"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

July 31 - Blue Moon & Marley's Birthday

Rockport Harbor

“My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Summer heat has arrived...warm nights and even hotter days. I think if this area of Texas had bears, they'd want to hibernate till October. That's what I feel like doing...just wake me up when the north wind begins to blow! Luckily we have an AC system that works well on the boat.

The urge to be moving on the water has been strong lately, but with the heat index near 110º, it just isn't appealing during the day. Evening cruising is much better along the Texas coast in August, so we invited friends to join us for dinner and a cruise to watch the full moon (Blue Moon) come up. A storm blew in during the late afternoon, cooling it off a little, but hindering the view of the sunset and moonrise. There were too many clouds to see it rising above the horizon, but it was beautiful once it was up. We both enjoy being on the water at night and it felt wonderful to be moving.

Rockport has something going on almost every weekend. This weekend was AquaFest. A festival the aquarium puts on to raise money and celebrate Marley's birthday. Marley is the resident moray eel. It's a family event mostly for the kids with lots of games, information booths, food booths, a silent auction and a huge birthday cake for Marley. All the activities took place in front of the boat so we had a front row seat and free admission.

This booth had the best popcorn I think I've ever eaten!
AquaFest
Setting up for the AquaFest
AquaFest
Telling the kids all about Marley
Moray Eel
Moray Eels
I think this is the largest cake I've ever seen...4'x8'
It looked like a blue norther was blowing in! It did cool it off a little, not much rain, but we had strong winds for a little while.
Rockport Texas
Rockport Texas
Ron and Debbie enjoyed the cruise
The star of the evening
Cruising back to Rockport
Back at the dock after a fun evening on the water
Rockport Texas

9 comments:

  1. I love that cake - adorable! Seems like a shame to cut it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it did seem a shame...and it really looked better than it tasted!

      Delete
  2. You must have a great lens on your camera to have caught the Blue Moon like that. I zoomed in for pictures of it, but didn't have any of the detail like you got. Great pictures...glad the storm didn't dampen your cruise or keep you from seeing the moon!
    Barbara & David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have a good telephoto lens plus a tripod. This picture was actually taken the night before. I also cropped in on it on the computer and did a little sharpening through Photoshop to make it look clearer. It's amazing what can be done after the photo is taken.

      Delete
  3. Hey guys. I "knocked" on your hull the morning of the 31st when I saw you relaxing on the back deck. You were so kind as to engage me notwithstanding that you were probably only on you second cup of coffee. You were very gracious to talk to a Hatteras admirer. She is a beautiful 48. Our dog and my beautiful wife of 46 years waited in the car. Not sure either understand my admiration for the classic lines of a Hatt. The dog always agrees with my taste, but not always the same support from the first mate. You were so kind to invite both onboard. I will take you up next time. We love Rockport and keep sniffing for a MY to keep there for our frequent visits from San Antonio, Thanks for your kindness. Lunch at Paradise Key is on us next time we cross (we always have our dog Sunshine so Paradise Key is a constant}. Beautiful gracious people. Beautiful Hatteras. Best. Craig & Lynnae Thompson and Sunshine. San Antonio

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We enjoy having visitors...come back anytime. Even Sunshine is welcome aboard. Stan can talk about boats and boating for hours. We look forward to meeting you again. Maybe the first mates (admirals) can go shopping while the captains talk shop.

      Delete
  4. I love the idea of this lifestyle, just going up and down the coast and checking out everything along the way. This is the first of your posts I have read, and I look forward to going through some more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We love it too, but grandchilden have slowed us down the last few summers. We hope to be somewhere a bit cooler next summer. Maybe one day we'll cruise the canals of Europe.

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete