• Photo Gallery 2015 -- Part I
• Photo Gallery 2015 -- Part II
• Lake Monroe, Florida
• Summer Fantasies
• Meanwhile, back in Florida

• Ocala (Horse Country), Florida
• Lake Murray, South Carolina
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Tellico Lake, Tennessee
• Nashville, Tennessee

• Lexington, Kentucky
• Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio
• Chautauqua Lake, New York
• Photo Gallery 2016 - Part II

Lake Monroe, Florida

Flying home to Vancouver for Christmas
As the new year commences, Libby is still at home in Vancouver, WA enjoying some additional time with the boys. That is our home at the left. Two of our sons have been living there while working in Portland. Works out well for them and for us. We flew back home together on Dec 19... I stayed a week and enjoyed Christmas with the family and flew back here to Florida on the 27th to retrieve Corey from the pet sitter and move back into the coach. Libby will return on January 4th and we will resume our Florida sailing season on Lake Monroe.

As we begin our fifth year of RV travel and we reflect back on our "excellent adventure" of the past year, I propose a toast to all the good things that have come our way and all the good times ahead as the Windseeker 2016 Eastern US Tour continues in the new year. Our 2016 Travel Itinerary will include stops in Charleston, SC, Lake Murray, SC, Nashville, Lexington, KY, Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada, Lake Champlain, NY and once again, the incredible Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence Seaway in upstate New York. We hope you will join us for some exciting times in the New Year! Cheers!

While Libby was celebrating New Year's Eve at home in Washington with the boys, I celebrated the occasion with my sister and brother and some of their friends at her place in nearby Ormond Beach, Florida. They went all out with a New Year's feast, lights, a music stage, and karaoke. That's my sister and her husband Jim in the inset in their costumes, and Frank, me and Cecilia in the photo.

I spent 6 or 7 hours over two days on my ladder on the weekend dealing with some paint issues on my aluminum patio awning cover. Today I was about to wash the coach, but as Libby and I were taking Corey for a walk this morning, Topo's Detailing was driving along our road. I talked to them and struck a very reasonable deal for them to wash the whole coach including scrubbing the roof, something I don't relish doing. They also told me they could polish the alloy wheels and make them look like new, so I let them do that and agreed they may as well wax the coach while they were at it. Corey and I just sat and watched. I drank my morning coffee and Corey mooched!

Corey enjoyed sitting outside on a cool morning to watch the detailers wash the coach. He loves to sit in a chair with me when we sit outside, drawing more than a few comments from passers-by. Awwww....

Well, we had one day to appreciate my shiny immaculate coach after the detailing. Today we are getting a major storm... really the first one like this in more than a month... heavy rains, wind, thunder... good day to be snuggled inside the coach. I have my satellite and movies on DVR... will be a good day for it. Supposed to pass this afternoon, though, so hopefully we can get to the gym.

Summer Fantasies

As we wait out the winter storms, we're spending some time firming up our summer travel plans and sailing adventures. Our first major stop will be Charleston, South Carolina for a week or so, to experience the legendary charm and grace of this grand ole southern belle. From there we'll start our spring sailing season at nearby Lake Murray (left) where we'll spend a month in April/May.

As we leave Lake Murray, we'll head up thru Tellico Village TN, Nashville, and Lexington Kentucky on our way to our first major summer stop at beautiful Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada where we'll spend a month in June/July sailing out of Cooks Bay Marina and enjoying life in the lovely city of Barrie, Ontario.

From Lake Simcoe we'll make a short hop up to the fabulous boating paradise Georgian Bay in the corner of Lake Huron known as the 30,000 Islands where we'll spend a month in July/August. Here we'll enjoy great sailing and kayaking as well as bicycling on the marvelous Midland/Tay Bicycle Trail System.

Take a quick four minute flight on a seaplane around Georgian Bay for a spectacular aerial tour through the islands, via youtube video, showing people boating, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and swimming. A boating paradise indeed. A true 'Water Wonderland'.

By clicking on the photo at the left, you can also take a longer tour of Georgian Bay by seaplane which starts with a one minute slideshow, followed by a ten minute video of the 30,000 Islands, much of it pristine wilderness. You gotta wonder who counted them!

After Georgian Bay, the plan is to head back down for another month long stay in August/September in the marvelous Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence Seaway, where we spent an idyllic summer last year. Sailing doesn't get much better than this! Here's a special page on this website with some great aerial photos of this incredible area.

Our final sailing stop in the northeast before heading back south will be at Lake Champlain in late September. Champlain is often referred to as the 6th Great Lake. My brother Frank, also an avid sailor, keeps his Seaward 26RK on Lake Champlain, so we'll close out the season in the north country sailing with him. We'll stay until the weather changes and then start heading back south again. Ah... 'tis a grand life!

Back to Reality and Lake Monroe, Florida

Ok, well enough for summer fantasies... We have made all our bookings... it will be reality soon enough. I just needed a break and some mental lift while waiting for my boat to be repaired. We had this nifty custom design sign made which now stands in front of the coach telling all the other RV'ers who we are... "The Windseekers."

The important mast step repair was handily completed by local boat repair professional Bruce Crane. It looks very nice... almost OEM and completely covers and reinforces the damaged area underneath the mast step. He is going to attend to a few other relatively minor issues and we should have our girl back in the water next week.

We picked up the boat from the repair yard, brought her back to the RV Park to give her a good cleaning and polish and then towed her down to the marina this morning, January 31, and rigged her in the parking lot. The Monroe Harbor Marina has a wonderful launch ramp, free for use by the boating public but never very crowded, even on a Sunday. There was no wind today, so we just got her rigged, launched and motored around to our slip.

On our way down to Planet Fitness for a workout today we stopped for gas. Man the gas and diesel prices are really low right now. That's $1.69 for regular and $1.79 for diesel. We're taking a trip in the motorhome down to South Florida at the end of this month for the Miami Boat Show. A fillup then will save us a considerable sum.

