Christmas and New Years

On Christmas day, Susan and I drove back to Brunswick from Savannah. Back aboard KINGDOM, we spruced ourselves up to go visiting.
We were invited by my second cousin, Mary King Flowers, to her dear friends' (Nancy and Weldon) for Christmas Dinner. Nancy and Mary's friendship goes back to their days in school, and they both have lovely homes on St. Simons Island.
Weldon had smoked a turkey overnight, and I must say that it was fabulous! Tender, juicy, and full of flavor. We dined with several other friends of theirs, along with Mary and John, her husband of 54 years. We were made to feel at home, and enjoyed ourselves and new friends immensely.
After dinner, Nancy led us around the corner to a neighboring house, where a huge Poinsettia bush was in full bloom. It seemed like the perfect photo opportunity!

Nancy and Weldon, our hosts for Christmas Dinner:

Nancy and my cousin, Mary King Flowers at right:

A thoroughly well-fed couple - Walt and Susan King:


We invited the group to come aboard KINGDOM for a New Years' Eve cocktail hour. It was a most convivial evening, and I think everyone enjoyed seeing our boat. Nancy and Weldon, Mary and John, and their delightful daughter and son-in-law Sherena and Bryan attended. They brought along fine home-made dips, gourmet crackers, and added to our boiled and peeled shrimp on ice, nobody went away hungry! We toasted each other and the New Year with a small glass of Champagne, and we were all back in our own beds by 10:30pm.

New Year's Day - I made two pans of cornbread as our contribution to New Year's dinner at John and Mary's home. This was the highlight of our stay in Georgia! It was a real Southern-style dinner, with a menu of Honey-baked Ham, roast Turkey, Weldon's 15-bean soup, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, peeled and boiled turnips, string beans, macaroni & cheese, flour rolls, cornbread, pinto beans and rice, a 15-layer chocolate cake, and Mary's old fashioned banana puddin'! Not to mention a snack table filled with chocolates, cookies, chips, nuts, and home-made dips! Thank goodness there was a much larger group for dinner; extended family, friends, kids, and grandkids and neighbors actually made a sizable dent in all that food!
After dinner, some of us gathered around the piano in the living room to sing some of the old gospel favorites. Adam played piano, and Red Flowers (John's brother) strummed along on his guitar. I felt right at home, since this was the typical after-Sunday-dinner activity for my sisters and I when we were growing up.
Another group gathered at the big table for a hotly-contested game of Mexican Train (a wild version of dominos).
All this, and football, too! Bowl Game after Bowl Game...
I ask you: What more could a couple of wandering retirees want, to start the New Year off right?

More on Savannah

I couldn't bear not to post a few more of the pictures we took in Savannah. As you can see, it was a chilly day on December 23rd.


The first cemetery in Savannah was established in 1735, and the last burials in this cemetery were a hundred years later, in 1835. When the Union soldiers departed their encampment in the cemetery after the civil war, many of the stones had been displaced. The townsfolk tried their best to reposition them where they were originally located. Those markers which could not be restored to their original location were arrayed on this wall for preservation.

It was sad to see how many young children did not survive their first year of life, and in some years, an entire generation could be decimated by cholera, yellow fever, or influenza.


Savannah was founded by General Oglethorpe, who petitioned Parliament to enable him establish a colony in Georgia to defend the Crown's claim to this territory. Spain also claimed the area, and occasionally made incursions from their established military forts in Florida. In the last of these battles, General Oglethorpe's troops ambushed and defeated Spanish troops at "Bloody Marsh", on St. Simon's Island, near current-day Brunswick.
General Oglethorpe recruited many of his new Colony's settlers from English debtor's prisons. He established several interesting government policies for his colony: No lawyers were allowed (probably to protect the interests of the emigrant debtors). No Catholics were allowed (for fear of Spanish sympathizers). Slavery was not allowed within the city of Savannah.
Today, of course, many of the oldest historic buildings and residences are owned and occupied by Irish Catholic lawyers and law firms. Savannah now also has a beautiful Catholic Cathedral.

There is also an African Methodist Episcopal church that was built before the civil war. It was constructed largely by slaves from the surrounding plantations. They volunteered their labor and meager resources to its construction. They walked into the city after doing a full day's labor for their owners, worked on building the church, and then walked back to their plantation in time for their next day's work. The exterior of the building is quite plain, but the craftsmanship on display inside the building is wonderful.

