marina in Plymouth had another reservation for our slip and were thus not prone to discuss extending our stay until conditions improved. We assessed our options....Robert had set up our route in the chart plotter. We had duplicated our route in our new little garmin. All systems were working well. It was not a great weather day, but it wasn't foggy. We decided we could safely make the run to Boston.

The trip from Plymouth to Boston took constant vigilance because of the thousands of lobster pots. We got pretty good at using simple terms. If I'd see a red lobster pot buoy on the left side we'd probably miss, I'd say, "Red, port, safe". If there was a lime green in our path, it was "Lime, straight ahead". If it remained in our path, I'd say, "Action to port or starboard" "Safe". There were times we were literally surrounded and Captain Robert would wend our way through.

We arrived at the Constitution Marina in Boston in excellent time. We knew we had almost arrived when we passed by the USS Constitution. The marina is across the Charles River in the suburb called Charlestown. The view was excellent.

We did some sightseeing in Boston by a trolley. I'll say up front that Boston is a beautiful city...clean with lovely buildings. When you visit NYC all you care about is seeing the tourist places seen in movies and on tv. When you visit Boston, you want to understand the history of the birth of our county. Here is the challenge...the historical sites are spread out over miles and are in random order so landmarks are not seen in chronological order. It is confusing and disorienting for the short time visitor.

Just in time, we found Ben Franklin in Faneuil Hall.
The old State House, where the Declaration of Independence was first read from the balcony.

This statue commemorates the black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry led by white Bostonian Robert Shaw during the civil war. The movie, "Glory" was based on the story of this regiment. Click here for more information.
The new Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill.

Near Boston Common is a very old graveyard called The Granary. We wandered around and found some well known historic folks. Below is Samuel Adams.

A memorial to Alexander Hamilton

I'm hanging out with Paul Revere.

Inside Grand Fromage

2009-08-23T09:43:00.019-04:00

Some of you have requested some pictures of the inside of Grand Fromage. Almost three years ago, my daughter, who is a professional photographer, took these shots. My daughter, Daria Bishop and her husband, Andy Bishop, have a wonderful website and a blog you will enjoy.

Entering Grand Fromage's salon from the aft of the boat. Our comfy couch. The table goes up and down electrically for use as either a coffee table or as a dining room table.
Across from the couch are two very comfortable chairs. The 50" flat screen TV comes out of a cabinet in front of the little red box to the right of the chairs.
The salon looking down from the galley.

The area up the steps from the salon has three functions: galley, helm station and dinette. This picture shows the dinette, a corner of the galley with the helm station behind.

Helm station where Captain Robert drives the boat if it is cold or rainy. To the right of the helm station are the steps going down to the staterooms.

The helm station, galley and tip of the dinette table from the steps going down.

The galley. The steps behind the dinette are going up to the flybridge.

The dinette and steps to flybridge. The flybridge is our favorite place to drive Grand Fromage. We have wonderful visability plus the outdoor experience.

This is the guest room or the VIP stateroom. There is a private bathroom with shower attached.

The master stateroom. The door on the right goes to the engine room.

A little more of the master stateroom plus a peek into the master bath.

The port stateroom. There is a bunk that comes down from the wall above the bed. There is a bathroom with shower next to the port stateroom

Thanks a huge bunch for these great pictures of Grand Fromage, Daria!!!!

Aug 9 - 13, 2009 - Plymouth, MA

2009-08-21T08:22:00.017-04:00

We absolutely could not believe that we had actually made it to Plymouth, MA on Grand Fromage. Click here for the Wikipedia article on Plymouth, MA.

Plymouth is brimming with tourists, but there is a small town feel. It seemed like the perfect place to offload a scooter and do some exploring.

The keyboard on Robert's computer was behaving in a truly bizarre manner...randomly, it wouldn't type T, U, 3, or Q. I did many diagnostics and finally came up with the highly technical answer...."It's broke". So, first stop in Plymouth was out to Staples to buy a new keyboard and mouse for Robert's computer. How historical can you get???? Back on Grand Fromage, we successfully installed the new keyboard and mouse.

Since we were right next to the Mayflower replica, that was our first serious sightseeing venue. Click here for information on Mayflower 2, the replica, Here is the Wikipedia entry on the Mayflower.

Exploring Mayflower 2 was extremely interesting. There were people in period costumes who were acting out particular characters from the Mayflower in the time period of 1620. There were also docents who were not in period costumes and were not acting out a role. This second group interacted from the current perspective.

Conditions on board Mayflower were pretty unbelievable...at least from the perspective of two people who live very comfortably on a boat for six months a year. There were 102 passengers, plus crew. The passengers, except for rare occasions when invited to come up on the upper deck, spent the entire voyage in the dark lower deck. It was gross.

One of the period characters
Robert walking on the deck
Looking up

Second sightseeing stop was Plymouth Rock. To protect the rock from scavengers, over time a fancy portico has been erected around the rock. To me, it was pretty funny.
The rock

Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum, is a three mile ride out of town. It is divided into two parts, the Indian Wampanoag tribal settlement and a settler village representing life in 1627.

The first thing you see as you enter the Plimoth Plantation visitor center is this funny statue of The Mooflower. Being simple folk, we thought it was hilarious.

Our first day visit to Plimoth Plantation we went to the Indian settlement of the Wampanoag tribe. The docents in this area are members of either this tribe or of another native American nation. Although they wore native dress, they are not representing historical characters and speak as modern people.

The tribal members were extremely interesting and I gained some new perspectives.

On our second day in Plimoth Plantation, we went to the colonial village. In this area, the staff is in period costumes and each plays a character from 1627. It's a lot of fun and extremely interesting.

Robert is walking up to the wooden walls of the colonial village. On the other side of the wall is a two story building. The first floor served as the worship center. The second floor was the fort area, complete with canon.
The path going down to the village
The houses were all constructed in a similar manner, with thatch roofs.
Some of the period characters

We greatly enjoyed Plymouth. In all honesty, however, Mystic, CT was a step above in every way. Mystic Seaport was immaculately clean with exceptionally courteous and friendly staff. Every process, including the purchase of tickets and memberships was efficient. The folks at Plimoth Plantation were pleasant enough, but the processes weren't efficient. In the exhibit area, there were piles of stuff that didn't belong, especially in the tribal area. It didn't seem well maintained. The gardens were weedy. The administration of Mystic Seaport was definitely superior.

Aug 9, 2009 - Cape Cod Canal to Plymouth

2009-08-21T06:44:00.008-04:00

The town of Onset is right by the Cape Cod Canal, a seven mile human constructed canal that cuts through where the Cape Cod peninsula connects to mainland Massachusetts. Click here to read a very interesting Wikipedia entry on the Cape Cod Canal. According to the article, the concept of the canal was first proposed by Miles Standish of the Plymouth Colony in 1623. George Washington was involved in further investigations of the canal concept, but the ideas fell through. The construction of the canal was finally started in 1909 and completed in 1916. If you happen to have more time on your hands than is possibly good for you, you may click here for a webcan of boats passing through the canal....updated every 30 minutes. The Army Corps of Engineers has some interesting information here.

At the start of the canal going north is this railroad bridge

Directly in front of us going through the canal was this barge and then the sailboat. I had no idea that the Cape Cod Canal was such a tourist attraction. On either side of the bank is a paved walking path. It was not surprising that during our transit, many people walked, jogged, roller bladed, biked both sides of the bank. What was surprising was the number of people on both sides of the bank who brought folding chairs to sit and watch boats transverse the canal.

Going through the canal

When we exited the canal, we were in Cape Cod Bay for the easy ride into Plymouth Harbor. Easy, except for the lobster pots, but you are beginning to expect that statement if you have been following our blog.

We had an easy tie up to a tee dock. It was so exciting to go up on our bridge and have this view of the Mayflower replica.

Aug 7-9, 2009 - Fairhaven and Onset, MA

2009-08-20T08:07:00.008-04:00

We had an nice trip to Fairhaven, MA on Aug 7 from Newport, RI. Our new little backup gps functioned well with our Furuno chartplotter. We were traveling in Buzzard's Bay. I got a kick out of this because many years ago, when I was learning the navigational charting software, Nobeltec on our California boat, the tutorial examples involved plotting a course on Buzzard's Bay. To be there in real life was amazing. My tutorial did not include all of the lobster pots we had to dodge.

Coming into the bay, Fairhaven appeared to be a huge city with many commercial fishing boats. We learned that Fairhaven shares the bay with a much larger town, New Bedford, MA.

Our marina was home to many commercial fishing boats. We felt like Grand Fromage was now part of the fishing fleet. The biggest commercial fleet was across the bay in New Bedford.
We were in Fairhaven one night. On Aug 8, we traveled to Onset, MA. This picturesque town is located right before the Cape Cod Canal. The closer we got to Onset, the more the boat traffic picked up, from weekend runabouts to large commercial boats. The path through the markers leading into the harbor was filled with lobster pots.

Once tied up, we dropped our dingy, Brie, to do some sightseeing. The city provides a free dingy dock in town. Onset was celebrating Cape Verdean days with a festival in the park. From all of the hundreds, if not thousands of participants, this is a popular event. Click here to learn about the festival and the Cape Verdean heritage.

One of the many quaint buildings in Onset.
The village of Onset couldn't have been in a prettier setting.

After enjoying the world's best hamburger and walking around through the festival participants, we took a long dingy ride around the harbor.

Since I've frequently mentioned our great navigational challenge, the lobster pot, I thought you might like to meet one, up close and personal. The pot, or cage is lowered on a long rope to the bottom. Each lobster fishing company has a uniquely colored buoy to mark the location of the trap. This one you can see is red and white with a stick top. The ones with the stick top are extremely hard to spot out in the ocean, especially if there is chop. The buoy lays down in the chop and the dark tops are nearly invisible. We "like" the lobster pot buoys with wide tops that are big and brightly colored....orange, fuchsia, lime green are crowd pleasing colors. The hiss boo lobster pot buoys are either blue or black with little dark tops.The lobster fishers usually drop a string of pots, connected to a rope. If you see one lobster pot buoy, this is the sign to look for more.

