We decided to bring the cats with us on the trip back to Texas. The alternatives would have been to hire a cat sitter to come to the boat daily, or board them for two weeks in a kennel. The morning we left was hectic.  I rose first and fed the cats while Marion was showering. I even put away the cat dishes.

While I was busy carrying stuff to the car Marion fed the cats a second time.  And so it was that they both were carsick for the morning ride to The Cracker Barrel Restaurant. We stopped there to have breakfast and rent a couple of books on tape. These are a great way to pass the time while traveling. We got a "murder mystery" which turned out to be a real dud and "A Civil Action".  It's the story of the multi-year lawsuit in Woburn Massachusets in which  W R Grace Co. and Beatrice Foods were sued for polluting the towns water wells.  The pollution had caused several leukemia deaths and bizarre neurological damage to about twenty persons. A fascinating story, it kept us entertained all the way to Daphne Alabama.

Daphne is on the Eastern shore of Mobile Bay, just before the Causeway. We stayed at the Econo Lodge. I really like motels where you can back right up to the door of your room and easily unload and load the luggage. The cats were fine and quickly explored the motel room.  I made Gin and Tonics and we celebrated the 2.7% rally made that day by the Nasdaq.  I then went to get takeout Chinese while Marion entertained the cats.

There was frost on the rooftops the next morning. We were quickly packed and off to the nearest Cracker Barrel for breakfast and a new book on tape. This time we found Eugene Cernan reading his own book, "The Last Man On the Moon".  What might have been laborious reading, was exciting listening as Gene knew just the right amount of excitement to have in his voice as he described his adventures. It is really a chronicle of his colorful career in the Navy as an aviator, and then as an Astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo mission series. This is a personal recounting of events ... not dry history. Try it You will Like it.  The book lasted from Passcagoola, MS to Baytown, TX.

Seabrook

Were guests of Tom and Sally Curran for the first two nights, including Commodore's Ball. Then we moved to Marion's son's house for the rest of the stay. Its a great base of operations for doing last minute shopping trips with the grandchildren, and family Christmas.

Commodore's ball was a blast.   I got to dance with all the pretty ladies... you know who you are... and I'm not telling. While we were at the party Marion filled our date book with a half a dozen lunch, or dinner, or just drop by occasions.

Monday I went for Xmas shopping and lunch with my granddaughters Sara and Katie. The formula for the event... give each a budget... head for the stores and watch them shop. Sara is a high school senior. She has had jobs in the Mall stores. She moved with precision in the clothing stores to the exact rack or shelf for the next item. Katie is nine. She is on a dual track... Collectable Horses and ... Poke'mon. Over lunch at Zio's I gained valuable intelligence from the girls on what to get their Mom and Dad.

Tuesday I came down with "What's Going Around" ... it was pretty bad, but not so bad that I gave up partying. Aspirin, NyQuil, DaQuil, Robitussin and throat lozenges were effective. The doctor's office did not return my call.

Marion did the shopping trip routine with her Granddaughters Karen (Sophomore) and Pam (7th) on Tuesday and with Grandson Mark (3rd) on Wednesday.  The range of ages and shopping objectives require separate expeditions.

Karen has an athletic bent... Swimming and Water Polo... she found just the pair of athletic shoes she wanted, and a giant sports bag to tote all her gear.  Pam is a musician, and appreciates the finer things in life... She found the trip a good opportunity to upgrade her jewelry collection. At La Madelaine for lunch
Pam called for, "Pesto Pasta, Please."  Such alliteration, such sophistication for seventh grade.

Marks trip called for Breakfast before hitting the Mall. Given his choice of breakfast, Mark selected Spaghetti. It took two restaurant visits before Marion found one which would prepare spaghetti at 8:30 AM.     Mark is on a dual track... Electronic games and Poke'mon. They found VTEC's  PowerVision; it is a neat microprocessor based educational toy that does drills in Math, Geography, Grammar, etc. Mark spent the rest on strategic upgrades to his Poke'mon warchest.

The Whirl

We did get to visit many of our TMCA friends.

We had supper at Classic Cafe with Tom and Sally Curran. We dropped by Shorty VI and saw Ed and Dorothy Hearon before they got away for Christmas.

Sue and Frank LeGrand organized a luncheon with Bert and Lil Olaveri Leaf Picker. We toured LeGrand Amour before eating lobsters at The Crab House. Bert Looks Great. I pronounce him Cruise Ready.

Barbara and Bill Lowenberg, Last Dance, are visiting in town. We met them and Mike and Connie Parker Disparu at the Thai restaurant for supper.  Mike and Connie are active at Lakewood.  I heard trawler mutterings from Bill and Barb.

We drove over to West Columbia to attend Sam and Charlotte Packingham-Walsh's annual Christmas Open House. Look for Sam and Charlotte on Sorciere' for club cruises more often this year. Sam got The Capt'n for his PC and a new GPS.  Ask him directions.

Christmas Eve we went home to Seagate for Marla Griffin's party. She was surrounded by family and friends. We visited with Jim and Midge Berlowe. We did some mini planning with Bill Berg and Birget Hunter on the Millenium party.  There will be a Fireworks display on the Lake right in front of the Seagate  and TMCA boats are invited to dock and party. We will miss that party since we will be back in Florida.

Christmas

Christmas day I had the privilege of doing the Beef Rib Roast.  Paula had a great book on cooking meat and one of those fancy digital thermometers. Right after presents under the tree I prepared the garlic, pepper, thyme and salt rub for the roast and set the roast out to get to room temp.

Marion lead her brood to the tennis court for a few sets, and I went over to Jeanne and David's house to play Santa and visit.

Next it was back to Randy and Paula's house and get the roast in the oven. Amidst all of the discussion of what temperature was rare and what was medium the roast kept cooking.  In the end the roast was medium well.  Too many cooks.... The rest of the dinner was fine.

Trip back to Florida

The trip back was very routine. The cats did not get sick. Two books on tape got us to Daphne Alabama.
We made a dinner of Crab Dip appetizer, Seafood Gumbo, and Jack Daniels soaked bread pudding at The Bay Steamer Restaurant in Fairhope.

The following day the book on tape was a travel report written by an American Ex-Patriot about his trip through Europe. It included everything from the Northern Lights in the top of Norway to sunny warm beaches near Naples in Italy.  It helped us set our wish list for where to go in Europe when we next get a chance.  Tune in when it happens.

We were back in Indian Rocks Beach for the Millenium and spent the evening on Remedy with Cheryl, Michael and Emily. We drank too much Champagne, but we ate marvelous Hor's de Overs prepared by Marion and Cheryl for the occasion.

The next day Walter, Laura and Wally came by and Walter installed the new bright display by Sea Vision on our boat.  I had met Brian Olsen, the designer and builder of these displays in Houston when  delivered it and checked it out on my laptop at Christmas time. He has a small company that builds specialized equipment for NASA, Offshore Service and Medical applications. He is also a Harvest Moon Racer and came up with the idea of a super bright display when returning from the Harvest Moon a few years ago. I am very excited about the new display.  The display on my laptop is so dim that I had to build a hood with a dark Beach towel over my head and the display to see the Navigation screens on the Fly bridge. The new display attaches to the laptop and can be easily read in full daylight. Contact Steve Bowden at SeaTech in Kemah to get yours.

Tomorrow we set out on a liesurely treck that should get us to Maimi around Valentine's day. Stay Tuned.