THE JOURNEYS OF TERRMAR IV: SEPT 27-OCT4,2011- GREEN TURTLE BAY, GRAND RIVERS, KY

We would spend a week here but I don’t know where the time went. The marina had a looper special which you pay for five nights and get two free. As we were going to stay for a week anyway it worked out great. We met a lot of great loopers who like us appeared to want to take a breath and enjoy this great facility.

Bob and Kemba from Spirit Dancer have closed their loop here and plan a celebration at Patti’s a local 1800's themed restaurant and sort of museum complex. Today they would trade their faded White Burgee for a new Gold Burgee. This signifies to the world that Bob and Kemba have completed their quest of looping. There is a small celebration with Champagne aboard Spirit Dancer and then they invited about 10 other people that are looping to help them celebrate at Patti’s. It was a great night with a lot of laughs and the usual looper banter.

TRADING THE WHITE FOR THE GOLD. WELL DONE BOB AND KEMBA!

TERRI AND LYNDA FROM ERIKA LIN TOASTING THE GOLD LOOPERS

JILL AND GLEN FROM LAST DANCE

THE HAPPY COUPLE

I AM A LUCKY MAN

The next three pictures were taken over the period of about 10 minutes. Glen and Jill just happened across this oversized checkerboard and the competitive juices started flowing. The rest of us watched and commented on every move. I don't know if that helped or hindered them but it was a fun thing to do. Glen was full of confidence and Jill felt up to the challenge. It was a quick game and you could feel the momentum shift back and forth just like a hockey game.

OKAY JILL I AM GOING TO TEACH YOU SOMETHING ABOUT STRATEGY

DON'T WORRY GUYS THIS WONT TAKE TO LONG

OH SHOOT SHE BEAT ME!

WHAT CAN I SAY?

Also to commemorate the event Bob has written a song about their looper journeys. He will be performing it one night this week at the Commonwealth Yacht Club which has a restaurant right on the premises. He has written the lyrics for the rest of the attending loopers to follow along. Terri says I sing too loud. Maybe the fact that my hearing is failing and I have to sing louder to hear myself might have something to do with it. I blame the years of corn drying without ear protection for some of the hearing loss and maybe old age creeping up or the balance. Bob also had an old friend John who joined him and this guy could play guitar. These two guys jamming without rehearsing did an admirable job. As you will see from some of the photos I got very involved as I knew most of the lyrics to the old country songs they performed.

BOB AND HIS LOOPER SONG

BOB DEBUTING HIS LOOPER SONG

HAY I'LL SING ALONG IF I KNOW THE WORDS

THE LYRICS TO BOB'S LOOPER SONG

JAMMING

Glenn and Jill from Last Dance have arranged for a number of loopers to attend a very unique bakery/restaurant for dinner. Sugar and Spice is really a cooking school but occasionally the proprietor Marilyn Kunz will host small groups for special themed dinners. There were 10 of us and the theme tonight was Oktoberfest and German cooking. It was fabulous meal and Terri and I chose the sampler which of course is a small sample of everything on the menu. Marilyn's story telling about her life experiences and the hindrances of all levels of government bureaucracy regarding her desire to be in business only flavored the evening for me. Terri and I understand that frustration intimately.

OUR HOST MARILYN KUNZ

OUR LOOPER GROUP

One of the highlights of this location is a car trip to Wal-Mart. While normally I don’t get involved in shopping excursions I was looking forward to this one. When you borrow a courtesy car here you get to keep it for two hours. But if two couples borrow one you get it for four hours. Well Bob, Kemba, Terri and I did just that. The 30 minute drive to Wal-Mart was filled with laughter and Bob giving directions. There were a few comments on my driving from the back seat but that’s all I have to say about that. We had a small side trip to a party store where the girls got to look at the small gadgets and other girl stuff while Bob and I wandered the aisles of row upon row of all different kinds of booze. I didn’t know that there were that many different distilleries and wineries. How a person could tell one brand from another is beyond me. We did manage to stock up on beer and wine though as we were heading into the dry counties in Kentucky and Tennessee. There would be no opportunity for quite a while to stock up. After that we hit the Wal-Mart and went through our list in lighting speed as we had to get back for a very special party tonight.

One of the days we rented a couple of golf carts to tour the area. The town of Grand Rivers was only a mile away and the golf cart was the perfect vehicle to use for a shopping trip for the girls. We went into shop after shop and I assumed the position on any available bench over and over. Only this time I had Terri’s I-phone to play with. In case you haven’t heard my Blackberry died a horrible death. That’s all I am going to say about that. I had a new one ordered and it is supposed to be shipping over night from Canada. But back to the races with Bob on the Golf-Carts or should I say Go-Carts. You guessed it when you have two grown men on Golf-Carts going the same direction, it of course turns into a race. Now the carts were identical in speed and the only way you could gain an advantage is to assume that STOP signs really meant slow down, maybe, a little, if you have to. That, or change course and go down a street that wasn’t on the agenda. All in it was a close race and we all had fun. We also went back to Patti's for lunch and a tour of the 1800's era theme park. Great fun!

KEMBA PREPARING FOR HALLOWEEN

REMINDS ME OF MY DAD. MISS YOU DAD!

BEAUTIFUL NATIVITY SETS FOR SALE

FEED AND GRAIN

GUESS WHO WON!

I PRACTICED MY YA'LL WITH THEM

I JUST HAD TO TRY THIS OUT

BOB'S SLIM DOWN DIET

THIS WHOLE DISPLAY WAS FOR SALE

1800'S STONE GROUND MILL

I DON.T GET THE COLOUR THEME BUT BOB DOES

UNUSUAL SAILBOAT

Tomorrow, Terri and I would be leaving Green Turtle Bay and striking out for Nashville TN. Bob and Kemba have already done this side trip so they opt to stay here for another week. They are running their business from the boat and want to spend some time attending to that and resting up from all of the tom foolery that they have been partaking in. Terri and I have been quite busy working on cleaning up the boat when we have had time. It was now looking very respectable and as we were leaving tomorrow we would host a looper cocktail hour tonight. We invited pretty much any looper that we had met here or at a previous location. It turned out to be a group of about 14 people and of course some more tom foolery. In fear of offending anybody by omitting them from the list I will let the pictures do the talking. Almost two weeks have passed since that night and my memory is sort of like my hearing and not in its prime. Needless to say we had a blast. It is dark by the time the last people leave and Terri and I fired up the BBQ and had our pork chop standby for dinner.