No Jacket Required at Our New Year's Eve Party

Days 224-225 |  Richmond to Palmetto   

We finished up last-minute packing on Sunday morning and I loaded the rental car as Barry took a load of trash to the dump. Our still-blooming Christmas cactus was top-stock in the back seat. The final checklist included shuffling the cars in the driveway, resetting the thermostat, and turning off the propane fireplaces and hot water heater. A final walk through the back yard had me wondering what it would look like on our next visit. Would the ground ever dry out? How many leaves have yet to fall? I will miss the cycle of the azaleas, but the roses should in full bloom. The only color on this cold winter day was the bright pink flowers on my five camellias.

We hit Interstate 95 and made great time through Virginia and North Carolina. We made a quick stop to say "Hey" to Pedro at South of the Border. Our small-world moment occurred a short time later when we pulled into the rest stop in Santee, SC and recognized the man walking his dog in front of us. I noticed the "I Love Deltaville" sticker on his car just as Barry said, "That's Chris" -- our excellent "Canvas Guru" who has done quite a bit of work on both Laughing Place and Crossroads over the years. They spent several minutes talking in the rain, before getting back on the road. The trip through South Carolina was a nightmare and we averaged 37 mph for the next five hours. There were no accidents, just too many cars on the two-lane highway. We celebrated entering Georgia and getting another lane by stopping for a quick bite to eat. We checked in at the hotel at 9:00, took a shower, and quickly called it a night.

One last long, hot shower from a real showerhead to start the day and we were on the road at 8:30. We entered Florida four miles later and stopped at the Welcome Center to pick up some visitor guides. There were no traffic delays this New Year's Eve morning and we flew back to Riviera Dunes Marina. We required the same four dock cart loads to get most of our "stuff" onboard. The new outboard is still in the trunk as we need to do some work on the flybridge before we raise it up on the dinghy.

The afternoon was absolutely beautiful -- 80 degrees, deep blue sky and a light breeze. We quickly changed into our Florida clothes and put the memories of cold temperatures and frost on the windshields behind us. We put our resupply of chicken pies and macaroni and cheese in the freezer and made the bed with a new quilt we received. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.

There was a nice sign outside the marina office announcing tonight's festivities. We were fortunate to secure a dinner reservation for 8:00. On our way up to the restaurant we ran into fellow Loopers Debbie and Ron (Bucket List), and visited for a while. Glass Onion, a Beatles tribute band, started their set at 8:00, just as we were seated. We enjoyed listening to them and singing along. As we finished up dinner we joked that with the warm temperature a palm tree would be more appropriate for our New Year's Eve photo than the Christmas tree, so we did a retake on the way back to Crossroads.

The windows, hatches, and ports are all open and we're enjoying listening to Glass Onion while unpacking a little more. I hope we'll make it two more hours to midnight. Thanks for following along on what was a great 2018. Happy New Year!


Update: We did make it to midnight and listened to the countdown while standing on Fiberglass Beach. Fireworks could be heard all around us, but were only occasionally visible above the trees. The band played Old Lang Syne, but being a true Wahoo, I sang the words to the Good Old Song still feeling good about UVA's 28-0 victory over South Carolina in the Belk Bowl.