To learn more about lobster fishing, click here.

Aug 6-7, 2009 - Newport, RI

2009-08-19T07:40:00.007-04:00

From the water, the ride into Newport, RI is lovely. Coming into Narragansett Bay on either side of the bay are cliffs with many big, fancy homes and scenic vistas.

Here is a lobster boat with the cliffs behind On the north side of Narragansett Bay you can see people on a trail going to this small lighthouse. We learned later this is called The Cliff Walk and is extremely popular.
When I took this picture from Grand Fromage, I thought it was one of the mansions. In reality, it is a hotel. Oh well, it looks pretty darn mansionly to me.
Captain Robert and First Mate Glee wear ear phones when docking Grand Fromage. These ear phones enable a safe, sane and quiet docking. We were wearing our ear phones coming up Narragansett Bay. I kept hearing Captain Robert muttering "Holy Moly!", "Oh my gosh!". At first I thought there was a problem, but he assured me that the amazement was over all of the boats in the harbor. Coming in, I was too busy setting ropes and bumpers to take a look. On the way out, I snapped these shots that do not do justice to the impact of the hundreds of boats in the harbor. Once we were safely tied up, we went in search of lunch. You have to see Newport to believe it....thousands of people, hundreds of shops...quaintness and beautiful people abound. We did some serious people watching while enjoying an extemely guchi lunch.

Next summer we are planning to take Grand Fromage up into the Great Lakes and Canada. As we were sitting in Newport, enveloped by an overwhelming sense of "I could easily get used to this", I jokingly told Robert...."forget Canada". As a user definable option, you may feel free to substitute another word for the "forget". Robert thought that was pretty darn funny, after he recovered from his initial stark raving fear that his wife was going to attempt Newportization.

We only had one night in Newport, thanks to the fog delays in Mystic. However, here are a few examples of the interesting buildings.

On our way back up to New York City, we have scheduled a few more days in Newport, RI to do more sightseeing.

July 28-Aug 6 - Mystic, Connecticut

2009-08-17T08:24:00.012-04:00

We really enjoyed Mystic, CT. It was scenic as all get out with many lovely homes. To see the sights, we rented a car for a few days.

Priority number one was to arrange for a marine-oriented gps backup. We had our car gps, but it didn't have the marine charts on it. First stop with the rental car was West Marine. We are very happy with our purchase of a Garmin Colorado with blue water charts. It came with a PC program to create waypoints and routes. This is very handy because the Garmin colorado has a teeny screen. However, after creating the waypoints and routes, with a usb cable, the data can be transferred to the colorado. We tweaked some settings and voila, the bearing and distance to next waypoint matched up perfectly with our Furuno chartplotter.

Second priority was to arrange for such neglected niceties as haircuts. This necessity always brings anxiety and dread...where do you go for a good haircut in an unfamiliar town??? On the other hand, a bad haircut can be remedied at the next port of call. Shorn and as lovely as we can get, we headed out for some major sightseeing.

I have to highly recommend Mystic Seaport, a living history museum along the waterfront. Although there are the standard maritime museum exhibits, there are also many colonial homes and businesses you can explore with docents to explain what life was like in the 1800's. There are also ships you can board.

When I was a girl studying American history, I first read about Williamsburg, VA. For a history buff, Williamsburg sounded like the mecca, with people dressed in period clothes, chatting, answering questions. A couple of years ago we visited Williamsburg. It was a dashing disappointment for both Robert and me. It was bitterly expensive with only a few buildings open for period interaction. Other buildings were curio shops. I won't go into all of our negative reactions, however, Mystic Seaport was what I'd expected Williamsburg to be, plus more. It was a very entertaining, relaxing, educational experience. We liked it so much, we went two days.

One of the period homes brought to Mystic Seaport.
Inside the home, this extremely knowledgeable docent explained in great detail the life of the housewife in the 1800's. Her stories were so interesting that we listened and asked questions for quite some time.
To make it living history, the docent was cooking on the hearth. Here she is going to check on the cake and on the cornbread.
The pot on the hook has hot water. The kettle on the left contains the cornbread. The kettle on the right holds the cake. Later on we ran into this docent handing out samples of the cake and cornbread to other docents. She remembered us and gifted us with a couple of pieces of the yummy cornbread.
An example of the lovely gardens in each yard, containing both flowers and herbs. In each backyard was a huge vegetable garden.

A couple of street scenes

We had planned to leave Mystic on Tue, Aug 2, however, we awoke to nasty fog. Gloom. We waited until 10 only to have conditions worsen. Robert found a local, George, for insider information. George strongly advised not to leave if you can't see Fisherman's Island. On a positive note, due to our delay, we became better acquainted with George and his wife. They took us to a very yummy seafood restaurant for dinner.

Robert and I were feverishly attempting to learn enough weather from Weather Underground to predict fog. Wednesday was foggy. We couldn't see Fisherman's Island. We stayed in port.

Our wait for a good day paid off. Thursday was a beautiful, clear, crystal day. Our patience was rewarded with an easy trip to Newport, RI. We needed constant vigilence for the ever present lobster pots, but the visibility made this much easier.

Leaving Mystic Harbor

Happily, we didn't need the services of the lighthouse at the mouth of Mystic Harbor One of the islands outside Mystic Harbor and one of the reasons we didn't want to leave in the fog.

A humble, rustic waterfront community we passed on the way to Newport, RI.

July 23-28, 2009 - Long Island Sound

2009-08-07T17:50:00.013-04:00

Grand Fromage pulled out of Liberty Landing Marina on July 23 to head up the East River to Long Island Sound. I had planned to take many pictures of NYC from the perspective of the East River. However, as soon as we pulled out into the Hudson River, we discovered our gps was not functioning. Go back or continue on without the gps??? It was a cloudy day but with excellent visability. We had radar. We had the charts that Robert had been studying. We decided to continue on.

Manuevering into the East River, it was obvious we would need all eyes keeping watch for the many small boats, ferry boats, and barges. No time for pictures here. Traveling up the East River did not decrease the number of boats and activity. If anything, it became busier. I vaguely remember going by the UN building, but no time to grab the camera. We came to the area reknowned to boaters as "Hell's Gate", where the East River comes into Long Island Sound. Amazing current and rapids. We had no problems, but I could see it could play merry havoc with a boat with a small engine.

Hell's Gate behind us, we entered Long Island Sound and yikes, fog. At first the fog was not bad and we had adequate visibility. However, there was no time for relaxation. Constant vigilence was the key to avoiding boats and lobster pots, which were now popping up all over the place. A boater does not want to hit a crab or lobster pot. The line from the pot can get twisted around the propellor, necessitating a dive down to cut it out. Robert was very busy keeping our course manually on the chart. There were many buoys and markers in the water to make finding our place on the chart a little easier.

When Natalie was in NYC, I explained to her how boaters navigate, matching a numbered buoy in the water to the same numbered buoy on a chart. Natalie, here is an example of a green buoy...this one is number 5. For a short time it seemed that the fog was lifting, but then it came in with a vengence....does fog have vengence? Whatever the case, we couldn't see, plus interestingly enough, we didn't know where we were as the further we got up the sound, the further apart the buoys. When we realized our gps was out, we had fired up a hand held gps. Robert manally entered in the gps co-ordinates into our chartplotter. Now we knew where we were, but it is hard to locate boats and lobster pots when eyes aren't constantly on the water. Suddenly we realized we were right next to the harbor entrance of our day's destination....Stamford, CT. Whew!!!! We entered the harbor and the fog magically lifted.

We had planned to spend only one night in Stamford, but first priorty was fixing the gps. A very nice man from Jersey City drove over the next day and fixed us up. We enjoyed a nice dingy ride in Stamford, a large, industrial place with a lot of barge traffic, but with very scenic shoreline parks

We left Stamford on a beautiful clear day with fabulous visibility and had an easy run to Clinton, CT. We stayed at a fun marina on a lovely river. The marina provided a free shuttle into town. Our shuttle driver did far more than scoot us into town. She gave us the complete tour with commentary.

We chose to eat dinner at APizza, where we enjoyed a yummy pasta meal. A family owned business, we chatted with one of the sons who knew all about Modesto, Ca. He had gone there the year before to arrange for daily shipments of tomotoes. While at APizza, Robert had a celebetory first, a white birch soda. He reported it tasted like a cross between a cream soda and a rootbeer.
Clinton, CT was a wonderful town for a dingy ride up the river. It was such a peaceful place with people out enjoying the water.
Osprey parents enjoying an al fresco lunch with the kids. We enjoyed another New Enland first in Clinton....the all important lobster roll. According to the locals, the Clinton lobster rolls are the best of the best....just lobster chunks, butter and lemon juice. We will attest to the fact that they were delicious. According to reliable sources, too many lobster rolls are constructed like a tunafish salad...minced lobster blended with gobs of mayonaise. After two nights in Clinton, we had a nice ride to Say Brook, CT, where we spent one night. Here comes the same song, second verse...when we left Say Brook, it was a cloudy, but very clear morning. We get a few miles up Long Island Sound and here comes the fog. This time we have our gps working on our chartplotter so we can track to a waypoint. However, the radar shows boats everywhere so we are trying to match the blips on the radar to boats in the water. We blow our fog horn. We are looking for lobster pots and other boats. We feel confident with our position and our ability to manuever to our next destination. We do not feel confidence in the many small boats who don't have radar and who seem oblivious to the fact that the visibility is 50 feet. To confirm our fears, a little boat comes screaming out of the fog right next to us, going at least 25 mph, followed by another little boat going just as fast. Whoa Nellie!

Lighthouse at a harbor entrance with the fog behind.
We were very tired when we arrived safe and sound in Mystic, CT. We stayed at a very nice marina, Mystic Shipyard. I'd like to comment that the dockhand who helped us tie up was the best in three summers of cruising the East Coast. His name was Kenny and he was a wonder....Mystic Shipyard....time to give Kenny a raise. Kenny was not only endlessly energetic and cheerful, but he knew the procedures to logically tie up to their fixed docks.

