Day 285: Sunday, June 16, 2013
Port to Port: Mariners on the Hudson to Kingston, NY
Underway: 5:56 am Motor Off: 9:15 pm Miles Traveled: 12 Stayed At: Marina
Mile 77 to Mile: What an amazing Father’s Day. Not only did I get wonderful Happy Father’s Day wishes from Jess and Sarah (we miss them a lot even though we just saw them a week ago), but we got to spend a wonderful day with old friends and new friends in a random town along the Hudson River. You couldn’t plan this if you tried.
We got up early to try to catch the last couple of hours of tidal boost going north towards Kingston. It was worth it because we were able to make a little more than 5 mph for a while before we gradually started to slow down as we got closer to our destination. We didn’t know if there would be a spot for us at the marina but we could either raft up with Spiritus or anchor farther down the river by Eddyville (named after some person named Eddy) for a day until a spot opened up. After a very short day, we were soon making our way down Roundout Creek toward the marina. It was still really early on a Sunday so we quietly cruised by a bunch of boats along the pier and who do we see waving us in but Eddy. A few minutes later we were docked, we had shared hugs and I had a coffee in my hand (thank you Eddy). Some other cruisers wandered up and we soon had a group of 8 or so gathered for an impromptu dockside chat at 9 am on Father’s Day morning. The most amazing thing was that we had met several of the boaters as far back as Green Turtle Bay in Kentucky where we first met Mike and Gay on Irish Attitude and Tom and Margie on Blue Grass. It was like a reunion.
This is going to be a fun stop. We went out to breakfast with a group of Loopers to Dolce, a quaint restaurant downtown with good food and a bad attitude. We had fun but instead of talking about their food we laughed about their “no soup for you” type stupid rules (cash only, can’t take pictures in the restaurant, only one refill on a cup of coffee, can’t wear plaid, etc). It’s hard enough making a living in the restaurant business without turning your potential customers off. Oh well, there are lots of other places to spend money.
We relaxed for awhile afterwards and then went for a long walk with Eddy and Linda down to the point to look at the lighthouse and burn off a few calories and catch up on our mutual adventures before going out for dinner later. Tom and Margie generously offered to drive us to Walmart (they have a rental car until tomorrow) – an offer we couldn’t refuse since we had a long list of things we needed. We zoomed through and came out $200+ poorer but restocked with essentials for at least a few weeks. (Thank you Tom and Margie).
By the time we got back it was time to eat again (isn’t it always) so 10 of us went up the street to an “authentic irish pub” for dinner and drinks. We were the only group in the place and we had a blast. The food we good, Mike, the bar tender/server took good care of us and we got to meet Timmy before we left for the night. Timmy is a real Irishman and he had us rolling on the floor with his banter and stories. What a great way to end a wonderful and special day on the Loop.
