Dogs Day in Deale, Maryland

Today has been my favorite day thus far in our adventure!  We set out on this waterway adventure to enjoy life and meet great people, along with great views and weather.  We were fortunate enough to seek out a social connection from Facebook Live Aboard Group.  Trang and Brian, along with their mini-double of our dog Garmin. We knew we both had similar lifestyles and such similar puppies.  We exchanged social contacts via Facebook.  It didn't take me long to realize that we needed to meet these awesome people and Garmin needed to meet his mini-double, Chewie! Yesterday we arrive at Brian, Trang, and Chewie's home port. It was a great first greeting!  This morning we were greeted by Garmin's Facebook friend, Chewie!  Chewie demonstrated how his cowboy bucked as he ran along the deck!

Chewie allowed Garmin to wear his cowboy vest!

Garmin complied....

...then ran along the dock to buck-the-cowboy on his back!  We all laughed hysterically all morning at these two!

We were honored to join Trang and Brian for an elaborate, amazing, and thoughtful dinner aboard Temptress. We were truly treated like family. Chewie proudly sported his 'Doggles' and was very protective of Charlie and his appetizer ribs!

Brian and Trang simply outdid themselves with such an elaborate dinner, "Banh Xeo, and amazing hospitality. They so graciously welcomed us into their lives, their home, and their beautiful 58' Hatteras...complete strangers other than the Facebook Live Aboard Group connection.

The Chewster sporting his awesome 'Doggles'.

Today has proven that social media can be a very positive enhancement to life. To connect, meet, and appreciate new friends. To share good times with new people with similar interest.  To open up our lives to truly enjoy living!  Trang generously gifted us with the portable gas stove top to cook this amazing meal, along with all the ingredients and secret recipe. She wanted us to be able to share with others along the waterway this amazing cultural meal from her home country of Vietnam. She also included pre-marinated chicken wings in a Vietnamese sauce for us to grill for lunch tomorrow, along with the ingredients, recipe, and marinade!  My recipe file is now expanded as is my palette and my heart!
Garmin also had a great Dogs Day in Deale, MD! (Although he refused to keep Chewie's 'Doggles' on his eyes)

Thank you for such great memories, Trang, Brian, and Chewie!  We looked forward to more as we venture these waterways for many more years.....and a few more days here, currently!

Beautiful night at port

Deale, Maryland

We traveled 81.7 NM today under cloudy skies and calm water.  We are docked at Herrington Harbour North in Deale, MD.

We have traveled a total of 868.1 NM thus far! We are in our 6th State.

Underway at sunrise...and the sun rises early up here...5:30 a.m.

Smith Point Lighthouse built in 1838

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=440

Point No Point Lighthouse built April 24, 1905

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=434

Cove Point Lighthouse built December 1828

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=431

Garmin "charting" our course!

Many fishing boats in this area of the Chesapeake.

Really excited to meet Trang from the Facebook group, "Live Aboard" !

Garmin finally got to meet Chewie!!

Beautiful sunset tonight!

Busy Friday

We have accomplished a lot today. Finally succeeded in having DirectTV and Trac Vision Satellite peeps correctly install our 4 TVs to receive satellite signal and Trac Vision Satellite while underway and in port.  That only took four weeks of grueling work and exponential hours of effort and pain via telephone "communications/scheduling" (That's all I'll say about that nightmare).
Garmin has made another new friend on the docks here. The three of us have enjoyed hair salons/nail salons/dog grooming, provisioning, prescription refills, fun shopping, necessity shopping and are now settling in for the holiday weekend.  Knowing the waterways will be filled with busy boaters who are just now starting their boating season, we are content with staying in port, enjoying the water views, dock neighbors, and relaxing after a month long stretch of the Great Loop!

These two new friends run like the wind off leash along the long dock and are so cute together.

Yes, a Human from Direct TV does exist and he's extremely knowledgeable and productive!  We thank you Brian!

Tiki umbrella shade! Fold 'n' Go!

I'm so fascinated with tunnels! Love these modern marvels.

Party on....excellent!  Love our neighbor!

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Day 4

Garmin hosted a dock 'play-aboard-my-aft deck' play date with his new buddy, Dylan!

Dylan wants a biscuit!

Who knew?!

The Intra-coastal waterway was originally built in order to be used as a secret passageway during WWII.

Myrtle Beach’s Kings Highway was an Indian trail long before European settlers arrived in the New World.  As the colonies grew, that Indian trail became the main route between north states and southern cities.

George Washington toured the area in 1791, while he was president.

Myrtle Beach’s first hotel was the Seaside Inn, built in 1901 at a cost of $3,813 for materials and labor. At first, the hotel had no plumbing or electricity and you could get three meals and an overnight stay for just $2.

There are 295.79 miles of streets inside the Myrtle Beach city limits.  That’s 1,561,782.40 linear feet, if you’re counting.

The city of Myrtle Beach has an ordinance that requires you to pre-pay for gasoline.

It is illegal for a driver to leave the engine running in an unattended vehicle or to leave the key in the ignition when leaving a vehicle unoccupied.

The city’s official reptile is the Loggerhead Sea turtle.

The number of golf courses along the Grand Strand now totals around 120.

Myrtle Beach is the birth place of Wheel of Fortune hostess, Vanna White.

Myrtle Beach received its name after the Sweet Myrtle (Crepe Myrtle) tree native to the area.

The dance called, 'The Shag" was thought to have originated on Ocean Drive in the 40's. It began as an attempt to do the Jitterbug but the Jitterbuggers had drank too much so the slowed-down version of this became known as "The Shag".

Oceanfront lots in Myrtle Beach were $25 in 1905. If you built a property for at least $500 you received a second lot for free.

The first people to arrive in Myrtle Beach were a group of Spaniards from Hispaniola in 1526 who established the first European settlement 30 miles south of the beach town called San Miguel de Cauldape; however it was abandoned one year later when the settlers returned to their homeland.

Myrtle Beach’s population is approximately 30,000 during the winter months and 350,000 during the summer.

Boiled peanuts are the official state snack food offered roadside May through November. 

There are over 1,400 restaurants in the area.