New Orleans! High –Not a clue, Low- even less

Ok so I have shirked my duties as the daily blogger. On November 10^th Jim and I just worked around the boat again. We painted the 3^rd  coat of Cetol and waved goodbye to Jeff and Susan. No excitement there.

Last night we were in New Orleans and we did not get in until midnight. So "the morning after the night before" is the best I could do.

We arrived here around 10am and our rooms were ready immediately, so check in quick and let's get going. 

New Orleans is very eclectic, derelicts and the smell of vomit in one quarter and opulence on the very next street. Since we were here so early, Bourbon St. Was pretty empty, but it got a lot busier later on.

We stopped in at the world famous Patty O'Brien's for a Hurricane. I found out there is a reason it is called the Hurricane; because it can sweep you off your feet in a hurry ! This drink has my maximum daily consumption of alcohol in one glass! Germain and Chantal were smart enough to go with a Margarita. These one only had 3oz of alcohol.

After or little break we walked the French Quarter some more. We saw street musicians, but again New Orleans style. I have seen a lot of street musicians  before, but usually it is portable instruments! 

The Jazz pavilion was pretty cool too.

There are some freaky people here, both people and pets!

We had dinner in the French Market at a little restaurant called Coop's. They have a very good attitude and their sign says it all.

I will try to get in at a reasonable hour tonight so I can post on time; but no promises! Tata for now 

Fairhope and the war ship museum Low 47◦F High 78◦F

After we painted the second coat of Cetol, we went out to the town of Fairhope to check out some Ante-Bellum homes. We found the Bragg Mitchell home and the Oakleigh mansion but unfortunately they were closed to visitors on Sunday. 

Turns out they don't know how to spell my name anyway, so I was OK with not getting to visit the full mansions.

We then went off to the USS Alabama war museum. There were many planes on display. Dad M would have loved this one. There was also 2 submarines and one decommissioned  battle ship.

We only spent the afternoon, but could have easily spent the entire day there. So much to see, so little time.

The battleship is massive and we got to check out most of it. Here is a picture of the outside. Too many inside pictures to show them all.For those of you lucky enough to be related, you will be subject to the full montage at some point. Expect to sit for at least 1 full evening...maybe 2 ! lol

The war planes were plentiful. Again, too many to show here.

                 

                               

The first sub we saw was actually built in 1863 –This is not a typo!  This particular Submarine was powered by 8 men turning a hand cranked propeller- This is not a Joke ! ! !
It looks really big, but when I add Jim to the shot  it is awfully small. 

                           
                                            

The larger sub was much bigger in contrast however, still pretty tight quarters in there.

Hallway empty 

Hallway with Jim in it 

                                         

Sue and I took over the gun on the bow of the Submarine 

and the boys took over the guns on the battleship, but nobody was hurt in the making of today's blog.

                                        

                                       

Jim however did end up in the Brig. Night all. 

Oyster fest in Orange beach. Low 45◦F High 67◦F

We had a wonderful day in Orange Beach Alabama. It is a beautiful white sand beach right on the Gulf of Mexico and we would have loved to go for a swim.... if it wasn't SO DARN COLD!

Oysterfest is a festival where many restaurants compete for the distinction of the best oysters around. There were about 50 booths (I did not actually count) all putting on their best oyster recipes; both cooked and raw. Along with oysters there where a multitude of micro breweries and a couple of Bloody Mary booths where you could make a Bloody Mary to your liking. Susan had cheese, a pickle, cucumbers, peppers, radishes and some celery sticks in her drink. Looked delicious but she needed some Tums when she was done.  I was designated driver, so I had to skip all of the yummy drinks and settled for water.  

They had live bands playing while we walked around the various stations. The first band had some really cool guitars. Check out the washboard guitar and the "I have no idea what that is" guitar.

 

The festival grounds where decorated with various statues that are welded from pieces of motorcycles, old shovels and car pieces.

After a couple of really small beers and a hard cider, Jim was finally brave enough to try oysters. 

