Continuing South

Spent last night in Norfolk. Tonight we are tied up at Coinjock. We made it through the maze of bridges and the lock. It rained all day. No worries, water was flat and cruising was good.

OUR VERY FIRST ANCHORING EXPERIENCE!!!!

Saturday, we cruised down to Mobjack Bay. Mark and Maridee had some friends from Norfolk that were anchoring there. We arrived, mid afternoon, had a very successful anchoring experience and even got the dinghy put into action. We had SO MUCH FUN.

THE CAPTAIN ASSUMING THE ANCHORING POSITION

THE MOTHER SHIP "ORZA"

PARTY CENTRAL

 We had a great Happy Hour on Orza, dinner with Mark and Maridee on Knotugal , and a shared breakfast the next morning on Folie a Deux.....complete with eggs benedict and mimosas. This anchoring stuff is quite fun!
BTW, we did keep our generator on all night and slept in AC comfort :-))

This property holds the oldest Tide Mill on the Chesapeake. The home was once owned by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Cruising South Again

Got back to the boat from Philly and went down to Cambridge on Wednesday. Spent the first night at the City Dock where our St. Michael's boating friends, Jim and Linda, joined us and Mark and Maridee for dinner at the Cambridge Yacht Club. The next morning, we cruised up the Choptank River about a 1/2 hour to spend the night at the marina of the Hyatt Resort there. Very nice. Very $$$$. Got our resort fees worth by sitting by the pool It is a beautiful setting. We just may stop here again sometime.

Friday we cruised over to the western shore to revisit Kimarnock. We had a T head with a gorgeous view. We used the loaner car to pick up some groceries at Walmart. We definitely will return here. Next time we will spend a few days and do some dinghying. The town is cute, the marina is friendly, and the area is scenic!

Philly and Such

We arrived to Ambler, PA last Thursday and received a warm welcome from Kristi, Rich, Kate, Connor and Evan. We were able to attend a karate class, go to the farm coop, and take the kids school shopping. It was a really fun time with lots of wonderfully, healthful food prepared by Kristi.

PICKING RASPBERRIES

HANGING OUT IN THE BLEACHERS AT KARATE

SELECTING JUST THE RIGHT PRODUCE!

In the midst of our visit, we found time to visit good friends, Eric and Cindy in Mechanicsburg, PA. We went to Hershey park for a fun evening at the historical hotel there, and did a grand tour of Gettysburg the next day. Eric is an excellent docent....we learned a lot.

Visit to Mechanicsburg, PA

In the midst of our visit to Philly, we found time to visit good friends, Eric and Cindy in Mechanicsburg, PA. We went to Hershey park for a fun evening at the historical hotel there, and did a grand tour of Gettysburg the next day. Eric is an excellent docent....we learned a lot,  not to mention had a really great time!!!

View of Harrisburg from Eric and Cindy's friends house

Linda and Frank hosted a Happy Hour with this fabulous background of Harrisburg

,

OFF TO PHILLY

We are leaving the KNOTUGAL here at Osprey Point Marina in Rock Hall, Md. It is on the Eastern Shore of the Bay. It is a quiet, manicured pastoral place. The marina and docks are superb. We will leave this morning for a week in Philly with Rich, Kristi, and the grand kids.

painting on the side of a building

BALTIMORE

Although we always have a pretty good time here, the marina and harbor aren't perfect. When we arrived, no one answered our call on VHF or phone after many attempts, so we pulled in and docked ourselves. The water in the Harbor always has lots of trash floating in it, and this time was no exception. We worry about sucking debris into our engine intake. Even walking around the city, there is way more trash lying around than in other cities!

Last night, we went for dinner in Canton at Momma's on the Half Shell....our favorite haunt here. Their Orange Crushes beat all! After dinner, as we were leaving the restaurant, A police car, fire truck and several large flat bed trucks loaded with people passed by. Lights were flashing and sirens blowing. It  was the Emerald Society.....an Irish policemen's organization. They stopped, unloaded, and proceeded to do a pub crawl to all the cutsy bars in the neighborhood.....complete with a large group of bag pipers.....festive and fun.

Beater Boats at the end of our pier, still not uncovered from last Winter :-(

 Today we did a major walk through the neighborhoods of Fells Point, Little Italy, and Inner Harbor. There was an Italian festival in Little Italy complete with food, bocce ball, and live music. Great people watching.

FELLS POINT AREA

FRIED DOUGH 

TOLCHESTER, MD PARTY SPOT!!!

Hooo Doggies! Who knew? We saw in the Waterway guide that there was a small marina on the Eastern Shore that had a beach and tiki hut. We pulled in for the night. Well, this is the place to be on the weekend. Lots and lots of boats arrive here for good times. Not only is there a Tiki hut, but a pool, beach, bands , corn hole and Mudslides!

Down side is our slip was under a shed....no satellite signal or cell service. Oh well, had a gorgeous sunset to watch :-)

Bay was so flat that a pontoon made it across

UP THE SASSAFRAS RIVER TO GEORGETOWN

Arrived here yesterday after a very scenic cruise. The Bay at the North end is really pretty, with high treed bluffs and beautiful properties.
We are staying at the Georgetown Yacht Basin. Observations: Lots of spiders here. They say that is because of fresh water. We are far enough up the River, that the water is fresh. Good news is that there are no sea nettles/jelly fish in the water, as there are everywhere in the Bay :-(

All dressed up headed to "date night" at the Kitty Knight House...yes, there is an unplanned "blue " theme in our attire

Never had mashed potatoes and onions on the same plate before. Must be a Northern Maryland thing. BTW...best ever onion rings I have EVER had!

