So, at VERY long last, I've been reunited with my beloved Serenity!
The alarm chirped at 3:30 am on Wednesday, November 28th. Most normal people would groan at this indecent intrusion in the virtual middle of the night. Not yours truly. I literally leaped out of bed and was catapulted into motion. Today is the day I've been impatiently waiting for since the day Serenity sailed away from me. I did all my morning "stuff", jumped into my clothes that were laid out on Sunday night when Tom said they would be coming to get me, and trotted to the waiting town car. All this happened between 3:30 and 4:30 am. Soon we were speeding on a deserted LIE to Islip's MacArthur airport where my Southwest flight awaited me. The airport was practically deserted - the security personnel were arguing who would get to check me in. Luckily, the most important kiosks were open - Starbucks and the place to get a NY Times. After what seemed like an eternity, my flight was announced. I had spot A 42, not so bad considering the flight was far from full. We took off on time - actually 5 minutes early and landed in Baltimore with a good margin of time to make my connecting flight. Of course we landed in section A and my connecting flight was section B and yes, you guessed it, gate 15 as in gates 1 - 15. I finally relaxed once we were airborne on our way to my final destination - Jacksonville and SERENITY!
Once landed and in a cab, I drove the poor guy nuts asking (what I thought was casually) where we were and "about" how much longer. $67 and 40 minutes later, we were pulling into the parking lot of the Fernandina City Marina on Amelia Island. Serenity (and Tom who I haven't seen in nearly 3 weeks) were within hailing distance and I was breathless with excitement. Serenity was the very last boat along the dock, but when I saw her, I broke into a trot. The guys were just coming out of the engine room when I was pounding on the door. What a sight to see my beloved Serenity waiting for me! Though the day was gray and very chilly, the sun was shining on my beautiful girl!
Once aboard, it was as if I never left. After getting settled, Mike (our "assistant" captain) and I decided to explore the town. It was just as I remembered it from my trip north in 2010 on Serenity's younger sister, For Us. We strolled the palm tree lined streets, had lunch, then hopped in a cab to get some "provisions" at the local Publix. A couple of hundred dollars later, we had our groceries and called our cab to pick us up. Back to the boat we went. As we headed to Serenity, we saw another Krogen making its way to the dock. It was our buddies from the Rendezvous. That Krogen, Serenity and Serenity's twin sister who was docked just in front of her made it a Krogen-fest. I rushed to stow our groceries cause we were invited to cocktails on Silver Bay, Serenity's twin. After cocktails, Tom, Mike and I headed to dinner on the dock. By 8:30, I was calling it a day. And what a day it was!
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