Familiar Waters

We cleared the Mackinac Bridge just 

after breakfast.

We curved around the Upper Peninsula and into Lake Michigan today. I got a last glimpse of the Argo up ahead, clearing the Mackinac Bridge a mile or so ahead of us.

For dinner I made wet burritos, something I first recall eating when I was in college in Michigan. The big hit was the sauce, which Eve cleverly identified all the flavors in. And it was super simple to make: one can of diced tomatoes; one can of tomato paste; a few tablespoons soy sauce; a few tablespoons worchestshire sauce; and a few tablespoons ancho chili powder. The idea of course, how the burro gets to be wet, is that you pour the sauce all over the exterior. I stepped out on deck to make a phone call after putting dinner on the table and came back to find that they'd eaten everything - and no one had made a wet burrito. But they loved it. Go figure.

Salsa for taco dinner.

It was a full day in the galley because we're planning a birthday party for the ship tomorrow. So as soon as I finished making chocolate-oatmeal muffins for the midnight meals, I had to bake a cake. Fortunately, the waters have been calm and the engine is off - so the cake baked evenly. I went with the chocolate mayonnaise cake from the Joy of Cooking, not realizing that I had once again chosen a non-Cap friendly food. She doesn't like chocolate cake.

I haven't planned this week's meals, so tomorrow is still up in the air. Not my usual style, but that's how it panned out this time. Our schedule has been packed lately. We arrive in a port and aren't there for too long, but work constantly while we are.

A special snack of Michigan summer 

sausage and Wisconsin smoked 

mozzerella string cheese.

Home Port
I listened to an interview today on online radio with a band called Tennis. The band is a married couple that met in college and then went sailing together. The interviewer asks them at one point: "So what's better, leaving port or returning?" Before they answered, I had time to come to my own conclusion, and their answer rang true: coming home is better. I hadn't thought about this before, but I had made this note recently: "If we are always arriving, we are also always leaving. What a life."

There is a certain excitement with each new adventure, each casting off of lines means that something new lies ahead. But it also means missing all the things you just experienced. It means not fully exploring that town, that beach, those restaurants. Not really knowing anyone. Not really.
 

Midnight snack: chocolate chip oatmeal muffins.

To arrive is always better. Especially if you're coming home. I walk out to the lakeshore, and I feel it in my bones: I belong here. Maybe not always, maybe not for long. But now, in this moment, and perhaps any time I come back, this place will feel as familiar as a favorite shirt, as tactile and soothing as clean sheets.

By morning, these were the remains of 

the peanut butter and chocolate bars.

Wednesday's Menu
Breakfast
Biscuits and gravy made with the bits and broth from leftover barbecue
Lunch
Pasta with sausage and broccoli
Dinner
Wet burritos
Dessert
Chocolate chip oatmeal muffins - I will post the recipe soon because I really figured out how to get them almost as moist as a cupcake but nutritious at the same time. I took one back aft once I'd taken a bite out of it. "I'm C.nCook and I endorse these muffins," I said to Deutsch.