Layne Bay Blog

Six Flags | Annabelle25 pictures

We finally took Annabelle to Six Flags for her 6th birthday… Three down, none to go.  First Kaylee, then Sydney, and finally “Bellie”.  The weather was hot and sunny - enough for her to search out any and all water rides.  She knew her limitations and was constantly informing us of which rides she would and would not ride.  The Dahlonega Mine Train was a favorite.  We rode it 4 times!

She enjoyed her Dippin Dots and other sweet treats as her sisters had in years past.  No whining, no crying, no complaining, just the teen-age 6 year old we all know and love. Our last ride was to be the Log Jamboree, but as we crept ever closer up in line… as our patience was finally about to pay off… one of the “logs” got stuck on top of a trough, and they had to close the ride for repairs.  Annabelle hung her head low for about 10 seconds, and then suggested some ice cream.  Why not? | more »

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Elizabeth and I headed for a short trip to New York last week. She had a meeting, and, well, I can work from anywhere (and did manage to squeeze in an important meeting).

She was in meetings all day, but we met as often as possible, and I walked mid-town and worked diligently… as much as I could stand it.

It was a short trip, but you can’t beat the energy and people-watching. I got my fill of the feel of a real city to last me a while.

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West Indies ‘08:People –

Our last evening was spent moored in a beautiful village called Marigot north of Soufries in St. Lucia.

The seas were as rough as we had experienced the entire trip to get there. As we crossed the large channel between St. Vincent and St. Lucia. For three of the four hours of sailing, we were in a rain storm with waves to match. No soul ventured out to the deck on this particular day to face the wind and waves. The crew (Thierry and Yannick) donned full bright yellow rain gear as the crawled across the boat with great ease. Sails eventually came down , which I suppose is best to minimize the boats response to the weather. | more »

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West Indies ‘08:Scenic –

We left the feel of miniature palm and white sand covered islands and headed north to St. Vincent Island. We had stopped for lunch days earlier, but had not spent a night here. In sharp contrast to the previous anchorage, this bay was surrounded by mountains covered in a deep, lush green.

The trip north saw some of the biggest waves of the trip so far. No where on the bow of the large catamaran was safe from waves crashing over us. A few of us spent the majority of the day in front, but were as wet as if we had been dragged from a rope on the back of the boat. | more »

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West Indies ‘08:Scenic –

It was a short trip today - only 45 minutes to the other side of Mayreau and across to Tobago Cays.

We joined perhaps 10 other boats (including the 90ft. schooner on its way to Argentina). We anchored in a bay surrounded by small islands one could cross on foot in less than 10 minutes.

We all snorkeled directly off the back of the boat and discovered several large sea turtles. We watched for a distance, then gave chase, only to be left behind without the reward of a touch unless the older, slower turtles were our pursuit. | more »

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West Indies ‘08:Scenic –

The next morning, while sill on Bequia (what a beautiful island…) We ate breakfast and our same dive group was collected at 9:00a for a drift dive at the heads of Anse [name]. “The Boulders” was the dive.

We got a chance to take the dinghy to shore and Skype home to check in with family and check on Meg.

Again, lunch was a real treat as Delphine created something between quiche and pizza (she called a tart). After lunch, we started our travel for the day and sailed south to a small island called Mayreau. It was a good 3 hour stint, but the group got their sea legs and we made it without the need for buckets (private joke…). | more »

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West Indies ‘08:People –

We headed for Bequia today along the west coast of St. Vincent Island. It was our first opportunity to hoist the sails. The crew played a nice trick on three of our group (me included)… With a sincere countenance on his face, He began pulling the ropes on the main sail and asked for our help… | more »

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West Indies ‘08:Boat –

Being able to see this boat in the daylight confirmed our initial shock when we saw the boat last night at 10:30p. It is enormous!

We had a great night’s sleep - perhaps due to the previous long day of travel. We had a nice spread of bread, jams, cereal and yogurt, along with coffee, tea, and eggs (a la Delphine).

Thierry (our captain) gathered our passports and headed over to clear customs. Then we motored south from Rodney Bay to Marigot for a non-stop (literally - we didn’t even stop…) tour of the village just to check it out in case we decided to make that stop on our return to St. Lucia. | more »

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The flight from Atlanta was delayed 2.5 hours, but no one seemed to mind as we all knew that eventually we would begin our week in the West Indies.

West Indies ‘08:Scenic –

Some select photos will accompany these posts here, but some not seen will be referenced and hopefully shared on some future ‘best of the best’ photo set posted here (or linked fro here…). The reason for this precursor is that our fearless leaderette (Kasey) brought along a “The Tin Man” doll to represent her son who was not able to make the trip. No, it’s not that he became ill at the last minute or he changed his mind about accompanying his parents to the far away destination; Ryan is six years old. And as you read on, you’ll have a clear understanding of why a six year old was not part of this gathering. | more »

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