Here's to Good Friends....(OK it was a corny commercial slogan but somehow it's stuck in my head!)

We had one more fun filled day and night in Cambridge at the free dock with Tide Hiker and September Song - when you're with good friends even mundane things like re-provisioning can be fun. We had access to a truck on Wednesday thanks to Ann and Richard Strauss, who had met Norm and Vicki at the MTOA rendezvous - they live in Cambridge and had met Tide Hiker at the dock with the offer of the use of their car which we quickly accepted - thanks guys, it was greatly appreciated. It is one of the things about this life that I have come to love (well let's face it, there are tons of things I love!!! and next to nothing I don't like - OK maybe polishing the boat and cleaning the heads...) - all cruisers look out for each other and are quick to offer help of whatever kind to friends and even people they just meet. You figure you are all in this together and some day you may need help from someone which makes you go out of your way when you can be the offeror - don't you wish everyone in real life could be as wonderfully kind and gracious!!!



Anyways, we all piled into their truck (other than Norm and Doug who had the good sense?? to avoid the ensuing shopping madness!) for an afternoon of hardcore frenetic shopping - I think we hit darn near every store in the town of Easton, MD (home to Walmart, Target, West Marine, Lowes, liquor and groceries!!!)

Bob and the Girls Leave for Shopping Trip

But we managed to accomplish almost everyone's goals thanks to Vicki's pre-planning internet session and Stephanie's GPS unit (which by the way has a very annoying tone to her when you don't do exactly what she wants you to do!!) - all except probably the most important item - a new camera for September Song. How can Walmart and every other electronics store in Easton be out of cameras???

Back on the boat with all our new goodies stowed away, we had a final happy hour cocktail on the flybridge of Gypsies with September Song

Happy Hour on Gypsies in the Palace

before meeting up with Tide Hiker and the Strausses for apps and cocktails at one of the picnic tables along the water. What a great looking gang!!

Cocktails Before Dinner at Bella Luna

Then we were off to Bella Luna, an Italian restaurant in town which we had scoped out the day before - remember, home to the famous mosaic in the women's restroom?

The Famous Mosaic in the Women's Room at Bella Luna

Dinner was one non-stop bottle of wine and free flowing laughs or so it seemed - although Vicki did not succeed in her quest to find the best lasagna ever (although it was pretty good), it was a great evening with old and new friends.

Dinner at Bella Luna

It passed way too quickly for our taste but that's nothing new - seems like only yesterday we were meeting Stephanie and Bob in Marathon excitedly talking about our upcoming trip to the Bahamas. WOW - time flies when you're having rum!!!

Well we've put a lot of miles under our keels since then, have shared a lot of adult libations, great food, stories, beaches and bonfires, and have spent the past six months with the best cruising buddies ever!!!! But we woke the next morning with the sad knowledge that September Song would be heading south with Tide Hiker and we have to head north albeit just for awhile. It was a sad morning as we got in last minute hugs and kisses with the September Song crew (canine and human!! - we have spent a lot of fun-filed hours throwing Godiva her tennis ball and watching Cassie hunt for fish on a beach in St. Somewhere!!) before untying the lines and heading out the Choptank River - but not before promising to do whatever we could to meet up for Thanksgiving somewhere down south where it is warm!!!

Heading out the channel and then in to the Bay where we had to go in different directions was a very weird feeling - it's part of this cruising life, but not one of the fun parts. Everyone who follows this chosen life has wanderlust and goes in different directions at times but when you have spent as much time together and become such good friends as we have with September Song, it's hard to go different paths without knowing where or when you will see them again. But on the positive side of life (which is always where I like to be), we have been so lucky to have met Stephanie, Bob, Cassie and Godiva and we have had way too much fun to let them escape from our lives for too long - soon enough guys, you'll look behind you and Gypsies will be chugging along taking up its position as wingman!!! We're kind of like Bob in the movie What About Bob - we're not really gone, we'll never really be gone!!! and when I make cookies or anything chocolate or bacon wrapped pineapples, we'll think of you guys and raise our glasses, face south and toast to great friends and the next time we'll be together - we've had way too much fun together to be apart too long!!!! You guys are the best - thanks for all the fun and friendship!!

So now Doug and I are anchored in Long Haul Creek, just outside of St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay sitting out some rain before dropping the dink and heading into town. Even without Stephanie and Bob we feel the need to go scope out the best joint in town!! We will be here for several days and then head back up to Haven Harbor Marina in Rock Hall to get our watermaker re-installed. Hopefully it will finally work!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed for us - personally I'll believe it when I see it. From there we head down to Annapolis around the first of October to hear our Key West musician friend Scott Kirby play and then it is on to Baltimore for us for three weeks. We are pretty excited - we are going to be taking a 3 week first responder first aid/cpr course and I am going to try and finish up what I need to get my captains license (Doug has already completed his application and is just waiting for it to be reviewed by the coast guard - yes, he did pass both his drug test!!!) We aren't sure what the long road has in store for us but we know when we go back to work we want to do so in the marine field and having our captains licenses and extensive first aid can only help our cause (we think...) At the end of October we plan on making a beeline south to get out of the cold - I know I used to love the winter and all growing up in Maine and Massachusetts but no longer!!! After spending the winter in FL and the Bahamas, I'm a confirmed sun and warmth worshipper - I know all of you that know me will find that hard to believe....NOT!!! So we will make our way south quickly in search of the sun and hope to connect with SS sometime around Thanksgiving maybe in Georgia or northern FL - as always we'll play it by ear and see how things work out. This cruising life is all about the journey not just the end so we are continuing to love every minute and appreciate the little things along the way. Remember "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain!"