We arrived back in Hilton Head a little after six last evening after a tiring 950 mile drive for Carol and a tiring ride for me. I am not designed for land travel. It was a great relief and pleasure to step into the condo and be again in the presence of live oaks and Spanish moss and palms and spartina and Skull Creek and the marina. We soon were having evening drinks on the screened porch.
The drive crossed six states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. Indiana is a flat as Illinois, but the country becomes hillier and prettier once you cross the Ohio into Kentucky and becomes dramatically beautiful near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. That is, I read, the most visited of all national parks with 12.5 million visitors in 2019, which seems like several million too many to me.
Along the way we passed an extensive wind farm in Indiana, the Buffalo Trace and other distilleries in Kentucky, a farm for retired race horses, various places related to Daniel Boone, the birthplace of Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dollywood, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We did not stop at any, but may on our way back, taking three days instead of two. If we do, Dollywood will not be among them. Buffalo Trace will be.
Not expecting to find southern radio stations to my taste I downloaded four free audiobooks to listen to along the way. BLEAK HOUSE, HEART OF DARKNESS, THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, HUCKLEBERRY FINN. I have read them all more than once. Carol has not read HUCKLEBERRY FINN so we listened to about three-quarters of it. I have observed that upon rereading the novel a few years ago, I enjoyed and admired it less than in the past, especially the last chapters where Tom Sawyer makes his appearance. Listening to it on the drive, I found my lack of enjoyment also extends to the chapters about the con men known as the King and the Duke. I regret to criticize a book so admired and praised, but it really may be just for children.
This was the first audiobook I have listened to. Although it is out of date and fashion, I prefer reading.
While I was away a new dodger was made for GANNET. The material is SeaMark which is now owned by Sunbrella. It is like Sunbrella with a rubberized interior surface which should make it more impervious to water which sometimes soaked through the old dodger. They replaced the lines I used to tie it down with adjustable straps. The workmanship looks first rate.
I changed a word on the home page of the main site. ‘beyond’ instead of ‘to’.
https://www.inthepresentsea.com/the_actual_site/webbchiles.html
2 comments:
'Beyond' ...now there's a special place ! I agree that reads so much better.
So glad to hear the journey south by-passed so much and was completed happily.
Webb,
Just caught up a bit and read your May 10th post about glassware. Have you ever tried Duralex rocks glasses at sea? I have a set of their “Picardie” and they’ve survived 35 years so far. On a few more occasions than I’m willing to admit (carelessly stowed on passage) they’ve jumped to their almost certain demise from the chart table only to survive without a chip. They’re also surprisingly cheap.
Warmly,
Brian Lattner
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