After spending a few days in New Jersey I left the crew there and headed south to get Makana ready for our winter trip. I caught a ride with Corbett, a friend whom we’ve cruised with for the past six years. Cookie Monster is his and his wife Robbin’s boat which they leave in Florida each summer. Corbett left Robbin at their home in NJ so she can spend a few more days enjoying being a grandma. So after spending a day in DC visiting the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum, enjoying the rush hour traffic on the “Beltway” and a night at my sisters house we made the run down I-95 with a fully loaded, actually way overloaded car (thank you Tracey for the awesome BBQ flank steaks , beets and fresh green beans for dinner and comfy bed for sleeping).
The plan was relatively straight forward and simple get on the road by 5:30am to avoid most of the traffic on the beltway which would also have us arriving 750+ miles later in St. Augustine prior to sunset as we need daylight to get into the boat yard and Makana. The prior day as we were fueling up we discovered a fuel leak in a line leading into the engine. It was a small leak, drip actually and Corbett felt we could easily make the repair the next day when we had daylight to help us see what we were doing. That evening before heading to my sisters for dinner we stopped by an auto parts store and purchased the necessary supplies to make the repair. We departed my sisters in Bethesda MD as planned and made our way around the beltway with minimal traffic considering it was the beltway. Several hours later after sunrise we made a pit stop to make the repair to the fuel line. In short what should have been a 10 minute repair turned into well over an hour and half with both of us ending up smelling like gasoline. And since our to-go coffee cups which I made at my sisters that morning were as empty as our growling stomachs we decided refueling was needed.
Due to the extended pit stop for repairs we were behind schedule so a leisure breakfast stop was out, fast food was in. I tend to avoid fast food however there are exceptions. Corbett had never had a meal at Chipotle so before we visited the Air & Space Museum the day prior we had lunch at Chipotle. They are technically a fast food establishment but the food is quite good and relatively healthy. If possible all veggies and meats are locally sourced and genetically modified, growth hormones and antibiotics are out. You choose exactly what goes into your meal. It’s all prepared, cooked and served right in front of you and depending on the line served fast (Ditto for In N Out burgers which are found out west). This is a major difference from the so called “food” served at establishments like McDee’s, B-King, T-Bell, Wndy’s and KFC. On the trip north in May Katie, Hoku and I had a good breakfast at a Waffle House, simple basic fast food which when compared to the food at other fast food establishments is relatively nutritious. So when I mentioned to Corbett we make our breakfast stop at a Waffle House he was in. There are Waffle Houses at just about every exit on I-95 and a perfect spot to get a quick breakfast. They use real butter to cook the fresh eggs and hash browns and they prepare all the food right in front of you. When combined with southern hospitality it made for a great experience, all for under ten bucks, tip included! Onward to the oldest city in America.