July 16-21, 2009 - Terry Finnegan & family visit NYC

2009-07-30T08:44:00.016-04:00

We had been greatly looking forward to the visit of son Terry, daughter-in-law Debby and granddaughter Natalie. We happily made the ferry, subway, air train trip out to JFK to meet them on July 16.

Natalie is now 10 years old and smart as a whip. I had a chance to spend some time with her the first evening when we took a lovely walk to the Hudson River. The view of Manhattan from Liberty Landing is wonderful
On the second day of the visit, our first stop off the subway was Times Square. We meadered up another block further than we had ventured with the Neilsons, where we found the naked cowboy....our sincere apologizes to the Neilson family for failing to walk that extra block. Next stop was Rockefeller Center and a trip to the Top of the Rock. Although a little hazy, the view was as spectacular as ever.

Terry and Robert at the Top of the Rock

Terry, Natalie, Debbie and Robert at the Top of the Rock We had asked Terry, Debbie and Natalie what they would like to do in New York City. Sports fan, Terry, had always wanted to see the Yankees play in Yankee Stadium. Natalie requested a visit to American Girl Doll. In order to accomplish these New York City goals, Natalie, Debbie and I set out for American Girl Doll. Robert and Terry meandered around Central Park for a while and then headed out to Yankee Stadium for a Yankee/Detroit evening game.

I had made reservations for a late lunch at American Girl Doll. This gave us some time to look around the huge store. Unbelievable as it may seem, the store is three floors of American Girl dolls, clothes, and accessories. After a lot of doll comparisons, Natalie choose to take home Felicity, a girl of the revolutionary war period. We selected a few outfits for Felicity as well. If American Girl doll is any economic indicator, the recession is over. Each floor was packed with shoppers who appeared to be in the buying mode.

The dining room at American Girl doll is an adorable place with a pink, white and black polka dot/daisy theme. They had special little seats for the dolls to sit at the table. The menu was very creative with food items favored by young girls incorporating fruits and vegetables in fun shapes.
Natalie prepares to enjoy a fruit kabob.
Natalie and Felicity A couple of weeks before Terry arrived, Robert and I had taken the train out to Yankee Studium to buy tickets for the game. After waiting in a huge line, the extremely rude ticket person informed us the cheapest tickets he had left for that game were$385. They weren't very good seats. Robert said absolutely no way. Over lunch, Robert was talking to our programmer, Sports Bob on the phone. Sports Bob is a season ticket holder for the Angels. He went to a special season ticket holder site and came up with two tickets for good seats at a reasonable rate.

Upon arriving at Yankee Stadium, Robert and Terry found the seats to be marvelous...7 rows back between home plate and first base. They had a tremendous view. Thanks Sports Bob!!! Robert and Terry really enjoyed the game, plus the Yankees won.

The third day of the visit, we enjoyed The Lion King on broadway. After the Lion King, we had a stroll up 42nd to see Bryant Park, the library and Grand Central Station.

Natalie reading a book in Bryant Park.
Terry, Debbie and Natalie in front of the library.On Sunday, we got up early so we could catch the first ferry to Ellis Island.

Terry and Natalie study the exhibit of immigrant trucks and bags.
Debbie, Terry and Natalie in front of the Statue of Liberty. From Liberty Island, we took the ferry to Manhattan. One big goal for the Terry Finnegan family was the experience of eating a genuine New York pizza. Since we had a surprise reservation to see The Blue Man Group, we found a pizza place near the theater. This pizza was fabulous and met all expectations. We had arranged for the tickets to The Blue Man Group far enough in advance, we were able to sit right up front in the poncho section. This show is tremendous fun for all ages.

Robert, a blue man and Natalie after the show.

To top off a very fun day, Terry, Debbie and Natalie took us all out for a yummy mexican dinner to celebrate Team Finnegan's sixth wedding anniversary.

On the final day of the visit, Robert, Terry, Debbie and Natalie toured the Natural History Museum and strolled in Central Park.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Terry, Debbie and Natalie. Debbie and Terry were so helpful and enthusiastic to pitch in and help with boat tasks. I greatly enjoyed long walks with Natalie. It was terrific to spend time getting to know her better.

July 12-15, 2009 - Sports Bob visits NYC

2009-07-29T12:26:00.005-04:00

We were so happy to welcome our software programmer, Sports Bob, aboard Grand Fromage for a short visit. Some of you know him as Robert Liccardo.

It is funny how things evolve. We had left our car parked up at Winter Harbor, which is near Syracuse. Sports Bob and his finance were visiting her family, who happen to live near Syracuse. Robert came up with the great idea that Sports Bob could drive our car to Liberty Landing for a short visit and then drive it back to catch his plane back to California.

Robert and Sports Bob had some business meetings on the program. We enjoyed some tasty meals, swapped some tales and laughed a lot. Sports Bob is not only a very talented and creative programmer but a wonderful companion as well. We've become great friends over the years and always look forward to spending time together.

Sports Bob on the bow of Grand Fromage at Liberty Landing. Jersey City is to the left, Manhattan is behind.
Sports Bob preparing to board Grand Fromage.

July 2-9, 2009 - Neilsons visit

2009-07-24T14:19:00.009-04:00

Daughter Katy, son-in-law Chris and grand kids Justin and Noelle arrived at JFK airport on July 2. We had learned the ropes to get to JFK the summer before. You take the A train to Far Rockaway....note, do NOT take the A train to Lefferts!!!!. You get off the A train at Howard Beach and take the air train to the correct terminal. To get back to Grand Fromage from JFK, you take the air train to Howard Beach, take the A train to Chambers St. You walk six or seven blocks down either Chambers or Warren to Battery Park to the Ferry Terminal. You take the Liberty Landing Ferry to the state park. The last ferry to Liberty Landing leaves at 8:45 on weekdays and 7:45 on weekends.

With this information at the ready, when do you want us to pick you up at JFK?????

Katy, Chris, Justin and Noelle on the A train. They spent much of the ride chatting with the woman next to Katy and discover in the process that most New Yorkers are extremely friendly and helpful. On July 3rd, we had a full day of sightseeing, starting with the mind boggling scene at Times Square. The human brain can not imagine so many people going so fast in so many directions at each corner. This phenomena, combined with all the taxis, makes for a impact welcome to Manhattan. Keeping the group together is a real challenge, but imperative. I will mention at the very onset, just to get the matter over with, that we did NOT see the naked cowboy on this day or any other day of the Neilson visit. I realize this is cause for regret, dispair and lifelong disappointment, but sometimes we must face the unfairness in life.

It is a relief to find the leafy repose of Bryant Park at 42nd and 6th. This park, right behind the library is a true wonder. Beautifully landscaped, it is festooned with hundreds of bistro tables and chairs. A large segment is a reading "room" with the latest newspapers, magazines and books for anyone to enjoy.

Noelle finds a fun book to read.
Robert and Katy enjoy a father/daughter chat.

The Neilsons relax in Bryant Park.
After our pleasant rest in Bryant Park, it was off for more manic sightseeing. Next up was the Rockefeller Center, including a trip up to the Top of the Rock. We enjoyed lunch at the Rockefeller Plaza, followed by that must have Ben and Jerrys. Walking back to 42nd, we took in Grand Central Station, the Chyrsler Building and the library. Interestingly, on display at the library was the original Declaration of Independence with hardly any line to view it.

The Neilsons quickly discovered that in Manhattan, you walk, walk some more, climb steps, ride the subway, walk, climb, ride the ferry, walk.

Waiting for the subway.
On the Liberty Landing Ferry

The third day of the visit was July 4. The staff at Libert Landing warned us that the state park was a favored site from which to view the fireworks and the anticipated crowds might force officials to restrict entrants over a certain number of people. What this meant to us in real life was that if we left the park, we might have issues getting back in.

We had plan B. In the Liberty State Park was a New Jersey childrens' science center. One of the featured displays of the science center is a huge exhibit on skyscrapers...how they are constructed, design elements, where the largest skyscrapers are located. There are interactive displays, including wind factors. You can walk a girder, move objects with a crane, scrape some dirt with a backhoe. I come to a place like this and turn 8 years old again. I'm surprised our arrival did not cause a loud speaker announcement, "Attention all children, Grandma Glee has just entered the building and she wants to play."

Noelle fine tunes her backhoe skill set.
Robert hones up for the crane operators license.
I show off my skyscraper building magnificence. You must surely be quite impressed with my creative architectural design skills and of course my ability to overcome all negative factors facing the modern skyscraper.
Whoopsie daisy, looks like I have a little more to learn about the fine art of skyscraper design and construction. I'd better participate in a few more interactive displays.

The Neilsons entranced by one of the displays.

After a tasty barbeque on board, we enjoyed some impressive fireworks from the bridge of Grand Fromage.

On Sunday we headed out for a ride on the Staten Island Ferry, the best bargain in NYC....free.

Katie and Noelle enjoy a view of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.

We surprised the Neilsons with a trip to the Blue Man Group which was enjoyed by all. After the show, we took the subway down to Wall Street.

Katy, Chris, Justin and Noelle eagerly awaiting their bailout on Wall Street.

Monday we took the ferry to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Robert and I were dragging from all of the sightseeing. The Neilsons assured us they were now practically locals and could manage the subway on their own. They had a lovely walk in Central Park, including a row boat ride on a little lake. Tuesday they again ventured on their own to the natural history museum.

Wednesday we all headed back to Broadway to see the matinee of The Lion King....a very upbeat, creative and fun show. We had a wonderful visit with the Neilson family. Justin and Noelle were extremely well behaved and helpful. I know Katy tried to behave herself so she will received credit. We shared some very fun adventures and a lot of laughs. Before heading out for JFK.....see above for detailed instructions....Robert, Chris, Katy, Justin and Noelle posed by Grand Fromage.

June 27-30, 2009 - Liberty Landing with George and Frances

2009-07-21T09:07:00.004-04:00

Our friends George and Frances arrived at Liberty Landing Marina a day after we did. They had traveled nonstop from Virginia Beach on their beautiful sail boat, Kittiwake. Helping them with their passage was Jack, George's brother.

