Coffee Tastes Better When It's Cold Outside

So there I was...pulling the boat along side the dock in Phoenix, NY just before the first lock that I would have to go through on the Oswego Canal.  To get to Lake Ontario you have to leave the Erie Canal bearing North onto the Oswego Canal.   It had been cold and rainy all day while traveling to this point.  Though I like the cold, sometimes the rawness of it seeps into my bones when the wet and cold come together.  My bones were telling me to find something warm, quick.  I secured Eventide and walked down the street to a little coffee shop called State Street Cafe.  The owner, Tammy, was incredibly cheerful and sympathetic to my long cold day on the water.  She begins to tell me that what I need is some of her homemade hot chicken and bisquit stew with a hot cup of coffee.  Then I should have a piece of, just out of the oven,  apple pie with a dollup of ice cream melted on top to finish it off and another cup of coffee.  Though normally frugal to a fault at this point I didn't care how much it cost.  What a joy it was to sit there eating and drinking warmth back into my happy bones.  The simplest of things can mean so much.  The cup of hot chocolate tastes so much better after you've come in out of the freezing cold and the tall glass of ice tea feels so good going down on a hot summers day.  It is the extremes in life that produce real living.  To avoid the discomfort is to never truly understand how wonderful comfort can feel.  By the way, it was less than ten dollars.  I know!
I was there too late in the season to take advantage of a group of kids that are called the Bridge House Brats that take care of all of the boaters needs for free.  Pick up groceries for you, wash your boat, walk your dog, and much more.  They will accept tips but there is no charge.  Google Bridge House Brats, you will be amazed.  
Kim drove in to spend the weekend on the boat with me and we went apple picking for the first time in our 30 year marriage.  I don't know why it took so long because that is so much fun.  Back to State Street Cafe for Caramel Apple Crepes that rivaled the crepes we had in Paris.
Kim left on Sunday evening and in the next few days I made my way through the locks and into Lake Ontario.  Not an easy trip to Rochester but I am tucked in a marina waiting for Eventide to be put on dry land for the winter.   Glad to be back with Kim but I don't like living and sleeping in a house that doesn't rock and I can't hear the waves.  Sometimes it's good to switch to tea from coffee for awhile.