A few years ago I did a blog on making a nautical rope rug, or in sailor's parlance, an ocean plaitt mat. As I was making my 50th or so mat a couple of weeks ago, Marcie suggested doing it again as a video. It seemed like a good idea, so here is the video version.
Whether it be strolling, sauntering, perambulating, hiking or wandering … walking is one of our favorite pastimes. When we're living aboard the boat and in port, walking is usually a necessity if we want to get from here to there. We find, however, that once we're off the boat and living on land, we have to work at finding opportunities to walk because it's so convenient and easy to drive everywhere. Since we've been on our 10,000 steps a day kick, we've been working extra hard at walking to do local errands and quick grocery trips. (Notice the “we've” … see how easily I suck David into things like this.)
Though it seems like Lin's neighborhood is out in the country, in actuality it's less than a mile away from US Route 1 which is lined with shops, banks, malls and grocery stores. Instead of borrowing Lin's car when we need to go to the bank or pick up a few groceries, we walk. It's easy to accrue at least 2-3 walking miles every day on a round trip to the store. Even our dentist is within walking distance. We exercised and got our smiles polished in the same trip the other day.
The best part of walking, beyond the exercise benefit, is that we notice things that we'd miss if we whizzed by in the car. We can tell who has the best English flower garden, where the wasps have decided to build their nests and whose house needs painting. We note where there are good sidewalks, where the crosswalks are located and where the road is too narrow to walk two abreast. We can smell the wafting aroma of cinnamon rolls baking in the nearby bakery. Sometimes we have particularly good luck … David found a dime on the sidewalk the other day.
When we can't fabricate a reason to go to the store, we head to (Francis William) Bird Park, just across the street from Lin's house. With 89 acres of meadows and trees and trails, there's plenty to keep our attention while we're walking along, skirting around the Canada goose poop and batting gypsy moths out of our faces. Cardinals and blue jays compete noisily in the trees. Squirrels race around, chasing each other. The other day, there were hot air balloons in the middle of the park giving people rides which necessitated a separate walk back to the house and back to the park with my camera.
On my bucket list, I have included walking the famed Thames Path in the UK. In the past, we've walked along the Inca Trail in Peru, done the Table Mountain trail in South Africa, short sections of the Appalachian Trail on the US east coast, tens of trails in the Colorado Rockies and parts of New Zealand's Great Walks. I'm not looking for hundreds of steps (Inca Trails), hills (all the others) and rough camping (Rockies), lugging all our gear and food on our backs. I prefer comfortable distances with a pub and an inn available each evening. I've piqued David's interest in this walk … maybe a fine English walk in our future? In the meantime, I'm already thinking about how we'll manage long walks in Las Vegas' 110+F (43+C) temps.
Counting 10,000 steps with:
The tiny state of Rhode Island does not come to mind when I think about wineries, but believe it or not, there are quite a few in the Rhode Island/Connecticut area now and we decided we'd give one a tasting opportunity. The Nickle Creek Winery is located in the unlikely little town of Foster, Rhode Island, not far from Providence, the state capital. We followed the GPS directions and turned onto a dirt road, thinking there was some mistake, but finally spotted a sign for the winery.
It's not glitzy like some, but it's out in the country, surrounded by trees and quite pleasant. There are a few umbrella tables outside near the tiny vineyard, but the cool tasting room was much more appealing on this hot, humid day. We bellied up to the bar and began a 7-wine tasting. Mary Jane, our hostess, was both amiable and knowledgeable as we tasted our way through chardonnays, pinot grigios, cabs, pinot noirs, some heavy offerings and finally a suite of sweeter, fruity dessert wines. We agreed their award-winning pinot noir was the best of the lot and bought a bottle with a special occasion in mind.
Lin and I enjoyed checking out the “wining posters” decorating the walls.
We found it much easier to pose AFTER the 7-wine tasting. Hmmm ...
We walked through the small vineyard, the vines heavy with clusters of green grapes, then decided we'd all benefit from some ocean air and perhaps lunch.
Wickford, Rhode Island is a quaint little New England coastal village situated on the west side of Naragansett Bay. When we saw the sign entering Wickford village, we all seemed to remember it was the model for some John Updike novel, but couldn't remember which one. In actuality, Wickford was known as Updike's Newtown because of the surname of the first settling family. Coincidentally, John Updike did indeed use the town as a model for his The Witches of Eastwick
It was hot and sultry as we strolled along the narrow village streets during mid-afternoon. Antique shops and boutiques lured us in, but our wallets stayed in our pockets. We admired the well-maintained, privately owned 18th and 19th century houses for which the town is known.
We finally settled on the Tavern by the Sea for lunch, situated on a tiny estuary off the bay. Local craft beers like Newport Storm and Foolproof Brew were on tap and we gladly sipped cool beer while making our menu choices. Salads and sandwiches seemed appropriate for such a hot afternoon. We enjoyed lunch as we watched a fellow tie up his graceful dory in the protected waters just off the restaurant's comfortable deck.
The high-pitched cry of a bird overhead caught our attention. It sounded so familiar … not a seagull nor a tern. It was a large osprey perched high on a utility pole calling for its mate.
We lingered over the last of our lunch, walked a bit more and then headed back home. A stop at Three Sisters in Providence for some homemade ice cream topped off a most enjoyed day. No photos of ice cream … I was too busy licking my cone.
For once, David didn't mind the whining ... er, I mean wining.
Hi there and welcome to Just A Little Further!
We are David and Marcie Lynn and we've lived aboard our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sailboat since 2000.
What began as an urge to travel slowly and economically at our own pace ended up an adventure of a lifetime.
Well, here we are ... nearly 90,000 miles under the keel, 5 continents, 5 Great Southern Capes, 36 countries and almost two decades later, still taking one passage at a time and going just a little further.
