The Saab WorkOut
(Past Travel September 2020 Trip)
We made it through the 2020 "COVID summer" at The Take Out. We were happy to be from a state that wasn't shut down so it was business as usual and we had record-breaking numbers at the window. International travel wasn't an option in September of 2020, so we took advantage of a USA road trip to remember. Here are a few of the highlights.
OK, no we did not take our 1960 Hillman on the road trip. We put her away for the season.
We took off in the Saab on a rainy September day. We didn't have anything booked but knew we were headed to stay warmer for the winter. So, we started off driving East.
We drove through Iowa and Illinois. When we got to the Indy border I text a friend I hadn't seen in a long, long time. We stopped at her house for some long overdue catching up. What a fun reunion. Kristen (Muller) Hess was a dear grade school friend. We still have so much in common, crazy how time doesn't take that away from you. Thanks to the outrageously funny and loving Hess family for a very fun night of laughter. We thought your home city of Indianapolis was pretty cool too.
Downtown Indy, just before it rained. We walked all over and of course, took in the Indy 500 track.
Off to Cincinnati-Our Adopted Love Child
We are all things Cinci Crazy! The tailgate, the ballgame, the town. We love them all. We did not get a win agains the Boo Browns (this time). We managed a trip through on our way back after the winter was winding down. Little did we know the upcoming season would be the one that would find us at the Super Bowl. Now THAT is crazy shit.
Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee
Our Dixie Land delight. The Kentucky Derby, Nashville, and lots and lots of Hicksville. We took the backroads, Tennessee byway and sang our hearts out to "Alabama" as the Saab buzzed along. We hiked, we toured, we golfed, we drove and stayed near Dolly Ville, we played the part of country lovin' dixie land lovers. We don't even know the number of small towns we encountered, and we even stayed in a few. It was weeks of fun just simply meandering with no specific purpose.
The Carolinas and the Eckley Experience
North Myrtle Beach, Carolina. We love to stop and see some of our favorites Brian, Darla and Emma. They are lovely hosts where we always find a golf game, delicious beer, the ocean and on this trip we were fortunate that it was halloween. Yes, Darla did win a neighborhood prize as Marie-Antoinette. The Charleston City Library Steps. Charleston is a must do city if you are in the neighborhood.
** Side Note: The photo at The Take Out was taken during the summer when Darla's parents Renee and Darrel drove just under 3 hours to see us and eat some broasted chicken.
Yoga at Ocean Villas
Living Aboard Sea Fox
We ended up spending November, December, and January in various parts of Florida. It was a great way to check out several areas in one of our favorite states in the union. The first short stop was Amelia Island on the northeast coast.
Our next two-month stay was at Fort Pierce on Hutchinson Island. Kind of a quiet gem in the Treasure Coast region of the Atlantic Coast, just north of Palm Springs. Some may wonder why, but we did have a little logic for this kinda off the beaten path Florida destination.
Ocean Village www.oceanvillage.com was our November and December home to finish off the year 2020. We found a sweeeeettttt Pack Mule deal on a condo. The complex is on Hutchinson Island which comes complete with all the trimmings you would expect at a full-service condo community. The BEST part was M-F morning Yoga with Suzie. She was the most giving, calm-spirited, genuine teacher we have ever had. It was one of those "game changer" experiences in both Brett's and my meditation, mind, and body journey. I don't want to get all buddist crazy on you, but seriously it started a path that has made so many improvements in our lives.
So why Fort Pierce? Suzie was a bonus, which ended up being the best part about it. We actually went to Fort Pierce to experience an area known for having a lot of sailboats, more specifically sailboats that people have given up on. We spent some time with folks at the Fort Pierce Yacht Club and checked out several boats and the area. It was a networking, learning, and hands-on sailing school.
Sunrise City. We loved it. Each and every morning we enjoyed it from our condo or the 1 min walk to the beach.
Cruising in the Saab on Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce.
This was one of the 4 pools in the complex. You can see the brush to the left behind the umbrellas. The brush is the start of the beach and is protected area for turtles. It would be pretty easy to mow that down so you had an uninhibited view of the water, but thank goodness they didn't.
This was from our screened in porch. The number 1 tee box to the executive course we got to play on. On a windy day like this one, we watched everyone tee off from our porch.
Sailing with Captain Bill
Indian Town, Inner Coastal Waterway (ICW), Peanut Island
While we were on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, we hooked up with Captain Bill who was a sailor that needed some crew to help him get his boat ready and cross to the Bahamas for a few months in February and March. We were kinda sad to leave the cushy lux Ocean Villas and the daily yoga with Suzie, but it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up.
We moved on board with Bill on his 39' Hunter in the Indian Town Marina just a short hour's drive away. We spent a few weeks working, learning, provisioning, and getting Sea Fox ready to cross the Gulf Stream.
Sea Fox Bill's 39' Hunter Sailboat in the I Town Marina. It was a working marina for sure. There were boats in the water as well as hundreds on the hard. It was a kind, lax marina which gave you a lot of liberties while living there.
Cruising the ICW. The Skipper, nearing Palm Spring--Peanut Island where we stayed on the "hook" for a few days.
