6/9-6/14 Up the Choptank, St. Michaels and Georgetown

6/9 We cruised out of Rock Hall back into the Chesapeake and down to the Choptank River.  As one heads into the Choptaank, there is a lighthouse that is their own leaning tower of Pisa.  In 1977, it was tilted due the ice and snow that year, and remains tilted to this day.

We had been told of an excellent anchorage on the north side of the Choptank, San Domingo Creek.  It is called the back door to St. Michaels.  From this pleasant anchorage, it is only a short dinghy ride to a free town dock, where the locals put in their kayaks, and paddle boards, and a few watermen keep their boats.  After we dropped the anchor, we took the dinghy to investigate and plan the next day.  After dinner, the full moon hung over the anchorage.  We knew we had made a good choice.

St. Michaels is known as a very upscale town and is well known for the Chesapeake Maritime Museum.  So Saturday 6/10, we dinghied in to begin exploring.  We hadn't gone far up the street from the dock, when I saw two homes with a beautiful connecting garden.  The sign on the gate beckoned me to enter.

There were paths around the houses with nooks and crannies filled with flowers, greens, and items that added to the enjoyment.

A sign towards the street said one word, "calm".  An engraved piece of granite offered the observation, "One never crosses a canyon in two small leaps". 

We hadn't gone 100 yards and I was already in love with St. Michaels.  We meandered up Taylor St. which was lined with unique shops and eateries.  A farmers market was being held.  John thought the Amish lemonade was terrific.  I bought fresh radishes that I enjoyed the next several days.

The Maritime Museum was the best of all the ones that I have toured.  In addition to being a museum, it is a working boatyard where they are restoring examples of all sorts of boats that have worked the Chesapeake.  A former screwpile lighthouse was moved to the site for display when it was going to be dismantled.  I thought it was neat that a troop of Girl Scouts were able to sleep in the lighthouse the night before.

The view from the top of the lighthouse was neat.  In one direction, one could see all the boats entering the channel.  Saturdays are busy in St. Michaels.

Looking in other directions, one could see the docks and the boats that were being worked on. 

The exhibits included being able to catch crab.  I learned about a crab catching technique I have seen here many times now, a trot line.  The watermen drop long lines, usually a mile or two long, to the bottom.  On the line, they have periodically tied in chicken necks and cow lips.  Once they complete putting out the line, they go back and forth collecting the crab.  There were buildings that used to belong to the Navy that are now part of the museum.

On the porch of one is this huge figurehead that was removed from a Navy ship because it was so heavy.

We strolled back to the dinghy but not before stopping at Awful Arthurs for some lobster mac 'n cheese.  It was even better than it looked.  The waitress told me their secret. They use lobster bisque to make the cheese sauce instead of milk.  Oh, yum!

We stopped at a Village Grocer and got wonderful sandwiches for supper.  The sunset that night was spectacular too.  Sleeping on the hook is always so restful.

Sunday morning we headed up to church.  The sun was strong and it had gotten really hot.  The google map directions took us along a short cut using the St. Michaels Nature and Art Trail.  There was this heron piece, Seeking Refuge.

This piece entitled Fisher King was made from recycled steel. 

The church was very nice, welcoming and air conditioned.  After church, we were walking towards town.  A lovely couple stopped.  They had seen us at church and would be happy to give us a ride uptown.  We welcomed their kindness and were thankful for them.  We ate a late lunch uptown and headed back to the boat.

The forecast for the next few days actually said, "VERY HOT".  We were headed to Georgetown, Maryland further up the Choptank River.  John did some research and found the Hyatt Golf and River Marsh Marina.  On our way up the Choptank, we saw this very famous boat, Redhead.  It is owned by Jeffery Seigel, who founded and just sold Active Captain.  We called on the radio and congratulated him on the sale.

We arrived at River Marsh Marina.  The floating docks are very nice and wide.  The staff were terrific.  We are living the life of the rich and famous.  The Hyatt has 3 pools, a hot tub, mini golf, lifesize chess, in room service delivers to the pool and so much more.  Our favorite pool was the adult infinity pool.   Look at the view across the Choptank River!!  John found an infinity monster in the pool too.

We sat under umbrellas to stay out of the sun.  I managed to get 4 loads of laundry too.  I had crab bisque for dinner last night that was chock full of crab.  Tomorrow, we will be leaving but have had a great three days here.  We liked it so much that we sent the information to AGLCA for them to consider having a rendezvous here.

6/4 to 6/8 Red Sox, Havre de Grace, and Rock Hall

Sunday 6/4, Alicia picked up John and me and we went to St. Leo's in the Italian district for Mass.  It was so fabulous.  Parts of the Mass were said in Italian, too.  We met another couple there who were from Connecticut and in town for the Red Sox game too.  After Mass, we prepared for the game.  I wanted to be dressed appropriately in my throwback Yastrzemski shirt.

Catherine, Stephen, Madeline, Sarah and John Backmeyer joined with Alicia and us at the game.

It was a good game and the Sox won.  Our grandson, John sat between John and I.  He kept hoping they would feature us on the Kiss Cam so he would be in the middle of our kiss.  After the game, children 4-14 are invited to run the bases.  What a great idea!   I wished that they let Grandmas run the bases too.  I missed a picture of John but got one of Madeline and Sarah. 

We all went out to dinner on the inner harbor.  After dinner, we said our good byes, it was a great day to be with family.