We had some very fun adventures hanging out with George, Frances and Jack for a few days.
We enjoyed tasty meals, stories, and a lot of laughs. Here is a picture of George and Frances.

George had a conference in Washington DC. We all hopped on the subway to escort him to Penn Station so he could catch his train. When the remaining four of us emerged from the subway on 35th we discovered it was minutes from the start of the gay pride parade.Jack had bought us all tickets to the Blue Man Group, which we had never seen. We hopped in a cab to get to the matinee. This preformance was a hoot!!!! We really enjoyed it.

George, Frances and Jack left Liberty Landing for Maine. We hope to meet up with them later this summer.

Jun 21-26, 2009 - Down the Hudson

2009-07-16T08:46:00.007-04:00

We had a lovely ride down the Hudson River, a truly beautiful waterway. One of the interesting sights are the historic lighthouses. Here are a few:A small town on the Hudson with the Catskills in the distance.

The modest retreat on the Hudson. Someone's camp?

Our first stop on the Hudson was the charming town of Catskill. We stayed at the Catskill Marina, a professionally operated facility with friendly, skillful staff. Here is Grand Fromage docked at Catskill Marina.

Part of the cute downtown of the village of Catskill

It has become fairly common for a town to have an event that involves an artistic contest to decorate a themed statue and then after the contest, auction off the statues to raise money for
charity. Prague had cows. Norfolk had mermaids. Catskill has....wait now, can you possible guess???....yes, you are right...cats!. Catskill has this event every year. The majority of the cat statues involve historic scenes painted on the cat....the cat is sort of like a canvas for the painting. The statue below involved this kind of painting, but the artist took it up a notch by making the cat into Henry Hudson....more clever and creative, in my humble opinion.

Our very favorite is "The Catue of Liberty". Robert is ready to make a bid on this one right now. If it doesn't win the contest, it will be a travesty of justice.

If and when you go to the town of Catskill, be sure to go for breakfast or lunch at the MOD cafe..a fun menu with friendly, cheerful owners.

We arrived at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City on June 26th. It was a lot of fun to return to New York City.

June 16-20, 2009 - Erie Canal

2009-07-13T13:39:00.006-04:00

We had a wonderful, happy reunion with Grand Fromage at the Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY. The folks at Winter Harbor did a fantastic job storing Grand Fromage for the winter. They also gave Grand Fromage a shiny, lovely bottom paint job. We can't say enough about the professionalism, kindness and courtesy of the folks at Winter Harbor. Click here for their website.

We had a lot of work to get Grand Fromage ready for another summer of cruising. Our friend, Ralph, from Naples, Fl, joined us to help us go down the Erie Canal. We took 5 days to test all systems and provision. It rained and rained.

On June 16 we left Winter Harbor. The first day we crossed Lake Oneida and tied up to the free dock for the night. The next day we woke up to rain. For the second mate and I, foul weather gear was in our immediate future.

Captain Robert helps second mate, Ralph, dude up in foul weather gear.

The deck crew prepared for all weather contingencies.

The great blue heron appeared prepared to deal with the rain.

Our trip through the Erie Canal last fall was a relaxing, fun experience with plenty of time for pictures and admiring the gorgeous scenery. This trip was a whole other story. Remember I mentioned it rained and rained before we left the marina? It continued to rain during our passage through the canal. What this meant for us was water over two feet above normal, tremendous logs and debris in the water, swift currents and rapids. We all had to stay vigilant to spot logs. The worst were the "dead heads", What you would see would be a seemingly harmless piece of wood on the surface. However, if it were a dead head, it would be the small visible part of a huge tree limb or trunk. Hitting a dead head can cause significant damage.

A working barge from the Erie Canal district going out to find and remove debris.There was significant current entering each lock, however, Captain Robert quickly learned the technique to avoid stress and disaster. Leaving the lock, the water rushing out of the dam was filled with rapids and logs. Once again, Captain Robert learned the combination for steering plus engine to avoid the debris. Smaller boats going west up the canal were having a horrible, terrifying time of it, especially the sailboats. Their underpowered engines could not rev fast enough to power through the rapids and current to enter the lock. We heard their conversations on the radio and they were having a scary go of it. Now that I'm working on the blog, I certainly wish I'd taken pictures, but at the time we were very busy.

Second mate Ralph holding the aft rope at the top of the lock.Ralph holding the rope near the bottom of the lock.

There are many bridges we go under on the Erie Canal. The lowest bridge is either 21 or 20 feet, depending on the source. With the radio antennas up, radar tower up and the bimini top on, Grand Fromage has a bridge clearance of 28 feet. Uh oh, you say, how is that going to work?. The first owner arranged for this contingency with a radar mast that lowers hydraulically. Last spring, Captain Robert and friend John lowered the mast to a little over 19 feet and we had no problems clearing the bridges with room to spare. With a few more hours' work, our top can go even lower to clear a 15 foot bridge, but for the Erie, the extra time and effort was not necessary. All together now, "after all, we'd cleared all bridges with no problems the year before". Since the water did seem a tad higher this year, it was prudent for Ralph to stand on the mast, ear phones on, to make sure we'd clear each bridge.

We going to make this bridge, Ralph?

Ralph using the earphone to discuss with Captain Robert whether Grand Fromage will clear the bridge. In this case, the answer was AOK.

On the second day of our passage through the Erie Canal, just outside Schenectady, we needed to go under a bridge the chart said was 24 feet. Hey, this should be no problem, we'd cleared bridges 21 feet that day. On this occasion, Ralph said we would not clear the bridge and we would hit our TV dome. Whoopsie daisy. Time for plan B. Errrrrrrrrr team, what is Plan B, anyway??? There was no place to tie up the boat within easy reach. There was a lock wall to the west, which would mean transversing back through the current, rapids and logs of the previous lock and then going up the lock to get to the wall. This choice did not bring chortles of excitement from Team Finnegan. Ok, there was the marina in Schenectady where we had a reservation for the night....oh yeah, that was on the other side of the bridge we couldn't clear. Captain Robert ordered us back a short ways where we could go up a side channel to the river and put down the anchor. Once our anchor was holding, Captain Robert turned into McKyver and rigged up all of these safety devices, ropes and measures to safely lower the tv dome another foot. We were now at 18 feet 4 inches. Back to our nemisis bridge to try again. This time there were a bunch of kids on the bank yelling, "Go under, you'll make it!!!" The word we were waiting for was from Ralph who gave it a go. Ralph said we cleared the bridge by 6 inches.

We were very happy to make it to the Hudson River on the third day. We still had the Federal Lock at Troy, but that was easy. It was a relief to tie up at the Albany Yacht Club for a couple of days. Ralph, having saved our TV dome and possible damage to Grand Fromage, jumped ship in Albany to fly home to Naples. Thanks, Ralph for all of your help!!!

June 2-12, 2009 - Car trip to Winter Harbor

2009-07-11T08:30:00.011-04:00

Although Team Finnegan definitely had some adventures this winter and spring while we were at home in Naples, Fl, this year we have decided to document just our crusing adventures on the blog. In this way I can magically go from nine months behind on the blog to caught up overnight. Yeah!!!!

We chose to drive to upper state New York because we had some items to take to the boat....such as my cute little expresso machine. The wonderful people at Winter Harbor had graciously agreed to store our car for us while we are out cruising this summer.

We did not take anywhere near a direct route since we had friends and relatives to visit on the way.

The first day we ran out of steam in Dawson, GA. This is a very rural area and quite scenic with rolling hills and woods. While there, we drove to Plains, GA, home of Jimmy Carter.

The train depot where Jimmy Carter announced his run for the presidency. Brother Billy Carter's gas station. Dawson, GA is such a rural place that the closest thing to fine dining was the McDonalds. Actually, we enjoyed a very tasty chicken salad.

The second day of our road trip, we arrived at our first destination, Priceville, AL to visit Robert's Aunt Desi and Cousin Joe. Last fall, Aunt Desi moved into a lovely home at The Terrace at Priceville. This is the model for a retirement facility. The monthly rent covers the two bedroom home, two meals a day, activities, all utilities, and weekly maid service. What makes it so special are the people. For instance, the staff knows Desi likes her buttermilk, so when she goes into the dining room, her glass of buttermilk is waiting for her at her table. If it is raining, someone comes in a golf cart to take Desi to the dining room. Click here for more information on The Terrace at Priceville.

We had two fun days visiting Joe and Desi. We spent quite a bit of time driving to see the local attractions of the Decatur area. A highlight was a drive out in the country to see where Desi grew up. We found the little church with cemetery where her parents, brothers, sisters and other relatives are buried.

The church with cemetery. You can see how scenic and wooded it is in Northern Alabama.Desi points out a family story to Robert. Aunt Desi

Cousin Joe, Aunt Desi and Robert Next up was a stop at Stone Mountain, GA. Robert had once seen the laser show at Stone Mountain and wanted to share this with me. The pictures I took at Stone Mountain have mysteriously vanished, but you can click here for more information. We took a long, lovely walk in the morning and then played nine holes of golf in the afternoon. The golf course was just beautiful and a pleasure to play. The laser show had changed greatly from Robert's first visit, but it was a lot of fun.

From Stone Mountain, GA, we drove to New Bern, NC to visit our friends John and Vivian. We always have a great time visiting John and Vivian and this time was not an exception. Since we spent three months at the Sheraton Marina two summers ago, it was fun to see the changes in New Bern. Most notable were the renovations to the Sheraton, itself. When we were there, this hotel could politely be called a dump. It is now quite lovely and worthy of its lovely setting on the Trent river. Even more amazing, the Sheraton is now a Hilton.

Next jaunt was a great favorite of ours, Norfolk, Va. Two summers ago, we met a wonderful couple while anchored out off the Elizabeth River during Norfolk's Harbor Fest. Distance and circumstances had kept us from getting better acquainted. Since George and Frances live in Virginia Beach, we gave them a call and found them available for a dinner reunion. Once again, we greatly enjoyed their company. George and Frances were planning on cruising New England this summer. We compared schedules and found we could meet in a couple weeks' time in New York and then again later in the summer.

