downtown marina at beaufort, SC (part 2).

day #4 at beaufort was uneventful.  not much to report except that the afternoon turned out to be dry so we did a lot of walking around and took more pics of trees, homes and spanish moss, and got our free bottle of olive oil (tom picked that one and used it that night and said it was "too HOT!" - i didn't dare try) and our free chocolate sand dollar from the candy store.  while in those stores, tom went crazy and did some shopping - very uncharacteristic of him.  we, all three of us, needed the exercise so walking was good.  i also made food for the gods for the thanksgiving potluck. 

day #5 was thanksgiving day and we were scheduled to join the annual cruisers' thanksgiving potluck at lady's island marina across the beaufort river from where we were.  arrangements were made for a van to take some of our group across the bridge.  some people walked.  tom and i decided to take the dinghy primarily because 1) it needed the exercise and we were in a position to launch it easily, and 2) we didn't want to pay for the van ($15 per person round trip - gasp!), and 3) we had to leave consuelo at home so we didn't want to be dependent on someone else's transportation.  it was VERY windy that morning and at the last minute, wally came over and said that he was very uncomfortable with us taking the dinghy.  we ignored him hahaha...  we'd been out in worse but just to make sure, we put on our foulies and PFDs.  well, tom's is built into his mustang suit.  mine was brand new - i won it at the hampton snowbird rendezvous raffle.  as it turns out, mine needed charging - it didn't have a canister!  if i had fallen in, it would have been completely useless.  in any case, ugh...  all those clothes..... i just felt clumsy and awkward getting into the dinghy and you know what?  NOT a drop, either coming or going.  all we had to do was cross the river and yes, it was windy, but we have a SERIOUS dinghy with seriously large tubes - it is a dry ride.  the lady's island marina prepared five turkeys and a couple of hams.  everything else was brought in by everyone else, not just our group, but other cruisers in the area who were far from home for the holiday.  we were maybe a hundred people.  someone said there were 27 desserts!  but before all of that, we had our briefing for the coming trip through georgia.  unfortunately, the briefing and potluck were held in the same room and it was very distracting with people coming in with crockpots and trays and all the smell of that food.  FINALLY, it was time to eat and everything was delicious!  there was a ton of food.  tom and i ate and ran.  i was so fat and full from eating that i had to ask diana to zip me into my suit - i could hardly move ugh...  i also asked brenda from L'ATTITUDE to bring back my baking pan which she did later on with one little piece of FFG left!  i mean, c'mon, why didn't the person who took the second to the last piece take the last piece, too??? 

in any case, that was our thanksgiving and we had a good time.  back on the boat, tom worked on route planning and i just went back to work.  i felt a little guilty because although i tried to work that morning, i didn't try very hard and ended up just chatting with folks from the fleet.  the sun was out and though it was windy, TADHANA blocked the wind if you stood on the dock behind her.  before i knew it, quite a few people were standing there out of the wind and sharing war stories.  everyone was tired of being inside but it was too cold and windy to be outside except maybe downwind of a wall (TADHANA).