Winter Doldrums, Board Retreats and Band Practice

Busy weekend but not really a fun weekend – although band practice is always fun. Friday night was a good 3 hour practice preparing the band for the winter tour. In bed by 11:30 and up with the sleet, snow and freezing rain for an all day Board retreat. Back at band practice Sunday for another 3 hours. 28 songs in total. Not a lot of fun activity but a necessary one for the weekend – hopefully next week will be more fun.

Artistic?

What Song Next?

Strat

Effect Pedals

Telecaster, Eastman and Keyboard

New Workhorse - Telecaster

Charleston Scenes

Headed south again this weekend to escape the cold. Although it was only in the 50′s in Charleston, it was much warmer than the 30′s in DC. Great weekend. Lots of fun again and lots of really good food. Our restaurant list for the week was:

1) Monza – Pizza
2) Pearlz – Oysters and Fish – met the Fig Chef at Pearlz
3) Poogan’s Porch – Shrimp and Grits
4) Oak Steak – NY Strip
5) Rue de Jean – recommend you skip this one
6) Cypruss – Appetizers, soup and salad and wine

Did I tell you the food in this town is really good! What’s also amazing is that it costs half as much as in DC. Really, although probably expensive for North Carolina we’re always amazed how little we spend on really good food.

Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from the weekend.

A Nearly deserted Mega-Dock

Comocean

Salty Bow

Dock Art

Our Location - 790 feet from the Start of the Dock - not including the 800 feet to shore

Dock Porn

Dinghy Parking

End of the Dock - 1530 Feet from the start - not including 800 feet to the Parking Lot

Nice but not Warm

High Tide - Highest Tide we've seen this winter had both docks at the same height

Low Tide - Lowest we've seen would be another 2 feet down

Fishing the Rising Tide

Invasion of the Republicans!

Huntsman Working the Crowd

So Phyll and I waited outside to shake his hand. Sure enough, 10 minutes later, Huntsman, his wife Teresa and daughter exited the Virginia restaurant. Shook Phyll’s hand, then my hand – he really did, we were on the Today show and on Channel 4 in DC. Waiting to see if we make the NBC Nightly News tonight! Of course, after shaking our hands, he withdrew from the race. Cause and Effect? I think so.

Charleston Yacht Club

Fantastic Anchor - holds in Brick

A Dolphin - I swear it was a Dolphin

Back home tonight and ready to hit the bricks tomorrow as we go back to work. Fair winds!

Mother Nature in 2011

Having a quiet weekend, I started looking at our pictures and decided to make a different post – the nature we experienced in 2011.

Happy New Year!

Greetings from Charleston. Phyll and I came down on Monday to spend the week relaxing in Charleston. I’ve been meaning to update the blog but have been too busy eating and visiting with people to get anything done – so using the wee hours of New Year’s Day (10am) to create the new entry. I hope everyone has had a wonderful and safe New Year.

We arrived in town on the Monday after Christmas surviving a trying drive south. Dinner on Monday was at Pearlz – great oysters, soup and fish. A wonderful restaurant – highly recommend it.

Tuesday we woke up to rain and wind. Did I say wind – 42.4 knots! That’s 50 miles per hour. We have proof – check out maximum wind speed on the center gauge.

42.4 Knots of Wind

Wind Rocking the Ashley

Boats on the Outer Side of the Mega Dock really got rocked

After enjoying the wind and rain we decided we needed some fuel in the tank so we headed to Blossom’s for another excellent lunch. As we were eating at Blossom, the sky cleared, the rain stopped and the weather turned beautiful. After lunch I retired to the boat – fighting a cold – and Phyll went for a manicure.

Tuesday night we headed to SNOB – Slightly North of Broad – for another meal. Fantastic dinner. The food there is wonderful. Complex dishes that you don’t think will work but melt in your mouth – oh the joy.

Wednesday we were in the mood for pizza and headed to Andolini’s. Really good New York style pizza in a classic college like pizza place – no ambiance but good food. After lunch we walked down King Street and went on a tour of the Edmonston-Alston house.

We were hoping this tour would be as good as the Calhoun house tour – it wasn’t but still a nice time.

View of Ft. Sumter where General P.G.T. Beauregard Watched the Start of the Civil War

Carriage Way

View from the Piazza

Battery Park Monument to Confederate Soldiers

Phyllis on the Break-Water

Charleston Wildlife Sanctuary

Dinner on Wednesday was at Fulton Five. A really good Italian restaurant voted the most romantic restaurant in town. We had a really good meal but the restaurant was crowded so not so romantic. I was still suffering from my cold, so we ate and called it a night.

Thursday was a nice day that started cool and warmed up. Spent the first part of the day getting some needed walking in.

Walking the Docks - all 1350 Feet!

Always Interesting Boats on the Dock

Comocean Glistening in the Sun

Beautifully Maintained Boats

Thursday for lunch we went to Amen Street. Another good fish restaurant in Charleston. Once again, a great meal was had by all.

Dinner was with our good friends the Roof’s at Husk. Husk has been called the best new restaurant in the country by Bon Apetite – it did not disappoint. The food was great. Downright excellent.

Jeff and Susan at Monza

Phyll at Monza

Lunch the following day was at Monza with Jeff and Susan. Monza is a high scale pizza place in a restaurant adorned with Italian racing scenes. Interesting but good.

After pizza, Phyll and I took a really long walk – all the way down to Battery Park and back. We were pacing ourselves for dinner with Pat and Liz – Pat is a partner of mine.

We ate at High Cotton and had a really good time. Then our friends Jeff and Susan and Josh and Cherie came over. That got Pat started and we were off to Wet Willies for Jello Shooters and drinks named “Call me a Cab.” OK, I admit it, I can’t keep up with Pat. But boy did we have fun.

Saturday was lunch at the Hominy Grill – a must. I had the Shrimp and Grits and they live up to the hype! They were fantastic! Then more walking.

Walking the Docks

Coast Guard Station

Phyllis Walking

Coast Guard

Egrets in the Marshes

The Crew - Jeff, Susan, Phyll, Bob, Cherie and Josh - on the Waterfront

Saturday night we met on Comocean for drinks and then over to Cypress for dinner.

Tony and Susan

Jeff and Cherie

Josh and Phyll

We had a wonderful night! Actually it’s been a fantastic week. Great weather. Wonderful food and really good friends. It doesn’t get any better than this! Dinner was great and we managed to stay at the restaurant through mid-night. Left seconds after the stroke of midnight.

Happy New Year! May you have fair winds and following seas throughout 2012.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Hope you have a joyful holiday season and fair winds, following seas on the New Year. Here’s a quick glimpse back at 2011…

Snow in January

First Sail

Cold Sailing

Family Visits

A Lawyer in the Family!

Our Lawyer!

Celebrate Good Times for the Lawyer

Memorial Day Fun

First Big Comocean Party

Ben Sailing

Enjoying the Sunset

Passing Thomas Point on our Summer Cruise

Cruisin - Windless Style

Point No Point Light

Crisfield

Smith Island

Comocean Cruising

Labor Day Dinner

Comocean Flying Down the Eastern Bay

Dots Playng the Alzheimers Walk on the Mall

Heading to Charleston

Sunrise

Our Escort Leaving Norfolk

Sunset off Cape Hateras

Ocean Sailing

Cruising Mode

Dolphins at Sunset

Big Air

Sunset Frying Pan Shoals

Pulling into Charleston

Comocean in Charleston

Enjoying Charleston

That’s a quick and highly edited view of the year. Many many many more pictures to post – lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, friends, boats etc. I’ll post more this week.

Merry Christmas!