No Travel
As opposed to yesterday when we woke to rain with clearing predicted, today we woke to no rain with a storm on the way. We fell out of bed and made our way to the showers before the rain commenced. Sure enough the rain started shortly after we completed our showers. Thank goodness for the phone app "Rainy Days" that showed us the radar picture.
After that the weather became indecisive. It would rain then stop raining. The sun would come out then it would rain while the sun was out. Clark spent his day opening the full enclosure to reduce the heat and humidity captured inside and then closing it again to keep things dry while it rained. Multiple times he put the flag out for the fourth and then brought it in to keep it dry.
When he wasn't playing watchdog with the weather, he spent the majority of his time today doing trip planning for the Chesapeake Bay area. After pouring over charts and comments in Active Captain, he went out in search of "local knowledge". He found a knowledgeable and accommodating boater down the dock that he spent hours with discussing plans. Between his research and my looking up the trails of other loopers through this area, he came up with a plan. Our plans are frequently subject to change but at least we know our target destination for tomorrow. This morning, I did not even have that level of detail.
With the "iffy" weather we did not venture too far from the boat. I did a few miscellaneous chores and entertained myself while Clark did the hard work of trip planning. Mid afternoon my current novel did me in, i.e. it is not very exciting, and I found myself drifting off into a lovely nap that whiled away a bit of the afternoon.
Around 4:00 the weather cleared enough that folks in the marina started lining up their chairs and coming out to sit on the docks for some socialization and preparation for the fireworks show at night.
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| Folks hanging on the docks at Tidewater Yacht Marina in Portsmouth, VA on the 4th of July |
Around 5:30 or so the smell of grills up and down the docks made Clark be in the mood for steak for dinner. However, I had planned on cooking fish since we have eaten way too much red meat recently. After filling myself with hamburgers at the picnic offered by the marina yesterday, I was in no mood for more burgers.
For a change we ate dinner on the fly bridge tonight. When in New Jersey, eating "up top" is the norm. For some reason we have abandoned that norm for the bulk of our Great Loop trip. Tonight it was quite pleasant to sit up there and "dine out".
Of course the big event of the day was the fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Being on the fly bridge gave us a great view of the show. I felt like I had a "front-row seat". Fortunately the wind blew the smoke from the fireworks away from us. I pitied anyone downwind of the show - the smoke was intense. The show lasted 25 minutes and included a nice mix of fireworks. Clark's expert assessment after the show, however, "Macy's in New York is better".
When we came inside the cabin so I could commence work on my blog, Clark turned on the television and found the New York / Macy's fireworks being broadcast live. I have to agree with him that no one does it better! Multiple synchronized barges shooting off displays of fireworks and the selection of fireworks displayed make Macy's a wonderful show. We have clearly been spoiled by living so close to NYC and seeing their shows year after year. The Portsmouth show was excellent - just not Macy's.
During the show some whistling fireworks went up. I have been trying to write a novel about my mother's life during World War II for a number of years now. The whistling made me think of her stories about the V-1 rocket bombs whistling over London during the war. The bang bang bang of the exploding fireworks made me think of my fellow boaters who tell me that their dogs cannot stand the noise. Some of those bangs were quite loud, and I understood the poor dogs' agony.
Clark had the camera busy during the show. Here is a small sampling of the fireworks.
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