Our last stop was our favorite marina, Rock Hall Landing Marina in Rock Hall, Md. We've become great friends with the owners, Chris, Mary, Joe and Ann. There is a cute little motel on the property, were we stayed. Click here for their website. We enjoyed a tasty meal at a local restaurant and shared a lot of laughs.

Oct 4-7, 2008 - Up the Erie Canal

2009-07-07T13:02:00.004-04:00

On October 4, 2008, we left Albany, NY to head up the Erie Canal. Our good friend, John Peterson, joined us in Albany to help with passage through the locks.

There are not many directional signs on the water, however, heading up the Hudson from Troy, we came to a "turn in the road". We chose to leave the Hudson and to turn left into the Erie Canal. We had 21 locks to go before we reached our destination in Brewerton, NY.

In this picture, we are heading up the Erie Canal toward a lock. On the right side is a wall where boaters can tie up for the night or to wait for a lock to open. In October, 2008, we did not have to wait for any locks. Diesel was over $5.00/gallon and people were not on the water. We only had one other boat with us in the 22 locks we traversed. Approaching a closed lock. To the right is a dam. While the lock gate is closed, the approaching boat will see a red light. When the gate opens and the lock is ready, the light turns green.

On our passage through the Erie Canal, we were going west and thus in all but the last two locks, we were going up. When we came into the lock, John and I would each grab a rope that was hanging down. We would use the rope to keep the boat stable while the lock filled with water. Captain Robert would stay at the helm to make adjustments to our position. The lock walls were slimy and very wet. Some had very rough walls with holes and cracks containing a whole ecology of life forms. We wore gloves that kept our hands from slipping on the rope. John would usually hold the forward rope and I would grap the rope towards the aft.

Once we are in the lock and holding the ropes, water comes into the lock if you are going up or goes out of the lock if you are going down. In this picture, we are going up, so water is coming in. The water comes in from down below. The water you see coming out of the gate is not where the water comes in. This is a leak.

As water comes in, the boat goes up the wall and the rope gets shorter and shorter. In this picture, we are near the top and I am holding the very top of the rope. When a boat is going down, you start the trip down with the rope at the top. It is hard to grab the rope in this position, so you use a long pole with a hook on the end. This pole is called a boat hook.

Since we are now at the top of the lock, Captain Robert checks on John and I. Good news! The Grand Fromage team has fulfilled all tasks successfully for this lock.

The lock is now filled with water and we are now at a higher level. The locks vary in height raised or lowered based on the elevation. A few are only 8-10 feet. However, one lock is over 40 feet.

Since the lock has now filled with water and the boat is at a higher level, the gate is opening to let us out of the lock.This is the little boat that shared a lock with us. An east bound boat is waiting for the green light to enter the lock and go down. The lock master.We successfully made it through the 22 locks. I have to say that it was a lot of fun and scenic as all get out. Since this was early October, the weather was quite brisk, but we had little rain.

Sept 17-18,2008 - Up the Hudson, Kingston

2009-07-05T08:17:00.010-04:00

The ride up the Hudson is very scenic, dotted with many lovely homes and quaint villages.

In the middle of the Hudson is an island with a ruined castle. We learned this mysterious place is called Bannerman Castle. It was built in the early 1900's to store mutitions. Eventually a fire destroyed a sizeable portion of the structures. You may read about this intriquing place by clicking here. We rented another car in Kingston to take in more sights, plus play another round of golf. We drove across to the east side of the Hudson to tour the Vanderbilt Mansion. Click here to learn more about the Vanderbilt Mansion.

The landed gentry await an invitation to tea

The Hudson from the Vanerbilt MansionMany loopers recommend a meal at the Culinary Institute outside Hyde Park. It was hard to get a reservation, but persistence was rewarded. You have a choice of several resturants. We chose to eat at the American Bounty. The meal was very tasty indeed. We were disappointed in the service however. We were told that each student spends the last portion of culinary training working as a server. The guy we had as our server was not getting this part of his education. To read more about the Culinary Institute, click here. After our lunch, we went outdoors to find a multicultural festival, complete with band. You can't keep Sandy off the dance floor.Team Finnegan cuts the rug.

Sept 12-16, 2008 - Up the Hudson - Haverstraw

2009-06-30T08:32:00.009-04:00

We left Liberty Landing Marina on Sept 12, 2008. It was fun seeing Manhattan from the water. We tried to recognize the many buildings we had seen on land. Here is the skyline of NYC from under the George Washington Bridge. Already the city is fading into the distance. As soon as you pass under the George Washington Bridge, suddenly and magically on the port side, the scene changes from city to woods, cliffs and granite. There is a lot of commercial traffic on the Hudson.

The Hudson was extremely scenic

We spent a few nights at a marina in Haverstraw, NY. It was a convenient place to rent a car and do some shore exursions. Haverstraw Marina has renovated all of the slips for the smaller boats. The new docks are floating with all new electric and water hookups. Because of the size of Grand Fromage, we were told we would be in a "luxury slip". I was quite enthused to hear about the luxury slip. Could it be we'd have a paper delivered each morning with maybe fruit and muffins? The luxury slip concept had to be a joke because we were directed to these old fixed docks that presented severe docking challenges and electrical woes. However, in the early morning, the luxury slip did present a very nice sunrise.
We took a tour of West Point, situated in a most scenic spot on the Hudson. During the Revolutionary War, the colonists strung out a heavy chain rope across the Hudson to prevent the British from advancing up the river. This narrow part of the river, right below West Point is the site where they strung the chain. Thirteen links of the chain, representing the 13 colonies, were saved.
We used the rental car to drive out to a very lovely golf course.
We scored a couple of birdies.
Being from California, we did not recognize the animal below. I had to call my Vermont daughter, Daria, to discover the identity of the groundhog. They are huge.

Sept 8-12 2008 - NYC with Jim and Sandy -

2009-02-03T12:06:00.020-05:00

I don't know if other people get nine months behind posting a blog, but it has happened to me. Instead of feeling overwhelming guilt at my posting sins, I'm just going to catch up so I can start with our current adventures.

On Sept 6, 2008, our friends Jim and Sandy from Murphys, CA joined us on Grand Fromage. Jim and Sandy were our neighbors in Forest Meadows.

There are very creative parks in Manhattan. The park where the little ferry from Libery State Park lands is called Battery Park. During the day, staff puts out toys. Here are some children playing with soft toys.

With Jim and Sandy on the subway

The Chrysler Building

Big buildingsHere is the mandatory picture of the "naked cowboy", a must see in Times Square. You know it is a must see when you are asked at least ten times, "Have you seen the naked cowboy yet?" Yokels on the lose in midtown Manhattan.

A statue at the Rockafeller Plaza. During the summer, the area is filled with resturants. During the winter, it is a skating rink.

Jim and Sandy at the top of the Rockafeller building. Let Robert pour you a beer at the Rockafeller Plaza.My friend, Sandy Our last night in NYC was 9/11. Directly across from our marina is the Trade Center. Every year on 9/11, search lights are lit to commenorate the buildings that were destroyed.

Aug 30 - Visit to Central Park

2009-02-01T14:45:00.020-05:00

Wandering about Central Park was an extremely enjoyable experience. It is a treasure for any city, let alone a city the size of New York. The park is magnificent in size and scope. We only had time and energy to explore a very small segment, but I could happily spend days discovering new gems. When you are in the park, until you look at the skyline, you'd never know you were in one of the largest cities. The people who designed and built this park left a real gift. From all appearances, it is a gift greatly appreciated by the locals. There were people everywhere - jogging, playing on the vast lawns, sunbathing, strolling on the winding paths, rowing boats. Even with all of the people, you could still easily find a private, hidden nook.

Belvedere Castle, which is a wildlife viewing area. In front is Turtle Pond.A wonderful view from the tower of Belvedere Castle

A resident of - you'll never guess - Turtle Pond

Aug 23-28 - Cousin Joe visits from Alabama

2008-09-27T10:02:00.022-04:00

Joe Finnegan joined us on Grand Fromage for a few days' sightseeing in NYC. Joe is a fun guest because he is so enthusiastic to see all of the things he has read about and seen on tv.

Robert and Joe wait for the Liberty State Park ferry. This was the one of the few relaxing moments in a day of frenzied sight seeing.

We took the subway up to Times Square and wandered around. Our main challenge was keeping track of Joe who was so enthusiatic to photograph the surroundings that he would sometimes wander off.

One find was Bryant Park on 42nd and 6th. This park is very popular for relaxing, reading and meetings. It is a big park and the amazing thing is it is filled with bistro chairs, tables and stools that seemingly stay in the park. They are constantly being rearranged for round table discussions, napping, reading, lunching and people watching.Bryant Park is right next to the NYC library. Part of the park is a reading area with rolling carts of adult books, childrens' books, newspapers and magazines available.
Another surprise about Manhattan was the sense that it is a safe place to be. There are over a million people living and working there, so you know there is crime and violence. However, whether we were wandering the streets or traveling by subway, we never felt threatened, endangered or insecure. There is a sizable police presense patrolling the streets, driving around or hopping into the street to move trafic. Prior to Joe's arrival, we had checked into going to the top of the Empire State Building. It was going to involve long lines and significant waiting. We had read about an alternative..the top of the Rockefeller Center. Imagine our surprise when we discovered we could walk up to the booth and buy a ticket without first standing in a two hour line. Even better, with tickets in hand, we were immediately going up the elevator to the top for a fabulous view of NYC. "The Top of the Rock" was one of the most fun adventures we shared with Joe. Here is the Empire State Building from the top of the Rockefeller Center
View of Central Park
On Joe's last day, we were up and out early for a ferry ride over to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. We really enjoyed the museum at Ellis Island. One thing clear from the exhibits...immigration issues are not new.

