Valentine Cruise to Kingston

It has been a long time since we have been out on the boat and we were really looking forward to getting an early start to the year by attending the EYC Kingston Valentine's Cruise. We've never been able to attend this first cruise of the year because of scheduling conflicts but this year worked out great. We cruised over on Friday and had a relaxed evening with potluck appetizers with everyone. The weather is terrible this weekend so some delayed their arrival and others came across on the ferry.

On Saturday, Robyn and Gavin and the kids came over on the ferry for the afternoon. We had a great time relaxing on the boat and walking to McDonalds for lunch. That turned out to be a really good idea since it gave Cohen a place that he could run off some energy and gave us more space than the boat has.

Saturday evening we had a wonderful Italian dinner and then played The Not-So-Newlywed Game. Bob and I were one of the "lucky" couples to be chosen for the game. We actually had a great time and came close to winning but didn't quite make it. We did come home with a nice fleece throw covered in hearts. The winners were Virginia and Mike Kelly. Other contestants were Don & Teresa Wills, Jim &Karen Metcalfe and then randomly drawn "couple" Alicia McCullough & Rob Meldrum.

On Sunday, we took it easy most of the day and tried to stay dry. We had another game that we were selected for. There were 5 teams of two couples. Each team was given four words/phrases that we drew from a bag. Our instructions were to write a poem using the words we drew. Our words were - embraceable, Valentine card, exploding grenade, and poisonous mushrooms. We were paired up with Larry & Allison Madison and we were very lucky to learn that Larry is a song writer and has a degree in music composition. After tossing some ideas around giving Larry the pen, we came up with the following poem which won us gift cards to Claim Jumper and red heart-shaped picture frames!

Love Free and Die Hard

On a cruise to Kingston to meet his lover

'Twas a crisp and embraceable day.

Carefully writing his Valentine card

Struggling with what he would say.

Preparing her welcoming Valentine dinner

Gathering herbs from the forest around.

Tasting her sauce as it simmered to perfection,

Spices and flavors abound.

He walked up the dock wishing he had brought her flowers

She straightened the house one more time.

His heart was racing as he turned the corner

She added the poisonous mushrooms and thyme.

If only she'd known the mushrooms she picked

Would stop her Valentine heart

She never would have added the toxic concoction

One taste put her down from the start.

He finds his lover sprawled on the floor

The mushrooms on the table so near.

His heart was pounding like an exploding grenade

As he cried out in pain and fear.

He makes his decision and picks up the mushrooms

And quickly gobbles them down.

This Valentine's story comes to conclusion

They both end up in the ground.