Great Loop Day 071 Nov 7, 2016, Columbus Marina Rest Day
Columbus Marina Rest Day
“Accept the limitations of a place, in humility, and the joys that can also be found there may open themselves.”
― Rod Dreher, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life
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DAY 71 Monday, Nov 7, 2016. Rest day. Columbus Marina, Mississippi. Slept like a rock again. So restful and relaxing sleeping on the Sea Marie. I don't miss my bed at home at all. Planning an easy-going day. A little cleaning, laundry, ride to town to visit Walmart and a gas station, maybe Wendy's. Would be nice to drive and see the sights from a road vehicle a bit. A bit chilly starting out when the alarm on my Tracfone went off. I hit the 15-minute snooze several times. Mickey was up staring me in the face looking for his breakfast, he goes away, and a few seconds later returns, his whiskers tickling my face.
"15 more minutes, Mickey!", I tell him. "Ok, I'm getting up." Mickey just won't leave me alone.
The cabin temp was 57 degrees. Plugged in the small ceramic heater I bought at Ace Hardware in Rogers City, Michigan. Got the temp up to 76 degrees, toasty warm now. Checked my blood sugar and swallowed my pills. Time for a new Insulin pen. Got one from the box in the cooler. Set the pen for 5 units and injected my belly. Grabbed a can of cat food, ring tabs make it easy and Mickey is all over it, doesn't give me time to get it out of the can.
"OK, I'll leave it in the can, here," I said abruptly. I guess Mickey was really hungry.
Made my usual breakfast, Raisin Bran cereal, and coffee. A bagel would be nice now but ran out a few days ago... Time for a road trip!
Mid-morning, temp warmed up. Put on my shorts same tee shirt I had last night, the Key West Pirate shirt. Made sure Mickey was secured in the cabin and I headed to the marina office to burrow the courtesy car. I also planned on getting a couple of my empty gas containers filled at the local gas station for the outboard motor.
Now the office for this Marina is in a building good 10 feet up in the air on stilts. You can take the ramp around the building or the steps which are quicker. A small store selling snacks, fishing stuff, and some boating stuff is in the office which consists of just a counter. The restrooms and laundry room are also located in a room next door.
Did you ever deal with someone you wish you didn't have to? Well, there is this guy that never smiles and doesn't tell you everything you need to know. A bit intimidating if you know what I mean. He's probably a nice guy when you get to know him but I'm not going to live that long. I walk up to the counter and ask to borrow the courtesy car.
"You gettin' gas?", He asks in that typical heavy southern drawl,
'Yes", I replied.
"You can't take the van". No? I say,
"You can take the truck".
"Fine. Do I put gas in the truck?",
"What you think you used"
"OK, and return the gas receipt to you?
"Yeh", he says. "You wanna map?"
"Yes, thanks, I'm going to Walmart."
He takes out a pink marker and draws 2 lines for the roads and then 2 dots,
"Here's Walmart And here's Kroger".
'Ok", And I'm standing there probably looking awkward to him,
"Is there anything else?", he asks.
"Do you have the keys?" I ask.
"They're up in the visor of the black 4 by 4. Make sure it's the black one." He snarled as if I should have already known that.
No background check, no license to show, no deposit, no time limit, Just get in the truck and drive yourself to the store. I said thanks and with the map in my hand, I couldn't wait to get out of there.
The truck was a Dodge Ram 1500 with a running board and an upper handhold just above the inside of the door. I loaded the two empty 5-gallon cans in the truck bed having poured what remained in the one can into the main tank earlier. Open the door, one step up, two steps up. I slide into the seat behind the wheel. The key with the key fob was right up there in the visor like he said. Seatbelt on, key in the ignition, start her up, put in reverse to back up, then forward, I'm on my way.