After a great day of sailing yesterday, we were back out on the lake again today, Wednesday, February 3, and making up for lost time, since rains are due tomorrow. But winds were excellent again this afternoon, mostly in the 12-14 range, and Anne Marie was loving it. We sailed until late getting back to the dock by sunset. Monroe Harbor Marina is a beautiful place at sunset.

El Niño is battering the eastern half of the US right now. Central Florida is faring much better than points north, but it is still chilly and very windy here... too windy for sailing. Winds today, Tuesday 1/08, were 22 gusting to 33 at Lake Monroe... too windy for us. So I decided to break out my Quantum Prism Sport Kite. We took it to an open field in the RV Park and flew it for a while... fun, but a bit frustrating as winds were just too gusty. The best conditions for flying a kite are steady winds like you would find at the coast. We'll have to take it to the beach one of these days.

We attended the big Strictly Sail Boat Show in Miami at the Bayside Marina. After 75 years they have this down to a science... big luxury tour buses for shuttles and supersonic water taxis like "Thriller" at the left for free transportation between the Powerboat show on Viriginia Key and the Sailboat show at the Bayside Marina.

The ride across the harbor from Virginia Key where the Powerboats were on display to the Bayside Marina where the Sailboats were was one of the more entertaining parts of the day. It was about a half hour ride and offered impressive views of the downtown Miami waterfront. Speeds are strictly controlled in the harbor, or this beast could have probably gotten us there in 5 minutes!

Lots of sailboats were on display. Every size and model of Jenneau, Bennetau, Catalina, and many other makes of both monohull and big Catamarans were at the docks open to walk aboard and inspect. After a while you just kind of get glazed over though. We wouldn't even remotely consider swapping out our 2007 Catalina 22 MkII. Catalina doesn't even make the MkII any more and we prefer it way more than the Capri or Sport. There just is not a better sailboat made for doing what we do, trailering her from lake to lake and rigging and unrigging her ourselves.

The day after we attended the sailboat show, we decided against going back to Miami for more punishment. Instead we spent a nice lowkey day to celebrate Libby's birthday and Valentines day (tomorrow) and drove out to the nearby Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. We took an airboat ride through the "River of Grass", narrated by an experienced Gladesman. We saw lots of wildlife including birds, large iguanas, and, of course, alligators swimming in the wild.

Our tickets also included a free professional photo and a ticket to see the Gator Boys alligator 'wrestling' show which was very entertaining. Gator Boys are actually animal rescue folks who trap 'nuisance' gators and save them from becoming gator steaks. They are taken to alligator farms around the state and some of them get used in these entertaining shows. The gators get used to all the horsing around for audiences and the handler only occasionally get bitten, we were told. They get dragged around by the tails a little to get them into position, and manipulated for show purposes without the gators or the handlers getting hurt.

Speaking of horsing around, Libby decided to try her hand at alligator wrestling as well! Needless to say there was a little less danger involved here. We also enjoyed lunch at the Bonefish Grill in nearby Weston where we opted for fish tacos and crab chowder... happily there was no alligator was on the menu.

On our last day in south Florida, we spent the afternoon with my old friend Jesse Briggs, from my days in Key West in the early 70's. 45 years have passed, but it's just one more instance of 'the more things change, the more they remain the same'. Jesse was and still is quite a character. Great to have a reunion since we were last together in about 1980. We enjoyed a great lunch at the Mellow Mushroom in Ft Lauderdale, right near where he lives. He also drove over to the RV Park to see our 'Rockstar bus".

Back at Wekiva and out sailing with Corey on Lake Monroe today, Feb 17. Sailing is a great sport.... looks like we are in good company! Remember the old maxim, Time on the water is not deducted from your lifespan!

We were out on Lake Monroe all afternoon today in 70 degree sunshine with the wind blowing a consistent 12-15 out of the north. The winds were a bit much for Corey so he stayed back in the coach and relaxed for the afternoon. Libby took a one minute HIGH DEFINITION video with her Iphone which I uploaded to Youtube. You can watch the video full screen on your computer by clicking on the thumbnail at the left, or CLICK HERE.

Today, Feb 19 was our 14th wedding anniversary, Libby and I were together for 10 years before that, but officially married in 2002. Smartest thing I ever did :-). So we had picked up a bottle of The Biltmore Winery's 30th Anniversary Release when we visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC last fall, a fabulous stop on last year's Windseeker Tour. We saved this very fancy bottle of wine for our own anniversary. We each did a blind taste test between this bottle and our basic table wine, Oak Leaf Merlot from Walmart at less than 10% of the price. The result? We could not tell the difference! So much for wine snobbery.

Libby spotted this cute cartoon online this morning.... as we are shuffling reservations dates for the fall, and dealing with half a dozen other items on the agenda before taking Corey for a walk in the park, this cartoon says it all I think.

Sunday, February 21 was an off day for the wind, so I gave Corey a haircut in the morning outside the bus on the picnic table. He looks so dejected! But he always feels so much better afterwards - and we took him to Wilson's Landing Park just down the road where he gets to romp and run free off leash, so that made up for it! I have been giving Westies haircuts for almost 20 years now and my Schnauzer Sammy for 14 years before that. I always like my style cut much better than the groomers, and they always get lots of compliments on their grooming.

Ocala, Florida

We drove up to Marion County, often referred to as "Horse Capital of the World." We visited several of the most famous Thoroughbred horse farms including the incredible 4500 acre Live Oak Stud Horse Farrm owned by Charlotte Weber, heiress of the Campbell Soup fortune. And we received a pass to drive all through the magnificent Bridalwood Farm (left), recently purchased by Leslie Malone and her husband John, Chairman of Liberty Media Corp. We also visited Ocala Stud, and wandered through the horse barns, admiring all the magnificent horses stabled there.

This is just one of hundreds of gorgeous Thoroughbreds we visited as we drove all through Bridalwood Farm and Ocala Stud. Libby showed horses in hunter jumper competition growing up in Los Angeles, and I actually owned a couple horses many years ago right here in Florida. Horses are in our blood, I guess. We just love these majestic creatures.