Travels in Georgia

Susan had never been to Georgia, and since my Dad's family has roots here, I wanted to show her a bit of my family history, and especially the beauty of the the old city of Savannah. So a few days before Christmas, we rented a car, and drove to Screven, Georgia, about 70 miles northwest of Brunswick.
Screven is the small town where my father, Leon A. King was born and raised. He and my mother, Texas C. King (T.C. to all her friends) are both buried in the King family plot in Screven, alongside my paternal grandparents, and many of their closest friends and relatives. I hope it doesn't seem morbid to you all, but I've included some photos of the family plot here.

My grandmother's home is still standing, is occupied and well maintained to this day by distant cousins. Susan was mildly impressed that Granny King's house is located on "King Street". It does provide some insight as to how long the family was there...

My Grandparents: Walter Berry King and Mattie Ritch King

My parents: Leon Ambrose King and Texas Cornelia King


Savannah was founded in 1733, and is the best-preserved of the old English Colonial cities in the South. It has the distinction of being the final resting place of four of the original signers of the Decalaration of Independence.
The Civil War is known here as "the War of Northern Agression", or "The Recent Unpleasantness". During that war, as General Grant's army was approaching, riots and looting broke out in the city, so a committee of leading citizens actually invited the Union army into the city as peacekeepers, thereby saving it from distruction by civil disturbance, or by the Union troops who would have laid seige to the place. The city cemetery was used by the troops as a campground, and unfortunately, some of the gravestones were defaced and/or uprooted. We found it a fascinating place. Savannah was laid out by its founder in a grid which included 24 parklike public squares planted with oak trees, which now provide shady areas for fountains, statuary, benches and walking paths.
Savannah - one of the 24 squares



The "Old Town" historic district is about two and a half square miles, bordered on the North by the Savannah River, which is still a busy seaport. The old waterfront district is fun, providing bars, saloons, and taverns, interspersed with shops and art galleries. Many of the old cotton warehouses, factor's buildings, and quayfront buildings have been converted to upscale offices and loft condominiums.
Susan and I had Christmas Eve dinner at Churchill's Tavern. They specialize in typical English fare, which is wonderful, as well as many varieties of European beers. We shared Bangers and Mash, a Shepherd's Pie, and Baked Brie, washing it down with Harp's light ale and white wine. We recommend the place for its hospitable staff and warm, traditional atmosphere.

Thanksgiving Pictures

December has been a very busy month! Here it is January 2nd, and I'm just now getting around to catching up on the old Blog! I'm going to try to make up time by making several postings over the next two days. Then, we are headed South!
First up - Pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Phoenix, and our first opportunity to get to know our newest little grandson, Andrew...

We were treated by Ray and Pam to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and I gave Ray the opportunity to trounce me at chess! Again!

But I ask you; Have you ever seen a more handsome baby?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi, All -
We're spending two weeks in Phoenix, which happily includes the Thanksgiving Holiday. We arrived Nov. 15th, and will return to Brunswick and our boat on Nov. 30th.

It is a great time to be here. In addition to catching up with family, friends, visits to our doctors, dentist and financial advisor, the weather is beautiful. Susan's father (Ray Delrich) and I hope to play some golf next week. All this AND we get to spend time with Kara, Miguel, and our newest grandson, Andrew!

We are staying this first week with Ray and Pam Delrich (Susan's folks). The Ray and Pam Resort includes bed, board, pool, patio, BBQ grill, AND a putting green. What more could one ask for? Did I mention that we also get to dine on a home-cooked traditional Thanksgiving dinner, prepared personally by Pam Delrich?

We will also spend a few nights with our friends and ex-neighbors, Phyllis and Terry Carron, and a night or two with Sheila and Shirley, dear friends in the East Valley. Hopefully, we won't wear out our welcome with any of our wonderful hosts.

Our dance card is getting full, with invitations to dinners, lunches, cocktails, church services, appointments, meetings, real estate transactions, etc. etc. But we are having a wonderful time, and getting our land legs back, sort of...

We do miss KINGDOM; the beauty, peace and quiet of the harbor, and the more leisurely pace of life aboard. It hit me while driving around here, that we have become quite accustomed to moving along at a much slower pace. Seven knots, versus 65 - 70mph is quite a change. Even our scooters have a top speed of 40mph, downhill with a tail wind! Freeways are completely out of the question...

Well, we are determined to enjoy our "vacation from retirement", and relish the variation in climate, pace, and activity. We are resting as much as possible, since we have so much still to do when we return to the boat. Our goal is to finish our outfitting in preparation for moving south in January, and on to the Bahamas for the winter months.

