We must be in the South Issue #13 11-29-2017

Sweetie, honey or ma'am.

I have been called all 3 in the most musical southern drawl by everyone from grocery store clerks to the dock hands at marinas.  It sounds wonderful. 

And as soon as I start talking I have seen heads pop up and look at me. 

​I guess I’m the one with an accent around here.

You are from WHERE?

On the back of our boat you can see our boat’s name and our home port.  Nellie May, Lake Madison, South Dakota.  That has been the start of some fun conversations. 

-Is South Dakota by Canada? (no, that’s North Dakota)

-How the heck did you get on the river system from there? (we put the boat on a trailer for 600 miles before we put her in the river)
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-Aren’t you cold? Tim gets that a lot when he is wearing a t-shirt and shorts while the locals are in parkas.

How big is your boat?

How big is that boat? 
What they really mean is how SMALL is that boat? 

We have the smallest boat doing the Loop. 

Most of the boats are yachts at least 40-50 feet.  They have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  And a full kitchen with an oven.
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Our boat is 25 foot and more like camping than cruising.  But it has a bathroom with a door so I’m a happy girl.

Where are you going?

Where are you going? We say near Chicago and get some really strange looks. 

Then they tell us we are headed in the wrong direction. 
So, we explain The Great Loop.  Start near Chicago, spend a year on the rivers and end back where we started. 

Which usually leads to the next comment---

-You must really like each other. 

We have traveled 1803 river miles over the last 2 1/2 months.
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We tell them, so far-so good.