We visited Silver Springs State Park where took a ride in a glass bottom boat along the Silver River above the crystal clear springs, offering spectacular underwater views of many fish, turtles and other aquatic species. One of the oldest tourist attractions in the state of Florida, the Silver Springs attraction dates back to the 1870s and is now run by the state parks department.

We have been struck by the ubiquitous personal injury and accident legal firm advertisements here in Florida (ambulance chasers as they are often labeled). It is very prevalent in central Florida where we are spending the winter. Billboards and TV ads are everywhere. In Ocala the billboards litter the roadside like pop cans leading me to create this parody of a billboard. See my short page for more info on this explosion of lawyer advertising here in Florida and elsewhere around the nation.

Another sterling day of sailing on Lake Monroe. Today was Saturday 3/4 and March is lining up to be another stellar month as it was when we were here last year. Today we had a very pleasant 10-12 most of the afternoon, and at times more like 12-14 and others 8-10... but steady winds and flat water with warm sunny weather around 78 make for excellent sailing. Forecast on windfinder.com shows good wind every day for the next ten but one.

This is the ten day forecast for Lake Monroe on Windfinder.com. Their forecasts for the lake are some of the most accurate we have ever encountered, probably because the international airport is just south of town and airplanes demand accurate wind forecasting. This forecast shows sailable winds every single day - 10-12 is my favorite... but I am quite content with 10-12 and with 14-16 or better as well. Plenty of those kinds of afternoons in store!

Another perfect afternoon today, March 6... the forecast was once again spot-on. We had winds 12-14 most of the afternoon... sometimes 15-18, but very steady and most enjoyable. Being Sunday, we had a few other boats out sharing the lake with us. Always nice to see other sailboats playing in the wind! More of the same is in store for tomorrow.

Today before going sailing again, we stopped off at the Peach Valley Cafe in Lake Mary for lunch. We have eaten brunch a couple times there and the food is just superb. I had a little taste of their Philly Cheesesteak once and had been meaning to get back for a full sandwich of my own. Served with their delicious homefries, this lunch is not to be missed if you like a good Philly Cheesesteak. It just doesn't get any better than this, not even in Philadelphia! Then off to the lake for another terrific afternoon sail - 3 in a row!

We took a cruise on an authentic sternwheel paddleboat up the St John's River which feeds Lake Monroe. We boarded the Barbara Lee at the marina for a luncheon cruise to travel 12 miles up the scenic St John's River and back to experience some of the quieter parts of central Florida only reachable by boat.

I usually refrain from anything political in this blog, but I had to laugh when I spotted this truck in a parking lot.... obviously someone's idea of a truck camper. With the "Make America Great Again" poster on the side. I fear if Donald Trump were ever elected president we'll probably have a LOT more people living like this. Not too "great". And regardless of how you feel about it, if you want a really good laugh, watch the brilliant political satirist John Oliver on the subject.

Today, 3/14, we purchased this C-Dory 16' Cruiser - we are very excited to add this new toy to our arsenal. We will be able to enjoy greatly extended explorations in all our travels this spring and summer... Lake Murray SC, Tellico Lake in TN, Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, the 1000 Islands on the St Lawrence and Lake Champlain. Plus anywhere in between that we want to stop and spend a couple days to explore. The C-Scamp was a real find, and one I am sure we will get a lot of use out of. I've created a C-Scamp webpage which tells all about her.

Libby is back home on the west coast right now taking care of some family matters and looking in on the boys. We had ordered a few new western theme decor items for our family room which we lovingly call the "Western Theater". A couple key additions were this cool western gear shadow box and this marvelous detailed Franklin Mint diecast model of an Overland Stage which was a Christmas gift to each other. My prized Winchester 30-30 Repeating Rifle hangs over the mantle. We are both serious western film fans... and we also watch Encore Western Channel reruns of Gunsmoke, Cheyenne and others recorded regularly on our Dish Network system DVR. We'll have to frame this photo and hang it in the coach to remind us of home.

We have concluded what has been our longest stay anywhere with our motor coach... spending the winter from October until April at Wekiva Falls RV Park in central Florida. It has been a good spot overall to spend the winter months... warm enough to sail at least some days every month... no freezing temps for any significant time periods, reasonable cost of living in a very nice RV Park, and probably the nicest marina we have found anywhere on the excellent sailing lake, Lake Monroe. There are aspects to life in Florida we will NOT miss. The collage left highlights some of those 'ass-pects'. Still in all, we'll likely be back next winter.

Lake Murray, South Carolina

Here's a good photo captured from a Youtube video flyover someone made of Windward Point Yacht Club at Lake Murray where we have rented a slip for a month from mid April to mid May. As you can see from the screenshot of the Lake Murray chart below, this 50,000 acre lake with its 500 miles of shoreline should be a very intriguing place to sail, if the winds are cooperative. Lots of sailboats here, as you can see, so that is certainly a good sign.

At the left is the miniaturized chart which I screenshotted from Navionics.com, a great marine navigation website we rely on. As you can see it is a very large, very deep lake covering more than 50,000 acres with dozens of interesting coves to explore. We are down by the dam at what is called Yacht Cove at the Windward Point Marina. But with our C-Scamp motorboat we'll be able to take her on any calm wind day to any one of a dozen public boat ramps on this large lake and drop her in for the afternoon to explore different parts of the lake. Hi res chart here.

Our first day out on Lake Murray was a beautiful sunny Saturday and we had a dozen other sailboats out with us. It was very gratifying to be sailing with Libby on a beautiful new lake on my birthday. What more could I ask for.... well, maybe for a little more consistent wind conditions. I have a feeling winds here may not be as consistent as what we'd become accustomed to at Lake Monroe. For example Monroe had much more consistent winds yesterday. Ah well, we're here for a month I'm sure we will get some good sailing in... and when the wind is not cooperating there are many distant coves, as you can see on the mini chart above, which we can explore with our motorboat, C-Scamp.