Love to all,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

ps.
We will post pix of our visit once we get back to our onboard computer.

Smurfs on Wheels!

"Motorcycle Mama" Susan on her YAMAHA









































I look just like Brando, don't I?



















The lighthouse on St. Simons Island.













































Last week we purchased two Yamaha scooters. They are 49cc "Vino" models, and are identical, painted metallic black. These will serve as our transport while in port, so we can get around to shop for our groceries and supplies, as well as sightseeing. They are rated at 85mpg. With a top speed of 40 mph, we aren't in danger of getting real expensive speeding tickets, and most of the places we are using the scooters have limits of 45 mph or less.





Another advantage for small scooters like this is that they require no license tag, no special motorcycle drivers' license, and are cheap to insure ($200 per annum covers both of them!) They only weigh 150 lbs. each, so are easily lifted to our bridge deck for storage while underway.



We get lots of questions and compliments from people whenever we're out on thest things. Mostly, "Those are really cute!" and "How fast do they go?"

Today, we used the scooters to do a bit of touring. We travelled all the way to St. Simons Island (five miles) for brunch, toured the town, saw the lighthouse, visited the old (early 1700's) British Fort Frederica, and circumnavigated the island. Then back across the causeway to Brunswick, stopping at Winn-Dixie for groceries, and back to the boat.





It was a bit chilly, but our windbreakers and helmets did a fairly good job of keeping us comfortable. By the time we were back to the boat, our hands were cold, since the sun was getting low in the west.





Love to all!





Walt and Susan

We're in Brunswick, Georgia

Please Note - Narrative is at the end of these photos.

Susan at the Pilothouse wheel, with charts at hand.




















Walt, happy at the flybridge helm.






















Susan, studying charts and cruising guide, planning the day's run.

















Ed and Diane Havelka - Our "Training Captains", on our flybridge.

























Dolphins play in our Bow Wave

We are now tied up for two months in Brunswick, Georgia, at the Brunswick Landings Marina. Our plan is to stay here until early January, since it is getting too chilly to go farther North, and we must stay clear of Florida for 60 days (or be subject to Florida Sales Tax on the purchase of KINGDOM. So, we will continue working on the boat, readying her for our Bahamas/Caribbean journeys. In January, we expect to start working our way South again, taking our time, with the goal of crossing to the Bahamas sometime in February. We've been advised by other experienced boaters to wait for a really good "weather window", such that the Gulf Stream is relatively calm.

From Titusville northward, we've been fighting a VERY strong northeast wind, averaging 20-25 knots, with gusts up to gale force (35). We stayed in Daytona three nights, hoping it would abate, but finally departed on Wednsday. At least that gave us an opportunity to have a good visit with my sister Ellie.

We anchored Halloween night just off the old Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine, FL. It was a beautiful sight all lit up at night, and we could see the revelers wandering up and down the quay of Old Town.

We left early Thursday morning, for a long leg making for Amelia Island/Fernandina. But continued strong winds and extremely high tides slowed our progress. We could have increased our speed marginally by using more engine rpm's, but that has the side effect of increasing our fuel consumption to achieve only marginal increases in speed. Susan studied our charts, and found us a nice anchorage just off the ICW at a place called Alligator Creek. It turned out to be ideal. It offered us a lovely sunset, protection from the wind, and a peaceful night. From there, we set out at first light for Brunswick, GA.

It was a tough slog all day Friday, again with heavy tidal currents running against us. As Ed and Diane Havelka said, "Running northward in the ICW is like running up a hill all the way." We encountered 5' seas crossing Cumberland Sound, which made for an exciting half-hour or so. The boat was happy, but we still have issues with the latches on our galley drawers...Susan had to get out the duct tape again to keep them from sliding open and shut, open and shut, etc.

We arrived in Brunswick around 3:30pm. The marina is at the foot of the old historic district of the town. It is well-preserved, with lots of restaurants and little shops within easy walking distance. In fact, we had a wonderful dinner at a place called Christie's. I ordered Lobster Mac & Cheese, which was absolutely scrumptious! It contained a large whole lobster tail, cut into large bite-size pieces, surrounded by pasta, with both cheddar and parmesan cheese melted overall. Wow!

We have encountered playful dolphins all the way along our journey. Often there are up to half a dozen playing in our bow wave for a half-hour or so. I'm including a photograph or two of them, but the pix don't convey the thrill we experience when these beautiful animals appear and convey their blessings on our path.