We Did NOT Make it to the Bahamas
Bill is a spirited Irish Sailor who is so versatile, social, and an all-around gem. We got to know each other very well throughout the 5 weeks aboard Sea Fox. Sadly, it did not end how we all wanted it, because we didn't get to the Bahamas. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right circumstance so our trip was shorter than planned. Regardless of the final destination, we all had tears when we parted ways. It was some serious sailing lessons that we put in our archives for future use.
After our experience with Bill, we thought it was time to get serious about boat shopping, so that is what we did. We took the next 5 weeks zipping from Atalanta, Charleston, to the Pan Handle in Florida learning about the sailboat market. We didn't pull the trigger on one just yet, we knew we still had a few summers left in us at the Take Out, but we did arm ourselves with information, experience, and the desire to pursue it in the future.
Pan Handle, Atlanta, Carolinas
January was ticking away so we zipped over to the Gulf Coast to see Brett's Sister and brother-in-law who were visiting for a long weekend from South Dakota. We also had an evening with Brett's relatives who live in Fort Meyers. From this point, we decided to do some serious sailboat shopping. We looked at boats in Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Tampa, and Saint Petersburg before settling into some uncharted (to us) Florida terrain....the Pan Handle.
We rented a beachside apartment for a few weeks in Fort Waldon Beach (just next to Destin). It was a beautiful sandy beach town with high and low-rise apartments skirting the coast. It was chilly, chilly, chilly my willy in February. We do see the beauty in the area and can just imagine families loving the big open beaches in the summertime when the weather is hot. It also is a quite rural feeling for snowbirds that don't want it too warm.
The blinding white sand has a story (and it is not hauled in from the Bahamas like southern Florida). It is so bleached white because it is formed by Appalachian quartz which sediments are washed down the Apalachicola River and into the Gulf of Mexico and then the current brings it back to shore. The water is clear and probably very "swimmable" during the summer season.
This area has a beautiful view of the Gulf which faces west so the sunsets were pretty sweet. Truth be told, this was not our jam but not to be unfair it was largely because we like it much warmer. It did have a very mid-west feel to the area rather than coastal. The population was far less diverse than in southern Florida. A big percentage of other tourists were actually from the Midwest rather than the East Coast like South Florida. We saw about every college sweatshirt from the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.
Do we all remember the BP offshore well that exploded in 2010 left Gulf Coast beaches smeared with gooey tar balls and scared away visitors in 2010? Holy cow that was nearly 14 years ago. The blast killed 11 people and spilled about 200 million gallons of oil into the ocean for 87 days. Some experts called it the greatest marine ecological disaster in history.
This photo is of "sorbents" which are materials that soak up oil spill liquids. These materials placed in the water are dotting the Destin beaches sucking up junk. There were quite a few of these gloppy things throughout the beach, but nothing of a magnitude that would keep you from swimming. The only thing that kept the PM's from swimming it that it was freeeking ice cold. (ok, enough about that sorry)
We took a day trip and drove to neighboring Pensacola to check the town out and a very big Catamaran that was for sale. Uffda.....it was big and neglected and way above the energy we would have to bring her back to life. We were super stoked about a call we got on a Caliber that was in Charleston, South Carolina. Don't get too excited it sold the day it was listed so we missed it.
We were HOT on the idea of an S-2 which took us to Atlanta, Georgia. It was there we looked at several other types of boats and decided this was NOT the boat for us. We did enjoy an evening with Brett's Cousin Larry and his family in their homey suburb outside of Atlanta. Atlanta traffic BTW, is not to contend with. What a shit show.
We scooted back to the Carolinas where we spent Valentine's Day with the Eckley's. We loved Halloween there so much that we decided our candy was gone and we needed to load up on V-Day treats. Emma wasn't as excited about sharing with us. We decided to stick around a bit so we rented a condo on North Myrtle Beach, and enjoyed chilling and spending time with our dear friends.
North Myrtle Beach Condo rental in the off-season was quite a sweet deal. We did a lot of walking, and soaking up the sun when it was out. We experienced a tornado and a lot of rain while we were there.
We were ready to start thinking about heading back to Dakota in hopes of a warm Spring to enable an early opening at TTO. We were just headed out and we got a message that the deal on the Caliber in Charleston fell through and we were next on the list. We made a mad dash south (highly recommend this stop on your Carolina vacation) to Charleston where we ended up making an offer and nearly closing the deal on the sailboat. The night before we went to do this thing, I decided the boat was not for us, so we didn't complete the deal. So, that is it. Back to work, we go.
We took 3 days to travel from Charleston to South Dakota. It was indeed an early warm spring. We opened a new record, on March 13. So many lessons on our 2020-2021 USA Covid road trip. Here are a few highlights.
Road-Trip Take Aways
1. The Saab is more than capable of over 7,000 miles without a blink
2. There really isn't any place in the USA that is warm enough for us in January
3. We have officially stayed in each area of the Florida coasts and the Southern Atlantic is where it is at for the PMA
4. Sailboat shopping is part of the journey
5. Have faith when your NFL team loses time and time again
6. There are a lot of rural road options in every state
7. Reporting an accident that is your fault in Florida is not common (we were not hurt and the lady was damn glad we stopped and called it in)
8. Two months of continuous daily yoga makes you pretty limber and strong
9. If your friends change the Security Gate Code before you arrive back a second time, you may have worn out your welcome. (kidding they didn't, we forgot it tho and had to break in)
10. Hotels by Wyndham, we know WHY they are all remodeling
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