After the first one he actually liked it and went back for seconds, thirds and fourths. We have converted him.

We tried Oysters Rockefeller; Cajun; Garlic & Cornmeal and Parmesan cheese.

Oysters are an aphrodisiac, so I'm afraid I will have to cut this blog short ......

Night all    

Dauphin Island Low 45◦F High 63◦F Brrrr

We got a coat of Cetol on the rails Yippee! Yesterday's rain did not do too much damage to our paint job, but we do have to sand down the back rails a bit as they have some water stains.

Jim also got his Birthday present from Mom and Dad today so he was very excited. We had a chair at the helm before, but it was so large that it was always in the way. He has been driving the boat standing all day long; (well sometimes dancing around) at the helm.When we got here we visited a boat that had a folding director's chair at the helm and Jim thought this was exactly what he needed. So he ordered it on line and it got delivered this afternoon.  Thanks Mom and Dad!
                                    

After lunch we got the rental car and set off to Dauphin Island. We visited a fort; where apparently I won the battle;
                                

a cool subdivision that has streets on one side of the house and canals so people can park their boats in their back yard on the other .
                          
and an estuary.  At the Estuary we got to pet some sting rays and check out a bull nose shark. Fortunately the sting rays had their barbs removed, but although they could not hurt us, they sure did feel slimy.
                          
             

We found a really large snow bank...oops sorry that is a sand bank; but it sure does look familiar.
                             

We enjoyed finally getting out of the Marina and it was enjoyable to be out with Jeff and Susan again.

Tomorrow more sightseeing, but not sure where yet. We'll keep you posted. Nighty night all

Jim Teaching? Yes! Low 60◦F High 78◦F

We started our day in beautiful sunshine and 60 degree weather by 5am. Our neighbour boat "Young America " was flying home today; so we borrowed the courtesy car and drove them to the airport. We got back to our boat around 10 am and started to paint the railings. There was only a 30% chance of rain. We are pretty safe; we thought. Then I heard a "shit" come from the stern where Jim was painting. By the time I said "what", the skies opened up with a torrential downpour that lasted all of 20min. Essentially just long enough to mess up the paint job. Ah well, I think it will be Ok and it was lunch time anyways. As we started to eat our lunch the mechanic showed up. Jim had wanted one last little project which was to move the oil filters on the engines. He got all the lines and fittings today and completed this  project so now all the engine stuff is complete.

At 4pm we met at the pavilion again, where Jim got to be the teacher and share all that knowledge that Jim Sr and Randy had given, him about the water ways from here to Florida Keys. There where people from 9 other boats there; all with their charts in hand and ready to take it all in.

We ended our evening on "Free Bird" where Sara and John entertained us over a few drinks. For those who did not know Sara really puts on a spread. It was lovely.

Tomorrow we paint again but come noon we are sightseers. So we better get all the painting done before then.  Night all. 

Gas powered blenders and purring engines Low 60◦F High 76◦F

It has been a productive day all around. Jim and I went out first thing in the morning to get some supplies and were back at the boat by 10am. We started sanding but Brent showed up with our new and improved injectors

 and of course I lost Jim to the engine room again.

I kept sanding! I was so sure I would get the first coat of Cetol on by the end of today, but apparently I was mistaken. I did get most of the taping done so I can start painting first thing in the am. After we called it quits for the day, we joined a few folks at the pavilion for happy hour. John pulled out his gas powered blender (yea you heard me; GAS powered blender)and proceeded to make Margaritas for all. 

We did not stay long as we had invited Chantal and Germain from "Pimaro" for dinner. We had a lovely evening with them and topped the evening off with crepe Suzette that Germain made for us, flaming cognac and all. (sorry I did not get a picture of that but I was too mesmerized.)

Tomorrow....we paint. 

PS Thanks for the insight on the spelling error Dad. Surely to god that can't be my only spelling mistake so far. I think you've been holding back for me. lol Love you
Mimi