The main building at Ellis Island

There were many photographs of immigrants going through the process at Ellis Island or leaving their native country. I enjoyed all of the photos, but this was one of my favorites. It is a gypsy family.The first thing you notice when arriving on Liberty Island is the actual size of the Statue of Liberty...it is HUGE. The second thing you notice is that the statue is set on a fort. This mandatory silly photo demonstrates both the size and the underlying fort. A close up of the book and the copper overlays.
After Liberty Island, we took the ferry back to Manhattan for the mad subway dash up to the theatre district. We had tickets for the matinee of "The Lion King". Our second foray to Broadway was a roaring success. Our seats were wonderful. The set and costumes were imaginative and fun. The pace and energy level were extremely upbeat. The singing and acting terrific.

Aug 12-14 - John and Vivian visit from NC

2008-09-26T12:41:00.012-04:00

It was a real treat to have our two doctor friends from New Bern, NC - John and Vivian - visit Grand Fromage. The only problem was the visit was so short, but we tried to cram in lots of sight seeing and adventures.

We took a five and a half hour All Aboard small bus tour. This tour was highly recommended on the Trip Advisor website. I did feel like we got a good overview of Manhattan, but a lot of time was spent in traffic and a few of the stops were rather silly.

The first stop was the tribute to John Lennon in Central Park..."Strawberry Fields"....one of the silly stops. However, it was wonderful to see a little corner of Central Park and very interesting to see The Dakota, the condo where Yoko Ono stills lives. If you'd like to buy a flat in the Dakota, you can get a bargain for 12.5 million or 18.5 for the upscale flat. Robert and I have our realtor negotiating as we speak, err write. Shucky darn, our offer of 150,000 was turned down.

The Empire State BuildingI can't remember the story about this building, but I liked it.

The Brooklyn Bridge

John and Vivian relaxing during a break in our All Aboard tour

We dropped by Wall Street for some pre-bailout negotiations.

Our tour included a trip on the Staten Island Ferry for scenic views of the New York Harbor. On the way back we saw this storm over the Hudson. Manhattan is on the right of the river. Jersey City is on the left side. You reach Liberty Landing by going up a creek right next to the tallest building on the left. That building, by the way, is Goldman Sachs.

We wanted to see a Broadway show with John and Vivian. We already had tickets to see Wicked in September. John and Vivian had never seen Phantom of the Opera. We had loved it so much when we saw it in Sacramento that we figured a repeat performance would be a treat. We were very disappointed. The sets were not up to the standard in Sacramento. The singers did not enunciate and thus you could not follow the story line. There was no zest or exilaration. Our first foray on Broadway was a dud.

Aug 10-12 - Exploring Manhattan

2008-09-08T06:33:00.016-04:00

To get to Manhattan from Liberty Landing, we took the Liberty State Park Ferry, "Little Lady". This ferry ran sort of every half hour, except when it took on gas or broke down or just ran late. Despite the little problems on occasion, it was a wonderful service and we thoroughly enjoy the ferry rides.

Our ferry landing place was next to the Financial Trade buildings and a few blocks from ground zero, which is now a giant construction site.

This picture is interesting because it shows a few of the older buildings in with the new.

It didn't take long to locate the subway entrances. This led to our first surprise about NYC. When we were leaving the Chesapeake, we were told by several people, "As soon as you leave the Cheasapeake, you will not find any more nice people....nice will be over" We were constantly amazed by the helpfulness and graciousness of the NYC people. We would be studying a map of the subway system and someone would ask if we needed help. We had a couple of people actually walk us out to the street and up a couple of blocks to show us which way to go. People would frequently strike up conversations on the train. Instead of nice being over, we discovered a whole new world of nice.

In a couple of days, we had figured out the subway system. We also discovered a Whole Food Store within walking distance of the ferry. We grabbed our trusty cart and headed our for some provisioning.

The traffic in NYC is completely crazy. The parking fees are even worse. We would pass signs at parking garages..."Special...1/2 hour....$12.95", "Special....1/2 hour $14.95" Eeek!!! It looked like it would cost $500-1200 and up to park a car in the city. We started to converse with many people about car ownership in NYC. What we learned is that none of the folks with whom we chatted owned a car. One fellow told me that no one in their right mind would drive in the city during the week and since most New Yorkers work five days a week, owning a car for two days' a week was an unaccptable luxury. What they do for that big shopping or the weekend getaway is Zipcar...http://www.zipcar.com/index . You apply in advance for the service. There are cars parked all over town. When you want to use a car, you call or go online to reserve one for an hour or days. Your zipcard opens up the car you've reserved. New Yorkers are wild about this service. I noticed on the zipcar website that the service is also available in San Francisco.

The view from Liberty State Park across the Hudson to Manhattan was fabulous. We would frequently walk down to the river to enjoy the panoramic and dramatic NYC skyline. Here are a few pictures looking from Liberty State Park to Manhattan.

Lower ManhattanMidtown Manhattan. The tall building is the Empire State Building. The smaller lighted peak to the right is the Chrysler Building. One of the big New York City ferries

Aug 6 - From Staten Island to Liberty Landing

2008-09-07T07:31:00.014-04:00

We said goodby to the wonderful people at Great Kills Yacht Club and headed to our reserved slip at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, NJ.

Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City. Coming around the point of Great Kills Harbor, it presents a pastoral view.
Staten Island becomes busier and more industrial as you approach the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.The Verazano-Narrows Bridge, looking toward the Atlantic. Our first glimpse of Manhattan from under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The Staten Island ferry Staten Island ferry going toward Manhattan.
One thing we looked forward to tremendously was passing by the Statue of Liberty on our boat, Grand Fromage. It was a magic moment, although Captain Robert did have a job jocking around all of the manic sightseeing ferry boats. Here are a few pictures of Lady Liberty we took from Grand Fromage
Liberty Landing Marina is in Liberty State Park, a huge 1200 acre park directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan and Brooklyn. The marina is protected from the wake and turbulence created by all of the New York ferries, but the views are amazing.

A few hours after we had tied up, our friends Mark and Brooke pulled into their slip. They showed us the ropes of riding the Liberty Park water taxi. We took the water taxi to a cute bistro in Jersey City. It was great fun to swap stories and adventures with Mark and Brooke.

Aug 4 - First trip into Manhattan

2008-09-03T16:49:00.011-04:00

The members of the yacht club gave us step by step instructions to take the X1 bus into Manhattan. The bus went over the Verazanno Narrows Bridge, down into Brooklyn and then through a tunnel to Manhattan. The traffic was unbelievable.

Our instructions said to get off the bus at 42nd and 6th. We have been to San Francisco many times. This did not prepare us for the people, traffic, hustle, noise we faced when we got off of the bus. Eeeeek!!!!! It was overwhelming.

The first thing we looked for was something familiar, so we made a bee line for McDonalds. We encountered a huge line and once we had our food, discovered there were three floors of dining tables. So much for the cozy comfort of the familiar.

We wandered around with our eyes and mouths wide open in astonishment. Soon, however, it started to be a little bit of fun to recognize street and building names. Landmarks we'd seen in movies and on tv came into view as we wandered about. You must realize that much of what we know about New York City we learned watching Law and Order. Hmm....we passed some out of the way bushes in Bryant Park....a possible location for a body?

Robert is walking up 42nd. The Chrysler building is the one with the pointed top.The Chrysler building is all private offices so you can not see much, except for the lobby. It is an art decco dream. Here are a couple of the elevator doors. We saw a street sign for Park Ave....that sounded famous. Times Square

Aug 2-3 - Staten Island, NY

2008-09-03T14:52:00.007-04:00

Our first day at the Great Kills Yacht Club, we moved into our regular slip and then met John Calascibetta, who made the arrangements for loopers to stay at the yacht club. John is a wonderful person...knowledgeable, interesting and lots of fun. He spent considerable time advising us about New York City and other possible ports of call with Grand Fromage. The other members of the yacht club were also extremely helpful and welcoming. We are extremely appreciative of the courtesies extended to us by the Great Kills Yacht Club.

John in front of the yacht club. One thing that surprised me about Great Kills Harbor is how beautiful and scenic it is. When in the harbor, you would never know you were in one of the largest cities. Here is the marsh next to the yacht club. There are several excellent restaurants within a few blocks of the yacht club. Staten Island seems to be an easy going place with many established neighborhoods.

Aug 1 - Run up the Atlantic to New York

2008-09-03T09:06:00.011-04:00

At the first crack of dawn, we left South Jersey Marina for the trip out in the Atlantic to New York City. Robert had prepared our route with way points. Many loopers make this a two or three day trip, stopping in Atlantic City. However, the weather for Aug 2 looked iffy so we decided to make one long day's run.

As we pulled out of the harbor, the gorgeous sunrise was a very positive omen for the day.
After the worry of making the offshore trip, the day was perfect. The Atlantic was totally flat, as you can see in the picture above. Fog threatened for a bit but did not materialize. The winds were light. We ran 3-5 miles off shore. Our main navigational challenge was traversing through the many fishing boats gathered opposite every inlet, called on the chart "fish haven".

This is as close as we got to Atlantic City.

It took us 12 hours to make the 130 mile trip to New York. Although it was an easy run, 12 hours is still a long day. You can imagine how excited we were to catch our first glimpse of New York City. Our destination for the day was Great Kills Harbor in Staten Island. One of the members of the America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association had made arrangements for AGLCA members to stay at a greatly reduced rate at the Great Kills Yacht Club. We had reservations to stay, but our slip was not available until the following day. John, the looper, invited us to use his mooring ball for the night. Tying up to a mooring ball was a new experience. The goal is to latch onto the rope at the end of the mooring ball and to tie off the rope to a cleat on the boat. It took me a couple of tries to hang onto the rope, but at last we were secure. We had successfully completed our Atlantic Ocean run and were snug in the shelter of Great Kills Harbor.This is a picture of a mooring ball in Great Kills Harbor.

July 29-Aug 1 - Cape May, NJ

2008-09-02T16:40:00.012-04:00

In Cape May, we stayed at South Jersey Marina. This is another first class marina that caters to boats small to mega. There was no swimming pool, but each day they bring the morning paper with fruit to your boat.

