Tom Hanks and the Polar Express

December 26, 2022

Lynn here today 

Not the real Tom Hanks, of course. We celebrated yesterday with Tom and Hank, boat neighbors. Tom is traveling with his dog Hank, a 13 year old golden. Their burgee is from the American Great Loop Cruisers Assn., which prompted us to want to hear his story. 

Tom lives in New Hope, PA, and has a 32 foot Sea Ray. He can trailer it and has spent time in the Poconos, and on the Hudson River and Lake Champlain, similar to what we did last summer. But he didn’t stop there. Tom’s four year old nephew Carson was struggling with brain cancer and asked Uncle Tommy “Can you bring the boat to me in Memphis?” Due to the pandemic, Tom was already working remotely as CFO for a major company. So he headed up the St Laurence, through the Great Lakes, the Rivers of the Midwest, and reached Memphis – just him and Hank. Along the way he gathered quite a following on Instagram and raised over $100,000 for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. You can see his posts on @TomandHankOfftheHook. 

Tom, Hank, Carson and his little sister

We had a wonderful time hearing his stories and sharing ours. I had asked Rod if we met someone traveling alone whether we could share Christmas with them, similar to what another boat did for Rod two years ago. Luckily, the local grocer and caterer in Key West provided turkey dinner and all the fixings so we just had to pop a bottle of wine and crank up the microwave. 

This was a special evening, sharing life stories and boating stories, with our Christmas lights on the boat and the iPad crackling fireplace. I think both Rod and I have made a new friend who we hope to meet again – possibly even cross paths on our trip north next summer. And Guinness made a new friend with Hank too. 

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday – looking forward to a wonderful 2023!

Lynn, Rod and Guinness

PS: as for the Polar Express, it’s nothing like what the folks in the north have been experiencing, but we have had two days of cold rain with a few more to come and temps in the 50’s. We feel for those folks who are just here for a week’s vacation. This should clear later in the week and get back to more normal temps in the 70’s