Back in “pony land”

After 6 1/2 weeks we made it back to Marathon last Thursday. We drove back from Indiana and knew we were getting close when we started to see more and more Ford Mustang convertibles. By the time we got to our hotel we had lost track of the number of Mustang convertibles that were on the road.

There were 4 ”ponies” in the hotel parking lot! They make our little Kia Soul rental look pretty pathetic and unexciting.

Before we finally got back to Marathon we did a lot of traveling. We had just arrived on St. John when I last posted. So I’ll try to catch up what has happened in the last few weeks.

Our time in the Virgin Islands always goes too quickly. We visited our favorite beaches on St. John, ate at several restaurants that we hadn’t tried before, and all too soon the week was coming to an end. Elizabeth and Joshua joined us the last night on St. John. We all headed to the BVI the next morning for a weeklong sailboat charter. The boat wasn’t going to be ready until 5 p.m., so we took a taxi to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola and spent the day on the beach there – not a bad way to start that week!

Cane Garden Bay

Can you see why I took a picture of this pole?
Sunset from Norman Island
Unfortunately this church on Jost van Dyke is still missing its roof. There are still many places that have not recovered from the hurricanes of 2017. Note the pulpit at the foot of the stairs – it looks like they must hold services outside.
After the hurricanes, Rich and I bought a palm tree to be planted by the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost. This is our tree!
The placard on our tree!
Anegada lobster dinner at Sydney’s Peace and Love on Jost – a tradition for us.
We had to sign a wall at Sydney’s – another tradition. Josh thought we said Yoko when we first said Jost, so from now on Jost will be called Yoko by us😄
Marina Cay still has a long way to go to be recovered. The shell of a building on the right used to be the bar and restaurant. The tent on the left is now the restaurant. This is a tiny island that has always been one of our favorites.
Rich checking out the view from Cooper Island
Our last sunset in the BVI

When we left the BVI we spent a night on St. Thomas at a small hotel way up on the side of a mountain overlooking Charlotte Amalie. The views were spectacular!

Looks like a postcard shot but it’s from my iPhone.

Once back in Lafayette we had a quick visit to our accountant to get our taxes filed and then less than 48 hours after we arrived, it was back to the airport for a flight back to Miami. We picked up the Kia Soul at the airport and off we went to Marathon. Our boat had been pulled out of the water while we were gone to have some work done on props, a new rudder put on, and new bottom paint. The work was still in progress, so we spent a couple of nights in a hotel, then headed back to Lafayette.

After a 3 day drive we arrived back in Lafayette- and the work began. We had 15 days to get our house ready for the movers to come in and pack the kitchen, artwork, TVs, and anything else we couldn’t get packed before then. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time the movers came on the 15th to start packing.

The kitchen is packed.
And the truck is packed.

We headed to Bloomington after the house closing on the 19th and had Passover with Elizabeth and Joshua and all their kids. We stayed at Dan’s so we got to see all the grandkids that weekend.

We spent 4 days driving back to Marathon, and took a route different from the route we took when we headed north. This time we were just a few miles from Woodford Reserve Distillery, which happens to be my favorite bourbon. It was lunch time so we stopped there for lunch.

View from the patio where we had lunch.

We stopped in Knoxville the first night and walked to Market Square for dinner. It’s a really cool area with both sides of the street lined with restaurants, bars, and shops. And of course there were plaques and statues everywhere.

I found this statue especially interesting.


We spent the next night at this very old hotel in Savannah.
We crossed this bridge to get into Savannah. It’s so huge you can’t even see the cars on it in this photo.
Another bridge as we headed south. Can you imagine this bridge in the Midwest with this steep grade covered in ice and snow?

Boat owners will understand why we’re so thrilled with the way our bottom looks now 😄
Unfortunately it’s taking longer than planned to get the new rudder on, so while we’re back in Marathon, we’re not back on the boat. It looks like it will be at least another day before it goes back in the water.
Sunsets down here are so beautiful!
Even after the sun is officially down the skies have beautiful colors.