Day two was much better for sailing... then after two days of sailing, the winds today were very light, but the skies were sunny and the temps were very pleasant, so we took the C-Dory down to the Lake Murray Dam launch park, and dropped her into the lake for a nice afternoon cruise around perhaps 15 miles of shoreline, just putting along at about 7 mph as we meandered along the shore oogling the the many beautiful lakeside homes like the one below. Very relaxing cruise for dogs! You can explore this phenomenal boating lake yourself in this detailed hi res chart of Lake Murray

At the left is just one of thousands of beautiful lakeside homes which dot the hundreds of miles of irregular shoreline of beautiful Lake Murray. It makes it entertaining to slowly cruise in and out of the many coves and peer at the lovely homes people have built at the lake's edge. The C-Dory is ideal for this as we are comfortably out of the sun and able to maneuver all around the lake shoreline, while keeping an eye on our new GarminEchoMap 53dv chartplotter and GPS to stay clear of shallow spots and obstacles.

A little humor for the day... this one makes you stop and think... I'd say they may have a point here!

Today, Saturday, was a beautiful windy day on Lake Murray so we took Corey out for a sail. He enjoys it a lot when it is not too bouncy. He's been sailing with us since we got him 5 years ago as a 5 year old rescue. When he's not down in his little cubby at the back of the cockpit, he likes sitting with mom.

Corey will nap for a while down in his little cubby, switching directions when we come about so his head is always uphill... and then he wakes up refreshed and comes back up on deck, especially if "in flight snacks" are served!

I think this cute little cartoon about sums it up.                              

Today, before we leave for Charleston tomorrow for a week, we needed to replace the left front jack again. This is a warranty item, so we had a mobile tech come by the RV Park to take care of it. We also need to have the retracting steps on our coach replaced. This is a recall item. We could have a 'retainer bracket' installed at no charge or upgrade our steps to new retracting steps from Kwikee, which is what we're doing. As all RV owners know, there is always something. "RV" seems to stand for "Repair Vehicle".

Charleston, South Carolina

After arriving at the beautiful Oak Plantation Campground outside of Charleston yesterday, we took an historic city tour today, as an introduction, aboard an air conditioned tour bus with Charleston's Finest Historic Tours. Our little tour bus and our very entertaining and knowledgeable driver, Will, are pictured at the left.

The one and a half hour tour drove us all around the historic district of downtown Charleston pointing out many historic landmark homes, hotels and other buildings, which Charlestonians are rightfully very proud of. The Miles Brewton House built ca. 1769 is one of the most important Georgian homes in America. It features intricate wrought iron gate and fence work, with defensive razor sharp edging for protection during war time. The matching sets of front steps were designed with one side for the men and one for the women, as it was considered improper for men to follow ladies up the staircase and possibly catch a view of their ankles. Shocking!

We also drove past the historic Confederate Museum which is also home to the City Market, a farmer's market where fruits, meats, vegetables, and fish were sold - no slaves. It is also here where young men from Charleston went to sign up to fight for the Confederacy. Charleston played a key role in the start of the Civil War, as it was here that South Carolina statesmen voted to become the first state to secede from the Union, predating the start of the Civil War by some 6 months.

Our tour took us down to Charleston Harbor Waterfront at the Battery, a landmark defensive seawall and promenade which was named for a civil-war coastal defense artillery battery at the site. The Battery and its large public park called White Point Garden, stretches along the southernmost shores of the Charleston peninsula, bordered by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, which meet here to form Charleston harbor. Some beautiful historic antebellum homes line the shore here.

After our tour we drove from the Visitor's Center, and parked in the district of the College of Charleston. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, the university's name reflects its history as the oldest college in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the oldest municipal college in the country.

We strolled over from the college and had lunch at the famed Sticky Fingers Smokehouse nearby. Here I am standing next to the window in front which prominently features photos of George W. Bush and Stephen Colbert who are among the many luminaries who have dined there. We sampled some of their tasty Memphis-style barbecue in a historic atmosphere.

As a little added treat, after lunch we noticed the door was open to the historic Charleston Fire Department Central Station on the corner of Meeting and Wentworth Streets. Our tour guide had told us, if you see the door open, you can go in and get a tour by an on duty fireman... and so we did. Very interesting, particularly for Libby, whose Dad was most enamored of Fire Trucks and owned an antique pumper.

On our second full day in Charleston, we had beautiful sunny weather so we packed a picnic lunch and launched our little C-Dory on the Ashley River at the WO Thomas Jr. Boat Launch. We took a pleasant afternoon cruise up as far as Middleton Place, past Drayton Hall (left), a sprawling rice plantation, and the beautiful Magnolia Plantation and Gardens which we will visit tomorrow by car. The Drayton Hall Plantation house is one of the only original ones left standing after the civil war. We encountered a small pod of dolphins on the river who swam playfully alongside our little C-Dory for about a mile. See full sized map here.

We returned to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens on day three, driving there in our car this time. The plantation has remained in the Drayton family for more than 300 years. We took a tour of the interior of the plantation home and walked thru the extensive gardens. Although the camelias and azaleas were mostly finished by late April, many other varieties of flowers abound.

We strolled about the English Style gardens for several hours. Here we are seated on a bench with the picturesque "Long White Bridge" in the background.

Another great shot, this one of Libby in the middle of the "Long White Bridge" as it crosses one of many beautiful streams which flow through the property into the Ashley River. The plantation is very forested in sections with huge live oak trees, some as old as 400 years, and laden with spanish moss.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens also features a small petting zoo and animal rescue facility. Here's Libby petting a small black goat named Abby who was kind enough to hop up on the stumps for a photo.

There is a lot swampland as well as some very picturesque small lakes on the grounds of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. And yes, there are alligators in the swamps... lots of them.

Here we are aboard General Beauregard, a small cruise ship in the Spiritline Cruise Fleet. We had an excellent history professor for a narrator/guide and learned a lot about the history of Chawlston, as we cruised around the harbor and out thru the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge a massive cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River, to Fort Sumter at the harbor entrance and back.

