Nothing Says Xmas Like Cetol

Look what showed up under (next to) our Xmas tree....a West Marine bag full of Cetol.

No rest from the wicked Brightwork.  Actually it was a fabulous day weather wise (Xmas not withstanding) so Tom dove into the stereo cabinet modification project again with the Cetol phase. 

Xmas 2012 Brunswick GA

The marina potluck was actually on Dec 24th vs Dec 25th.  This meant I had to scramble a bit to get provisions and figure out what to make.  Dinner our first night on board was pressure cooker pasta casserole and it made a ton.  So....I used the left over pasta with cheese mixed in and then more cheese on top as one of my potluck dishes.
 
 Chocolate rum cake was my other dish.

There is a wonderful mix of nations here in the marina.  We ate good food and had interesting and engaging conversation.  Dock mistress Sherry was the hostess with the mostest.  She is SUCH a gem.  Towards the end of the party, I jokingly said "Same time tomorrow right?" to the remaining boaters.  They all looked around at each other and said "Yeah, why not.  Let's do it again tomorrow."

Tom and I came back to the boat and made bread.  Our first attempt at boat bread.  It turned out....ok.  A bit dry (Deb, what did we do wrong that it was dry?) but smeared with peanut butter or Nutella or butter....it passes.  We managed to keep the flour storm that generally occurs when we bake bread to a minimum...meaning covering us and the surrounding area only.

Xmas 2012 Fresh Out Of Grandmas Tour

Another holiday has rolled around and we find once again we are "fresh out of grandmas" so off to the boat we headed.  We weren't sure what Tom's workload would be so we couldn't purchase air tickets ahead of time.  Have you priced air tickets lately?  Cha-Ching!!  Holiday air tickets....cha-ching, cha-ching.  Last minute air? Forget about it.  So we decided to drive to our boat.  Yes, drive the 17 hrs to Brunswick.  The kewl thing is that we weren't limited by what we could fit in a luggage so we loaded up the Murano with a gaggle of milk crates full of tools, Ms Moneypenny ( my folding bike), the boat Xmas tree (mini purple tree), our Xmas hats and even the pressure cooker.  Interstates carried us along comfortably and quickly. 

We were too excited to get to the boat to do any sightseeing on the way.  Plus it was well after closing time when we rolled through Chattanooga so the Cho Cho was closed.  *Turns out there really isn't a Chattanooga Cho Cho train but the song is based on a couple of different trains. 
Anywho....we stopped for gas north of Atlanta a bit off the beaten track and in a quest for food we discovered a hidden gem - Island Spoon.  Walking in a 10pm the owner said "let me tell you what I have left.  Oxtail, chicken stew or jerk chicken."  I asked about what looked like empanadas, to learn they were meat pies.  Tom opted for the chicken stew and I went for the oxtail.  Both came with rice and pigeon peas, fried plantains and cooked cabbage with shredded carrots.  Our drinks were custom blended pineapple juice with ginger simple syrup.  It was absolutely terrific!  Super-duper YUMMY!  This will become a regular stop for us any time we make this drive.  If you are ever north of Atlanta....stop in.  You won't be sorry.  As we were leaving, we thanked the owner again, praising her yummy food, she gave Tom a doggie bag with 2 meat pies.  We enjoyed the next day at happy hour on our boat.  They were tender, flaky with just the right amount of spiciness.  You really MUST stop in if you are in the area. 

We finally stopped in Macon GA around midnight to get some shuteye.  Cheap motel but it took 3 tries before we got a made up room (cleaned).  Eeek!  But what the hey...we are sailors.  The next morning we hit the road for the final stretch (3 hrs) into Brunswick GA.  Question - what exactly is the speed limit on I-95?  The signs say 70.  I have driven it numerous times at 80 mph and I find I must stay in the right (slow) lane as 60% of the other cars are blowing by me in the left lane.  The various officials (highway patrol, state troopers, sheriffs, etc...) don't seem to pull anyone over that is doing 80, 85 or 89mph.  So at what point do they ticket speeders?  Or are there just there to keep people from getting killed and help in an accident.  Seriously....I-95 is America's autobahn.
So 17 hours driving time we rolled into Brunswick GA.