If you look on a map, you will see that Cape May, NJ sticks out on a point between the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The goal is to make the run to New York. Although there is an intercoastal in NJ, for a boat the size of Grand Fromage, this route is not recommended. The alternative is a 130 mile run out in the Atlantic. Almost all loopers live in dread of this segment and stew about it for months.

Although we were eager to spend time exploring the town of Cape May, we were also looking for favorable conditions to make the Atlantic run to New York. It was a lovely, warm day when we arrived in Cape May. This was very positive. We awoke the second day to thick, dense fog. This was very negative. As an aside, coming from northern California, fog means cold, damp, drizzly conditions. The fog in Cape May looked like a familiar situation, but it was warm.

Fog....egad....how do you predict it? We could check out weatherunderground and other weather sites to get a pretty good idea of storm possibilities and wind. Fog, how do you know? We did manic google searches to learn about fog, dew point, ocean temperatures vs air temperature. I became the instant queen of fog knowledge. I became steeped in fog prediction lore. The next day showed all the conditions I had learned would produce grey, dense fog and it was gorgeously clear.

A beautiful boat docked next to us...a real classic. It was an 80 foot Trumpy named SS Sophie.
We became friends with John, Aimee and Servern ....captain, first mate and first dog. They have traveled between Nantucket and Floria many times. John told us that his read of the weather indicated that Aug 1 was going to be ideal. They invited us to follow behind them, but this was not a practical solution because they planned a departure much later in the morning.

When we weren't studying the weather, we toured Cape May...known for quaint victorians and birding. Here are a few of the victorians:

We rented a car to visit some of the well known birding hot spots. While too early for the fall migration, we did see some black skimmers. I had looked forward to visiting the Cape May Bird Observatory in order to shop for new binoculars. A very knowledgable young man helped me to methodically select the pair right for me. I am thrilled with my choice - Swarovski 10x32 EL.

While we had the car, we stopped by the grocery store for a little provisioning. We encountered a first...a pay lot for the grocery store. Only the first half hour is free. There are so many tourists in Cape May that we figure it was a defense move to keep people from using the lot for all day sightseeing.

July 29 - Trip to Cape May, NJ

2008-09-02T15:56:00.005-04:00

We left Chesapeake City at the crack of dawn to enter the C&D Canal and to run down Delaware Bay to Cape May. We had heard various horror stories about this portion of the loop. One couple had told us they left Chesapeake City with a questionable weather forecast and had then encountered such severe weather on the Delaware Bay that they had made the local papers the next day. Others told us about swift currents in the C&D Canal.

Captain Robert prepared for our trip very methodically, including a study of the tides, currents and weather. He set way points on Delaware Bay. We left at the right time to take advantage of the tides. It really paid off as we picked up a couple of knots and actually arrived a couple of hours early.

We said goodbye to the Chesapeake, our home for two summers. We greatly enjoyed our explorations in the Chesapeake, but we were also eager to see other areas of the east coast. The trip was easy, as we said hello to New Jersey.

July 28-29 - Chesapeake City, MD

2008-09-02T15:11:00.003-04:00

We had a very pleasant run to Chesapeake City. We stayed at the Chesapeake Inn and Marina.

One of the couples we had met in Rock Hall, Scott and Milly, had urged us to call when arrived in Chesapeake City. Boaters have to be the world's nicest people. Scott and Milly picked us up at the marina and drove us to a lovely restaurant for dinner. They even offered to drive us to the grocery store, but we had provisioned in Rock Hall. It was such an enjoyable evening. Scott and Milly are involved in developing a creative system for lighting stairways. If you'd like to learn about their endeavor, click here.

Scott and Milly at dinner.

July 26-28 - Rock Hall, MD

2008-08-29T08:55:00.003-04:00

Before leaving the Chesapeake, we made one last stop at Rock Hall Landing Marina on the east side of the Chesapeake, MD. Our first night, we were adopted by a cruising group from a little town near Chesapeake City. They invited us to join them for a fun dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The second night, we were honored to be invited out to dinner by the two couples who own and manage the marina. These people are truly nice and entertained us with funny stories about life in the marina business.

July 22-25 - St Michaels, MD

2008-08-28T10:07:00.013-04:00

St Michaels was one of my favorite stops. True, it is a tourist attraction. True, it is expensive. However, it attracts tourists....lots of them, I must say...with quality shops, historic homes and buildings and fun events. There is a relaxed feeling to St Michaels and not that frantic tone associated with many popular places. Besides that, it is just way too cute. Click here for a web site with history and tourist information.

We stayed at the St Michaels Marina...a first class outfit that provides top quality service to boaters in day boats to megayachts. Since it was quite warm during our stay, the pool was a welcome amenity. There is a REAL grocery store within a few blocks walk.

We enjoyed hours of wandering up and down many streets, admiring the cute and historic homes.

View of Grand Fromage from the Maritime Museum, across the harbor
Team Finnegan with Grand Fromage across the harbor. St Michaels has a huge, wonderful maritime museum with exhibits covering many aspects of boating and fishing in the Chesapeake. Click here for the web site. We enjoyed wandering around. The lighthouse was a hoot...the whole thing was interactive. You could open any drawer, pot, container or door to find items a lighthouse attendant might have stored. This old fishing boat will never see water again, but it was fun to explore. Captain Robert "driving" Thor. One of the volunteers is building a log canoe the old fashion way.

July 15-22 - Cambridge, MD

2008-08-23T18:24:00.010-04:00

We had a beautiful ride up the Choptank River, as featured in Mitchner's 'Chesapeake'. Our destintion was Cambridge, MD, where we stayed at the City Marina.

There are many positive aspects to Cambridge. The natural setting with trees, marshes and water is gorgeous. There are blocks of beautiful historic homes and ambitious projects to bring tourists. The Hyatt hotel and resort at the edge of town appears to be very busy and popular.

However, there are some definite negatives....the downtown has many empty buildings and there is a rundown feeling to much of the town. The City Marina was rebuilt a year ago, however it doesn't seem that anyone familiar with boating was involved in the project. Among other things, they put in fixed docks, when most recreational boaters far prefer floating docks. There is a very attractive visitor center, but it is not easy to find and there is no way for a boater to tie up with a dingy.

Those things said, we had some very enjoyable and busy days in Cambridge. It was ideal for dingy rides up the Choptank and scooter rides were once again a wonderful option. We visited a wildlife refuge. Twice we took a taxi to the Hyatt for golf. The course is just beautiful, extremely well maintained, immaculately manicured, with many nature areas left intact. We were very excited to see a bobwhite.

We celebrated our fifth anniversary in Cambridge. Obviously this called for a regal dingy ride to the world famous Suicide Bridge Restaurant....conveniently located next to the Suicide Bridge in Secretary, MD.
The Suicide Bridge.
You'd think a suicide bridge would be a huge, tall, massive structure over a roaring river. Team Finnegan enjoying our festive Chesapeake wedding anniversary
On the Chesapeake, they eat blue crabs. This is a cult and social bonding event, as far as I can tell. We once had lessons from a server as to the intricies of eating blue crab. For all of the work you go to for the teeniest, bittiest bit of meat, I'll take mine in crab cakes. However, a crab feed is wildly popular. I asked a couple of diners if I could photograph their feast. Note the brown paper on the table. Not shown in the photo are other essential utensils...the wooden hammers, the crab claw breakers, the little picks and of course, the mantatory crab bibs.

July 12-15 - Rock Hall, MD

2008-08-23T17:04:00.002-04:00

After the bustle of the big city, it was wonderful to get back to Rock Hall. We were greeted warmly with "welcome home!!!". Once again the pool was a most welcome relief on a scorching day.

Mark and Brooke, our new friends from Baltimore, were also in Rock Hall at another marina. We picked them up in our dingy two nights in a row for water touring and yummy dinners. We compared cruising schedules and saw opportunities for getting together in New York.

June 13-July 12 - Baltimore, MD

2008-08-22T16:30:00.011-04:00

Baltimore is right across the Chesapeake from Rock Hall so we had an easy ride.

Baltimore skyline We stayed a month in Baltimore. It is an interesting phenomena with many marinas that if you stay one night, the rate is "oh my gosh, you're kidding". If you stay a week, there can be a substantial reduction. If you stay a month, the rate can be half or less. We stayed at Inner Harbor East Marina and Captain Bill gave us a wonderful monthly rate.

Inner Harbor East Marina is the closest marina to all of the attractions in Baltimore. The area that has grown up around it is filled with high rise condos, restaurants and shops. The whole harbor area is amazing and extremely popular. I had never thought of Baltimore as a tourist attraction. Wrong.

There was a Whole Foods three blocks away. A few blocks more and you were in Little Italy. The museums were an easy walk. The historic Fells Point area was about 6 blocks. We walked and walked and walked. One reason we walked was that we quickly discovered that a big city is not prime scooter riding land.

Altho the area around the marina was upscale, clean and safe, we learned rapidly not to press the boundaries. There are miles of Baltimore that have a heavy economic disadvantage.

Son, Loren and daughter-in-law, Terri, happened to be in Washington DC, with plans to catch a plane for Portugal in Philadelphia. Terri was in DC as the Southwest elementary PE teacher of the year. She was hobknobbing with the great and the near great. They came to Grand Fromage in a rental car and we had a couple of fun packed days.

Loren and Terri eating ice cream cones in the Inner Harbor. Thanks, Terri, for sending me the picturesChatting with Loren on the bridge of Grand Fromage
We were able to play golf several times at Carroll Park Golf Course. This was a beautiful course that was nearly a hundred years' old. The first time we played there, we took our clubs with us in a cab. Robert then arranged to keep our clubs locked in a locker. Until the last time we played, we were able to get to the course on our scooter.

Boaters tend to be very friendly people, so much of our stay in Baltimore was greatly enhanced by the many fun, helpful, sharing people we met. An outgoing group from the Philadelphia area adopted us for the weekend and promised to organize parties and sightseeing when we visit their city. We spent a very informative afternoon and evening with loopers Tom and Sue from the trawler, Tomkat. Tom and Sue were just a couple of weeks from completing the loop. Their advise and suggestions were invaluable. Click here to read their interesting blog. We are hoping to meet up with Tom and Sue again.

