Heading North, Pez Mania & First Snow
/In the spirit of the season … I’m taking a short break in the There to Here series (we’re almost home after all) to fill you in on our current happenings.
Unstepping Cups' mast
It’s been hectic and crazy aboard Nine of Cups. The sale of Cups is moving forward rapidly. David will fill you in on the decommissioning process soon. It seemed hard to get into the spirit of the season with so much going on, but we finally got to a stopping point with the decommissioning and started thinking about heading north to Boston for the holidays.
Our temperate Chesapeake weather had taken a sharp turn from chilly to downright cold. Not quite cold enough to snow, but cold enough to frost up the docks and decks. After nearly three weeks of dry, warmer weather, the day we offloaded the boat into the van was raw and raining cat and dogs … of course, it was. Without her mast, Cups was looking mighty sad. We consoled her the best we could. She’s being winterized and put under cover for the winter. Then she’ll be heading west to take her first cross-country truck ride and be recommissioned and ready for a whole new family and lots of new adventures.
... Yikes ... Mastless in Chesapeake!
Our last night aboard was a mix of retrospection and anticipation … trying to remember everything we needed to do. But once we settled down for the evening, we ate a leisurely dinner, drank wine and thought about all our good times aboard Cups. It wasn’t sad in the least, but more of a awesome review of all we’d been able to see and do in the past 17 years. We’ve been blessed and we know it.
Then, we were saying goodbye to Cups and Blue was headed for points North. We love road trips, but we’re slow travelers. The 575 mile, 10 hour trip required an overnight half way, as well as lots of pit stops for coffee, peeing and stretching. We weren’t feeling stressed or hurried. The roads were clear, traffic was inexplicably light and we made record time going across the George Washington Bridge, through New York City, usually a major bottleneck.
By the time we reached Connecticut, we were ready for another rest stop where David noticed an ad for the Pez Factory Tour. You know how I am about off-the-wall type attractions and this seemed to qualify. David was thrilled with the prospect as we detoured just slightly off the Interstate 95 to Pez Boulevard. I wouldn’t actually call it a factory tour since we only had a tiny glimpse of a few factory workers through plate glass windows. It was more of a gift shop salted with some interesting trivia and displays. We did learn a few key facts about Pez which I forgot as soon as I left the factory. Thank goodness for brochures.
I know you’re dying to learn the “trivia”, so here goes…
The name PEZ comes from the German word “pfefferminz” … peppermint.
An Austrian, Edouard Haas III, created Pez in 1927 as an adult breath mint and alternative to smoking. Pez made its debut in the USA in 1952.
The best selling dispenser of all time is Santa, first introduced in 1950.
Pez dispenser collectors, aka PEZheads, convene annually to trade, sell and show off their collections.
World's biggest PEZ dispenser ... makes you want to say WOW! (kinda...)
There’s more if you’re interested (and, I mean, who wouldn’t be?)
We were back on the road in an hour, sucking on Pez candies, only a couple of hours from Lin’s.
Morning after the first snow ... winter wonderland!
It’s always wonderful to arrive in Boston and see Lin. She has our schedule chock-a-block full of festive activities with nary a minute to spare. We enjoyed a quiet dinner before the hectic season began. As if on cue, the first winter snow that had tracked up the east coast descended upon us. We stuck our noses in the cold night and caught snowflakes on our tongues. It’s winter and it’s the holiday season. We’re in the spirit.