Fort Sumter National Monument, operated by the National Park Service, is a sea fort several miles off the southern point of Charleston, at the mouth of the harbor. It is the spot where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired. Started in 1829, it was incomplete by 1860, when South Carolina seceded from the Union, and so was never a fully manned fort, and was utterly destroyed during the war. It was never rebuilt to match its original multi-tier design.

We also passed by the USS Yorktown, an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970 and in 1975 became a museum ship at Patriot's Point, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She is a National Historic Landmark.

On our tour today of the Charleston Tea Plantation located on nearby Wadmalaw Island, we got a narrated trolley tour of the fields where the tea plants are grown and harvested. Most tea consumed in the US is imported, largely from Asia... this plantation is the only one in the US where tea leaves are actually grown, harvested and processed to make their very own brand of tea. This is made possible by the use of a custom harvesting machine, instead of relying on much more expensive hand picking.

Here's Libby sitting on the cool breezy veranda of the beautiful 127-acre Charleston Tea Plantation outside the gift shop, enjoying a cup of Charleston Tea Plantation mint tea with Waddy, the Plantation mascot. Here they make nine special flavors of tea, including their original American Classic Tea. The Charleston Tea Plantation was purchased by family-owned Bigelow Tea Company in 2003 and continues to grow and process their tea leaves without any use of pesticides, in the same time honored tradition begun by William Barclay Hall who started commercially producing Charleston Tea in the 1980's.

In the late 1700s, tea bushes, also known as Camellia Sinensis, first arrived in the United States from China. Several attempts were made in South Carolina over the next 150 years to propagate and produce tea for consumption, but none were successful. Not until 1888, when Dr. Charles Shepard founded the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, SC did American grown tea become a reality. In Summerville, Dr. Shepard created award winning teas until his death in 1915. After his passing, the Pinehurst Tea Plantation closed and Dr. Shepard's tea plants grew wild until they were transplanted to a potato farm located on Wadmalaw Island, eventually purchased by William Barclay Hall in 1987 when he started the Charleston Tea Plantation.

Near the Charleston Tea Plantation is a small park, home to the Angel Oak Tree, an ancient live oak estimated to be in excess of 400-500 years old. It stands 66 ft tall, and measures 28 ft in circumference. It produces shade that covers more than 17,000 square feet. From tip to tip Its longest branch distance is 187 ft. There is considerable debate about the age of the Angel Oak. Some contend that it is 1,500 years old. Most believe that the more conservative estimates are probably more accurate.

Major thunderstorms in the air today... we decided to stay close to home (coach) cringing with the ear splitting thunder craa-aacks and periodic deluges of pouring rain. We have tickets to a local Charleston dinner theater at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center tonite to see a highly acclaimed musical review "Lady Legends of Song" starring sister act Gracie and Lacey. Hopefully we can dodge in and out of the cloudbursts.

On Wednesday, our last day in Charleston, the weather cleared up completely, and we had a perfect day to drive back down Whitepoint Gardens, the southernmost point of The Battery on the Charleston harbor waterfront. We had stopped here on our first day during the guided tour with Charleston's Finest Historic Tours. It's a lovely 6 acre park offering marvelous sea breezes and shade under the dozens of large live oak trees. Here I am standing by a statue of General William Moultrie, a Revolutionary War general who prevented the British from taking Charleston. Replicas of the cannons which defended downtown Charleston line the borders of the park.

Some grand old homes dating back to the turn of the 19th century line Whitepoint Gardens along South Battery as well as the harborfront homes along East Battery like those pictured above and the Edmondston-Alston House (below) which we toured today as well. This grand old house along South Battery facing the park was particularly resplendent with its graceful columns and balconies.

We took a guided tour of the historic Edmondston-Alston House located on East Battery, on the Charleston harbor waterfront. This historic residence, part of Charleston's fabled Museum Mile, was built by shipping merchant Charles Edmondston in the 1820's and sold in 1838 to Charles Alston, a successful South Carolina Lowcountry rice planter. Alston's descendants still maintain residence on the third floor of this gracious old mansion.

Here we are after the guided tour chilling out on a bench at the Edmondston-Alston House on the first floor porch or 'piazza' as they are called here in Charleston. Here residents could sit out of the sun and enjoy the cooling sea breezes during the hot South Carolina summers long before air conditioning was a staple of life here.

As mentioned previously there was a recall item out on our electric steps. We could have a 'retainer bracket' installed at no charge or upgrade our steps to new retracting steps from Kwikee, which is what we decided to do. I actually got $400 towards the purchase from my extended warranty. and I ordered them from Tiffin. They arrived yesterday and today, Friday, our first day back in Lexington near Lake Murray, I installed them with the help of my first mate. Pictured beside me are the old steps which I removed and we tossed them in the dumpster. A perfect example of our favorite little saying which we have framed as a greeting card.

Back at Lake Murray, and relaxing in the coach on a Sunday morning, we're taking lessons from the master, who says "Start the day out slow and then taper off from there."

Tellico Lake, Tennessee

We're off to Tellico Lake in Tennessee to visit good friend Larry McJunkin and his wife Brenda. We'll spend several days there with them before we head on to Nashville. No sailing either place but if the weather cooperates we can explore Tellico Lake in our little C-Dory motorboat. We see some very large coaches on the road, some even larger than our own, but very few of this size! Two story no less! Wow!

We arrived at Tellico Lake, a reservoir in Tennessee, created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1979 upon the completion of Tellico Dam. The dam impounds the Little Tennessee and the lower Tellico Rivers. The lake is approximately 16,000 acres in surface area with 357 miles of shoreline, just west of the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. Excluding fingers, though, the width is only around 1/2 mile wide at its widest point, making it quite a bit smaller than any lakes we generally visit for sailing purposes. But we have good friends who live here and will spend several days with them, and try to put our motorboat in the lake at some point if weather permits.

We booked a nice long pull thru corner space in Lazy Acres Campground in Lenoir City, right near Tellico Village. The generous campsite had plenty of room for our long coach, both boats and our car. Great accommodations for the 4 nights we'll be here.

