Happy Birthday Freedom

Dear Freedom, One year ago today, in a Virginia bookstore, you became ours. We rose early, packed the car with everything from shorts to decorative pillows, and headed south from Pennsylvania. Just before 11AM we pulled off I-95 at the designated meeting place and excitedly shook hands with our boat broker and loan agent. We pushed together a few tables and set to signing page after page of agreement. Soon the deal was done. Our satisfaction was tempered by the knowledge that a day and a half of driving separated us. But drive we did, and soon we were in Fort Lauderdale. It was a day or two before we climbed aboard, and a few more days before you truly felt like ours, but the connection was there from the start. You are now our almost full time home: warm, welcoming and ready for a road trip. You have safely delivered us as far north as Martha's Vineyard, south to Key West and west to our current berth in St. Petersburg. You have satisfied our need to be on the water and filled our imagination with trips to come. For all that we are grateful. Happy Birthday Freedom!