Back in the Saddle again!

It feels good to be back on the water. Christmas was awesome at the Barksdale’s annual party with family and our closest friends. Then Nick, Terry and I went with the Norris’s in Cookeville to enjoy Santa’s coming. We were all very good last year. It was everything we could hope for but now we are back to our dream and traveling the waterways. A quick trip to Mobile the day after Christmas and we found Sunny Days in great shape. She was well protected at Turner Marina and ready to go. We went to a restaurant that our Loop friends, Elvy and Roy Short told us about—The Mariner—it is close to Turners and their specialty is fried crab claws. OMG—they were terrific. Today I went to the store to shore up on groceries, Terry made a pilgrimage to West Marine, we gassed up and left around noon. The sun peeked out for about 45 minutes this afternoon and felt great but it is still chilly. The brisk 45 degrees we had this morning was a vast improvement to the frigid 17 degrees we left in Nashville. We are making our way out of Mobile Bay and onto the Inter-Coastal Waterway (henceforth the ICW—we will be on the ICW for 70% of the trip) It was exciting to enter this waterway. Passed Lulu’s (Jimmy Buffets’ sisters place and Tacky Jack’s on the way here to The Wharf where we are going to ride out the forecasted storm that is to hit tomorrow. We are eating soup on the boat (remember we gassed up –it will take us a while to forget that bill). And The Wharf is a big complex and promises a light show tonight. Fitz note: Lola is known here at the Wharf as “Olaf”. Notes: Local radio was a rock station with morning personalities Cue tip and Blondie—I was amused. When they gave an update on the Jersey Shore people, Fitz turned it off. Seagulls followed the boat all afternoon- cool.

Good restaurants --passed right by this time