On Monday 6/5, we departed Baltimore.  We passed Fort McHenry on the way out of the harbor. 

Further along just before the Francis Scott Key Bridge, there is a buoy that is red, white and blue.

It is placed where the ship was that Key was on when he saw "that our flag was still there".  He had been on a British ship in negotiations with the British during the battle.  It is the only buoy colored like that and is maintained by the Coast Guard since 1914.

We headed north to Havre de Grace and its lighthouse.

This is as far north as we will go on this trip.  Havre de Grace is at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.  The Susquehanna flows 444 miles to arrive in the Chesapeake.   This is a picture looking across the mouth of the river. 

This area became known for duck hunting, oystering and crabbing.  It became the duck decoy capital.  Havre de Grace has a large decoy museum.  There are more types of decoys than I ever imagined.   The area is full of wildlife though.  I saw this huge raven, this butterfly,  and this Canada goose.

On our dock was this large heron that didn't even flinch when I went to take its picture. 

Havre de Grace is a very nice little town with lovely shops and excellent restaurants.  We found John on St. John Street.

La Cucina Restaurant had amazing Italian food.  It is not often that one sees osso buco on a menu and it was so good.  So was the cannoli for dessert.  One of the nights, I got ice cream for dessert.

On 6/7, we headed to Rock Hall on the eastern shore of Maryland.  This is a waterman town with more boats than people.   There are several murals in town and this one is dedicated to the work of the watermen.

  There is a tiny self-guided watermen museum with this figure of a waterman. 

Walking around this town, I saw this osprey on a telephone pole.

I was so startled that I missed the picture of the two deer that crossed the street right in front of me.  Rock Hall has two trams that circle town from 11 am to 8 pm.  The trams go down to the beach, up town, and to all the marinas for $1.  The price is right.  This has been a very pleasant stop too. 

Tomorrow, we plan to head further south to St. Michaels.

5/29 to 6/3 Oh Captain, My Captain

After leaving St. Mary's, we headed to Annapolis and then on to Baltimore.  It has been lots of fun and so interesting but the best part has been visiting my daughter Alicia in Baltimore.  She is a Captain with the Water Taxi and Harbor Connector in Baltimore.  Last night, John and I took one of her boats to Fells Point for dinner and back to our marina.  Here is a great picture of Captain Alicia and a Water Taxi boat.

We had decided to come back to the Chesapeake because the weather last year was so rainy and foggy. Finally, on our way to Annapolis and Baltimore, we have seen the iconic lighthouses, 

Smith Point Lighthouse

Point No Point Lighthouse

Screwpile Lighthouse

Thomas Point Lighthouse

At Annapolis, we took a mooring ball in the harbor.  The US Naval Academy was along the harbor on the right.  While we were there, sometimes we took the dinghy to shore, but they also have small water taxis that will come to the mooring ball and shuttle you ashore.  So we did both.  Annapolis is the state capital of Maryland.  It is a huge boating community with lots to see and do.  There is a small canal where people cruise their boats to see and be seen.  It is called Ego Alley.  There is lots of activity.  To be safe, we took the dinghy down Ego Alley.  The Maryland State House is in the background of this picture of our dinghy captain.

We live near a Mission Barbeque in Wilmington.  They all have smoker trucks to take to events.  I loved it that the Mission BBQ in Annapolis has a boat instead.  The boat name is Sea Brisket.

The State Building was fun to tour.  It served as the US Capital and George Washington resigned his commission there. 

Maryland State House

Maryland Senate Chambers

The next day, I toured the US Naval Academy.  The tour was fascinating.  It outlined the requirements for admission and the requirements to graduate.  You do not have to swim to get in but you have to swim and be able to jump off a 33 foot diving board to graduate.  More astronauts have graduated from the Naval Academy, then any other university.  There are about 200 slots each year for naval enlisted men and women.  The buildings are very ornate.  These pictures are from the building where all the midshipmen eat their meals.

Everyone told me to make sure that I saw the chapel.  Most of the glass windows are Tiffany stained glass.

John Paul Jones in buried in a crypt on the lower level.

Next, we headed to Baltimore.  Last year, when we went under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, we were using our radar.  This year, we had a really nice day.  Here is the bridge not in fog.

We arrived in Baltimore earlier than expected.  To our surprise, Alicia was on the dock to catch our lines.  She had been exercising in her gym and saw us enter the harbor and ran all the way to the docks.  It is so good to have good dock help.  It was a beautiful day, so I took a chance and walked up to Camden Yards.  I was able to get tickets to that night's Red Sox game.  The seats were pretty good.

Unfortunately, the Sox lost.
The next morning, Alicia took us on a provisioning run in her car.  We bought heavy stuff.  She had lunch with us before she left to go to work.  We are a short walk from the National Visionary Arts Museum.  The art there is very unusual.  Even the outside of the three reclaimed factory buildings are decorated.

One of the art pieces, Miss Divine, had been moved to a venue for the Baltimore Historical Society event.  Alicia volunteered at the event and took a really nice picture with Miss Divine.  I was not dressed as snazzy as she was but did have my picture taken with Miss Divine.

This morning is Saturday and Alicia asked me to join her at one of the free exercise sessions that Baltimore does on the waterfront.  It was a strong workout and we were proud of ourselves when we finished.  We came back to the boat for coffee and breakfast. 

Tomorrow, Alicia and Catherine and her gang are joining us for the Red Sox game.  The family that roots together stays together.  Go Sox.