Street Party!

Friday, January 9, 2015      Street Party!

So, how is living aboard different than living at home? I doubt I can articulate all of the differences, by I can try to mention the highlights.

One big difference Is that our daily routine involves at least one long walk. Many times we'll take two or three long walks. Today, for example, we took two walks, one of six miles and another just short of two miles. When we're home, we only take a long walk once a week. It might be too hot, it might be too cold, or the desire to get chores done trumps walking. When the grandchildren are with us, we don't walk. None of them like it, so we don't go.

On the boat, we watch one DVD movie or concert per night. At home we watch a few sporting events and light night TV. On the boat we listen to the radio frequently. We almost never do that at home unless we are in the car.

On the boat, Anna Marie usually prepares our meals in a pressure cooker. More often than not, she enjoys one pot cooking. Tonight's dinner was pork chops and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and fresh German dark rye bread. This meal is one of our favorites and we have it a couple of times a month when we are on the boat. We almost never have it when we're home!

When conditions are right, I will grill our dinner. I do veggies, chicken, fish and pork. I can't grill if it's too windy or rainy. The wind is the biggest factor in determine whether I can grill or not.

We cleaned the interior of the boat today and stowed all of the gear and provisions. It seems to me that we clean more when we're on the boat as compared to when we're at home. The space on the boat is considerably smaller and the routine chores usually get finished quicker. I straightened up some of the defunct wires in the electrical panel. A previous owner removed a lot of electrical gear and gadgets. The wires were disconnected but not removed. Many just dangle loosely. I secured most of them as best I could today. 

Fort Meyers had a "Cowboy" themed street party to night. They closed about four blocks to traffic and ha three stages and several watering holes set up. The restaurants were busy most of the night. Several bands performed, country line dancing lessons were offered, young ladies performing arial acrobatics on silk scarves, and I'm sure there were other acts that we didn't see. Having events like this at a cruising destination make that location special. It was a fun evening.

When we're home, we always put these kind of events on the calendar but when the time comes, we usually don't go. We're just too comfortable doing what we're doing or perhaps just too lazy.