Below are SPOT links to Google Maps of our location, links to marinas if applicable and links to Kem's blog on the Houston Chronicle. Most recent event on top.

Places we've been along the way (and where we might be going)

January, 2011 SPOT Our current plan is to stay here until the end of February. New Bern Grand Marina at the Hilton The most recent Blog is on top.

SEE

"... AND THEY'RE OFF!" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " One of our best memories of cruising will certainly be our close to 6 month stay here at New Bern. This has not only been a great marina, but a great community as well. We have met so many gracious a... "

"ARTS FESTIVAL" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " One of our favorite events (we have many, but this one is tops) is the annual Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival in April. We planned our trip back to Texas so that we wouldn’t miss the fun. It&r... "

Family Reunion at Bud and Lynn's April 2, 2011
Movie 1
Movie 2
Movie 3

"FRIENDS AND FAMILY FIX" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We’re heading back to Texas for a long overdue friends and family fix. As soon as we hit the pavement and make sure the battery in the loft jeep kicks in, we’re headed for Austin and a ba... "

"FAR NIENTE" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Far Niente (far ny en’te) is an Italian phrase meaning “without care, innocently spending the time doing absolutely nothing in the most pleasant way” and that’s me today... "

"AED, IT'S SHOCKING" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We could save a life by going high tech on our boat. I have recently blogged a lot about medical supplies and basic first aid measures on a boat or in a home. Now it’s time to get hig... "

"COLLEGE REUNION" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Dayton and Cathy drove all the way from Boone, NC, for a weekend visit with us and we had a great time reliving stories dating back some 30 plus years! (but who’s counting – ha) Dayton is... "

"NEW LEGS" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We are close enough to our departure date that we are planning the “legs” for our trip north to New York. How exciting! We have new charts and marina books and have collected all the reco... "

"IRISH BLOG" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " It’s that time of year again, when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of Guinness and avoiding the pinching punishment of those who forget to wear green. We are looking forward to a St... "

"TASTE OF CAROLINA" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We weren’t sure what to expect when we walked over to the Convention Center to take in the Annual Taste of Coastal Carolina. We thought that we might be disappointed since we are used to the ex... "

"TOMORROW" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " I have a lot to blog about this week, but it seems irrelevant and irreverent to focus on anything except the current devistation in Japan. I was privileged to visit that beautiful ... "

"COOL BLUES, HOT JAZZ AND ELVIS" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We have really lucked out on experiencing some great music since we have been here in New Bern – all the way from cool blues, hot jazz and just plain funky music. Each venue is so different and... "

"MARDI GRAS" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednes... "

"SAVE A LIFE" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Since we have been out here on the waterway adventure, we have witnessed a few emergency events – most notably the boat fire at Green Turtle Bay our first year out (photos below). Because of my... "

"SPRING HAS SPRUNG" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We are seeing the first signs of spring in North Carolina and in the past 24 hours, New Bern has exploded into bloom. I took all of these photos on our 3 block walk to the local grocery store. Spring... "

"DITCH BAG" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " While Bob is busy refinishing the teak on the boat, my assignment is to pull out all of the emergency equipment on the boat, check expiration dates and put it all back together in one place. It&rsquo... "

"TEAK WEEK" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " It was September 12, 2008 and we were packed, provisioned and ready to cast off the lines for our Great Loop adventure. September 13 dawned and Hurricane Ike put our plans on hold for 9 more months. ... "

"RICK AND ROLL" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Spring is in the air and friends are visiting and cruisers are getting out in their boats. It all came together nicely when Debbie and Crystal drove down from Raleigh for another visit before Debbie ... "

"OLDER THAN OLD" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " How ironic that the annual New Bern Antique Show was held here on my birthday weekend (hold your jokes…) This was truly a great show with over 50 professional antique dealers from all over thi... "

"CHOCOLATE HOLIDAYS" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " You have GOT to love a community that has a charitable Chocolate Festival, complete with a chocolate spa, a chocolate bake-off, a chocolate and wine pairing, and a chocolate dinner. Although we misse... "

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We woke up this morning to our fourth snow storm of this winter. A couple of inches of the white stuff stuck on Spirit Dancer, but it melted by noon and even though the skies are now clear and blue,&... "

"POSTCARD PERFECT" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Sunday was a postcard perfect day around here – no wind, crystal blue skies, and temps in the high 70’s. This little piece of spring is not lasting, per all of the forecasts, so we decide... "

"ON TO MARCO ISLAND" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " The Tamiami Trail took us across the tip of the state to the West Coast of Florida and Marco Island. For you faithful followers, the last time I blogged about this part of the coastline was December ... "

"TAMIAMI TRAIL" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " After our whirlwind tour of Fort Lauderdale, our next destination for this trip was Marco Island. Before heading out on this cruising lifestyle of ours, we always seemed rushed for time and when driv... "

"MARINA CUSTOMER SERVICE" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Our first stop in Florida was Ft Lauderdale and the IMBC. Since we have been “researching” marinas for the past 18 months, we came up with a lot of ideas regarding customer service that s... "

"IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " No time to blog in the past few days – too much going on! This adventure is really all about the people you meet along the way and the folks who are brave enough to travel with you. Bob and I h... "

"THIRD TIMES THE CHARM" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We returned from Texas to the third snow storm in New Bern this year. We love it here, but did pick this location because of the reportedly mild winters. Our friends in Minnesota and the North East w... "

"LONE STAR FIX" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Entrance to The Woodlands Deer at the Entrance We are back on the boat in NC after a very quick trip to the Lone Star State – The Woodlands, to be exact. We hadn’t been back to check on t... "

"RX STASH View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " We are all guilty. It’s possibly because they are all so very expensive. It could be because we think we may need them again soon. More likely, it’s because we have forgotten we even had ... "

"OTC" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " No, this is not about the Offshore Technology Conference, the Ozark Technical College, the Oklahoma Tax Commission, or even vaguely related to the stock market. This is the third installment regardin... "

"BOAT BITES" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Boats have a real tendency to reach out and bite you when you least expect it. Seriously, there are all kinds of cleats, rails, hatch openings, lines, knots, motors, props and whirling things that ca... "

"SEMPER PARATUS" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " As Bob the Coastie would say, Semper Paratus, or Always Prepared. Most boaters are prepared and stock medical supplies, because chances are great that if some accident or incident is going to happen,... "

"WHY NEW BERN?" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " Many of you have asked the same question we asked ourselves when we left Baltimore (our northern most point of 2010) and headed south for the winter – Why New Bern? Well, there are many reasons... "

"RING IN THE NEW" View and comment on the post. Excerpt: " New Year's Eve day started out with an exodus of boats leaving the marina to try to “fool” the tax assessor into thinking they didn’t actually spend all year here. It... "