Although it was somewhat chilly, the bay was very calm all day and we had a smooth journey with only sporadic boat traffic.
The only mishap occurred when we snagged a crab pot which made an awful shuddering sound. Jonny immediately stopped Zendo in the middle of the bay and dropped the anchor. Fortunately, the crab pot somehow disentangled itself and in just a few minutes we were able to resume our journey. He was greatly relieved not to have to put on his wet suit and dive on it!
We arrived at Delaware City Marina by 2 p.m. Tim, the owner, was there to help us tie up. We really like coming here and do so frequently as it’s a perfect jumping off spot to visit Stephanie in Philadelphia. We negotiated a weekly rate because we were going to spend some time on boat maintenance before heading up to Philly. We were docked in front of a little cat boat, slightly smaller than the one we used to own and a huge catamaran. The long dock is a welcome set up because we aren’t crowded among a bunch of boats and our scenery on both sides includes lovely grasses and trees.
Jonny spent the next two days deep in the engine room changing the oil in the engine, the generator and the transmission while Lynn did laundry and cleaned Zendo’s interior. We took a few walks along the coastal walkway into town. This is a historic town whose residents obviously take pride in maintaining.
Late Thursday afternoon Stephanie picked us up to bring us to Philly. We spent a wonderful weekend with her. She loves to bring us to new (to us) little restaurants and we walked through her beautiful neighborhood to one called Ambrosia. It was a very good choice - BYOB and Italian. Can’t get much better than that!
On Friday morning, we got up early to drive Stephanie to work at La Salle University so we could use her car to go to Ryan’s house in Conshohocken. Jonny had asked him to buy some oil and other boat supplies using his Pet Boys discount (he recently started working at their corporate headquarters). This would be our only chance to see Ryan this weekend because as best man for his friend who is getting married, he was hosting a weekend bachelor party for him.
When we returned to Philly, we met our friends Tracy and Jane for a take-out lunch on Rittenhouse Square, just a block from Stephanie’s apartment. They just moved to Philadelphia from Burlington, VT where we last saw them a couple of years ago on our cruise to Canada. We had a great time catching up on each other’s lives and strolling through that beautiful part of the city.
Afterwards, we picked Stephanie up from work and got ready for another picnic in Rittenhouse Square. This time she prepared a delicious cheese tray and we met her old roommate Sara and her boyfriend Mick and another good friend, Juliana and their dogs for a lively picnic on the green. People are really taking advantage of the last vestiges of warm weather and the need to be socially distant by picnicking in parks all over the city.
On Saturday morning, we met Vince, another of Stephanie’s friends, for breakfast. According to Stephanie, Vince always looks forward to seeing us when we come, especially when we bring Zendo to Philly! But seriously, we love the fact that we can see Stephanie’s friends and they enjoy being with us. It always gives us a good feeling about the life she’s made for herself here. In the afternoon we drove an hour west to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch in West Chester. We took a tractor out to the orchards and picked a big bag of apples, bought the obligatory pumpkin and had a fun time.
We followed that up with a stop at a local vineyard where we enjoyed some wine tasting in a bucolic outside setting.
When we got back to Philly we walked the few blocks to the fabulous DiBruno Brothers grocery where we bought a steak so Jonny could make steak frites for dinner. That, along with fresh corn on the cob and haricot verts, made for a perfect dinner.
Sunday morning was a lazy one - our last day with Stephanie. We headed out about 12:30 for a Costco run where we all stocked up on essentials, especially wine! Stephanie drove us back to Zendo where we unloaded all of our purchases.
We sadly said our goodbye’s for now. We won’t see Stephanie again until she and Ryan come to Miami for Christmas. As always, we had a most wonderful time with our lovely daughter.
Jonny reinstalled the Stratoglass on the aft deck, a sure sign that cool weather is here to stay. And as expected, Monday was a rainy and windy day so we hunkered down on Zendo and took it easy and planned to resume our cruise the following day.
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