A Day With Friends

Southport    

We received a visit from friends today and after yesterday's stressful trip, friendly faces and conversation were a welcome change. Knowing I had not yet given Crossroads a full cleaning, I had a few chores to do before David and Sue (Day Dreaming) arrived. They are dockmates at our home marina, Stingray Point, but live in nearby Supply, NC. We visited for a while aboard Crossroads before all heading out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. David and Sue are preparing to depart on their own Great Loop adventure in April so this was our final opportunity to share notes in person before they leave. After lunch they kindly drove us to Walmart for a few things. When I walked in it felt like I had gone through a time warp -- all the Valentine's Day merchandise caught me a bit offguard. We've been in our own little cocoon for the last week and the world moves on at a quick pace. On the heels of our oil changes in Beaufort, Barry picked up a few extra gallons for use later in our trip. Despite bringing onboard over 10 pounds of batteries in all shapes and sizes, we did not have a replacement 2025 for our remote thermometer. Check. We picked up a pair of those little button batteries and a few grocery items just because it was convenient. Back to Crossroads we returned for the remainder of the afternoon where the boys talked solar panels and internet connectivity while the girls discussed how to stake claim to as much storage space as possible and what to pack into all the nooks and crannies. I did remember to take the farewell selfie on the dock. 

A short walk around the marina provided a few points of interest. Exhibit A shows why you shouldn't leave your fenders in the water. The scale and "mustache" are not a good look. Exhibit B is the Rules for Use posted inside all of the dock carts. How low has this society fallen, when you need to state these items that seem so obvious? The afternoon was almost gone and fishing boats were returning to port as we returned onboard. I got the television turned on just in time to catch the tipoff of the UVA-Syracuse men's basketball game. In typical Virginia fashion they jumped out to a lead, allowed the opponent to rally, and then decided not to score themselves for eight minutes. In the end they pulled out the win, but it was much more stressful than it should have been -- similar to our trip yesterday.

During the game, the sun set over the ICW in a beautiful orange. While the first photo was pretty good, I thought the wake from a passing boat made the second shot even better. We'll be back underway early tomorrow morning, two days from Charleston, going for another win with a little less stress.