Saturday, December 18, 2010

20 Things I’ve Learned From Traveling Around the World for Three Years



Woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow. Rocky Point is always so pretty with a white back drop... Plus tonight is our traditional, nontraditional Christmas celebration with the fam.... this year with a little snow.

Gonna go out to break up the water we put out for the deer... maybe a little corn also. I'm afraid we, as well as the rest out our neighbors, have domesticated the deer. Now we feel responsible for them.

The title of this post is from an interesting article I read this morning that you may enjoy.

cut from Gary Arndt's blog
http://everything-everywhere.com/


On March 13, 2007, I handed over the keys to my house, put my possessions in storage and headed out to travel around the world with nothing but a backpack, my laptop and a camera.
Three and a half years and 70 countries later, I’ve gotten the equivalent of a Ph.D in general knowledge about the people and places of Planet Earth.
Here are some of the things I’ve learned…

1) People are generally good.



Many people are afraid of the world beyond their door, yet the vast majority of humans are not thieves, murderers or rapists. They are people just like you and me who are trying to get by, to help their families and go about living their lives. There is no race, religion or nationality that is exempt from this rule. How they go about living their lives might be different, but their general goals are the same.

Interesting read that's continued on page 2.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Tru food —O— da Gods... Payne's Barbecue!

Since we're back in Memphis, we had to make a run to Soulsville's Supreme Palace of Pork.

Payne's BBQ.

I called Ms. Payne and asked her to —please— make us a large batch of her most excellent Barbecue Sauce, in both hot and medium temps. This is by far Memphis' finest Barbecue shop in a town full of fine BBQ shops.
Housed in an old gas station where Horton, Ms Payne's now deceased husband, started smokin pork shoulders and ribs back in 1972. His name is still proudly displayed on the shop's awning.
I've been a loyal patron and disciple since about 1975, it's nice to see some things haven't changed.
It was very nice to see Flora Payne still smilin behind the counter.

“Thirty-eight years you know; you can perfect something in 38 years—oh pray—I pray over this food. Bless it.” – Flora Payne

More on page 2.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Though we won't be warm here at Rocky Point, our warmest wishes are for you all to have a safe and joyous holiday season. Crew Istaboa will return to Istaboa and warmth soon.
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays... Be you Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, or any other religion or belief, our wishes are the same.  Whatever you prefer to be happy about is cool as long as you do to others as you would have them do to you. (unless you're into S&M, keep that to yourself.)


And of course, Happy Birthday, Jesus.

But, is it? Cut from all about Jesus Christ.
Was Jesus born on December 25? There is no evidence for this date. So then, who decided that Jesus' birth would be celebrated on that date? The early Christian church did not celebrate Jesus' birth. It wasn't until A.D. 440 that the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Christ. This was not based on any religious evidence but on a pagan feast. Saturnalia was a tradition inherited by the Roman pagans from an earlier Babylonian priesthood. December 25 was used as a celebration of the birthday of the sun god. It was observed near the winter solstice.

A Christmas video on page 2

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Well it was 30 years ago today.

He said...
All you need is—                               He'll always live in our hearts.

John Lennon 
10/9/40 -12/8/80
Imagine.






But enough about his death... Let's celebrate his 70th birthday. (Man, we're getting old)

Happy Birthday, John.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Home for the holidays or....


Yep, another come apart...
Back in Memphis for a while and it's cold!!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Arrived alive.

Finally...  Friday we made it back to Stuart.
So nice to be back. It's way more crowded than when we were last here but Istaboa is comfortably in her old slip.
We had drinks with our old dock mates and watched the sunset. It was nice to catch up and hear of their travels as well as tell our own stories.
But weary from the last weeks run down the AICW, we eased back down to the boat and made a quick dinner of sauteed Andouille sausage in a basil and caper red sauce over fresh home made basil angel-hair pasta. Sounds complicated? No, the red sauce came out of a jar. The sausage was leftover from old provisions, but the pasta was from the farmers market on Amelia Island. Amola Pasta. Excellent!

Luckily the trip down was uneventful. Good weather, polite boaters we passed and who passed us, and dolphin as well as other critters along the way. We had to keep a watchful eye out for Manatees and did pass a few. They're heading south like the rest of us, in search of warmer waters, and they can be difficult to spot. Usually just a nose protruding above the surface is all you see.

Great shot, but not mine. Don't know who to give credit to.

And the Dolphin...  on page 2

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving....

We made it to Fort Pierce and Harbortown Marina.
Actually a restaurant open so maybe Thanksgiving dinner at the dock.

Funny stuff for Turkey Day:


Jon Stewart: "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land."

More Funny Thankgiving Quotes 

Home tomorrow!

Adios,

Istaboa