Leaving our Haven of Grace - on to ? - exciting visitors

We have enjoyed the quiet, quaint Havre de Grace atmosphere for several days now, and are feeling it's time to move on. We hope to go to Rock Hall, MD, Baltimore (perhaps catch the Orioles vs the Red Sox...), Annapolis, and several other places during the next couple of weeks. We managed to get ourselves into the City marina yesterday just in time to be surprised by some wonderful friends! For whatever reason I decided to turn on the cell phone in the morning and was greeted by 2 well-received messages: the first from my Mother who is safely at the Hilton Hotel in Istambul! The next was from our delightful friends Nikolage and Rina from New York City. We had missed them while there as they were struggling with an overload of work and the sequelae from a bicycle/car encounter which left Rina bruised and battered. I imagine they were hoping to leave the city behind and were kind enough to drive all the way to Havre de Grace to come and see us. We could not have been more spoiled - not only were we blessed with their presence and lively conversation but they brought gifts of organic popcorn, Earl Grey, great CDs and a 12-pack of Red Stripe! Although we never should have accepted, they even took us out to dinner. What a wonderful Labor Day that I will never forget. Our conversation centered around sailing as they are also considering an extended sailboat voyage at some point in time. They are young and in love, and it of course sounds like a very good idea. What I have learned is that it is far more about work, compromise, and learning to understand the needs of another person than just breezing along reads books sipping lemonade! Romantic as the concept is, the execution involves sweat, discomfort, and slime of various natures. The reward: a lovely breeze the other morning left me at the tiller with Mainsail trim and Genoa billowing as I sailed our beautiful, classic boat upon the same waters as all of the great American patriots of the Revolutionary War. It can be a thrilling experience, and the sense of power and history overwhelmingly worth the sacrifices made. To all that have been commenting and reading without commenting again we thank you and wish you all the best as the academic year begins to hit its stride. Rina is bringing an extraordinary performance artist to the DeVos in the next month or so, which should prove to be very exciting. She has been in contact with Melissa and I just wish we could be there for this opening. I understand there is an outstanding exhibit presently of guitars as art (and other string instruments) which I hope our readers will also check out. As soon as we get to wherever we are going we will look for internet access for another update. For today: thanks SO much to our lovely Labor Day visitors and bonne chance in all endeavors to our students and scholars.