Home Again

Well, the Fat Lady’s been heard from – the guys are home. Here are some statistics for the trip:
- Miles driven – 6,600
- Campgrounds sampled – 8
- Thermoses of coffee consumed – 45
- Pounds of pistachios shelled and eaten – 4
- Liters of Evan Williams sipped – 3
- Bird species seen - 145
- Laughs, “wow” moments and good chats with friends – too many to count
Yesterday was a long day on the road, traveling from South Carolina to Annapolis, Maryland. Our mouths were set for Maryland crab cakes, and friend of the Cavanaugh family, Chris Gorri, escorted us to a great little place on the water to satisfy that need. It was good to see Chris and hear about his job with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Final packing at Myrtle Beach State Park

Morning found us at Chesapeake Light Craft’s shop, looking over the boat kits and chatting with the staff. Owner John Harris gave us a good rundown on conducting kayak-building workshops. We’ve been contemplating doing one, and wanted to know what’s involved. The morning slipped away quickly as we left drool marks on the show room models of the many fine kayaks, canoes, rowing boats and small sailing craft they sell as kits. www.clcboats.com

Chesapeake Light Craft shop, Annapolis

John Harris shows us around the CLC building shop

Around noon, we knew the time had come to bring Geezer Trip 2010 to a close. The long drive home through Baltimore, New Jersey, and lower New York was uneventful, other than seeing some flooding from the recent heavy rains.

On the final leg of the journey, our thoughts turned to some favorite things:
- Campgrounds, including Gulf Islands National Seashore (MS), Collier-Seminole State Park (FL), Long Point County Park (FL) and Crooked River State Park (GA).
- Eating establishments, including Murphy’s Eats & Sweets (TN), Rachel’s Widow’s Walk (MS), Regan’s Pub & Oyster Bar (FL), Long Point Restaurant (FL), Lucky Dawg’s (GA) and Okefenokee Restaurant (GA).
- Paddling spots, including the wild barrier beaches of Deer Island (MS), the manatees and dolphins of the Indian River (FL), the serene brown waters of Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge (SC).
- People that we met along the way, new friends and old. Kenny, Jen and Martha who defined Southern hospitality and who gave us lots of laughs, fine grub and good beverages with the Old Curmudgeon, dinner with Don and Susan, meeting and paddling with new friend Andy, who lent us a kayak and his local knowledge, Walk Clark who seems to find us out of the blue wherever we camp in Florida, and, of course, the two ladies that flew down to spend a week with us (hope our wives don’t find out).

Now a final thanks to our loyal readers. Your comments helped buoy us along the way. And a toast to each other - the two of us managed to travel together for a solid month, and are still speaking – eh Mike? Mike??