Sunday, April 13, 2014

Sock Burning in Reedville

Although not a rebuild-related entry, I thought this would be fun to post.

We started our local version of Eastport Yacht Club’s annual Sock Burning celebration in Reedville several years ago. It started out with just few neighbors and friends from Annapolis and Norfolk standing around a small fire in our backyard down by the dock, drinking beer, eating some chili and clam chowder and finally pitching old socks into the fire.

We had a good time and have done it every spring since then, and as more folks have shown up in recent years, it has proven to be a crowd pleaser—rain or shine.

For those that may not know about the “tradition,” it got started in Eastport, Maryland, many years ago by a group of boatyard workers. As the story goes, they were looking around for a good reason to ditch their nasty old socks with the upcoming prospect of spring and warm weather. So they hit upon the idea to light a fire in a 50-gallon drum, buy a couple of cases of beer, and stand around drinking beer and burning their old socks.

It caught on and is now an event at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Annapolis and has been mentioned in the New York Times.

Our celebration is timed to the closest Saturday to the spring equinox, generally around March 21, but this year we had a firm commitment for that weekend so we held it one week later, on March 29. One would have thought that that would ensure even warmer and nicer weather, but that was decidedly not the case. Temperatures hovered in the mid-50’s and it rained all day.

Cheap tarp, pop-up tent, new shed and a porch:

IMG 0029

A dreary day:

IMG 0031

Fortunately folks were pretty hardy and came by despite the weather. Sailors, after all, are used to being wet! With the combination of outdoor coverings, the back porch and a plywood and sawhorse table in the shed with a couple of heaters running, it proved to be okie-doke. A warm fire in the family room didn’t hurt either...

IMG 0026

After some steamed oysters, chili, clam chowder and excellent green and red mole provided by Bruce and Felix, the crew that built our new house, we got the show under way.

Friends Greg and Carie from Norfolk:

IMG 0021

Starting to burn ‘em:

IMG 0047

Friends and family pitching in:

IMG 0048

IMG 0049

IMG 0055

IMG 0057

We’ll be doing this again next year!

No comments:

Post a Comment