Tremblant, Quebec to Wells beach, Maine

Top left Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin, top right AlgoTerra, bottom left, Oakglen, Bottom right Spruceglen

A glimpse of my discharge book this year so far.

I often write about all the things I love about sailing and cooking on a cargo ship: Being on the water, Going to different places, looking out my port hole at an ever changing scenery, walking on deck and so much more, but there is something else that sailing offers. After completing a job we have an extended block of time at home. When I join a vessel it is usually for a minimum of 30 days and often carries on to 90 days. Working seven days a week with no days off.  My last jobs on the Oakglen and Spruceglen which I completed on September 3rd added 93 days to my discharge book and the number of days I  sailed this year.  I spent the first three weeks of 2023 on the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin and the month of April on the Algoterra, bringing my total time on ships to 141 days so far. I am planning to sail for the months of November and December. We will see what destiny has in store for me. I love to sail, so I am not one of the crew who is counting down the days and waiting for departure day. That's not to say that I don't look forward to departure day, it's just that I enjoy being on the ship. When departure day comes, I look at the block of time off as an opportunity to do the things that bring me joy. When I am on the ship I will sometimes start a list of "things to do when I get home" but I often find that the list can just be duplicated from one time off to the next. There are the usual things that I love to do, which I miss when I am on a ship and that is spending time with Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher). I love to go for walks that take me through wooded areas or by a lake. (I miss trees and grass when I am sailing). I love to go through the grocery store and often ask Lorraine, "do you mind if we go through every aisle?  I enjoy catching up with friends and since writing the books: Recipes and Stories as I Sail Through my Day and the Childrens book Stowaway Adventures, Lorraine and I enjoy going on the book signing events and meet and greets. We enjoy meeting new people and there is always an immediate familiarity knowing that we share the love of food and a love of ships. During a conversation with Lorraine this past summer I mentioned that I would love to go to our favorite spot on the ocean during my fall vacation. We had already discussed finally finishing my website (www.shiptoshorechef.com), starting my YouTube Channel @shiptoshorechef. (I have already posted four videos) and doing a book signing tour which would keep us busy for the month of September. There was not enough time to fit in a trip to the beach so we decided I should take an extra month off to go to the Ocean in October.

It was a busy September with book signings and multiple trips to the post office.

Our October Ocean Retreat! We have been coming here for 18 years and are greeted every morning with this view. It’s the perfect way to start our days.

We left Tremblant early Monday morning, the rain giving the pretty red car an extra sheen. It is only a 6 hour and 6 minute drive (according to our GPS), plus breaks for gas and some fun.  Lorraine and I planned to stop at a few of our favorite places along the way. We had already decided that our road trip should include a few treats and Lorraine made peanut butter cookies ( ). She added some fun toppings on the cookies and I loved that the m&m's had a seaside theme. Our first stop once we crossed the border was at the Burlington, Vermont Costco. Last time we stopped there was earlier this year when we went to pick up a copy of their Costco connection magazine. I appeared in the US May edition as a Costco customer story. My story appeared in the January Canadian costco magazine and it was an unexpected surprise to be in the US copy.  (You can read the article under News and Media on the Ship to Shore Chef website) We picked up a few items from the grocery section that we could enjoy during our vacation.

Lorraine made the peanut butter cookies from the Ship to Shore Chef cookbook and added toppings. they were delicious, and there are some in our condo freezer for our return trip

.

We left in the rain but the weather cleared before we reached the border crossing into Vermont

We expected the line to be longer on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and Columbus day Us Holidays

Our next stop was a very short distance down the I-89, Williston Vermont. If you are ever traveling in that area around lunch time, we would both highly recommend stopping at the Garden Centre at Tafts Corners. There is a sandwich place called the Garden of Eatin located in the green house of the Garden Center and you can sit amongst the flowers beside a Koi pond with a waterfall year round. The sandwiches are excellent and we always order their coleslaw. We each chose a bag of chips and shared a fudgy chocolate brownie for our treat day.

We love to see the whale tails, a short distance before the Williston Vermont Exit

Taft Corners in Williston Vermont.

The garden center where the Garden of Eatin is located.

They make great sandwiches. We always get two kinds and then share them. I tried the Blackberry ginger ale which I really liked.

Its a great stop, year round

We got back into the pretty red car and not long down the road, the GPS informed us of an accident ahead and 36 minute delay so we got off the highway and made our way south on the backroads. It was a beautiful drive. We rejoined the highway and received another message of a 21 minute delay and decided to ask for the rest of the trip to avoid the highway and just take us through the back roads that had great names like, Horse Hill Road (we didn't see any horses) or Chainsaw Hill (which I thought would be ok because it was daylight but perhaps would have asked Lorraine to avoid that back road if it was dark and Halloween or Friday the 13th). We loved taking the new route to a place we have visited so many times in the past and thought the extra 20 or 30 minutes taking the back roads was worth it. We passed through pretty little towns and loved the architecture of the houses. Many decorated with pumpkins, mums and Halloween decorations. Each little town having their own beautiful church, with the steeples standing out from quite a distance. We passed many cemeteries and we could tell by the old headstones that some have been there a very long time. I always think about all the told and untold stories that are buried there. If you have ever gone through very old cemeteries they sometimes have the script of what the person did in life or what they died from. It's so interesting. I have also seen a picture of a headstone with a favorite recipe written out on it. That reminds me of the saying "they will take that to their grave" and think it's humorous that they took it to their grave but left it on the headstone to share with their loved ones or passersby. I think the person who lies in that grave was probably a good baker and had a great sense of humor.

We drove through so many pretty towns and enjoyed the fall decorations.

The drive was beautiful and before picking up the key which is always in an envelope hanging outside the rental office because we always arrive late, we stopped at our traditional welcome to Maine supper celebration. Since it was still a treat day we each had a hard apple cider. We shared a plate of shrimp tacos and fish and chips, each coming with a big bowl of coleslaw. We finished off our meal with a piece of cheesecake with more than usual strawberries making it easy to divide between the two of us. We made our way a short distance to the rental office to pick up the key and continued to drive along the narrow beach road with the windows open listening to the welcoming sound of the crashing waves. We have been down this road so many times and commented on the new houses being built and changes since our last visit. We parked in the familiar parking spot and made the multiple trips up the three flights of stairs. I should clarify, Lorraine made the multiple trips up the two outdoor flights of stairs and I did the inside spiral staircase. Like every other trip before, we went out on the balcony to see and hear the ocean of our beautiful ocean retreat and when we returned inside, we left the door open a crack so that we could hear the ocean all night.

I hope you enjoyed the virtual drive with us to Maine. I will continue to share our Maine vacation. We wish you a lovely day.