| the
2004
Midwinters the trip down: Oakville, ON to South Carolina photos by Marc Bennett and Uncle Al |
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| On the Tuesday
before our planned departure on the evening of the 29th
... ... |
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| ... the Toronto
area had just finished with a blizzard. .. |
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| Sunshine on the
Wednesday, but -10ºC. After liberating the mast from his
back yard, Uncle Al's knee-high sailing boots were filled to the brim with snow. .. |
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| By Wednesday
afternoon, SHADES was in the driveway just like
pre-departure for any other regatta - almost. .. |
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Marc arrived
chez Schonborn from work just after 6 p.m., and half
an hour later, we were on the road in overcast -5ºC
but on dry roads towards the Peace Bridge and Buffalo.
Just before we reached Buffalo, Uncle Al remembered
the first item he had forgotten: our spinnaker. Having
decided we would try to borrow rather than go back or
ask Julia to FedEx, we could concentrate on Job 1:
getting into the US (which Marc feared might take up
to 12 hours with his Jamaican passport despite his
many trips to the US Embassy in T.O. and numerous
expensive minutes on the phone). Our fears proved
groundless as we were greeted and checked out in a
most thorough yet friendly and helpful manner by
the U.S. Immigration people. Less than 15 minutes
later, we were on our way to the NY Thruway westbound,
and Erie, PA which we planned to make our first
stop. Not having to be anywhere until Saturday night
for our date with Bill Waller (W923) in St.
Marys, Georgia on Cumberland Sound, we could relax.
..Sporting smiles from ear to ear, we checked into the Days Inn off I-90 in Erie and went for a late supper at Doc Holliday's Saloon next door. The Saloon proved to be a lovely place with cute waitresses who brought eminently edible food, a fine live country and western band and wall-to-wall people who were unanimously having fun. As Marc pointed out: "I've never been in a bar where everyone looked so happy!" After a serve-yourself breakfast in the hotel, we were on the road towards our tentative Friday night destination of New Bern, NC on the Atlantic Ocean (more or less). Despite some morning snow as we crossed Pennsylvania and Maryland, we made good time. Our only sign of impatience was Marc eagerly waiting for that magic moment when there would be no snow to be seen as far as the eye could reach. In the late afternoon, we got lost trying to follow a State Road towards New Bern. Not being sure how much would be open there during the off-season, Marc suggested getting back onto I-95 and aiming for Wilmington which looked more promising as a hotel and dinner stop. By 9 p.m., we were showered and eating a fine dinner in Wilmington - with no snow to be seen anywhere!! |
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| By 0700, we had
checked out, were on the road south and located -
halleluia!! - a coffee shop with good coffee for us coffee snobs! .. |
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| The plan was to
follow SR 17 more or less along the ocean until after
Charleston, then angle out to I-95 and hit St. Marys by early afternoon. .. |
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Somewhere
south of Wilmington, around 0830 hrs, Marc decided he
could wait no longer to see his beloved Atlantic
Ocean. In temperatures around 40ºF, none of the hoped
for ocean-side bars were open. "No ocean-side beer
just yet," Uncle Al complained to Marc who merely
grinned, reached into his jacket pockets and produced
the beverages shown above.
.. |
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| Uncle Al enjoys
his beer and smoke break. .. |
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| A lovely spot... .. |
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| ... but totally
deserted ... .. |
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| ... except for
one hungry gull. .. |
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| A quick side trip
off 17 led us into Georgetown where we "moored" SHADES
... .. |
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| ...
appropriately, across from our favourite ... .. |
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| ... a book
store!! |