We also met Mark and Brooke in Baltimore. Their beautiful sail boat, Dress White, was parked next to us. They watched the fourth of July fireworks with us on the bow of Grand Fromage. We also shared a couple of fun barbeques. To experiment in lowering the top of our boat for bridges on the loop, Robert and Mark had an exciting afternoon removing the bimini top.

Mark and Brooke The America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association has a new way for members to find each other on a Google Earth map. It is called "looper locator". Using this bit of technical wizardry, we were able to meet Larry and Sue on their trawler, Sue Sea Q4. We swapped many a story over a couple of meals. They had excellent advise and suggestions that we appreciate greatly.

June 11-13 Rock Hall, MD

2008-08-21T08:51:00.005-04:00

Before heading for a month in Baltimore, we decided to see the eastern side of the Chesapeake with a relaxing few days in Rock Hall, MD.

An osprey nest going into Rock Hall. You can barely see the little heads popping up for tasty tidbits. These nests are very common on markers and buoys, but each one is a thrill. Rock Hall is just a wonderful town. We wouldn't want to live there, but it is a fantastic place to visit. It is a small town with extremely friendly people, quaint shops, an upbeat civic pride, historic buildings and a laid back attitude.

We stayed at the Rock Hall Landing Marina. It is owned by two brothers and their wives. You couldn't ask for nicer, more can-do people. The day we arrived, it was beastly hot. We were so excited to discover Rock Hall Landing Marina has a very nice pool. It was a wonderful experience.

Discovery number two was the Waterman's Restaurant next door to the marina....home of the world's best crab cakes. I am qualified to make this statement, as I consider myself to be an expert on crab cakes.

We launched one of our scooters for discovery number three...Rock Hall is perfect scooter land. It is just beautiful, quiet and serene with very few cars on the road. We enjoyed a trip out to a nature preserve. We then toured Chester Town....a very interesting and historic town.

May 28-June 10 - Annapolis, MD

2008-08-20T09:12:00.006-04:00

After an overnight in the Solomons, MD, we arrived in Annapolis. This is a very, very busy harbor with boats of all sizes coming and going. Many boats are anchored right off the channel, plus there are scores of teeny sail boats bobbing about for lessons. We had reservations at The Yacht Basin marina. Robert told the marina crew we wanted to dock in such a way that we could launch our dingy. The crew instructed him to pull up to the fuel dock. We love side tie dockings and this one was the easiest ever. We were very pleased with our docking expertise and skill set. Then we learned we are only at the fuel dock long enough to lauch the dingy. Our permanent slip was going to be down a skinny fairway, in between two huge, expensive boats, with a current, with wind and with 65 people out on their boats watching. I thought "oh this is going to be good!" Captain Robert rose to the challenge and did a masterful job parking the boat. It was extremely helpful that the dock hands were knowledgable and gave him continuous feedback as to where the boat was in conjunction with all the various impediments. This also made my job easier because I could concentrate on the ropes and fenders.

Annapolis is a beautiful little city...very historic with lovely streets and buildings. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures. I have found a couple of web sites with pictures, virtual maps and history: site 1 and site 2.

Cousin Joe really wanted to visit the Washington DC area. Last summer we took Grand Fromage up the Potomac for a one month stay in DC. However, this year it made more sense to make Annapolis our home port and rent a car to visit the capital area. The first day we drove the rental car to Mt Vernon. The second day we drove the car to the last DC metro stop and took the train in for the megatour of DC. We were so exhausted that Robert hailed a cab for our last two stops.

After Joe left, we enjoyed several relaxing site seeing days in Annapolis, including a very interesting tour of the Naval Academy.

It seems natural when visiting an area to reflect on the posibility of living there some day. Although Annapolis was so pretty, clean and historic, we couldn't imagine living there. It was certainly the most yuppy, upscale place we have visited so far. The people were not as friendly and it was EXPENSIVE. On the other hand, we can both imagine ourselves spending more time in Norfolk, VA.

May 27-28 - Reedville, VA

2008-08-18T09:54:00.015-04:00

We had an easy ride from Deltaville to Reedville. We left early to take advantage of the high tide. Robert began to teach cousin Joe how to plan navigation, to drive the boat and to put the boat on autopilot to a way point. A few hours after we arrived, we were asked by people just docking how we fared during the horrible storm. What storm? Evidently, one of those mighty Chesapeake storms had fired up behind us. An American Tug had gone through eight foot waves, lost their dingy davit on the back of their boat PLUS they lost their dingy. This is why we like to keep most of our runs under 40-50 miles so we can arrive at the next port early in the afternoon.

Reedville is not a particularly old town. It was settled in the late 1800's to develop a menhaden fishing industry. Menhaden is a kind of fish that is not eaten, but used in many commercial products. There is still a large commercial fishing operation in Reedville. This is instantly noticible if you enter town into the wind. Phew!!!!

Menhaden plant coming into Reedville
Menhaden fishing boatThe Reedville Marina is not a fancy place. It is primarily a long dock next to a popular fish restaurant. However, I really like to stay in Reedville because the town is so cute and the view from the boat is spectucular...very rural and scenic.

Robert is walking across the restaurant parking lot to Grand Fromage. The restaurant is on the left. This is the wonderful view right across the creek from the dock. A little further up the creek is this pastoral view. The historic area in Reedvile is a mile long and lined with restored, lovely homes.
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The Masonic Lodge
Evidently, life is pretty laid back in Reedville. There is a cute, interesting, very informative museum. http://www.rfmuseum.org/ Here is cousin Joe checking out one of the restored boats

May 25-26 - On the Chesapeake from Norfolk

2008-08-12T07:57:00.008-04:00

Leaving Norfolk, you pass many military ships. This one was also headed for the Chesapeake.When you first enter the Chesapeake, you are close to shore and can easily see the little towns.As you progress north, the Chesapeake becomes vast. All you see is water. Robert prepared for a day's run the night before on our boat's navigation system. He set way points and much of the time we ran on autopilot. We would still keep a constant watch for other boats. We would also watch for buoys to stay in the channel. With all the water, you think you are in the ocean. However, unless you are in the channel, the depth can rapidly and drastically plunge to yikes. When traveling into a town or other places where the water level lowers, we look for crab pots. It is not a good thing to hit a crab pot...the line can get in the props. In some areas the crab pots are so thick that dodging them can be a challenge. Needless to say, Robert takes it off autopilot and drives the boat himself when avoiding crab pots. Here you can see the next buoy ahead. You can barely see the shore on the right side. Our first night out of Norfolk, we stayed in Deltaville at the Dozier's Regatta Point Marina. Deltaville is a little town on the Rappahannock River. It is a very nice marina with lots of rocking chairs on the front porch and a boaters' lounge. We used their loaner car to do a little provisioning.

May 18-26, 2008 - In Norfolk, VA

2008-08-11T11:52:00.006-04:00

Norfolk is one of our very favorite ports of call. We stay at Waterside Marina, which is in the heart of the revitalized water front. There is so much to see and do in Norfolk....historic buildings, lots of restaurants, interesting museums. If that were not enough, we take the ferry to Portsmith for more historic buildings, restaurants and interesting museums. There is a huge mall a few blocks from the marina. Norfolk seems to have a lot of civic pride with many events, festivals and activities.

We played golf with John and Vivian our first day in Norfolk.
An eastern kingbird at the Bide-a-Wee golf course in Portsmith, VA.The next day our husbands treated Vivian and I to a decadent day at a spa in Virginia Beach while they played golf at Bide-a-Wee. That evening we had a yummy dinner at Ruth Chris in Virginia Beach.

We said goodby to John and Vivian and hello to Robert's cousin, Joe, from Alabama. We visited some maritime museums with Joe, before leaving Norfolk.

May 18, 2008 - traveling to Norfolk, VA

2008-08-11T07:43:00.008-04:00

Normally it would take somewhere around 6 hours to go the distance between Coinjock and Norfolk. Having done this twice, I'd say it would be smart to allocate all day and don't make appointments in Norfolk for that afternoon. It is a scenic ride. However, you have miles of no-wake zones...5-6 knots max. Then you have bridges that have openning schedules that don't necessarily coincide with each other. Plus you have a lock.

Norfolk is an amazing, busy place with constant traffic on the Elizabeth River. There are a staggering number of military ships coming, going and undergoing repairs. There are huge barges with one or more tugs. Cruise ships make Norfolk a regular port of call. Throw in a mix of sail boats, fishing boats, go-fast boats, and motor cruisers to give you an interesting navigational challenge.

May 17 - on the Intercoastal to Coinjock, NC

2008-08-10T10:46:00.002-04:00

John and Vivian Peterson presented us with cheese heads. Evidently cheese heads are a must-have accessory for people with a boat named Grand Fromage. While traveling up the intercoastal, we contact a boat we'd like to pass on the radio to arrange a "slow pass". This enables us to pass another boat without creating wake. John and Robert amused several sail boaters by wearing the cheese heads during the pass.

We arrived at Coinjock for the night. Coinjock consists of a super long dock and a restauant - world famous for gigantic prime rib. When you dock, you are asked by the marina attendants if you would like prime rib for dinner. This is a MUST HAVE. Needless to say, we split our dinner.

May 16, 2008 - We leave New Bern, NC

2008-08-10T08:51:00.009-04:00

After a winter in California, we were very excited to begin our next adventure on Grand Fromage. We had kept Grand Fromage in New Bern, NC for the winter. John Peterson did a great job of looking after the boat. When we arrived in New Bern on May 15th, John had the boat ready to go!!! Thank you, John!!!

John and Vivian were able to travel with us from New Bern to Norfolk, VA. They are terrific travel companions and more than pull their weight. Here is John helping Robert leave the dock in New Bern. We wear the ear phones so we don't have to yell when docking the boat.

Vivian is ready to bring in the fenders and the ropes.
Can you tell that Captain Robert is happy to be under way?
Laughing gulls following in our wake