Although I have lived here at Pigeon Lake for over 11 months, I have to admit that until last Friday, I had only been on the water twice. Both of these boat rides were in a canoe, which was fun, but didn’t get me very far as Lucy is no help at all with the paddling! I am very fortunate to be surrounded by great neighbors who keep an eye on me, help me out when I need it, and give me sound advice on some of my projects. On Friday, I was invited out for an end of season boat ride with my newest friends who happen to live just down the road.

It was a perfect end-of-summer day. Blue skies, warm weather and reasonably calm water…

As you may have guessed by now, the coolest part of the boat ride was the BOAT. This work of art is a 1959 Glass Slipper by Marlin Marine. My neighbor Brad, and his son Mitch, collect and restore boats (among other cool hobbies). Believe it or not, this boat only only took them 8 months to restore from start to finish! Everything had to be redone: the detailing, upholstery, paint finish, even the engine is original and was totally rebuilt.

This is not their first boat project and they are now currently working on a new boat. For those of you who are interested in the boats and the restoring process, Brad is planning on getting a blog set up soon and when it is up and running, I will provide a link to it. There are so many interesting details behind this model’s design and history and Brad’s blog will be a fun and informative resource.

Brad and Mitch also custom-build the beautifully matching trailers that pull the boats.

It was a great afternoon! What a special treat: enjoying being on the water with my new friends, great weather, viewing other cabins around the lake, stopping for ice cream, hearing lots of stories, and feeling like I had traveled back in time to 1959 riding in a brand new Glass Slipper…