This weekend brought a first, our trip to the Schick’s pig roast. We’ve been invited before but never attended. This year we went and had a great time. Meeting new friends and eating great food is always a treat. And I’ve posted a sunrise picture that represents what we’ve been seeing for the past several days. For pictures, click to enlarge, back arrow to return to size.
Attendees Looking Around
Great Fireworks for 30 minutes
A Read Bon Fire
Beautiful Sunset
October 4, 2025
We wanted to attend the Italian Dinner event at Olverson’s but had a bunch to do this weekend. Friday night we attended the local town Playhouse of The Pinup Girls, although during the play wished we had not! Saturday morning we got up and drove to Olverson’s for the dinner. If we had left yesterday we would have taken the boat. The dinner was nice and we enjoyed the event.
September 20 — Nice Saturday as we attended the Colonial Yacht Club Crab Festival at Bayside, eating a few crabs as we socialized with club members, and later that evening attended the monthly Peggy’s Pier party. About 50 people gathered this evening enjoying music by the Hard to Tell band
September 13-14 Music Festival on Town Hill Colonial Beach, VA
This year is the 7th Annual Music Festival happened on 13 and 14 September. The town turned out to hear good Buffet sounds on Saturday and real Beach Music on Sunday. A few pictures of town hill where the festival took place are below. Click on to enlarge. Back button to return to size.
Marina Way Hospitality Tent
A Row of Tents
The Dancing Crowd
September 6 Day Trip to Captain John’s in Cobb Island, MD
The Colonial Yacht Club held a day trip to Captain John’s restaurant in Cobb Island on the 6th. These new day-trips in our summer schedule have been a great addition to the club’s activities. Last month we had 25 participants at Captain Billys and this trip had a larger group participating. More club members getting together and having a great time. That’s fantastic! We were simply too busy to take pictures, but BenjOllie had 9 people on board for the boat trip to Cobb Island, creating even more time for getting together with friends.
August 28 to 1 September
Labor Day Weekend (Aug 28 to 1 Sep) Carey and I, along with our friend Peggy Saylor made a trip to the Hard Crab Festival in Crisfield, VA. Along with bands, food, and activities we had an afternoon of workboat docking competitions and beautiful fireworks on Sunday evening. We’ve been here before and enjoyed just as much this year. On the way to Crisfield we stopped at Dennis Point, MD for an overnight stop and dinner at Captain Pat’s restaurant. Immediately below is a video of one boat docking.
And here are a few pictures of the crowds there and at least one shot underway. I was having too much fun to capture all the pictures I should have. Click on the picture to enlarge it and the back arrow to return it to size.
This Saturday, the 16th CYC held a day trip to Captain Billy’s Crab House in Marina just 14 miles by water from Colonial Beach. Twenty-Five people made the trip either by boat or car. Fun was had by as it was a quiet time to relax at lunch, eat great seafood and tell sea stories of the summer. Carey and I went by car and had as guests Peggy Saylor and Jack and Ann Southard. Good time.
We finished June getting the boat ready for a week-long trip in early July with Westmoreland Yachting Association (WYA), the other boating club we belong to. We started the trip July 5th at Olverson’s Marina on the lower Potomac for a classic hamburger and hot dog cook out with the WYA members. Saturday morning, we headed for Solomons Maryland to stay at Safe Harbor Zahniser’s for 3 days. On Wednesday off we went to Saint Michaels marina on the eastern shore for another stop. Carey fell going in the pool area, thankfully without major injury, so we took it easy for a day then left on Thursday morning to join up with CYC yacht club again. They were having an event at Point Lookout Marina on the Potomac, and we joined them after an overnight stop at Calvert’s Marina in Solomons. After this 2 day stop, we traveled to Colonial Beach ending an 8-day trip on 13 July with 2 clubs enjoying the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. A great trip. A few pictures are below. Click on picture to enlarge it and use the back arrow to return to this size.
We finished the month of July with those pesky medical appointments and taking care of chores around the house. The weather was very hot so we were happy to have the opportunity to mostly stay inside our home in the coolness of the air-conditioning.
Traveling Companion At Ease
Our Boat BenjOllie
WYA group at Solomons
WYA group at St Michaels
CYC group at Pt Lookout
Anouther evening of dining
15-30 June 2025
On the 27th of June we took off for Solomon’s MD to stay at Spring Cove Marina with the boating club Colonial Yacht Club. As guests, we took Polly Parks and Peggy Saylor. Polly is a dear friend whose husband George died a few years back. She was staying with us as a hub for visiting friends and family on the east coast. She had driven from Tuscon where she now lives. Peggy is a great friend who lives in Colonial Beach. Here are a couple pictures taken on the trip. Click on picture to enlarge it and use the back arrow to return to this size.
Carey, Polly, Peggy and Phil
The 3 Ladies underway
Calvin and Scott, our Cooks
Time under the tent eating
1-15 June 2025
On the 6th of June Carey and I took over planning a CYC event for Albert and Veronica Schick as they had a personal family issue to attend to in Ohio. We headed down to Cole’s Point Marina with 3 boats, 2 campers and 11 people. Great time even though a small group. The restaurant was shut down, so they gave us use of the restaurant’s front porch. Of course we had the beach, the swimming pool, and a nice fire pit to enjoy. Several pictures below show you the attendees and some of the sites. Click on picture to enlarge it and use the back arrow to return to this size.
The rest of the month was taking care of medical appointments and the doing some cleaning and maintenance on the boat and the house.
16-19 May
On Friday, the 16th we made a drive to Charleston, SC to attend my first USS ELROD (FFG-55) reunion. I commanded the ship from April 1987 to July 1989. I’ve never attended a union but was approached by a shipmate to attend. We agreed and so glad we did. Eight to ten of the attendees were people that served at the same time as I did. It was great going over old stories with these shipmates. During the weekend Carey and I drove by the house I lived in during my tour. It’s still standing. It was a weekend of memories. I think we’ll be going to next year’s reunion also. Below are a few pictures, but we did miss a few of the attendees who had to leave before these were taken. CLICK ON PICTURE to enlarge and back arrow to return to current size.
Bolin home Charleston 1987
Reunion Shipmates relaxing
Shipmates at Reunion
1-15 May
On the 7th we attended an old friend’s funeral, Jim McClane. He and I served together on Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23) and several of us that served with him attended the ceremony.
14-30 April
In the latter half of April, we worked on the boat and house settled back into our Colonial Beach routine with friends. We are trying to get all the outside teak looking nice and set up for low maintenance.
1-15 April
We used the first days of April to settle in the house and update and make all our medical appointments. And considering the tariffs being proposed by our President we decided to buy a new car. As we’re not car people we bought another Equinox as the last one has been a good one. We also hauled the boat, painted the bottom, and changed the oils in the engines. We’re getting the boat ready for some summer cruising.
