Fish Are Jumpin'…
We have just had a wonderful weekend
with our friends, Joy and Dave Ludwig.
We became friends in
An added benefit of the Ludwig’s
company was the opportunity to take advantage of their “wheels,” which we used
to ride to the nearest Wal Mart, otherwise known as Boater’s
So,
it’s summertime (well, it still FEELS like summertime in
Life is good!
Learnin’ Southern
Now that I’ve seen cotton fields, I’m
doing my best to learn the whole Southern thing. I’ve eaten catfish, hush
puppies, and grits, and the grits are OK.
Having Joy and Dave with us this weekend was a big help, and I’m making
good progress at understanding the language. I’ve learned that oil and foil
rhyme with pole. I’ve learned that it’s
“just plain ugly” to gossip about other people, but it’s OK to do so if you
follow your “ugly” remark with, “bless her heart.”
However, even Joy and Dave were out
Southerned at breakfast today, when the waitress presented us with our two
checks, saying, “Here are ya’allses checks.”
I guess I’ve got me some more learnin’ to do.
Rendezvous in Rogersville
The last few days have been a
wonderful highlight of our trip so far.
Over 50 boats and 170 people gathered at
The Rendezvous included many informative sessions
about the journey ahead, including how to find our way through the hurricane
devastated Panhandle of Florida, what to expect on the
Bob and I took part in a dinghy
scavenger hunt/poker run, where we zipped around the river, seeking the answers
to a list of clues. We were awarded one playing card for each correct answer,
and we got them all right and drew a strait. Bob also raced in the kayak race,
where he was only 10 seconds behind the first place finisher, and he got all
the aerobic exercise he needed for that day!
We all had dinner together every
night, and the final night was a banquet with all kinds of crazy awards given
in such categories as the oldest boat (1977), the longest marriage (52 years),
the woman who did the most driving, the man who did the most cooking, the
people who have done the Loop the most times (2 ˝ ),
the people closest to finishing the Loop, and the people closest to the
beginning of the Loop. We got a prize
for the Scavenger hunt/poker run, a gift certificate to a marina north of here. Since we’re heading south, we gave it to some
friends who were glad to have it.
The
best part of the Rendezvous, by far, was the people. So many great people were
here, and each had a different story about how they got to this point in their
lives. Many folks have been boaters
forever and have had some amazing adventures, and there were lots who either
live on their boats or spend the majority of their time on them. However, there
also were some total novices who read a book, bought a boat, and are learning
as they go. The common denominator
amongst almost everyone was that they love the water, love boats, and are VERY
NICE PEOPLE. For most, this trip is a
dream come true, and so practically everyone is happy. The bond we have in
sharing this adventure is wonderful, and we hope to meet up with many of these
new friends later in our journey.
Bass Fishing Tournament
For the past two weekends, our marinas have hosted bass
fishing tournaments, and we’ve been amazed at the turnout and at the enthusiasm
for bass fishing around here. The first
one was a professional tournament, and the first and second prizes were two $40,000
bass boats. The second was an amateur tournament, and even that offered a fully
equipped $38,000 bass boat for first prize and an $18,000 boat for second
place.
Jen and Todd joined us on Sunday, after flying in from
On the advice of our friend at the marina, we gobbled down
some lunch and rushed over to the judging area. The harbor was a mass of
fishing boats, as 233 boats came in for the weigh-in. We stood around, along
with lots of other spectators, as, one by one, the fishermen had their fish
weighed and the totals were announced.
Jen and I wondered why it was so important that we rush over to see
this, as the weigh- in went on for several hours. Obviously, some of the drama of the event was
lost on us, especially since all the fish were thrown back. (I kept thinking
about the delicious fish dinners that were swimming away!)
I spotted a man whose bag of fish looked pretty big and
asked him if I could take a picture. He proudly pulled out his largest fish and
held it up for me to photograph (see photo gallery). It weighed 4.75 lbs!
Although I am not a fisherman, the fun of this event for me
was to see another example of the many things in life that bring people
happiness. We’re all so different and
yet so much the same. We want to have something unique at which we can excel,
and we love sharing our enthusiasm for our “thing” with others. Our “thing” is
doing the Great Loop; theirs is catching big bass. Whatever turns you on!!!
Southern Hospitality
Today, we were in
The Magnolias was the only house in
town that offered official tours.
However, before we left, Miss Sara asked us if we would like to see
another home, and we said we would. She
called her friend Mr. Crosby, who was the donor of many of the furnishings at
the Magnolias, and who also has a lovely home in town. She couldn’t reach him, and so we decided to
do a driving tour of the old homes in town and agreed to look at his house from
the outside.
We drove around town, oohing and aahing about the pretty
houses, and then we decided to do some shopping in town. As we were walking down
Mr. Crosby loved to talk, and he had
some fantastic stories to tell. He told
us how he came to buy the house, which had been owned by a family who left it
to their daughters, on the condition that it couldn’t be sold until they had
all passed away. The last surviving
daughter was blind and lived to a ripe old age. Apparently she had no money and
was the recipient of the charity of her neighbors for the basics of life, but
she had no means to maintain the house.
On her death, her heirs found the house in utter shambles, with the town
anxious to condemn it and tear it down.
Her estate was in debt for $5000, after her funeral expenses were paid.
Mr. Crosby, who lived in town, hated the idea of this once lovely place being
destroyed, and he agreed to buy it from the heirs for the $5000 debt.
Mr. Crosby’s father was a wealthy doctor during the
Depression era, and many of his patients paid him in furniture, clocks, and
other lovely objects, since they had no money. These items were displayed
throughout the house. In addition, there were many wonderful items that had
been handed down in his family for generations.
Mr. Crosby’s bed was a huge mahogany cannon ball style bed that had been
used by Thomas Jefferson. There was a
really nice hutch type cabinet in the kitchen which was found floating down the
We spent well over an hour
with this very interesting and hospitable 78 year old gentleman, who taught us
a lot about not only the history of his home and the South, but also about
Southern hospitality! Thank you, Mr. Crosby!