An Ex-Pat Thanksgiving !!

On Wednesday, I was on the bus for the semi-weekly shopping trip to the grocery store.  I was sitting next to Rachel from 'Orchard';   homeport Brisbane, Australia. The general conversation among the American cruisers was Thanksgiving plans.  Rachel  turned and asked, "Embarrassingly, I don't know what Thanksgiving is all about....would you explain it to me "?  I immediately launched into a diatribe about John Smith and Pocahontas.  Others joined in with less relevant details about Pilgrims, help from the Indians, and a big dinner to celebrate the harvest....(I didn't have the heart to mention how the Pilgrams'  communal, socialistic farming methods in the first two years at The Rock almost caused them all to starve to death...Glenn Beck would have been proud....but I kept my mouth shut).   What I did realize by listening to the other cruisers from all over the world, is that Thanksgiving is a wonderful, unique, American tradition. 

This is the scene looking out on Clarks Court Bay from the CCB Marina.  Over fifty cruisers were here to celebrate "American Thanksgiving".  CCBM provided the turkeys, and the cruisers provided all the side dishes.  Persephone's contribution was cranberry sauce made from scratch (except for growing the berrys...)

Waiting for dinner......

Passports were checked at the door.  Non-Americans were segregated to a table at the rear. L to R:  Ken and Lynn of 'Silverheels III', Toronto, Canada, and Jim and Anne of  'Impressionist', Portsmouth, England.

Following dinner the  Patriots vs. Detroit football game was on the big screen TV.  No sleet, snow or freezing rain, but a tropical downpour just as we were about to leave on a 15 minute dinghy ride back "home"...It was a wonderful time, just what Thanksgiving is all about.