Christmas on Chasing 80

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and got off to a great start in the New Year, we sure did! In the last blog we recapped some of the maintenance we had done in Gulf Shores. After a week of being on the hard we were put back in the water so we could move back on board while the engine work was finished. Lucky for us that Saturday was the annual Christmas party at LuLu's (a block away) followed by the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach lighted boat parade. The boat didn't run but we had a front row seat for the parade!

Every year LuLu's hosts and afternoon with Billy Claus, Santa's brother who's allergic to snow. The party starts with LuLu (Lucy Buffett aka Jimmy's sister) reading the tale of Billy Claus to all the little kiddies. It's a cute little story that she wrote several years ago. I guess her brother isn't the only writer in the family.

About the end of the story the whole place shakes as a low flying plane buzzes the complex and the kid's go wild. Turns out Billy arrives every year by seaplane....way cool!!

For the next few hours Billy does the traditional Santa thing and listen's to each kids wishes which he promises to deliver to his brother. Billy is assisted by the LuLu Belles as his version of an elf...only cuter.

After a short time Jill & I left LuLu's to the kids and headed back to the boat to get ready for the parade, Since we were tied up right next to the waterway we were able to sit comfortably on the fly bridge and watch the whole thing. There were about 30 boats this year which is down from 50 in the past but it was a chilly evening for boating. Even though we couldn't move don't think we didn't participate!! The boat in the second picture really put up some lights and took home first place this year.

Once we got the boat back and moved back to Orange Beach Marina Jill got busy getting our decorations up. I helped by staying out of the way!!

Before we knew it it was Christmas eve and the weather was beautiful so we did what any self respecting boater would do.....put on our Christmas best and go for a dinghy ride....to the Flora Bama!

Murray Christmas!!

Frosty at the beach

We were back early and settled in to watch White Christmas before turning in. Next morning we woke to what has become a Christmas tradition for us, Lox and bagels with a schmeer...not sure where we picked that up from. Nice thing about living on a boat and being together 24/7 is we have no time to worry about surprising each other with something for Christmas so there is nothing to unwrap on Christmas morning. A bit later we returned to the Flora-Bama who was hosting a Christmas pot luck. They provided all the turkey and ham and we all brought side dishes. It was very well attended and there was plenty to go around.

After a feast of epic proportions we grabbed a beer and moved to an outside deck to enjoy the nice weather. It was then that we discovered what Santa does to unwind after an extremely busy 24 hours..

Later in the week looper friends Liz & Bob from Knot Sew Easy (you may remember from earlier blogs) drove down from Michigan to escape the cold and ring in the New Year with us. We went to the Wharf entertainment complex for NYE and had a bite to eat and listened to some music before the rain set in. We were back on the boat by 10 and made it up till 11!! (that's midnight for them)

The Wharf does a Marlin drop at midnight but I'm not sure how many people were left to see it. It really poured that night.

Next morning we were lucky as the rain let up for most of the day before starting again in the evening. We all jumped into the dinghy and headed off to the "Bama" for the New Years Day festivities.

And a better pic where Liz isn't cut in half...

The festivities at the Flora-Bama revolve around their annual Polar Dip which I decided would be fun to do with 2000 of my closest friends. The others (wiser) in our group decided to watch from the beach and take pictures. Jill got a quick video of the mayhem...I'm sure I'm in there somewhere.

I'm not sure why they were flying that red flag but the waves were over my head! I'm pretty sure everyone survived.

All too soon Liz & Bob had to return to the great white north and we returned to our routine of doing a little something each day to make Chasing 80 better. It's a labor of love for sure and beats workin'.

The influx of snowbirds has been very apparent this week on the roads as well as in the grocery store...seem's nobody knows where they are going so they go slow...very slow. Part of the influx were pier 5 friends from GTB who come down for a few months each year. They know where they are going.....

We've really enjoyed our stay here but we're both ready to get moving again. We'll spend the next week finishing up some boat projects and hope to get moving about the 18th or so. We may head east for a few days to visit other looper friends before doubling back and heading toward Mississippi and Louisiana. We are reserved in New Orleans in early March for 2 months so February will be exploring Lake Pontchartrain and further west toward Houma & Morgan City. Mardi Gras starts this weekend and runs till Fat Tuesday on February 28th so we're sure to find a parade or party along the way... stay tuned. We'll begin sending out tweets on travel days so you can follow along @mvchasing80 and the "Locate Us" link will be live again!!

 
PS one more from the "don't you feel sorry for us" department.....tonight's forecast.