Sept. 19-23 Cape May, NJ- the First Seaside Village

sunrise, leaving Atlantic City

 Our second day in the ocean, brings a bit more excitement.  Waves, really what they call swells: 4-6 feet but they were coming up behind us (a following sea) which is good for us. Since we had stabilizers installed 2 years ago, we can handle even more than we could in the past. We had more Dolphin sightings & blue skies.

South Jersey Marina, Cape May

In front of the Marina

We had heard a lot about Cape May, NJ so that's where we headed next and we were not disappointed.  We docked @ South Jersey Marina, where customer service & the facilities are top notch.  We had 2 dock hands help us in to the face dock, which was much appreciated since the wind & current were working against us.

The bathroom @ the Marina

This marina has fuel access & pump out on every run.  The showers & bathrooms were amazing, as nice as any 4 star hotel we've stayed in.  Cape May is known for it's Victorian homes and beautiful beaches.

We walked & biked around town and to the beaches & lighthouse. Much of the island is clean & neat with beautiful landscaping.  Cape May is also popular for it's great birdwatching.  We witnessed quite a few birders spotting Bald Eagles, Peregine Falcons, hawks and other birds that I am not familiar with.  What fun!

Willow Creek Winery

"The birders"

Joe&Barb Cleveland have visited here & recommended The Lobster House Restaurant, so we tried that out, it was delicious & interesting.  It is located right on the water, across from where we were docked. The Lobster House has a huge dining room, a sailboat that is permanently docked that has a dining area & bar on that. Then there is an outside Oyster Raw bar & a carry out area with many tables also right along the water.  In addition to that, they have a huge Fish Market too. There are cool commercial fishing boats docked nearby. Another night, we dined @ a local watering hole called Lucky Bones & that also was good.

We also kayaked along a few of the canals and marshes.  I expected a crocodile or alligator to slither out of the marshes, pretty sure they are not in this area.  We biked to a local winery where Jacque & I partook of the wine tasting, while Doug & Garry relaxed with just a glass of the sangria out on the patio. We are very impressed with this area and there are many quaint, big porched B&B's, if any one wants to enjoy Cape May.

Real flowers, look like candy

WWII Utility Bunker on the beach

Thanks for checking in on us!

Sept 15-18 NYC/the Statue of Liberty & Atlantic City

On Monday morning, we left Half Moon Bay, said good-bye to Steve, their very friendly Harbormaster and headed toward NYC.  It was a beautiful blue sky, warm weather day.  The closer we came to the city, the busier the ferry & boat traffic became. The NYC skyline is impressive.  The new Freedom tower stands out as it should. We didn't see any bodies or cars floating, so it was a good day.  We passed the wharfs, the aircraft carrier that houses the Space Shuttle Intrepid, New Jersey, Ellis Island and of course the welcoming, majestic Lady of Liberty.  She just gives one chills.  And best of all, we kept going not only seeing her profile & frontal view but her rear view too, because we were headed to an anchorage located behind the Statue.

After we were anchored for awhile, another Krogen pulled in.  Doug had met them while we were docked @ Half Moon Bay and they had told Doug they planned on anchoring for the first time.  Well, their first time may be their last.  They had difficulty getting the anchor to hold @ first as we did too.  Once they did get their anchor to hold, it held so well they were not able to pull it up @ all.  Doug & Garry went over to offer some assistance but were unsuccessful.  They finally called a towboat & he came & pushed their boat all around & finally dislodged the anchor from who knows what it was caught on.  After that ordeal, they decided to go to a marina for the night. We took the kayak down & tooled around the little bay & Liberty park.

