I returned back to the dock to find that the guys were fueled up and about to head over to our slip. I walked over to help them tie up, and we quickly off loaded a bunch of stuff into the car (including laundry) and did a bunch of organization and tidying up on the boat before we headed out to see Regina. Our drive, while long, was very mellow. Our only excitement being our first stop at Wawa’s! which included some exciting coffee options, and a stop at McD’s for the guys for some lunch. DC traffic being what it is, we got to Gina’s at about 6:30, in time to have a quick shower before we sat down to an amazing dinner with Gina, Preston and Ilene. Gina had cheese and crackers to start, followed by (at my request) turkey burgers and an amazing salmon dish with rice and salad for sides. I haven’t been that full of good food since Thanksgiving!! It was so good to get to see them, and despite our plans to depart early in the morning, Gina and I stayed up chatting until about 11, at which point we all decided we had to get some sleep!
6AM comes early and we’re up and getting ready to head off. Gina got up with us to see us off, and after a cup of coffee, and a slice of coffee cake, many hugs we were off, back to the Cape May and the boat. We made a couple of stops on the way to pick up some provisions and a handful of things we’d forgotten to bring. We got back to the boat around 11:30, and Brian and I headed out to return the rental car, leaving Mark at the boat to work on a couple of things that we’d picked parts up for. Enterprise rental car was great, brought us back to the boat, and we tried to wrap up a couple more items before heading out of Utsch’s Marina (great place to stay for anyone who’s reading this that might make a similar trip) and over to the same anchorage we’d spent our first night in Cape May at.
We sat out the bad winds and weather the next day (December 11)… doing an assortment of minor repairs and the like while we were at anchor, and made plans to set out the next morning with the turning weather and winds making a push to make it to Virginia Beach. We had dinner and tucked in for the night to see what the morning would bring.
