Day 19 - A day in the Garden of Eating
We got up at a reasonable time today as we needed to get Kona girl to shore. We decided to check out the one public boat ramp, which, it turns out, is actually the closest landing spot we had anyhow. Nice calm morning to shore we had a diving duck that followed us the entire way. Swimming behind us to disappear underwater for a few minutes and then would pop up right alongside of us. He would join us on the way back as well.
The boat ramp was very simple. There were two cars there and a permanent outhouse. We walked the dirt road for awhile with Kona while she rolled, ate and jumped through the long grass.
We had invitations today to hang out with locals we met last night. We reached out to our first invite but he wasn’t feeling well so we took a rain check and enjoyed a slow mid-day. My visions of tightening the packings and defrosting the freezer were put off until we get back to our home marina in a few days. Around 4pm we decided to take Kona to shore for a long time. The sun had finally come out after 3 days of clouds and we figured we could at least enjoy a meal outside with Kona. We reached out to Phil and let him know we’d love to come for a visit and were on our way. As we pulled into the Marina Dr. Mark was waiting for us with his side by side. We declined the ride to Phil’s house but he said he’d pick us up on the way back if needed.
After a little of detective work Captain and I were able to find ourselves on the right road headed in the right direction.
Phil welcomed us to his beautiful home high on the escarpment overlooking Garden Bay / Big Bay de Noc. He had rare trees on his property and almost every detail of his home was carved out of old trees and rocks from his old property. Dr. Mark and his girlfriend Susie showed up and plans were made for a great feast! Captain and I had no clue or we would have for sure brought some goods from aboard. We made a note to buy some extra WI wine/beer/cheese for gifts as the few WI beers we had left were a sad offering.
While dinner was getting organized Dr. Mark took Captain, Kona and me to see his sailboat. We had seen it on the hard just near where we were anchoring. She’s got a lot of work to do, but we were able to help him get a few lines all set help push his dream along. Very cute sailboat. Kona and I sat in the back of the side by side cuddling as we watched the countryside go by. I kept thinking how special this is. We show up to a small town and meet the nicest people. The welcome wagon here has been amazing. It is obvious sailors don’t come calling here often. I’m glad we have the chance to meet people along the way. Captain and I often meet people on our adventures and have made life long friends. Sailing isn’t the only way; it just seems to be a special way of meeting people.
Back at Phil’s we watched a rather large coast guard ship come in to Garden Bay from up on the bluff. He dropped anchor for the night and everyone was excited. That doesn’t happen often. Captain and I remarked that we have never anchored in the same anchorages as a coast guard boat. We made an extra note to return to Ciara before sundown as we hadn’t put on our anchor light when we left. No mood for a violation! :D
Dinner was an incredible spread of shrimp, salmon, asparagus and some brats. We toasted new friends and made plans for them to come see Ciara in Fayette as no one has their smaller boats in the water yet to get to out to us. With the shore access and a strong blow coming Tuesday we have decided to move to Fayette tomorrow. It is a short drive for them all to come see us there. We are very much looking forward to pulling out some WI cheese and maybe some homemade bloody’s (as we chatted about those!).
We got back to Ciara after 9pm, but before sunset. I played Taps late, grateful to play on such a calm night and knowing our new friends were listening ashore. We enjoyed seeing our anchor rode in the clear water loop on itself as we just idled in calm glass water.
Captain and I both are falling back into doom scrolling routines. We both find it hard to focus our attention even on our own goals sometimes. The process of giving yourself space and not judge is one I will forever work on. There is a lot to sit on right now and if peace of mind means sitting next to each other in silence while we ponder the world then that is okay. We sit next to each other in love and joy and gratitude and that is all that really matters. We will miss Garden, and I hope we will be back.