While visiting Tellico Lake, we drove over with our friends to the Titanic Museum, a two-story museum shaped like the RMS Titanic. Located nearby in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, it opened in 2010 and is built half-scale to the original ship. Similar to the one in Branson, Missouri, the museum holds 400 pre-discovery artifacts in twenty galleries. It is the largest permanent Titanic museum in the world and was a very interesting tribute to this colossal disaster.

After the Titanic Museum, we went for lunch with friends Larry and Brenda to the Mel's Diner in Pigeon Forge, a popular classic 50's diner which has consistently been rated among the top eateries in the area on TripAdvisor. Mel did not disappoint us.

We launched the C-Dory for a river cruise along the Tennessee River which forms Lake Tellico. We cruised around the point under the Highway 321 Bridge and down the river, past several marinas along Tellico Lake. We passed many spectacular hillside homes overlooking the river, and cruised past many homes along the beautiful Tanasi Golf Course (left).

At the left are some more of the gorgeous lakeside homes we passed on our two hour cruise along Tellico Lake and Tennessee River.

Nashville, Tennessee

We drove up from Tellico to Nashville on Wednesday 5/18 and checked into our nice roomy space on "Relax Road" at Lazy Acres RV Resort just north of the city in Goodletsville. We're here for a full week and have room for both boats right in our own space. Our roof mounted satellite was blocked by the large trees, so we had to set our little portable Tailgater Satellite cube out on the picnic table and string a 100' coax cable to it. We carry this just for purposes like this one and it works great.

On our Grayline tour of Nashville today, we learned a bit about the history of this iconic city and got a good overview. We stopped at the Ryman Auditorium, best known as the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 before it moved to its new location. Renowned for its near perfect acoustics, innumerable music legends have performed on this very stage.

Our Grayline tour also made an hour and a half stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum where we saw various permanent and current featured exibitions and saw memorabilia, videos, gold records, and plaques dedicated to all the famous stars. And yes Elvis Presley and even Bob Dylan are honored here at the CMHOF.

Our Grayline tour drove us all around the city, down Broadway past all the Honky Tonks, thru Music Row where so many of the famed music recording studios of Nashville are located, around various parks and memorials, including a quick stop for a good photo op by the Tennessee state capitol building taken from Centennial Park. The capitol was built in the mid 1800's, and is one of the few U.S. state capitols without a dome.

We made the obligatory visit to the Grand Ole Opry to see Carrie Underwood and a whole lineup of other Country Music performers, well known to Opry goers. The show which is always broadcast live on WSM Radio is more like a variety show than a concert. The list of artists included veterans Connie Smith, The Whites, and Bill Anderson, as well as Ray Scott, Maren Morris, Mike Snider, Dallas Wayne, and Opry veteran bands Exile and the utterly amazing Mountain Heart with five-time Grammy nominee Molly Cherryholmes, along with the energetic Opry Square Dancers.

Overall, it was a very entertaining evening, attending a Saturday night performance at the Grand Ole Opry. There were some amazing performances by some talented folks, but it was 2005 American Idol award winner turned Country superstar, Carrie Underwood, who stole the show.

Sunday the weather cleared and was sunny and warm, perfect for a drive into downtown Nashville to visit the famous Honky Tonk District on Broadway. This photo taken at 5th and Broadway shows the start of the strip or "District" with the Ryman Auditorium at the far left and the iconic "Batman" AT&T Tower looming above, with me sitting on a fireplug in the middle of it all. That is the world famous Tootsie's Lounge behind me (the purple building) where we stopped in for a couple beers and some good live county music.

Nashville's "Honky Tonk District" has several dozen bars or honky tonks, all lit with their signature neon signs, all with live music blaring out the open windows all day and well into the night 7 days a week.

We also poked our heads into the ultra glamorous Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. An atrium view room will run you about $250/night. The Atrium with its waterfall and lush foliage and central patio bar is something to behold.

On Monday afternoon we took our C-Dory motorboat over to J. Percy Priest Lake just east of Nashville. Long Hunter State Park has a nice free boat launch ramp and no crowds on a Monday. We dropped the lil Scamp in the water and tooled around for several hours, with Libby at the helm running from the Park over to the widest basin of the lake up towards the north end and over to Hamilton Creek Sailing Club. Our new Garmin chartplotter was very helpful navigating our way around the lake safely. Very pleasant day to be out on the lake, picnic lunch and all!

We cruised up under the Highway 171 bridge where it crosses over the lake and ran up to the north end where the lake is the widest, and probably the only place a sailboat would be at all useful. We cruised in and around the Hamilton Creek Sailing Club (left). Lotsa sailboats there, but it's kind of a small area, and I am not sure the wind is too reliable here. Very pretty lake, but I don't think we would ever come here for a sailing sojourn.

We spotted a pontoon boat cruising along... with the slide and double deck, it reminded us a lot of the one in the memorable Pontoon music video by Little Big Town. Libby looked it up on her iphone and sure enough, J. Percy Priest Lake was the location for the filming of that unforgettable video. We suspected as much as that was a big hit country tune and we ARE in Nashville, after all. And there are a LOT of pontoon boats in the marinas here.

On our last day here in Nashville, it was perfect weather perfect for taking our little C-Dory out for a spin on the beautiful Cumberland River. The Cumberland is a large river which runs right thru the heart of Nashville. We launched at the Rockland Recreation Area near the Old Hickory Lock and Dam in Hendersonville, just east of Nashville. We cruised down a few miles, enjoyed a picnic lunch out on the water, then continued on for 15 miles or so to where the river narrows before turning back. On the way back we pulled into the the Harbor Island Yacht Club (left) briefly and chatted with another sailor before cruising back to the boat launch late afternoon.

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Enroute to Lexington, Kentucky we stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky for a couple days. Our America the Beautiful Senior Pass gets us in for free, and we can tour Mammoth Cave, the world's longest known cave system at more than 400 miles. We are staying at a Yogi Bear Jellystone Park right nearby. They had a nice long pull thru space for us with plenty of room for both boats. Our space is located on 'Rabbit Road" - Corey (standing beside the coach) is very excited! Westies 'wuv Wabbits!

