New places, new weather!

We're in Alexandria, VA. It is beautiful here. When we left the marina this morning it was a good 15 degrees cooler than it was yesterday- Thank goodness!!

wait a second. priorites:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOMMA AND DADDY!!!!! You two rock. Keep up the good work. Thanks for being the best parents anyone has ever had. ever.

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY GRANT! Welcome to the world, little guy!

Alrighty, so the last time I was able to post was... Irvington! I was able to tell you about breakfast at that "gas" station... then I got some pool time... you remember all that.
That night (Saturday) we went to supper with Dick and Fran at this place called the Trick Dog Cafe.

We're in crab country. I had crab cakes. life is good.
oh! and I drew a picture! (that's a bird in the top right corner. see it?)



...and so did Fran. she's a natural, huh? she claimed it was a tree.
I told her I wouldn't post it. oh well :)

On the way to supper, I was able to take this really awesome picture... White Fences Winery... how can I not want to drink their wine when they have a gigantic corkscrew at the entrance to the winery? great marketing.

We left Irvington and got close enough to Smith Point light to take some pretty great pictures! (note the potty)

Also, we saw this light... not sure exactly what it was, but it's pretty!

Once we got into the marina, I took a walk to see what I could see... and found some pretty cool boat names!

This one is one of my favorites:

This one is just a really cool boat:

and look who we found again! we were so excited!

Last year while we were kayaking around Block Island, we saw this boat name... it's one of our favorites!

Last night, we got some serious wind... check out the radar!

but it chilled out after a while and we saw a BEAUTIFUL sunset!

This morning, we headed up the Potomac toward Alexandria- it was a great day on the water... like I said, about 10 to 15 degrees cooler, and sunny!

We passed by Mount Vernon:

and this fort-like structure: (feel free to tell me what it was if you know... it was up on the bank just as we approached DC, protecting the city, perhaps?)

We also got our 1st glimpse of the Washington Monument AND the Capitol building!!
so cool!!


When we got to the marina, we knew we were in for a challenge. There was very little dock to tie up to... but we're pros at this. (I say that all the time to Barry... sometimes sarcastically, like when I screw up. But this time I mean it- we made those lines look like ART! more pictures tomorrow... these are just some that Alice took to prove I actually do work on the boat... for those of you who doubt. You know who you are.)



After a rinse-down, I wandered around "Old Town" Alexandria and found a Starbucks (free wi-fi! what up!?)
This is a really neat little town- cobblestone sidewalks and such :)
Will update tomorrow- hope this post finds you well! Thanks for reading!

If you're happy and you know it, leave a comment!

Tales of the Dry Tortugas

Good mornin!

Happy belated birthday to Rhonda Holt and Aunt Laura!!

We're at Marco Island Marina- no, wait, I'll start from where I left off...
We left Key West on Thursday morning, headed for the Dry Tortugas. The plan was to anchor there Thursday and Friday night and head to Marco Island on Saturday. The trip over took a while- and it seemed even longer once we lost auto-pilot (we blew a fuse, but didn't know that was the problem until later). We got to the Dry Tortugas and decided it would be a good idea to have a quick lunch and then head over to the fort... the plan had changed: we had to leave in the morning to avoid winds of 20-30 knots... So, we loaded into the dinghy (using a functioning davit!) and headed over to Fort Jefferson to see what we could see! Check out the pictures we got!






The entrance and the moat:

View of the lighthouse from inside the fort:



Check out that brickwork! Trivia: 16 million bricks were used in the construction of Fort Jefferson!



BIG moat:

They're in the chapel!

I'm in the oven! It's huge!

Shot furnace:

Barry and the Shot Furnace:

This is me in the Magazine (where they keep all the powder):

View from outside the Magazine: ...by far my favorite part of the fort.







Alice "firing" a cannon:

Took this picture to show you our new toy: the bridle. It ties onto the bow cleats and then hooks to the anchor chain.

Also nearby is Loggerhead Key- and the lighthouse!


On the way up to the fort, we could see a whole bunch of these: They look pretty cool, but we didn't know what they were. I've done some research. They are "By-the-Wind Sailor Jellyfish." They have a purple "raft" and a translucent flexible sail. The sail catches the wind and propels them like a sailboat. Here's a picture I found on the internet... i.e. NOT my foot. There were also a whole bunch of Portuguese Man-o-War...? Men-o-war? haha
So, if you ever head over to the Dry Tortugas, watch your step.


We left the Dry Tortugas early on Friday morning ...headed for Marco Island. Barry fixed the auto pilot not too far into our trip up. Hallelujah!
The trip took 11.5 hours- long day... and the weather turned nasty for about an hour and a half of it:
I managed to get most of the salt off the boat, in the semi-dark, but will have to give it a once over again today I'm sure.
The weather is beautiful, just not ideal for traveling with all this wind...
From here we're headed to Ft Myers... will update you soon!
Thanks for readin! Don't forget to change your clocks tonight! Spring forward!

SHARK BITES- OOH HA HA!

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

We found a bookstore today!!!!! …but a lot of other stuff happened too, so that part has to wait.

This morning was great- I went to Starbucks with Grace- got a cup of coffee and a croissant (yum.) and attempted finding internet. No biggie, there’s always tomorrow. From there, I walked around and window shopped- even found a Gap! After walking around all morning, I found myself in dire need of a cheeseburger- and wound up in a place called Smokehouse Café- right on America’s Cup Way. Since you asked, they have a very good cheeseburger… and while we’re on the subject, if guacamole is your thing, theirs isn’t dreadful.

On my way back to the boat, I ran into Alice. (The 4 of them had left earlier in Leo and Grace’s rental car, but Grace wasn’t feeling too stellar, and Alice was bringing her back to the boat.) I joined Alice and jumped in the car with the 3 of them and we started another adventure. We got to go to the same pharmacy 3 times! Then, after all that hard work, we asked Garmin if she knew where a bookstore was and she took us to Barnes and Noble!!! It was so great! You know they have books there? I got 3. That should last me til about Friday… haha.
On our way back, we took the long way past all the mansions by the water- wow. They are beautiful.

Some more stuff we saw while driving around:
Fort Adams:
Check this out: little docks in the middle of the water for boats that want to achor out, but don't want to anchor out...
And here's another church we found- we were in the car, I missed the name of it, but it's pretty, right?
And here's another one:

We ate at a place called The Red Parrot. So, funny story: Apparently at the Red Parrot, there are thieves. You know those buzzers they give you so you know when your table's ready? well, before they gave Barry his, they asked for a major credit card or his ID... as collateral? He would have none of that and instead gave the twit behind the counter his AARP card. Love it.
so anyway, we had shark bites for an appetizer! Few of us had eaten shark before. Oh man, was it good! We haven’t eaten anything less than wonderful on the trip yet!

That’s all for now, folks, lots of love!