Saturday, October 10, 2009

Friday, October 2, 2009




We slept in until 7:30 am and awoke to clear skies, a nice breeze and a temperature of 55 degrees. Gale changed the transmission fluid this morning and performed a few other boat tasks. Just before noon, we lowered the dinghy for a ride over to Green Turtle Bay marina (GTB) and a walk into town. Our first stop was Patti’s 1880’s Settlement. We wanted a small lunch so we each ordered the cup of soup and half club sandwich to leave a little room for dessert. The half sandwich was bigger than any whole sandwich we were accustomed to! After the pot of bread, the soup and some of our sandwich, we were both too full for the sawdust pie we were so eager to try. We decided that sometime we would simply have to come for dessert!

After lunch, we walked around Patti’s complex and checked out the chapel, petting zoo, boat ramp, banquet facilities and little shops. Next to Patti’s there was a little antique shop where they sold pocket knives. Gale’s knife must have fallen out of his pocket sometime in the last week or so and he’d been a bit lost without it. We found a very large assortment of knives and picked one out for each of us. After leaving the antique shop, we walked across the street to the Post Office to mail a letter and then next door to the Tourist Information Center. From here it was a couple of doors down to the grocery. It’s nice to be in a small town where everything you need is usually within walking distance!

Walking back to GTB, we noted how quickly Fall was arriving. The leaves were really beginning to show their colors and the path we were walking was very crunchy with fallen leaves and pinecones. The air was dry and the temperature was a cool 70 degrees. We stopped into the Ship’s Store looking for spray paint to use on our anchor rode (chain). The markers we’d been using to indicate the length of chain we had out tended to break off and were often difficult to spot. We’re hoping that the hot orange fluorescent paint will be more permanent and easier to see!

We were back on the boat about 3:30 pm and relaxed with some reading until nearly 5 o’clock. We jumped into the dinghy once again but this time motored the short distance over to the boat ramp we were anchored near. The ramp is part of the Lake Barkley Canal Campground and is a US Army Corps of Engineers park. We brought Lucy along as well as our shower supplies and went ashore. We never thought of using the shower facilities at a public park until the couple from Whiskers mentioned yesterday that they did it all the time. What a great idea! We walked around the camping areas after our showers and talked to a few campers as well as the greeters at the Entrance Station.

Since we were still so full from our “small” lunch, we opted for lettuce salad for supper and split the remaining half of the “half sandwich” from Patti’s. After dinner, we thought we should play a game of Cribbage to keep the rules fresh in our minds. While the cards were being dealt, Maureen noticed that the diamond was missing from Gale’s wedding ring. We thought it was probably knocked out when Gale was out working on the sail rigging today. This is the second time the diamond has been lost – the jeweler that replaced and repaired the ring the last time said he “guaranteed” it wouldn’t fall out again! Wish we would have gotten that in writing. . . At least, we have it insured.

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