Cruising is different things to different people. Pam and I don't have any destination or schedule, which permits us to relax and enjoy the journey.

I think it is also different when you cruise with dogs. We walk them several times a day, and so spend a considerable amount of time outside of marinas. We enjoy walking neighborhoods and taking in the sights. It's a slow pace, and we enjoy it.

We have a list of places that we passed on the way south that we feel we didn't spend enough time, and on our way north intend to dally along the way and visit them. Our only goal is to make Washington DC for the cherry blossoms, but if we don't get there in time, it won't matter because we'll have found someplace else along the way that captured our interest.

Other cruisers I've spoken to beat feet south for places like Vero Beach, and then dash back north in the spring. That works for them, and that's fine, but to me it's not about the destination, but the journey.