We said good-by to special Cuttyhunk by 9:20 and took a slightly different route through Quick’s Hole instead of Wood’s Hole which was foggier and trickier. The trip turned out to be pleasant with overcast skies and a southwest breeze.
Following a circuitous and very narrow river route, we arrived at Joe and Pat’s waterfront home in Falmouth at 12:30 passing these elegant creatures along the way. We also went by huge, long oyster beds that were being farmed.
Joe had invited us to raft up to his boat and this proved to be a challenge because the current was running fast. Joe, who was on his boat to help us raft up, was still recovering from knee surgery so he had to be very careful. We wouldn’t have been successful without the three of us working together tying lines and adjusting fenders. But we finally settled into our safe dockage behind their graceful home.
That evening Pat and Joe invited us for a delicious dinner of spaghetti with crabs and shrimp. Over the next couple of days we did miscellaneous boat chores. One night we all went to a dinner at a local Greek Orthodox church and another night we went to dinner at Joe and Pat’s neighborhood club.
Falmouth is a very pretty town at the beginning of Cape Cod. Their home is on a river that leads out to the waters around Cape Cod. Their children and grandkids visit them often and on Sunday, their son, grandson and eight of his buddies were taking Joe’s boat out for a day of fun on the water. So we had to move Zendo out to Joe’s mooring ball in the middle of the little river he lives on so the guys could take Joe’s boat out for the day.
By late morning Joe, Pat, Jonny and I headed out in Pat’s car to Essex, CT to attend the Northeast MTOA Rendezvous for the next three days. We had reservations at a nearby hotel in Old Saybrook. But first we stopped in Providence and dropped off Archie to stay with Gerhard for a few days. We were so grateful that he didn’t have to come with us and Gerhard was happy to have his company.
Essex is a quintessential old New England town on the Connecticut River. It has a charming downtown with lots of cute shops and beautiful homes.
The Rendezvous took place at the marina that is situated on a tiny island. We took a very short ferry ride over to it each day.
The next three days were a lot of fun - more like a big team-building with an array of activities, contests, nature walks, and speakers (including Jonny). A real highlight was a Zoom session with Charlie Duke (now 88) who was the Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 16 and the youngest astronaut to walk on the moon! And of course there was lots of time to visit with old boating friends and meet new ones.
Another highlights was an elegant dinner cruise aboard the Old Essex Steam Train where many of the group dressed up in Roaring Twenties costumes.
Throughout the three days there were teams competing in a mini-Olympics which included darts, cornhole, hula hoops, Rubix cubes, etc. Even though it was beastly hot, everyone got into the act. Jonny and I did quite well in our heats and I surprised everyone including myself with a 2 minute 20 second hula hoop session!
On the last night after many of us went out to dinner together, we danced to a live band playing music from our collective eras!
We left the Rendezvous on Wednesday afternoon after thanking Tom Kallman and his team for the great job they did. They plan to have next year’s event in Mystic, CT which is an equally gorgeous location. We drove to Waterford to pick up my bracelet from Mallove’s Jewelers and while in the area, Jonny wanted to show Joe and Pat his home town. So of course we took them to Captain Scott’s for lobster rolls and fried clams. Then on to Providence to pick up Archie. Joe wanted to show us where the tire business that he sold before retiring was as well as their beautiful home in Rehoboth, MA. By the time we got back and moved Zendo from its mooring to raft next to Joe’s boat again, we were all pretty beat, so we ordered Chinese take out and retired shortly thereafter.
In the meantime I had been communicating with my cousin Tanya who has a home in nearby Nantucket. We have some extra time so we decided to go there next. On our last night with Joe and Pat, they invited us for a delicious swordfish dinner. We really appreciate their friendship and generous hospitality!
No comments:
Post a Comment