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Two Gaylord Boatnerds at Port Huron’s Annual Boatnerd Gathering., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.
Unofficial Boatnerds- Deb and I have gone to the Soo Locks every year for the last 38 years of being together. That was one of the first places we went together on one of our first adventures together .
We don’t love the boats as much as we just have so many fun memories walking along the locks and being at the Soo with Nicole growing up.
So the last three days we decided to head south in the motorhome and travel down to Port Huron for a little different view and watch the Freighters pass by the Boatnerd Headquarters near the International Bridge that goes into Sarnia, Canada.
The north wind off Lake Huron was very cold and very few people were walking along the River.
But Sat. just happened to be Boatnerd Days with free bus rides, free trolly rides and discounted boat trip cruises and extra activities at Boatnerd Headquarters. This place has the best selection of donuts you can imagine and they all have nautical related names. I was looking for the biggest donut they had , maybe called ( the thousand footer ) ?, but no such luck , ha,ha. The biggest one they had was called ( Tugboat ) so I got that one , ha,ha.
There were also three boats tied up nearby with free tours of them and a boatnerd craft and memorbelia and Boatnerd model boat show, it was all very nice .
While in Port Huron , we just had to eat at the Voyager Resturaunt in St.Claire Shores and enjoy the view as ships passed by the large glass windows as we dined on Crusted Salmon and Scallops umm ! . It brought back many memories of us passing by this resturaunt on the Paul R. Tregurtha heading up to Duluth , Minn and passing again on our return trip five days later.
We also stopped momentarily at the St.Claire Power Plant where we boarded the Tregurtha, for a quick picture of a couple Cat 657 Scrapers working on the top of the mountain of coal . But within two minutes we were intercepted by local authorities and urged to leave the area immediately ! (:<), and off we went , ha,ha without any further incidents and no shots fired ?
Even though Deb and I wanted to fit in with the other nerds , we just didn’t seem like one of the REAL diehard boatnerds. You see, real boatnerds can tell you any ship as it passes and how long it is, how old it is, where it goes , how many crew are on board, how long it is, how wide it is , what h.p. , etc, etc., etc.
Deb and I just know they glide through the water and push a cool wall of water in front of them and it looks cool and they are just fun to see and it still amazes us they are so large that they even float, ha,ha.
We’re the first to admit we are a couple nerds alright , but I’m afraid even the boatnerds would not let us in their cool club unless we did a lot more research , (:>).
As we relax for a few minutes tonight after unloading the motorhome , we know this is the start of a great summer.
This is now our fourth adventure for this year ,
1. 10 days in Wash. D.C. and Atlantic City ,
2. Camping on the farm with my folks one weekend
3. Renting Jeeps at the Silver Lake Sand dunes last weekend,
4. And rejected as a Boatnerd at Boatnerd Headquarters this weekend. (:>).
So we got a great start for the summer season despite the cold weather. As we headed back to Northern Michigan tonight , we had to turn on the heater in the motorhome to get warm. It is in the 40’s now with a cold north wind.
Hope you all have a great summer ,
Have a great Sunday !!