TripAdvisor picked El Mazatlan as the #1 restaurant in Cave City where we are staying. Never able to resist a good Mexican restaurant, we decided to treat ourselves to some margaritas and tasty Mex fare. Nachos were east coast style with queso sauce... marginal.... but 2 12oz margaritas for $5??? That's $5 TOTAL... $2.50 each! When can we go back?

Well fueled from Mexican food last night, today we took the "Frozen Niagara" cave tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, so named for one of the formations which resembles a frozen waterfall. This is one of the easier tours, lasting just an hour and half and passes many beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations like those at the left. On our Windseeker tour we have now visited Mammoth Cave, Karchner Caverns in Arizona, and Luray Caverns in Virginia.

Lexington, Kentucky

We arrived in Lexington Kentucky, known as the Horse Capital of the World. More top winning race horses were bred in this area than anywhere else in the world. A popular attraction in Lexington is the renowned Kentucky Horse Park, a working horse farm and an educational theme park which opened here in 1978. There are several museums onsite and the park is also a retirement home for aging race horses, and some former derby winners live here.

Libby and I both love horses. Libby spent 15 years of her life riding competitively in the hunter jumper class and I owned and rode western style horses for a number of years. So we have an innate appreciation for fine horse flesh... and horses like Funny Cide, a very special Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003, is one of the famous retired racehorses here at Kentucky Horse Park. Funny Cide missed out by a nose in the 2003 Belmont Stakes or he would have stood in the rarified ranks of Triple Crown winners Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, American Pharoah and just 8 others since 1919. It was very special for us to see this marvelous animal up close at the Hall of Champions.

The beautiful park like grounds of Kentucky Horse Park are very pleasant to walk around in and just take in the rich history and pastoral beauty of the grounds. You are even allowed to bring your dog! But it was a bit warm and a lot of walking for our little Corey so he stayed home and relaxed in the air-conditioned coach.

Another beautiful part of the park like grounds of Kentucky Horse Park. It is so pretty here you could just spend all day enjoying the beautiful park. We'll return tomorrow to take in several different horse museums and enjoy the grounds once more, if the weather cooperates.

There is a lot to do here at this educational theme park. There is the dressage arena (left) where we watched riders putting their well trained horses through their paces. There's also the Breed Barn and Arena where they put on daily shows featuring fine horses from many different breeds like this beautiful Andalusian, as well as fine Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds, Morgan Horses, Quarter Horses, Haflinger, Percheron, and others.

This marvelous life size statue of a mechanical horse stands in front of the Kentucky Horse Park Visitor Center. You can press a button and watch it run in slow motion. If you have never seen a slow motion of the incredible gate of a race horse, click on the image to watch a video I uploaded to Youtube.

We went back a second day to Kentucky Horse Park (free entry with first day's admission) and visited the International Museum of the Horse. This extensive museum contains many exhibits, displays, videos and other educational information about many different breeds of horses. The museum also features extensive displays of carriages, riding attire, and the history of the horse dating back to mesohippus, which lived some 30 to 40 million years ago

At the American Saddlebred Museum at the Kentucky Horse Park, Libby was able to rekindle her love of horseback riding and corral her inner child.

Not be outdone I also got to play kid with this bluescreen display where I sit on a saddle and get to see myself on a champion American Saddlebred horse.

On Memorial Day it seemed fitting to visit Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, KY, a retirement facility for racehorses which cares for more than 160 horses across three states whose racing and breeding careers have come to an end. A "living history museum of horse racing" it's the only Thoroughbred rescue / retirement facility that specializes in accepting stallions. They give tours as one of a number of ways to raise money for the support of these illustrious animals, whose ranks include former Derby, Preakness, Belmont, and Santa Anita stakes winners.

Pictured at left is owner and founder Michael Blowen feeding a carrot to one of his favorite horses of the 110 here at this facility... War Emblem, a famous stallion who captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2002, but stumbled coming out of the gate in the Belmont Stakes and missed his bid at the Triple Crown. He was then sold for $17 million to Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido, Japan where he entered stud in 2003. He was pensioned in 2015 by Shadai's Yoshida family who paid $50,000 to transport the superb stallion War Emblem to Old friends, where he will live out his retirement years in style.

Silver Charm (Foaled in Florida on February 22, 1994), another American Champion Thoroughbred race horse in residence at Old Friends, is remembered most for winning the 1997 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. He lost the '97 Belmont Stakes by half a length to Touch Gold in his bid for the Triple Crown. With $7 million in lifetime earnings, he was voted the 1997 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Male Horse. Racing at age 4, Silver Charm won the prestigious 1998 Dubai World Cup. In 2007, Silver Charm was elected to the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame.

Derby winner Silver Charm was ranked #63 in Blood-Horse Magazine's 'List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century'. Some of the horses at Old Friends like War Emblem have a bit of 'attitude', not uncommon with stallions. But not Silver Charm... he is a real charmer. He retired to Old Friends in 2014.

Little Silver Charm is a charming miniature horse and the only non-Thoroughbred in residence at Old Friends. Rescued off a slaughterhouse truck for $40 by trainer Lorita Lindemann, he is as famous as his namesake. The little guy has had books written about him and has his own facebook page with more than 5000 likes. Quite the little character, he likes to hang out in the house and watch TV.

The horses who make it to Old Friends have a comfortable life... grazing in the bluegrass pastures and cared for by a large staff of loving volunteers, they also receive top notch veterinary care. Thoroughbreds normally live into their 20's (you can calculate a Thoroughbred's age in human terms by multiplying by 3 and adding 8). So a 20 year old is about 68 in human terms. When they pass on to greener pastures, they are generally cremated and their cremains buried with an engraved headstone here at Old Friends in the cemetery. Up front is the grave of Precisionist, who lived here until he died at age 25. This beloved horse's racing credentials were impeccable with $3,485,398 in lifetime earnings, and his touching obituary is here.

