Giving Thanks

We rented a car and drove 6 hours down to Spartanburg, SC, to spend Thanksgiving with brother John and Lisa, their daughter Hazel and Lisa’s Mom. They recently moved into a new house on the golf course. Delila, the official house dog, took us for a walk along the golf cart track.

The new house is just off one of the fairways – hence the draw full of golf balls recovered from yard.

Their other daughter Rebecca decided to call in over Skype

And offer a complete trial-by-fire for her boyfriend by introducing him to the parents over Skype. If nothing else, he was a good sport.

After we got back from our road trip to SC, we decided to get off the boat, throw out the list of stuff that still had to be done before we left Gloucester Point and go check out some of the Revolutionary War history in the area. It was one of those crystal clear, cold autumn days you get before winter sets in- perfect for some sight-seeing. We headed across the river to Yorktown. Took a quick look around and drove past the old houses and taverns. Then we headed off to Williamsburg, travelling along the York River on the Colonial Highway. This was the old original capital of Virginia, founded in 1632. Patrick Henry made a big stand here. But after Governor Thomas Jefferson decided to move the capital to Richmond, Williamsburg pretty quickly fell into disrepair. Slowly being rebuilt from the old foundations as a living piece of history. We enjoyed playing tourist on our last day, been wanting to do it all summer!

The governor's palace. Filled with firearms for the local militia- think 2nd Amendment.

Apparently no one told this guy they’d moved the capital.

The smithy’s shop- making hinges to reconstruct local buildings

Speaking of giving thanks. The York River Yacht Haven (www.yryh.net) has been a really good place to hang for much of the summer and work on the boat. Decent prices, good chandlery, great space for canvas work, nice restaurant and really friendly staff. They welcome anchor-outs in Sarah Creek too.

We left York River this morning and had a glassy calm motor down the Chesapeake and past Hampton Roads into the Hampton River. We stopped at the Hampton Yacht Club expecting to get a reciprocal freebie slip for the night. Not to be – they don’t like us West Coast yachties. So we paid for a slip as they are right next door to North Sails where we had to pick up our recut solent jib. The Hampton North staff are very cruiser friendly and did a good job on the sail at a reasonable price, including some generous help with the construction of our new stack-pack for the mainsail. Check them out- North Sails Hampton -if you need sail work done.

Tomorrow we are off to head through the Great Neck Locks and down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) on our way to Moorehead City, NC.

Paul