Bayshore: Lots of work and some play

Day Two

Folding pamphlets
Folding pamphlets

Day two of our Bayshore trip and the boat still hasn’t arrived (hopefully tomorrow!). But that doesn’t mean our group of 14 eager (and slightly frozen) students couldn’t find work to be done. Not only does the boat need to be taken care of, but also the dock she resides in, and the learning center that tells visitors all about her journey needs to be tended to as well.

Since today was around 10 degrees colder than Friday, we knew it was chilly when we saw Steve, originally from the Great Lakes region, sporting an actual coat instead of his flannel long shirt from Friday.

Thankfully there were jobs to be done both in and outdoors. Under the guidance of Steve, in groups we coated wooden boat poles and pulleys in water sealant, emptied trash bins, rearranged picnic tables, swept the welcome center, and folded pamphlets. We also met the boat’s first mate, Lauren. With her we went up on to the roof snow bank, sanded down the wood parts, and finished them off with a fresh coat of white paint.

Sanding the "snow bank"
Sanding the “snow bank”
painting the "snow bank"
painting the “snow bank”
Lauren, the First Mate
Lauren, the First Mate

But it was not all work and no play.

In the middle of our activities, we settled down to enjoy our Wawa lunches in the center’s quaint, out-of-season, oyster house. Afterwards, we realized that as a group of people from varying grade levels, we had never made formal introductions. To amend this, we played the name game. Each player must say his or her name and “spirit animal,” and then the person after him or her must say that name and animal as well as his or her own. The first person has it easy, as in our game, Andayah only had to say An-day-ah (not An-die-ah) and White Tiger, but if you are the last player, you must not only list your animal, but also 14 other names and animals with teachers included.

Lunch and the name game!
Lunch and the name game!

When our work was done, we left chilled at 2 pm, said our thank yous and goodbyes, and tiredly headed back to school hoping for good weather the next day and to finally see the boat.

2014 Experiences, Bayshore Discovery Project, ,