Weekend Road Trip and Love Makes No Sense

This past weekend we took a short road trip to the little lakeside village of Olcott Beach, perched on the shore of Lake Ontario in Niagara County. We heard there was a new ship in port and wanted to check her out first hand. She's a stout little brigantine (sailboat) named....The Black Pearl. You won't find Johnny Depp around, but Olcott DOES host a Pirate Festival every year so she should feel right at home! She is owned by Liberty Excursions and will join the schooner Liberty in plying the waters of Lake Ontario in full sail as a passenger ship. She was recently bought and has been extensively renovated by the couple that owns Liberty Excursions and will be ready to sail next season. A little internet research turned up a build start date of 1939 and was finished in the late 40's or early 50's. She has quite a storied history, including sailing to Europe and participating in both the 300th anniversary in Philadelphia and 10 Mayor's Cup races in New York City. No one was at the dock when we went down to check her out and the Liberty was no where to be seen, so we assume she was sailing at that time. Although the Pearl looks small when compared mentally to a "pirate ship", she is still quite impressive and we will have photos on the Etsy site shortly.

Ah, love. It really makes no sense. You just can't explain it. I am talking about, of all things, that farm again. Yes, after we decided there was absolutely NO way we were buying the place, we were back out there this week reconsidering. We still don't know how we'd get a mortgage, but we did stumble on the shingles to repair the roof hidden in a corner of a barn, so at least that would be one less expense! I guess like any good love story, this one has more twists and turns yet to go. We'll keep everyone updated. All I know is this; if we buy this place, it needs a serious mowing! I jabbed my finger with a pricker and it still hurts, and I am sure there's still some stickers and burrs stuck to my clothes!