We left in the morning & headed to Staten Island, a totally new area for us. It didn't feel like you were still in NYC, which you are but just on an island connected by bridges. On entering the bay, there were many boats on mooring balls, which is always a pretty sight. We now are in salt water.  John, the AGLCC Harbor host @ Great Kills Yacht Club (GKYC) was waiting for us @ the end of the dock run to help us tie up.  He could not have been more gracious. GKYC is a 150 member working club.  They had experienced significant damage to their docks along with all the marina's in the area in October, 2012 from Hurricane Sandy.  They have done a bang up job reconstructing & cleaning up. The club & docks are very nice. Since being in this area, we have heard many references to the damage from Hurricane Sandy; we can only hope nothing likes that happens here again.

Times Square

Since we were technically still in NYC, Doug & I decided to take the bus (had ridden train & subway on Sat) into Downtown Manhattan to shop & see a Broadway Musical. The bus ride was 1 ½ hours.  We didn't expect it to take that long, but it stopped a lot and once in lower Manhattan the traffic was snarled & slow.  We noticed a big police presence and after the fact we found out that there had been mumblings of a threat that day.  We unloaded @ 5th Ave & 42nd street & walked to the discount ticket place in Times Square.  There was a long line but it moved very quickly.  I was hoping to see The Book of Mormon but there was not a matinee offered so we picked this year's Tony awards Best Musical: A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder.  It was good, we could understand the Lead Man's voice very well when he sang but not so much all of the other singer's.  We were able to interpret the gist of the storyline though. The Theater was very nice & smaller than we expected.  There were 3 levels and the seats were stadium style, so I was able to see very well.  NYC was very crowded, the sidewalks, streets & everywhere inside.  We did make it to Macy's.  They boast it as being the biggest store in the world. I was overwhelmed by how large it was.  I didn't buy a thing, unbelievable!

Lunch in the Theater district

Macy's:biggest store in world

On Thursday, the forecast was good for us to venture out into the big Atlantic Ocean.  Back in 2003, when we picked up Day Dreams in New Jersey, we did cruise into the Ocean for a few hours. Today's trip took us 10 hours in the Atlantic & it was great.  Blue skies, sun & warmth with calm waters, what more could one ask for.  We only ran 2-3 miles off the coastline so we could see the cars driving on the jersey beaches. We did have a few Dolphins swim up & say hello-love it!

Atlantic City

We entered a channel running alongside Atlantic City Casino's that took us to a nice anchorage surrounded by marshes.  There were a few sailboats anchored there but plenty of room.  We had decided we didn't need to go to the Casinos this trip, maybe next time we come by here. But after dark, when Harrah's high rise building came to life with flashing lights & tempting offers, I was almost lured in, but by then it was too late & dark to go in by dinghy.  We enjoyed a nice relaxing, free night onboard.

We now have traveled 2600 miles with 65 different stops and we are still loving the adventure with all the different places to explore & people to see.

September 8-14th, New York a great place to visit & be visited!

We have been experiencing beautiful summer weather, the best we've had since leaving our Toledo Beach Dock in June.  We pulled into Albany Yacht Club, a bit of a rough place but the people are great!  The Dock master was experienced & helped us get docked with the tide & current.  Tides & currents are obviously new to us but we have studied this & we have the Apps & books to prove it.  We have family near here & some old friends we were able to reconnect with.  This is one of the things I love about this adventure, meeting up with family & friends along the way.

Our friends Pat & Chris live about 15 minutes from where we docked.  Pat & I worked together @ the WCHD, back in the 1980's, when I was the WIC Coordinator.  I hired Pat, a highly motivated Nutritionist fresh out of college, to teach nutrition to our WIC clients.  She has since earned a senior administrative position in the NY State Department of Health. I'm so proud!  Pat & Chris's biggest & best accomplishment is raising their wonderful daughter Kat, who is in her last year of Nursing School & the Captain of the Volleyball team @ her University. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner al fresco @ their lovely home after Chris patiently took Jacque & I grocery shopping in the afternoon. We spent our time catching up & then reminiscing about all the fun things we had done together. It had been 20 years since we last saw them but we are not going to wait another 20 to see them again! Even though it had been way too long since our last visit together, it seemed like yesterday, which is a sign of a true friendship. Thank you for the shopping trip & delicious dinner.

