Of Beginnings and Endings, and Beginnings

Yesterday, as promised, we chickened out of traveling.  Hardly a cloud to be found, but too dang windy for our taste.  The next week or so looks like good traveling so why be miserable?  So instead we Mini-Pearled around.  We checked out what’d be the backside of our B & B if we weren’t also too chicken to open that B & B.

We even took the depth finder out.  Ten feet of water where we’d put the marina.  Perfect for eight slips and a T-head. Is that a sign or what?

Inside the Fishermen Museum we found a model of the home, because it’s historic or something.  Another sign?

Whilst we pondered the possibilities—and pondered the foolishness of even considering the possibilities—we had a delicious dinner on the waterfront deck of the only restaurant in town where we hadn’t already eaten.  The deck was full of boaters, and as generally is the case we all started talking.  At an adjacent table sat two sailing couples.  Turns out they cruised down the rivers last fall.  Hey, we cruised down the rivers last fall too!  They had a sad story about how their sailboat—Fair Wind—sank on the Tennessee River and was salvaged at Cuba Landing.  Hey, we cruised down the Tennessee River and stopped at Cuba Landing too!  Small world.  Wait a second.  Come to think of it, when we pulled in to Cuba Landing, a sailboat named Fair Wind had just been hauled out and wrapped in tarps and was sitting on the bottom right next to us.  Yup, same boat.  We even had a picture to prove it.

By now they have a new boat, so were in much better humor than we’d have been if strangers had been cackling about witnessing our misery.  What are the odds?  More signs that we should buy that Victorian maybe?  The point is that Reedville is a cool little village.  Anyone who takes fish oil supplements or eats cat food should appreciate Reedville as the Menhaden Capitol of the World.  Plus Jennings Boat Yard was an awesome find.

Okay, we’re probably not going to open a bed & breakfast or a marina in the Menhaden Capitol of the World.  Might as well put Mini Pearl back in her cradle and plan our trip up to Spring Cove.  Looks like we might just string together a few good travel days.  Finally.  So this morning at 7:40 we slipped the lines and headed for glory.  Past the menhaden pound net traps and on up to the mouth of the Potomac.

Anyone who’s been reading our drivel, er, blog posts, from the start, will recall that we left Washington D.C on May 23 last year.

Although the Potomac is a Loop side trip, the original plan was to go back up and claim victory at The Yards.  Meh.  The Potomac was really cool once up and once down—and before we saw the rest of the much cooler stuff along the way—but we hate D.C., Mallory is gone, and there’s no point in going back.

After our first Loop stop at Colonial Beach, we rounded Point Lookout, cruised out to green 69A, joined up with The Loop proper, and headed north.

From there we’ve spent over a year underway.  That’s a ton of miles and locks and drawbridges and boats and dolphins and LCBOs and boat cards and tows with barges and rivers and crab pots and canals and long days and great restaurants and gorgeous sunsets and crappy days and fog and new friends who became old friends.  What a trip.

At 10:15 this morning, we paused at green 69A.

We were last here 387 days ago.  We didn’t necessarily love every minute of those 387 days, but the minutes we didn’t love at least were rare and interesting.

Woooo!  The Gods of Sea and Air honored the occasion by giving us an easy day crossing the Potomac, which allowed for a champagne (and cranberry) toast in front of the channel marker that’s now maybe the most important of the thousands of channel markers we’ve passed.

We’re happy Brent and Karen were along to celebrate with us.  Plus we needed someone to take the picture.

A couple of hours later we pulled back into Spring Cove.

The end of The Loop, for us, also is the start of the Down East Circle.  We’ll head back up the Hudson, but instead of a left at the Erie Canal we’ll go straight up to the St. Lawrence.  Then hook a right.  Until we get past Albany we’ll be replowing ground we’ve already covered.  Plus we’re in a bit of a hurry so the days might be long.  Which means blog posts might be iffy.  But we’ll round back into shape at some point.