A short 364 days after our first annual Winter Pirate Cruise, we headed back to the Darling Family Inn in Weston, VT to strap the "boards" on and attempt to defy gravity once again.
This year we chose OKEMO. Our good friend Kevin couldn't join us this year so it was the "Three Stooges".
( I played "Curly" )
We all arrived mysteriously
at the very same time at the "DFI" (Darling Family Inn) . Mark traveled from New Jersey, and Chris and I drove up from Connecticut after a brief stop in Greenfield, MA for some dinner.
We shook hands and went in to see our host and hostess, Chapin & Joan Darling. Warm Smiles and Big Hugs. Then up to the "near cottage" for some beers, storytelling and laughs between us Pirates. Then to bed. Our goal? To be up and out by 8:00AM.
( we woke up at 7:30AM so that was physically impossible )
We loaded up Mark's
truck and headed to Ludlow for some breakfast. After I finished my french toast , we were on our way to the mountain. It was 25 degrees and the fresh air was waking us up. Before we knew it, we were putting our skis on and attempting to buckle our boots.
We were ready, willing, and able!
( In that order ) We joined the end of the long lift line and climbed our way up the mountain, chair lift by chair lift. Like riding a bicycle, we skied with increasing confidence.
We obeyed all local Rules and Regulations (to the best of our knowledge) and obeyed all posted signs
and banners.
The conditions were friendly and so were the "Locals" and the day was shaping up nicely... We were having fun!
We managed to get in 14 runs while covering a majority of the mountain. We were cruising!
Laughing and Skiing our asses off! Ok, I admit it , I took the first dive! At noon, it was about 30 degrees and it was starting to look like snow. We all had goggles so that didn't matter and it was actually not too bad skiing quickly through the fresh falling
snow. We were skiing the bumps and the boulevards... We took turns taking turns. Mark was skiing the freshly made 
bumps like a pro, and I managed to snap this picture of him getting some "Big Air". We managed to take a break 
or two at the Summit. The view was beautiful and we could see the snow falling in the distant valleys. This was the view from Ludlow Overlook.We kept skiing as long as we could, and as long as our legs would hold out.
Here's Mark working the mountain. Skiing the mountain instead of the other way around. 
If you've never skied, you 've never experienced the closest thing to flying. (Besides Sailing) The fresh air, the quiet solitude at the top of the mountain. The tremendous anticipation that comes
with every ride up the hill. We clowned around a little on the hill. Here's a picture of Mark doing his best Sonny Bono impression.
At times it was snowing so hard, you could hardly see. 
We had a great day on the mountain, then boarded the bus to go back to our parking lot, where we changed into dry clothes for some apres ski. We stopped in town for appetizers and poor service. You'd think someone was tipping this waitress not to smile! But we moved on and met some friendly locals who told us about an excellent restaurant in Ludlow called "Brick House Tavern and Restaurant". (Thanks Jen) Turns out our new friend Jen, the local hairdresser, was responsible for cutting Jerry's hair. (The Owner)
We quickly made friends with Jerry, and he was nice enough to buy us a round of drinks. We had a few cocktails then sat down for dinner and recollections of days and years gone by. My muscles hurt... My laughing muscles hurt more. We had a blast. We had a nice dinner with our new friends Suzie, "Orb", and Jen with owner Jerry making sure everything was "just right".
We shared some fancy desserts and drank some fancy coffee. We had so much fun swapping stories with our new friends. Jen even invited us back for her annual Pig Roast. Time flew by and before we knew it, we were headed back to the INN.
The next morning we had a wonderful country breakfast at the INN, 
prepared by Chapin Darling himself. I had Fresh Blueberry Pancakes with Real Vermont Syrup, Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice, Sausage and Fresh Brewed Coffee. There is nothing like one of Chapin's breakfast creations. I can't recommend a friendlier place to spend a week. I'm going back soon.
We said our good-byes to the Darlings and thanked them, then moved to the driveway for our final good-byes until we have a chance to get together this coming spring for some sailing. This was our Second Annual Winter Pirate Cruise. It was great and I just know next year will be even better.
I'm looking forward to it already.