My maternal cousin Diane, daughter to my Mom's only sibling: Annette, (who is still living outside of Buffalo), lives 5 minutes away from AYC.  My cousin is an accomplished artist & recently has published a children's book. Diane picked Doug & I up and gave us the grand tour of Albany.  Diane used to work downtown & loves the city.  After the tour, she took us to her townhouse & we shared a delicious meal with her 8 year old grandson Zane.  It was an honor to meet Zane & he entertained us with his wit and charm.  Thank you for the tour & dinner. We felt very welcome & comfortable in your home.

Beat Navy!

From Albany we cruised to Kingston, NY staying in Rondout Yacht Basin along the Hudson River for 1 night.  We left there & cruised by West Point Academy & some beautiful country.  Lots of rolling hills, mountains, lush forests & beautiful homes nestled in among the trees & hills.

a person repelling down the rock face 

The bridge that Jeri, Craig & Cheryl
drove over & we cruised under

We made it through the entire Trent Severn Waterway & the NY Erie Barge Canal where it was very shallow with tons of debris floating in the narrow waterways without hitting bottom or any logs.  On our trek from Kingston, NY south on the Hudson where it is wide, deep & mostly clean, we managed to hit a big log.  We both were in the pilot house, both on task for driving although Doug was on the phone and we heard & felt: thunk then thunk again!  That is a terrible sound to hear & feel.  Doug slammed the boat into neutral and I went to the stern to look and a big nasty log floated out from under the boat.  No harm, no foul as Garry would say, thank goodness!

Doug's BD present from Jeri, a TP tote
designed by Jeri, made by Pauline

September 12 was a special day for Doug because he turned 60 years old.  Wow, I'm married to an old man, lol! (I''m 59 & will always be younger, haha) To commemorate this special day, 3 of our best friends made the long 10 hour drive to celebrate with us. Jeri, Craig & Cheryl pulled into Half Moon Bay Marina @ the same time we pulled into the docks there.  We welcomed them with some Bloody Mary's and later we all walked to dinner @ a cute place called Justin Thyme. Our waiter was also celebrating his birthday but he was a few years younger.

The next morning we all loaded the train (after a stop @ Dunkin donuts) to NEW YORK CITY.  OK, so I don't feed my guests too well, sorry! We unloaded in Grand Central Station and from there we walked to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Today Show, David Letterman's theater, Hello Deli, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, had lunch @ McGee's Pub, walked through half of Central Park, tried to take a tour bus, drank @ Rosie O'Grady's instead, took the subway to 911 Memorial & Freedom Tower, visited St. Paul's Chapel, walked through Chinatown and then hit Little Italy as their 11 day San Gennaro Feast was in full swing.  We had a blast: lots of laughing & singing; Life is But a Musical!  We walked @ least 12 miles, according to Jeri & Cheryl's tracking devices, which were not in sync @all. Everyone slept really well that night!

No iceskating in the summer

riding the subway

Grand Central

Talented little guy was playing music

Hey Wilson!

Central Park

Ground Zero Memorial

Freedom Tower

Enjoying the feast in Little Italy

laughing so hard we're crying!

Sunday, before Jeri, Craig & Cheryl had to leave, we drove to the Croton Dam, which Garry had heard about from some stranger he talked to.  It was a short drive, very close to the Marina.  This dam was spectacular, so glad that Garry likes talking to strangers.  Craig read us the history of the place before we arrived so it was even more impressive to us. Construction began in 1892 & was completed in 1906.  This masonry dam is 266 feet broad  & 297 feet high. It's foundation extends 130 feet below the bed of the river. The spillway is part manmade & part natural.  It was built to improve New York City's water supply. What a project, google it!

 The following are New York lighthouses we have passed, sorry I don't have names for them.

Our dock @ Half Moon Bay

The end to a perfect weekend!