Walked into the local neighboring town of Galena. Who should we meet outside the grocery store, but the town;s mayor.

View from our dinner table!

ROCK HALL ...virgin territory

We departed Annapolis on Monday in the rain. The seas were rough as we headed north on the Bay. Miraculously, they subsided quite a bit after we passed under the Bay bridge. I can remember this happening before.  You wouldn't think the bridge would make such a difference.

We arrived Rock Hall in the rain, as well. We stayed at Osprey Point Marina there. What a charming place this was. The docks were superb and the grounds gorgeous. It had and inn and restaurant associated with it.

ARRIVING IN THE RAIN

SIGHT IN TOWN

OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM PARLOR...CHOCOLATE MALTS ALL AROUND

BIT OF LOCAL COLOR

WAITING FOR THE BLUE CRAB CRAWLER IN THE RAIN

THE BLUE CRAB CRAWLER THAT TOOK US INTO TOWN

BEAUTIFUL SCENE IN MARINA AFTER STORM PASSED

ANNAPOLIS

Again, had great seas for the trip up here 2 days ago. Got into Annapolis Yacht Basin about 10 AM and had the day to play. Don and Anne, our VA friends were already there waiting for us on their boat. After walking the town, we met up for drinks at Happy Hour .

Yesterday, John and I did a big walk in the morning, while Mark and Maridee did the Naval Academy tour. After lunch, John, Mark and Don did boy stuff on their boats, while Anne, Maridee, and I shopped til we dropped. We hit every ladies shop in old town Annapolis. I don't usually shop with others, but we had a wonderful girlie time, trying on clothes, and chit chatting etc. We ended afternoon with Happy Hour on the back of Anne and Don's boat. They were docked right up to the Yacht Basin. The view left us speechless!!! Later we walked over to Ruth Chris Steakhouse for dinner. My Garmin Vivofit recorded that John and I walked almost 20,000 steps yesterday!

This morning we went to Church at the Naval Academy Chapel. It was a beautiful service and attended by many Plebes. Afterwords, went to long time Annapolis standby, Middleton's, for Brunch.

COULD NOT LEAVE ANNAPOLIS WITHOUT PAINKILLERS

HERRINGTON HARBOUR

Left Solomons yesterday on a wonderful glassy sea!!!! Arrived here in time to go up to the pool and meet up with Don and Anne, friends from VA that are cruising for a couple weeks. We will join them in Annapolis and Rock Hall, as well.
This morning we took a walk around this gorgeous property. I posted pictures of this place 2 years ago when we stayed here for a month.
Too cool today for the pool, low 80's, so I used the time to do 4 large loads of laundry. Clean sheets tonight!

SOLOMONS

DRIFTWOOD HORSE

JOHN HAD RIP RAP ENVY OVER THIS

BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION OF SOFT SHELL CRABS, THANKS TO JOHN AND MONICA (freshly caught a couple hours before!)

Left Kilmarnock on Sunday with a bumpy ride to the Solomons. We were able to stay in 2 very nice private slips, thanks to friends of Mark and Maridee, John and Monica Simpson. Our slips were very centrally located to all the restaurants and shops. We dinghyed around the area and had dinner at the Kingfisher, complete with Orange Crushes all around.

ORANGE CRUSHES

KILMARNOCK DAY 2

Started out the day going to a Farmers Market and craft fair in Irvington. A friend of Mark and Maridee, Patricia, came down from her home on the Potomac and drove us around.She could not have been nicer.  I picked up some local fruits and vegetables. It was a pretty hot day, so we spent the afternoon in the AC and did boat duties.

MARK ENJOYING A CRAB CAKE AT THE FARMERS MARKET

Forget to mention, a very nice couple, Tom and Jackie, stopped by our boat for a visit. They are in a boating group with Mark and Maridee. Tom is a very experienced professional boat captain, and Jackie is a fabulous artist. She specializes in jewelry and water colors.

Later in the afternoon, John's good friend from High School (50 years ago!!!) came by. Bill and Sue Bridenstine live in Richmond, VA, but have a summer home in Sharps, VA on the Rappahanock. We gave them a tour of KNOTUGAL, and went to Merrior....an oyster restaurant nearby. It is rated #1 on Trip Advisor. That was a true Virginian experience. Set along the Rappahonock with every type of local seafood you can imagine. Bill and Sue convinced me to try a roasted oyster. I ordered 2 of them, ate them, and that will be my last time. They reminded me of what the bottom of a river might taste like. As they say...'it is an acquired taste".

MY FIRST AND LAST ROASTED OYSTERS

SUE AND BILL HAD SOFT SHELL CRABS.....YOU EAT EVERYTHING... SHELLS, CLAWS AND ALL

On our way home from dinner, we stopped and had ice cream cones. It was a truly Norman Rockwell place of Americana. It was an ice cream stand just like the old days where people go for a drive, stop here, visit and have a cone.

We had an absolutely delightful evening with Bill and Sue. John and Bill caught up with lots of reminiscing, and Sue and I never ran out of anything to talk about. The next time we get together, we won't wait so many decades!

US WITH BILL AND SUE