I forgot to start up my cellphone Google maps app. No problem I'll just follow the roads on the map Bubba gave me. 5 minutes later I'm horribly lost. None of the road signs matched anything on the map. I'm driving down a narrow 2-lane winding country road with trees on both sides and I'm supposed to be in a city. Finally, a few houses show up and one was the local neighborhood sawmill with 2x4s scattered on the front lawn and a large man in overhauls sawing wood with a hand saw. I stop the truck. Roll down the window and ask "Can you tell me where the Walmart is?." "Go back down that road you came on, take a left then go down and take another right, you'll be right there". "Ok, Thanks", I said. I pulled into the driveway, turned around, and reached for the phone, Google, Where's Walmart? " Just go down, Take a left then go down and take another right you'll be right there" Google's hardly wrong, I go down, take a left then go down take another right and I'm in the Walmart parking lot. That took all of a minute.
A lot of cars have filled this lot, but I find a spot near the entrance. Take one step down then another, and lock up the truck with the keyfob making sure the doors lock up. Grab a cart. "Welcome to Walmart", says the greeter. Run down the pet aisle, grab some 9 Lives Cat Food in cans and 4 cans of Fancy Feast for gravy lovers. Check out the Christmas displays. Yep, trees and lights, and wrapping paper. Looking for solar lights the kind you put out on driveways, but none are to be found. Run over to sporting goods for the camping supply aisle, need a mirror since mine broke last month. Flag down an employee must be all sold out he says. Go to automotive, get a quart of 10w 30 synthetic oil for outboard, and will change oil near Mobile. Run over to electronics, and found a WiFi extender that hopefully will be useful. Found a wireless mouse for 9 bucks, my other one was acting up.
Run to groceries all the while thinking of what I need. Rice! Had a hankering for rice since dinner on the Mystic last night. Found some I can fix in the microwave and some I can cook up on the alcohol stove while at anchor. Spicy chicken Ramon noodles in a cup, yep 4 will do. Green bananas, grapes, and that dollar bread. Italian this time. Run to the checkout, grab a few more items like bagels, and back to the truck. Unlock, and load bags. One step up, two steps up get behind the wheel, buckle up, and off to the gas station across the parking lot. Get out truck making sure to take 2 steps so I don't fall to the ground and look stupid. Swipe my US bank credit card with the $300 credit limit, heard pumps may have card readers for thieves to steal credit card info. I use my US Bank card in case it gets hijacked so I can still use my Huntington card for necessities. Fill up cans, making sure I get a receipt for myself. Reswipe for gas for the truck which only took a gallon, it was already full, got a receipt, and let's get lunch.
I see many fast food places, Wendy's catches my eye with a sign saying Taco Salad is Back. Go thru the drive-thru. Get a Taco Salad and malted. Historical footnote, Wendy's was started by Dave Thomas, back on Nov 15, 1968, in Columbus, Ohio. And here I am in Columbus, Mississippi at Wendy's. Dave Thomas had made a name for himself, dropped out of school at 15 to work in restaurants all his life. Rags to riches guy. Won the Horatio Alger award. And did go back to school to get his GED in his later years. Worked with the real Colonel Sanders of the KFC chain.
Now to take a quick tour of this town. Stopped to see the early home of Tennessee Williams. Wrote Street Car of Desire and Cat on A Hot Tin Roof. Got some selfies and the other highlight, was the first State College for Women.
I wonder if he was more famous than Don Adams voiced the cartoon penguin Tennessee Tuxedo.
Equal but separate.
Almost need a step ladder to get in and out of this beast of a truck.
Like most car-centric towns I have been to. Very few if any pedestrians.
You know you want your fabulous farm animals to look their best.
Then back to the marina with the help of Google maps on my phone. Placed the keys and keyfob back up on the visor and dropped off the receipts at the counter at the top of the ramp. Thankfully, Bubba wasn't there.
Unloaded gas and bags, put away groceries, cleaned the kitty-corner, and hooked up a WiFi extender. It works! The signal from Marina improved. And that's the extent of my land excursion. Busy day. still got laundry to do and more busy days to come. Tomorrow I head further south. And who knows what's in store for me? Stay tuned... Fair winds and gentle seas.
Oops, forgot to add this map of my travels yesterday. We are in the state of Mississippi and Alabama is to the right. We’ll be going there soon.
Comments from 2016:
Pogo Bob, We didn't stop there on our Loop, but we did in 2012 when we buddy-bloated down the Tenn-Tom with friends. We were docked much further from the office (around the path to the next set of docks). Pleasant enough to stop, as I recall.