We started out on Tuesday morning with a tour of Claiborne Farms, a renowned Thoroughbred Horse Farm which has been run by members of the Hancock family for more than 100 years. Fully half of all the Triple Crown winners were bred here. Secretariat, the greatest Triple Crown winner (1973) of the last century, stood at stud here. Our tour took us around and through both stallion bams where we met a number of champions, including Orb, Lea, Algorithms and War Front who is currently the highest priced stallion at stud here with a stud fee of $200,000.

Here we are at War Front's stall. War Front is a highly prized stud horse who was syndicated at his peak with 40 shares sold at $2.5 million each, making his value more than $100,000,000. With his stud fee of $200,000 he services about 150 brood mares a year, earning more than $30 million a year. Just being in his presence is a privilege. Yet this guy is a big clown whose top focus is nibbling up peppermints from visitors' hands, candy supplied by our guide.

This is Orb, a gorgeous young Kentucky bred Thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby on May 4, 2013 and stands at stud at Claiborne Farms with a 2015 stud fee of $25,000. He is bred to over 100 mares a year. Note the shine of his coat... these boys are bathed and groomed every day.

Perhaps the most famous horse to stand at stud here at Claiborne Farms is the incomparable Secretariat, widely considered to be the greatest Triple Crown winner (1973) of the last century. Secretariat won the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, in record breaking time by a phenomenal 31 lengths (left). Watch this incredible performance here on youtube. Secretariat broke the track record by more than 2 seconds, a record which still stands today more than 40 years later. Read the edited story of this magnificent horse.

Secretariat stood at stud here at Claiborne Farms and is also buried here. Here I am kneeling on hallowed ground by Secretariat's headstone. I also took a photo of his stall which has also housed other past greats like Unbridled, Easy Goer and Bold Ruler, the sire of Secretariat. If you have some kleenex handy you might want to watch this touching final video footage of the oh so great Secretariat. Or watch this brief edited footage of this great horse's last romp.‹SNIFF›

After our visit to Claiborne Farms, we took a scenic drive route around Lexington in nearby Fayette County and stopped to take a number of photos of some very beautiful horse farms like Calumet Farm (left). Established in 1924 by William Monroe Wright, successful entrepreneur and owner of Calumet Baking Powder, Calumet went on to become breeders of famous Triple Crown winners Whirlaway and Citation, and has had eight Kentucky Derby winners and eight Preakness winners.

Another beautiful horse farm just outside of Lexington with the classic white board fence so characteristic of Lexington horse farms.                        

Still another beautiful horse farm, this time with the 4 board creosote fence, which has become a popular replacement for the white board fence since it requires a lot less maintenance to keep it looking nice. The pond adds a lot of picturesque quality to the photo.

Some of the barns at these horse farms look more like mansions than housing for livestock. There's a lot of very big money in the horse racing and breeding industry, and most of these animals are exceptionally well cared for.

We had lunch back at the coach after our horse farm touring, then went for the afternoon instead to a popular stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, The Woodford Reserve Distillery. This historic plant sits on Kentucky's oldest distilling site where Elijah Pepper began crafting whiskey in 1812. Later it became the Labrot Graham Distillery until 1996 when the Woodford Reserve brand was introduced to the market. At the left are the iconic solid copper stills used to produce spirits from the mash.

At the left is the Woodford Reserve bottling plant where their oak barrel aged bourbon whiskey is poured into bottles to sell. After our tour we were taken to the tasting room where we got to taste two different vintages of their famous aged bourbon... good stuff, but pretty pricey at $35 to $55 per .75 liter bottle for the standard or double oaked varieties.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Unfortunately the mobile repair guy at Lake Murray performed a warranty repair but put our new left front HWH hydraulic jack with the valve on upside down according to the tech at HWH. So it has come loose spilling hydraulic fluid and making the jacks inoperable. We used blocks under the tires to get the coach level, and on Monday, we took it into the local All Seasons RV shop here in Streetsboro to see what is needed to remedy the situation. A new jack is on order from HWH and hopefully I can have it installed this week yet and we can be on the road by the weekend.

It started out as a blustery day here in Ohio with an early morning temp in the high 40's and a lot of wind. But it mellowed out into a nice afternoon in the low 60's and we took Corey to the public park near our RV park. Corey gets very energetic and vociferous when asked if he wants to go the PARK! Oh yeah! This is a nicely groomed low use public park, and we walked around a while and then sat for a bit by the little pond while he did some exploring.

On the morning of our last day here at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, while Libby went to the store for groceries and supplies, I sat by the little pond here at Streetsboro KOA Campground and sailed my model sailboat for an hour or so. Very peaceful setting and Corey played "dock dude" and sat with me, while my little Victoria Class Remote Control sailboat played in the morning breezes.

In the afternoon of our last day here at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we took a drive over to Brandywine Falls, one of the park's most popular attractions. We walked along a forested wooden boardwalk and down a series of stairways to descend into the gorge where the falls is located.

Walking through the forest to the falls, we were struck by the omnipresent song of the Cicada. Billions of the red-eyed bugs swarm the East Coast for about six weeks after temperatures get warm enough each year and make a veritable symphony of song, which is actually a mating call belted out by males. The male Cicada make their song using organs called tymbals, ribbed membranes at the base of the abdomen. Their song is so loud, the insects must protect themselves from the volume by retracting their own ears, called the tympana. The sound is almost surreal.

Chautauqua Lake, New York

We made a brief stop in upstate New York at Chautauqua Lake. Behind schedule because of the RV repairs at our last stop, we only spent two nights here. We drove all around the pretty lake and stopped at Chautauqua Institution a non-profit adult education center and summer resort located on 750 acres which offers programs in the arts, education, religion and recreation. During the season they also feature public events including popular entertainment, theater, symphony, ballet, opera and visual arts exhibitions. We looked around the historic grounds and ate a picnic lunch at the lakeside Miller Park.