Today, I’m sharing a link to my mother‘s recent presentation given at the Blake Library in Stuart. Sandra Thurlow is not only my mother, but also a local celebrity. Her years of research have produced multiple local history books and now she’s working on another of which I am part.
Through stories and photographs, this video gives many insights into the upcoming book, A Pictorial History of Palm City, Florida that will be published by the end of 2024.
Thank you to Barbara Osbourn for her gracious introduction, the Martin County Genealogical Society, and Friends of the Martin County Library System for making this talk possible. Please see link below.
It’s May 22, we’re 55 days into America’s beautiful Great Loop! A full moon is rising over New York City and Finito, our trawler, is tucked densely into the Morris Canal at the mouth of the Hudson River. Yesterday, Captain Ed and I left the strong currents of the Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey to meet New York’s Statue of Liberty face to face.
Finito before the Statue of Liberty. Photo fellow Looper, Mike Stern.
After three days of ocean travel, the Dramamine had worn me down magnifying my emotions. Liberty stood there strong and beautiful, a gift from the people of France. She looked even more striking than she must have appeared in 1886. Holding the torch above her head with her right hand, in her left carrying a tablet inscribed July 4, 1776, the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken chain and shackle lie at her feet as she walks forward in commemoration of the national abolition of slavery following the American Civil War. She of course also later became our icon of freedom welcoming immigrants by sea.
It was an amazing day. At one point, it was rather chaotic with tour boats, looper boats, ferries, and commercial ships jockeying for space as we waited for an opportunity to have a fellow looper take our photograph before Lady Liberty.My mind has been filled with images. Images that make me look backwards yet forwards. I have been reading Chesapeake by James Michener. Copyrighted in 1978, I remember this famous book at my parent’s bedside. Still a classic, I opened it just about a week ago when we were at the north end of the magnificent 200 mile long Chesapeake Bay. We were taking the C&D Canal from Harve de Grace to Delaware City preparing for our ocean travel to New York. I gushed over the twenty or so Canadian Geese honking by as we disembarked. “Oh look Ed! They are so beautiful!”
There have been many Canadian Geese along the trip, especially in Chesapeake Bay, but not the rafts – the millions of birds (geese, ducks, and swans) that once migrated through this great bay.Ed and Luna at St. Michaels, Chesapeake Bay. We awoke with the dock underwater. Some residents say their greatest environmental threat is sinking.
But as I got deeper into Michener I was reminded of the carnage of hundreds of years that led up to this “beautiful” day, changing the ecology and changing the bay – something that I no longer “see.”
~Vast forests, once held in awe by the native people, burned to the ground, deer and beaver displaced, hunted and skinned for trade; the planting of the “stink weed,” the cash crop tobacco, building towering fortunes and powerful families; overfished “unlimited” shad and herring; the crash of the world’s greatest oyster fishery that once took only three to five days to filter all the bay’s water, now impaired; the ravenous consumption of helpless diamond back terrapins for soup; the unregulated mass slaughter of millions and millions of waterfowl; giant ancient sturgeon annihilated for their roe; and the bay’s multitude of the delicious blue crabs finally in decline. Today’s river is pretty but it is plagued by dead zones, algae and reduced productivity. Hard working Chesapeake Bay restoration programs are lauded and a model for the entire county. Yes, “Chesapeake Bay looks beautiful,” but she is damaged. just like the St. Lucie River – Indian River Lagoon.
Across our lands and waters, across generations – are changing baselines. We accept less as normal, as beautiful. We must continue to do all we can to regain real glory. “Beauty,” by today’s standards, is simply not enough. Liberty must come to Mother Earth.
I try to do my part but I am part of the problem too. “Keep trying,” I say. “Keep trying.”
Captain Ed and First Mate JTL in the engine room checking diesel and oil. No spills!
Ed and me? Compared to the days of our Loop departure from Stuart, Florida, on March 28, I am a much more experienced, confident, and stronger, first mate. Ed is a better and more experienced captain. I have come far from the days that I bristled at his commands. We have docked at least 40 times, with only two qualifying as “disastrous,” the others were just “beautiful!”
