Sunday, May 21, 2017

A great visit with Mom during our trip to Michigan. May 4-18

So given the downtime for repairs, we moved north to spend a week with Mom after feeling that the repairs were all scheduled and well underway. We stopped to see Jim and Kathy (Jim Kat) for lunch in Palm Coast as we travelled north.  Had a great lunch at the Turtle Shack...not much to look at but just across the road from the beach and great burgers!  Jim and Kathy have a timeshare here and it looks like a great place to spend some time in winter.
As we continued driving we called our friends Tom and Vicki (Grand Baron) who at last check were in Brunswick GA.  But they had left port and were headed north toward Savannah.  This was our destination as well as we did not visit there on our way north last year.  Long story short, they invited us to stay aboard at a marina in Kilkenny, not too far south of Savannah.  So we did!  It was just like being "home" aboard our boat!
On our drive there we drove through a nasty thunderstorm.  We actually saw a storm chaser parked on a bridge to observe/video the oncoming storm.  Trees went down in the median and we could only go about 15 MPH due to visibility.  We drove in this for about 45 mins and then pulled off the highway at our exit for another 10 minutes.  Hey Brett, note the GPS/phone holder you gave me is in use....thanks!

Fortunately the storm missed Tom and Vicki and they docked without incident.

We had a wonderful meal at Marker 107 restaurant right next to the marina and a great time catching up with Tom and Vicki.  Thanks so much for the hospitality.  We hope to catch up this summer in the Chesapeake if our repairs are ever completed by the now we know unreliable boat yard....more on that in the next post.
We stopped in Savannah and had a wonderful 5 hours walking exploring the history.  It was worth the stop!
The Cotton Exchange

 For all you Girl Scouts!  Julie was a girl scout and leader for many years.

 And of course no visit is complete without a visit to the famous Leopolds Ice Cream Shop!
The Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, circa 1873.
 More photos of Savannah. Such beautiful parks (squares) and architecture.

Road trip...bridges and tunnels as we travelled S Carolina, N Carolina, W Virginia, Ohio

We stayed with our friends Paula and Rich (formerly Andiamo) in Farmington on Saturday night.  Paula fixed us a wonderful home cooked steak dinner (well Rich did grill them but I give all the credit to Paula) and we had a great time catching up with them and seeing some of the girls.  We walked to downtown Farmington for ice cream after the wonderful dinner.

Thanks so much for all the hospitality and enjoy your Harley trips this summer!  Be safe!
We went to Mass on Sunday morning and then visited my sister Pam and brother in law Steve.  It was great to see them again and get updated on all events in their lives.  Have fun with that sailboat in a slip this summer.
We arrived in Muskegon on Sunday afternoon and searched out some VRBO's and such for our stay in W Michigan for a week or so.  Well, we didn't find any great spots so we stayed at the Shoreline Inn, the hotel at our former marina.  The first boat on the right is in our old slip.
 Wish our boat was here...look at what the sign says!

It was a great home base and we were able to see some of our former dock neighbors too.  Two of the couples Colin and Krisi (Knot a Worry) and Amber and Mark (Off the Grid) have new babies so it was great to see the new additions to their families.  In the evening, Todd and Sherry (No Plans) joined us for dinner.  It was great to catch up with them too.
Another beautiful W Michigan sunset from our room.

On Monday we went to visit Mom.  Julie cooked us a great chicken dinner at Mom's apartment and we had a good time walking, visiting and making plans for the week. It was so nice to see Mom again as the last visit was when we stayed with her in her Fort Pierce home in Dec/ January.
I went to the doctor for my right elbow (golfer's elbow flare up) and of course he wanted to prescribe physical therapy.  But we settled on a rest and an anti inflammatory regiment with some stretching and then strengthening exercises.  Hopefully this will work as boat maintenance will not go away with our lifestyle. 
Julie's brother Craig and sister in law Erin joined us for dinner at the Lake House on Tuesday night.  We caught up on all the events in their family (new grandson!) and their upcoming RV trip to Florida and N Carolina.  We last saw them in N Carolina when they stopped by our boat in New Bern last Fall.  Safe travels Craig and Erin!
We visited our new dentist...we needed repairs too!
We visited Mom again on Thursday.  Meeting with Comfort Keepers to set up a relationship in case mom needs any help other than that already graciously provided by my brother Larry and sister Deb who live in the area.
We had a great dinner at Snug Harbor in Grand Haven where a number of our friends met us.  Thanks Larry and Amy, Terrie (Tony was working hard out of town), Scott and Nancy, Todd and Sherry for joining us on short notice. It was great seeing all of you again!
Look at the Lake Michigan beach in early May it was flat every day we were there.
Friday my sister Deb and I attended a Mother's Day brunch with Mom at her apartment dining room.  It was a fun little event and the food was good.  We took her for a ride around the area, did some grocery shopping and she helped us find a VRBO rental for our trip back in August prior to Jordan and Eliza's wedding.  We were able to find a small cottage on the channel in Muskegon for mid August to Sept 1 and we have it reserved for our stay. 

Friday night we met Jordan and Eliza in Grand Rapids at Leo's for dinner to celebrate their engagement. They got Julie some nice flowers, chocolates (gluten and dairy free!)  and card for Mother's Day too. 

It was great to see them, especially since we had not seen Eliza since the engagement.  The wedding is not far off now!
Saturday after our long walk, we picked Mom up for lunch at Carmen's downtown Muskegon and took a little ride around town as well.  It is so nice to spend time with Mom.
We were fortunate to have come home this week as it was the regularly scheduled monthly Supper Club with our friends Mary and Kevin and Mary Beth and Jim. Before moving aboard and leaving the area we did this monthly dinner for about 7 years!  It was so nice catching up with all of them and the food was as fantastic as always!
Sunday we picked up Mom for Church and Courtney also drove from Spring Lake to meet us there.  Fr. Matt had a very nice message and the downtown Muskegon church continues to be a very engaging experience.  Later in the afternoon we picked her up again and went to my sister Deb and brother in law Don's for a great Mother's Day dinner.  Thanks Deb and Don for a great meal and all the hospitality.
Monday was another beautiful day so we picked up Mom and drove to Grand Haven and met Courtney for lunch at Snug Harbor to enjoy the river and lake view. They both commented it had been years since they had eaten there. Thanks so much for a wonderful lunch Courtney!
Tuesday we started back to Florida to see how repairs are progressing with hopes of re-provisioning and being on our way in a few days
We liked travelling the river near Chattanooga in this photo a lot better by boat back in the Fall of 2015!
And the car pool lane is OK but we would rather be on the water....

....more later.  Thanks for following our blog.

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