Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Slow Trip North

The Cap'n was back to his old tricks on Friday July 13th when he roused me from my comfortable bunk at 5:45AM. I could hardly complain, we were off to see Zac Brown!!
After an uneventful trip up the Bay we anchored off Chesapeake City, MD awaiting the 5:30AM Saturday arrival of Andy and Christine. From there we traveled across the C&D Canal to the Delaware River and finally Camden, NJ. Along the way we looked at life on the river from a different vantage point than our usual I-95 view.

We shared the waterway with commercial and pleasure craft alike. I always find it hard to believe that a much smaller tug can maneuver such a large ship:



Here's the SS United States, awaiting a renovation. Donors to the effort can "purchase" bits of the boat, one square inch at a time, at $1 per inch.  Interested? go to https://savetheunitedstates.org/:




A  brief detour to the Philadelphia Corinthian Yacht Club allowed the chance to blow our horn in salute to the SCUBA class underway.


A heavy rain was falling as we tied up at the Wiggins Park Marina, just steps from the Susquehanna Bank Center. Naps were in order after lunch, and before long we welcomed my sister Joan and her friend Wendy. The skies cleared in time for us to enjoy the Philadelphia skyline during pre-concert cocktails and snacks on the Calypso Deck.


While Joan and Wendy enjoyed the Philly skyline view and (some of) the music from the nearby Caribbean Festival, the rest of us headed to the concert.


The Cap'n and I were very excited -- we had tickets in the pit!! Not yet members of the Zamily, I think A&C were not quite sure what they were getting themselves into.  
The concert was terrific -- Sonia Leigh, an opening act, rocked it with "Born to Run (pretty cheeky for a Jersey crowd) and the Zac Brown Band, with surprise guest Gregg Allman (we screamed when he walked on stage!!) kept us singing and dancing all night. Thanks to a very tall and determined young man - who told his girlfriend he had to show me respect -and who led the way, we were able to work our way to about 5 people back from the stage. I was thrilled, THRILLED.

The following morning my legs hurt from standing at the concert, but at least we did not have to get up before the sun.  Sadly,  we said goodbye to Joan and Wendy and headed back to Chesapeake City, the first leg of our trip north completed. Next stop: Cape May, NJ

Time Flies/Late Spring-Early Summer Recap

I can't believe it has been 3 months since Freedom settled into her slip on the Sassafras River.  Rest assured, she has not been resting... Yes, some repairs have kept her tied up, but fun has been had all the same. In early May (and before the repairs began) we joined the CCA cruise to the South and West Rivers -- enjoying the onboard company of Tyler and Andy, and two delicious onshore dinners - the first on the deck at Cantler's Riverside, and the second at the West River Yacht Club (see MarthasGalley.blogspot.com for a recipe inspired by that night).
Before you knew it, it was July and time to celebrate the Fourth!  After the menfolk took a sail on "Crazy Horse", we all  celebrated at the dock with 27 friends and family, including the K'dults, River friends, PA friends, assorted sorority sisters, cousins and more. A highlight of the July 4th celebrations on the Sassafras is the boat parade. The 2012 effort was small but spirited

Here  was the barge, powered by Logan, featuring a "Hot Tub" with Austen manning the cannon. Freedom received more than one salute!



We all loved the spirit on the bow and stern of this cabin cruiser!


Speaking of spirit on the stern.....


Nellie Crockett added some beauty and history to the parade


And, although they were not part of the flotilla, Adrienne and Julia had their own thing going on:



All in all, it was a perfect day on the river: full of friends, food and fun