Well it is beginning to rain and thunder, Okee is looking at me funny again, Luna is barking and the Hudson Valley is shrouded in mist. Another adventure begins…
Okee is doing great but misses lizards.Hudson River
Since our last post our travels have included:
Solomons Island, Maryland, to Edgewater/Annapolis; Edgewater to St. Michaels; St. Michaels to Harve de Grace; Harve de Grace to Delaware City, Delaware; Delaware City to Cape May, New Jersey; Cape May to Atlantic City; Atlantic City to Manasquan Inlet; Manasquan Inlet to New York City, New York.
Entire Cape May, NJ is a National Historic Landmark!
It’s early morning and mirror-like water flows underneath our trawler “Finito.” It is hard to tell where the water stops and where the sky begins. Chesapeake Bay stretches out before us. It is enormous. Today is our 33rd day of 365. I am first mate on our journey, America’s Great Loop.
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, 200 miles long-30 miles wide at max.
So far this morning I have awoken to warmly dress, check the lines, study the current, and review the tides and weather. I’m happy. It’s going to be a beautiful day.
Standing on the floating dock next to laughing gulls and a tall blue heron, Captain Ed and I say farewell to new Looper friends and push off from Yorktown Marina, Virginia. Ed actually complements me on my performance.
Chesapeake Bay is renowned for its conservation efforts, but continues to struggle to meet targets -the majority not met caused by agriculture. Nonetheless, in the York River a tributary of the Chesapeake, the dock area was full of families and children swimming, minnows and bird life, growing grasses and fans.
“Thanks, but all of the conditions were in our favor,” I reply.
Only a few days ago we had left Beaufort, North Carolina, a perfect time capsule of a town, and overwhelmed by strong current, barely avoided collision and lost a couple of fenders as we scraped our way forward. Half the community, dockhands, and many tourist looked on wide-eyed as Ed and I lost control of Finito within seconds. With our hearts pounding, Captain Ed and I straddled the Intracoastal markers spaced for cargo ships and barges and continued on our way into the deep Newport River that made the St. Lucie look like a creek.
“Junction Buoy” Intracoastal Waterway, Newport River, NC
There was no anger nor blame. In fact we were completely silent. Mother Nature had beaten us both even though we had been analyzing her for days…
Humbled before Nature – she tempered us.
The waterways have gotten larger and deeper and more unpredictable. Since I last wrote we have traveled from Beaufort NC to River Dunes; River Dunes to Belhaven; Belhaven to Coinjock; Coinjock to Norfolk; and Norfolk to Yorktown VA.
Waiting and passing through the Great Bridge Locks on the old Albemarle-Chesapeake Canal caused Ed and me reflect on the hardships of soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, their battlefield nearby. A complete wilderness, not much different today, but for tugs pushing barges. Not far from here lies the Dismal Swamp where thousands of escaped slaves found shelter during the Civil War.
Slowly, we had entered the Pamlico and the Pungo Rivers, next, Albermarte Sound. Rough and windy weather had overtaken us and always the optimist I worried the hull would burst open. Ed rolled his eyes and carefully came off the fly bridge into the pilot house as waves crashed over the boat. I put on my life jacket.
“I hope we don’t lose an engine,” I thought rejudging my size as I moved about the cabin. Okee and Luna were sitting up straight. They were doing well but confused by the pounding. After about two hours, it passed…
Norfolk, Virginia, the world’s largest naval base lie before us. Warships and aircraft carriers lined the Elizabeth River. Ed skillfully made his way giving way. I stood on the bow awe struck.
Touring the Battleship Wisconsin, Norfolk, VA.Passing cargo ship, Chesapeake Bay.
From Norfolk we traveled to Yorktown, part of America’s historic triangle along with Jamestown and Willamsburg. We could see the monument from afar, beckoning. Slowly Lady Justice came into view as we entered port. What an experience it would be to step upon the hallowed ground where America gained her independence. 🇺🇸
Captain Ed stands reading the Yorktown Victory Monument commemorating the 1781 victory and alliance with France that brought about an end to the American Revolutionary War.A discussion with Commander in Chief , General George Washington; Major General Lafayette, Continental Army; Lieutenant General Rochambeau, French Army; and Admiral de Grasse, French Navy.Tuna for Okee and Luna! Such great fur-babies and so brave!
