We did some stuff around the trailer in the morning and then went out to find the Sailorman Boat Store. They have some new stuff but mostly used salvaged stuff. Interesting if you needed specific things to repair a boat but there was nothing we need at the moment.

CHECKING OUT ANOTHER BOAT
It was a really nice morning and we had an appointment at 2:00 to see another boat. We totally forgot about the time change so we were up in plenty of time to go and have breakfast at the IHOP. Well that was a disaster. It took ½ an hour to get seated and another hour to get our food and then it was mostly cold. No tip today! By this point instead of being really early and being able to take our time we had to rush to make it down to Marathon by 2:00. We arrived on time though and went through the boat. The inside was in really good shape but the top deck and overhang were rotted. At the right price it would be an interesting boat and the best one we have seen so far.

We drove around Marathon a bit and checked out some of the places we had seen when we were down there by boat. The pie shop where Frances and I bought the $25.00 Key Lime Pie was still there....and no we did not buy another one

We headed out to the Fort Lauderdale Boat show. A boat broker down here gave us free passes to get in. Some of the parking was $60.00 for the day.....we ended up paying only $15.00. Never have I seen such a huge collection of massive, expensive, decadent boats. Most of the boats on display were private boats ......boarding with Brokers only.....after you put on fancy slippers. I had no idea that there was so many people with so much money.
We took water shuttles to the 6 different show sites and then headed home, worn out and tired.

We also saw Dan Moreno’s ship, called the Floridian, complete with helicopter on the aft deck with the Dolphin’s lofo on the tail. We took lots of pictures of that one.

We left the parking lot and headed to Fort Lauderdale where we had arranged to stay in a park for a week. As we were driving along the highway, a truck right beside us blew a tire......we thought it was on the trailer and started to slow down and pull over. As the truck passed us we saw that it was his tire....not ours.

We pulled into the park .......correction, “Where old trailers go to die grave yard”. I don’t think they get a lot of transients in here. Only $155.00 for the week, so that’s not so bad. We won’t be spending a lot of time in the park anyway....just a place to park

Packing up went smoothly and we were out of the park in record time. We’re hoping to get someplace in Florida today. We stopped in Titusville and had dinner at a very good restaurant called the “Dixie Crossing”. We had Rock Shrimp which were absolutely delicious!

We pulled into the Walmart parking lot and found No Overnight Parking signs posted. As we were checking out our road atlas for another place to go we were greeted by some Canadians from Dawson Creek BC., who informed us that they had asked inside and were told that they were okay to stay as no one enforces the no overnight parking rule.

We drove into Charleston to have a look at a 50' Marine Trader that had been sunk....only for 2 hours mind you but sunk none the less. There was not as much damage inside as I thought there would be but I think we both decided that # 1 it was too big...(3 staterooms) and #2 too many unknowns with engines and electrical. Besides it’s kind of creepy thinking that the entire boat was under water.
After we finished with that we found a Flu Shot Clinic and got that dirty little deed out of the way. It’s just not fair, Colin never has a problem and I always do.....sore, throbbing arm the minute I walked out of the place. Oh well tomorrow is a driving day so I can sit and lick my wounds in the truck all day

We set out this morning for the Magnolia Plantation, world renowned for it’s amazing gardens. We walked through all the marked walking tours and then headed out around some of the lakes. We saw several alligators sunning themselves on special platforms raised out of the water. I also checked out the petting zoo.

The Oak Plantation Camp Ground is a spacious well maintained facility. There are some spaces with concrete pads, some with gravel pads and some just grass. There are plenty of large Oak Trees for shade spread through the park, and all this 10 miles out of Charleston.

When we got up we discovered that we were parked in front of a big red no overnight parking sign in the Walmart parking lot. Nobody seems too concerned with making us leave so we weren’t worried either. We drove till about 5:30 and pulled into the Oaks Plantation Campground.....very nice !
Large spaces with concrete pads and huge big oak trees.

We were planning on leaving the campground first thing this morning but Colin made a quick call to see if we could look at this one boat in Baltimore. I got back from walking the dog and we left. It took us 45 minutes to get there and we spent about an hour checking out the boat. The interior was rough but all fixable and the outside needed a good scrub and buffing. One to keep on our list of replacements for the “Maid of Steel”

When we got back we packed up and headed off for Charleston South Carolina. We got about ½ way and then pulled into a Walmart for the night.

Got up to pouring rain but we decided to go into Washington anyway.
So there I was walking up to the fence around the White House when George comes out to jog and starts talking to me. He invited Colin and I and Splash in to have tea with him and his wife. Got so excited I forgot to get the camera out of the car so I don’t have any pictures. What a fun time we had......................Just Kidding...............sneaked up to the fence to snap a few pictures.....a lot of suits hanging around looking intimidating. It really was not a very nice day for sight seeing in Washington.

This is another place that we came to by boat and just had to have a land view of. The restaurant we had dinner in was no longer there....too bad.

Colin got his first feed of Maryland Blue Crabs, I just don’t have the patience for them but he thought they were great.

The boat show was held in the harbor where we drove to with our boat when we did the Great Loop. It’s neat to go to these places by land when we have been there by boat. You get a whole different view of a place.

By the way we found a new boat.......all we need is about 1,000.000.00 to seal the deal. Hmmm I guess maybe a brand new boat is out of the question. .......Keep looking for a used one.

The next morning we picked up our new computer and activated our US cell phone. Next we drove over to Duncan’s campground in Maryland, our home base for the next few days. The campground is all decked out for Halloween. Splash especially likes the spider that has moving arms and blinking eyes......She just never gets used to it, and jumps every time she goes by. They also have a resident bunny named Stella.....a boy who lives in his own little neat house. Splash is very taken with Stella and stands up on her hind legs every time she goes by to say hello.

We left the campground just outside of Belwood by about 8:30 AM. We had to stop in Fergus at the doctors office to renew some prescriptions, then through Milton to pick up mail and then to Shelly’s in Mississauga to pick up our travel insurance papers. At last we were on our way.

We got to Buffalo only to encounter a huge snow storm just starting. Quickly got through customs and then headed south and out fo the snow.

W arrived in Delaware at 11:30 at night and parked in a Walmart.