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A Cruiser's
Holiday
12/11/02
Blaine Parks
The holidays are the time of year when we come together as friends and
family to remember all that’s good in the world.
A time when strangers are oddly bound together by acts of charity
and when towns sponsor annual parades through streets decorated with
lights, wreaths, and holiday symbols.
So, how do cruisers spend the holidays when they can’t be home
with their families? Here’s
our experience.
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season
and for a handful of cruisers who couldn’t be with their families this
year, the Town of St. Mary’s, Georgia opened its heart and doors to
share a Thanksgiving feast. St.
Mary’s, Georgia is one of those small, picturesque, waterfront towns
where most townspeople know each other, where doors are left unlocked, and
where there’s a smile and a pleasant greeting for visitors to their
town. A place where honesty
is assumed and southern graciousness practiced.
Located five miles up the St. Mary’s river, just
northwest of Georgia’s Cumberland Island state park, St. Mary’s
isn’t a normal stop for cruisers traveling along the Intra-Coastal
Waterway. In fact, most cruisers don’t know it exists, but those who
travel the five miles off the beaten path are rewarded for their efforts.
Our stop in St. Mary’s this year was one of chance.
We were anchored off of Cumberland Island enjoying the trails and
beaches of the state park when another cruising boat – Destiny with Dave
and Peggy Scott aboard – mentioned a new Thanksgiving tradition in St.
Mary’s.
They told us how the town had invited all the cruisers
anchored in the harbor to join them for a Thanksgiving dinner the previous
year. More than thirty
townspeople had volunteered to cook turkeys, hams, and other holiday
dishes. The cruisers, with
their smaller, boat-size ovens, brought smaller side dishes and were
invited to a local historic inn for a free, sit-down holiday meal.
It was so successful that they made it an annual event. Having no plans of our own, we decided to experience this
hospitality for ourselves.
We arrived the day before Thanksgiving and the
generosity we found went far beyond a free meal.
The town welcomes cruising visitors to use their large public
dinghy dock, enjoy the waterfront view from one of several benches in
their new waterfront park, or to take in the historic sites of their town. As we arrived, several boaters were returning from a trip to
a nearby shopping center – a local citizen had offered to drive them
there, wait while they shopped, and bring them back to the waterfront.
The Corner Market, a small store selling candies and essentials,
has installed a coin-operated washer and dryer in response to a
cruiser’s question about a local Laundromat.
Now cruisers have a place to wash their salty clothes.
And if you make it to the local Welcome Center, you’ll have the
pleasure of meeting Janet, a one-woman welcoming committee who goes out of
her way to make sure you enjoy your stay in St. Mary’s.
There were eleven boats anchored in the St. Mary’s
River on Thanksgiving morning.
Vowing to take the day off from boat chores, several of the male
crewmembers, including yours truly, got together for a little basketball
at a nearby outdoor court. We
passed, shot, and dribbled ourselves into a ravenous hunger.
When we returned with our bruised muscles and egos, we learned that one of the marinas had
invited the cruisers to use their shower facilities – at no charge, of
course. They must have seen
(or smelled) us as we limped back to the dinghy dock.
At 2:30, freshly showered and heavily laden with our
side dishes, we made our way towards the inn; the meal was planned to
begin at 3:00. The scene at
the inn left me speechless. I
have never seen so much food in one place before.
The townspeople had cooked two turkeys that must have been raised
on steroids and filled a pan with enough ham to feed a small nation. The food, both from the cruisers and townspeople, overflowed
serving lines in two separate rooms.
There were traditional dishes, unique desserts, and dozens of
steamed oysters. This was a
real feast.
An estimated seventy cruisers and townspeople were in
attendance. The room was
filled with laughter and smiles. People
hopped from table to table, greeting old friends and making new
acquaintances. We sat with
boaters we hadn’t met before, Bill and Linda from Joie de Vivre; now
we’re grand friends.
Maybe we weren’t home with our own extended families,
but the townspeople who volunteered to spend their holiday with us made us
feel like family. Even though
we didn’t have snow and ice to remind us that the holiday season was
upon us, we did have this one small town’s charity to remind us about
the spirit of sharing during the holidays.
When we left St. Mary’s, it was with a song in our heart and a
newfound sense of charity.
It’s now December 11th. We’ve finished all our Christmas shopping, wrapped
presents, and sent packages across the country to our family. Charbonneau is now offshore, heading towards the Florida Keys
where we’ll celebrate the Christmas holiday with our friends, the
Meilink’s, aboard MiLady. I
don’t imagine we’ll have ice and snow that far south on Christmas day,
but we’ll be sure to put ice in our tropical rum punches and sprinkle
some fresh coconut ‘snow’ on top to help make the season bright.
We wish you and your families joy and peace this holiday season and
throughout the year. And to
all those noble souls in St. Mary’s who shared their Thanksgiving
holiday with us instead of their own families, you have our deepest
thanks.
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