ShipStore.com Beacon: A Sailing Webmaster and Snowy Valentines
Issue 68, February 14, 2006
http://www.ShipStore.com
Floating your boat since 1982 TM
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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~ WELCOME ABOARD: Greetings from the Editor
~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Ready for Red?!?!
~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree" Drawing
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~ WELCOME ABOARD: Greetings from the Editor
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A snowy Valentine's Day in the Northeast, but we've selected some "romantic red"
specials for you to see in the whiteout! Scan on down to the next section to
find out what's hip for this happy holiday.
Before tackling the rather ominous sounding topic of the Blizzard of 2006, I'll
get you up to speed on my wanderings. When I wrote you last week I was about to
visit Mark Engelhardt, the ShipStore.com web developer, in sunny Benicia,
California.
As my wife, Susan, and I arrived in Benicia the sun was setting, the pastel
skies looking like they'd been borrowed from a Miami Vice set. A dramatic
backdrop for the Carquinez Straight beyond the Benicia Studios where we met up
with Mark and his wife, Rosanne. After a tour of Mark's IntuitiveISP facilities
and Rosanne's Wild Rose Studio we all piled back into our rental car to look for
the Bull Valley Restaurant which is tucked rather inconspicuously into the
rolling hills of the East Bay in a miniscule little town called Port Costa which
is home to more automobiles than people. We wandered the highways and byways for
half the night, repeatedly calling the restaurant for help interpreting the
driving instructions we'd pulled off their website. After getting lost some
three or four times, we finally arrived for a surprisingly good meal including
an order of Tequila Lime Prawns that blew all of our socks off.
The return drive was quicker, and we fell into bed at The Inn at Benicia Bay, no
doubt sound asleep before our heads hit the pillows.
Friday morning we jogged around the Benicia Marina and Yacht Club where the
Engelhardts live on a sailboat named Wild Rose. (Is the rose theme becoming
familiar?) Our jog took us along the shoreline, following the wetlands, looking
for interesting waterfowl and snapping photographs. After showering and
repacking the rental car, we joined Mark and Roseanne for an enjoyable sail on
Carquinez Straight. Play this audio clip which Mark and I recorded while sailing
his handsome sloop:
As we set out and ate lunch there was only a light breeze, but the winds picked
up a bit and provided an opportunity for each of us to "play captain" for a
while. Only a few other sailboats shared the bay with us. The conditions were
perfect...
Have I made you jealous yet? Okay, I'll skip briefly to the snowstorm and then
let you get back to work. (Considerate, right?) In last week's Beacon, I told
you about the shocking discovery I made during my snow tube reconnaissance
mission at Squaw Valley USA.
Perhaps the "silver lining" to my report seemed too obvious to mention at the
time, but it was highlighted a couple of days later when a history-making
snowfall blanketed many parts of the northeast. I came across this attention
grabbing pair of sentences in a New York Times article:
"The season's most popular sledding device is a something that looks like a
beach toy Ñ an inflatable plastic donut with a liner on the bottom of the hole.
'These tubes are all the rage,' said Mellissa Green, 39, of Brooklyn, who found
her two young children after bedtime staring out the window at the snow."
Familiar? It should be because we've been trumpeting our praise for quite some
time. Like years... Let's face it, every "kid" who has access to snow absolutely
loves snow tubing, and the all-too-obvious good news which I neglected to
mention last week is that Squaw Valley like so many other ski resorts has
recognized the growing demand for this thrilling and user-friendly recreation.
If you still have snow in your neck of the woods, don't wait another day. It's
never too late to discover the latest sledding craze, so order your Tube Pro
commercial quality snow tube today:
Happy Valentine's Day,
George Davis, Beacon Editor
editor@shipstore.com
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~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Ready for Red?!?!
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~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree!" Drawing
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Win a $100.00 credit at ShipStore.com. To be eligible for future "Win a Shopping
Spree!" drawings all you have to do is subscribe to the Beacon. All current
subscribers are eligible for the random drawing. If you're not already
subscribed, then visit http://www.shipstore.com and click the "Win a Shopping
Spree!" link along the top of your screen.
Once you subscrive you'll be sent a confirmation email which you must respond to
in order to activate your subscription and be added to our mailing list. This
double opt-in procedure enables us to prevent accidental subscriptions and spam.
As soon as your confirmation is confirmed, you will be entered into the "Win a
Shopping Spree!" drawing for a $100.00 free merchandise from ShipStore.com. Good
luck.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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ShipStore.com
6039 Route 9N
Westport, NY 12993
Telephone: 518-962-2700
Toll Free: 877-SHIPSTORE (US and Canada)
Fax: 518-962-4582
E-Mail sales@shipstore.com with any questions.
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