Thanksgiving in St. Marys, Georgia

 

We generally love living aboard, but being away from family and friends can be hard. Holidays have a way of bringing those feelings front and center. This Thanksgiving, even though we're apart from family, we are fortunate to be spending time with cruisers from all over.

Every year, the small town of St. Marys, with the proprietors of the Riverview Hotel as the driving force, opens its arms to cruisers who are Thanksgiving orphans. Volunteer townsfolk cook turkey and ham and cruisers bring the side dishes. In addition to the big feast, there are activities every day leading up to Thanksgiving. Locals give rides to the grocery store, propane shop and the laundry. The food is great and the company is even better. Man, can some of these cruisers cook.

The Oyster Roast. We have never had oysters this way

and they were fresh and amazingly delicious.

 

Although cruisers come in all shapes and sizes, there is definitely a common bond among most of us. Another great aspect of a gathering of cruisers is that you're bound to see some familiar boats and people. We got to reconnect and spend time with Shambala, a boat with two kids similar in age to ours that we first met in the Bahamas in the Spring. It is still a rare enough occurrence for us to meet other kid boats (let alone kids of the same age) for it to be a reason for celebration. We had a great time with them. That alone was worth the price of admission (I mean that metaphorically; there's no actual admission fee other than a side dish), even if it means  braving sub-freezing temperatures overnight with no heat (yes, there was ice on the decks again this morning). I know, join the club.

 

 

The winds are favorable tomorrow for the 10-hour sail to St. Augustine. With so little daylight now, we'll be pulling up anchor at zero dark thirty to get a jump on the distance. We'll probably stop there for a couple days before continuing on south in search of warmth (at this point, we'll settle for the absence of ice).