Making the best of a rainy day... Day 8

Although we were stuck in Leland, MI for a couple of nights we made the best of it.  After all, I could think of worse places to be stuck.  Leland is a beautiful little town with infamously named “Fishtown” due to the history of the quaint fishing village that borders the shore of Lake Michigan.  The weather was quite windy so we decided we would find a bike trail and try to make our way to Sleeping Bear Dunes, recently named the most scenic area in the United States.   According to Paul’s calculation the park entrance was a short 4 mile jaunt.  So on our way we went…unfortunately the path took us on M22, a very busy highway with barely any shoulder for riding a bike.  After 4 miles Paul “recalculated” and found we were still a couple of miles out, and I was getting nervous with the 55 mph traffic zooming by.   We decided to scratch the bike ride and turned around. 

Due to the fun looking waves crashing on the beach, we decided to pack lunch and make it a beach day for the kids.  The town has a beautiful beach that is not too rocky yet has some decent depth to it for swimming.   The kids had a blast chasing the waves and it gave Paul and I an opportunity to relax a bit and strategize on how we were going to get home with Mother Nature not cooperating. 

Mother Nature continued putting a damper on our vacation by sending rain on our beach day.  We quickly had to pack up the kids and make our way back to the boat.  Paul took the kids to the boat while I stopped by the local store to pick up a few needed items.  Paul was able to beat the rain, I however, was not so lucky.  On my 2 block walk back, it down poured, causing me to resemble a drenched rat...

We dried off, pulled out the rain gear and decided to have dinner at the Blue Pelican.  Paul and I enjoyed some pecan encrusted walleye and a nice glass of wine prior to heading back to the boat and turning in.  We decided before bed that we were going to try to make our way to Frankfort in the morning.  Hopefully the waves won't be too bad!!

[Paul edits] after dinner we did not turn in right away.  We all went the the boater lounge and attempted to download a movie that we were going to watch after the kids went to bed. While the movie was downloading we did a puzzle that was there. 

The bike ride was also the day before. When on vacation the days tend to blend together....

What is in a Name - Always Starboard

A greeting card we found shortly after naming our boat

Susan and I struggled naming our first boat. It was a 2000 Fourwinns 248. This pocket cruiser had everything the big ones did except the generator. As one good friend described it, "the biggest little boat on the lake". It was probably the most spacious boat of its size at the time. Our first season we learned a lot about the boat and about each other. Boating has a way of bringing out the best in people. In that first season we fell in love with each other, and the boating lifestyle. When we decided to name it, we were actually thinking about upgrading. The 2 footitis, as I recall our boating friends called it. Ours ended up being a severe case of 10 footitis. We end up settling on a 2000 Sea Ray 340 Sundancer.

The name came to me as we were having an argument. The argument was so insignificant I could not tell you what we were arguing about the next day, much less know today. Although, while writing this story a thought came to me. I think it probably involved me looking for our next boat and not agreeing on what we were going to be looking at getting. I just remember the feeling of anger coming over me and needing to contain myself. I have little self restraint when I believe I am right and so does Susan.

To put the moment it in perspective, we were dating at the time, probably had know each other about a year. Susan was actually the owner of the boat and I was her Captain. We had both just been through divorce and like I did when going through the end of my practice marriage, I bought something for myself, (Harley Davidson Road King) she bought a boat. During the honeymoon of any relationship you attempt to control your emotions and not get upset with the other. You may filter yourself as to not scare off the other during an argument. It seems once you've been together long enough that filter comes off. I am sure you can relate. I digress, but it paints the picture.

Anyway, back to the argument...again reminding myself to not sweat the small stuff I backed off and sat in silence for a moment. Then it hit me...I blurted out, "I got it!"

She gave me a look that said you are about to step into that grave you've been digging with your words and then barked "What!?.."

I said, "I know what we are going to name the boat....Always Starboard" and there was a another quick moment of silence, and then a smile began to appear on the corners of her face. While noticing I was not going to be pushed into that grave I was digging, I followed up with "Because you always have to be frick'n right.". This almost started another argument, but instead both just started laughing and poking fun at each other.

At this moment I knew this was for sure the name of our boat, as it describes both of our stubborn tendencies. Susan did have her reservations about it, but I said we can always say it is "Always the Right place to be." and she agreed.