06-07-09 Chesapeake City, MD

It is Sunday and we made the 54 mile trip from Baltimore to Chesapeake City. The boat traffic was pretty congested on the way up. We have now travelled over 500 miles. Yeah!!!!

The city sits on the western end of the C&D canal, which connects the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River or Bay. The Chesapeake Inn and Marina, is very busy on the weekends. So much so that, they charge 2.75 per foot on the weekends and 2.00 in the week. But, they have good facilities and are just off the canal. The marina has 2 restaurants, a Tiki Bar, and a band every day. It is the happening place in town. We have never seen so many of the “go-fast” boats, the Scarabs, Fountains, Baja, and Donzi on the water and at least 100 motorcycles in the front parking lot. It was busy all day. Locals come in for lunch, pay $5 and park their boat and listen to the music.

The town is very quaint, reminding us of an old English town, with old homes and bushy, crowded gardens. Brick sidewalks and narrow streets lead one to several B&Bs.

There is a city dock. Free docking but you pay for electricity and water. They have 8 spaces with electic and water and a face dock about 100 yarda long with no amenities.

Tomorrow, we go down the canal 13 miles to the Delaware Bay. Then 47 miles to Cape May NJ, where we turn North for Atlantic City and New York. Keep following and see how we do……

06-06-09 Baltimore MD Fort McHenry

Rick here: We took the water taxi over to Fort McHenry. This is the fort that was flying the Stars(15 of them) and Stripes during the War of 1812 (We won), with the action of the bombardment captured forever in poem by Francis Scott Key. That poem was later set to music, and still later, proclaimed by the Congress of the United States as the National Anthem of the United States, and is known today as The Star Spangled Banner. Key, a lawyer on a mission to free a captured doctor, was onboard a truce ship in Baltimore City harbor during the 25 hour bombardment and eloquently wrote what he saw.

The fort has a group of about 100 volunteers that enhance the visit by dressing in period clothes, parading, drumming and fifing, shooting cannons, etc. We were lucky enough to go on Saturday, the first day the volunteers performed this year. In fact, we witnessed the firing of a 16 pound cannon, capable of sending a 16 pound projectile over one and one-half miles. It was loud.

In the evening, we rode the water taxi to “The Inner Harbor” for supper. This is a happening place. There are 100’s of places to eat and shop. There were two concerts being held, one Rap and one 60’s music. Guess which one we liked the best.

Missed opportunity for a great picture. Apparently, there was an Admiral Fell (Fells Point is named for him). In Fells Point, there is an Inn named for him. We did not get a picture of the sign out front: “The Admiral Fell Inn”. (We wonder what happened to the Captain?!)

We plan to leave tomorrow for Chesapeake City. The marina, Inner Harbor East Marina, despite some construction, was very nice. The people, Bill, Millie, and Wes were very helpful and someone was on duty 24 hours. Very good security. We also enjoyed riding the Water Taxi. $9.00 for the day, with unlimited transfers to 11 different stops
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06-05-09 Baltimore, MD National Aquarium

Rick here: After the all day rain yesterday, the rain continued today, in earnest. We decided to venture out anyway and went to the National Aquarium located 2 blocks from our slip. This, being the National Aquarium, is a first class facility. We watched a 4-D movie, which is 3-D with additional effects like water, mist and wind. We attended the dolphin show which showcased the incredible learning and performing abilities of the bottlenose dolphins. There were thousands and thousands of fish, sharks, turtles, rays, and coral exhibits. It took us over 7 hours to cover the entire building(s). By the time we had completed the tour, it was 5:30 and we had managed to spend the whole day, out of the rain, and in a great place. I love it when a plan comes together. Tomorrow, we do more touring, hoping to tour Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, or Fort McHenry, the fort over which the United States Flag was flying when Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner.

06-04-09 RICK ‘N ROLL ROCKS ‘N ROLLS TO BALTIMORE

Betsy here: I dried out enough last night to finally go to bed! This morning it was still misting rain, so we waited in Annapolis for a couple of hours, debating whether to forge ahead or wait til the rain stopped. We took a look at the weather radar at about 9:30, when the rain had stopped but it was still very overcast. Thunderstorms were predicted for this afternoon. The radar showed enough window for us to decide to make a try for Baltimore, so we headed out at about 9:45. The seas weren’t too bad, maybe 2-3 foot swells, not choppy. We made one turn heading into Baltimore where we had pretty beamy seas for several miles which was uncomfortable, but we knew the end was near. It was a 2 hour run at about 19 MPH. The rain held off until just after we got settled in, and it has rained steadily ever since. It is on days like this that we are so thankful to have our newly added canvas/plastic/screened “den” which doubles our usable space, and continues to stay incredibly dry even in torrential downpours!

We are now comfortably docked at Inner Harbor East Marina, an older facility but with nice floating docks, fair facilities, and very friendly staff. We are within walking distance of the Aquarium, which we will visit tomorrow. Today we just lolled on the boat as it rained, getting caught up on chartwork, making plans for how to navigate New Jersey. We have to decide whether to try the inside passage, which is reportedly very shallow, or go outside and come back in at Atlantic City, then out again (you don’t think I’m going to bypass that gambling opportunity do you?)

We got off the boat long enough to walk a couple of blocks to supper. We’ve stayed pretty much to plan as far as eating breakfast and lunch on board and supper out. No more news today.

Let me digress to Annapolis for one final thought: we were so lucky to be in the one spot on the city dock where there was a ladder up from the water to the dock. We were able to use that ladder to climb on and off the boat. Without the ladder, it was at times a 3 foot stepup, hard to do when you’re balancing a dog in one hand.

06-03-09 Wet but Happy

Betsy here, sitting in the boat drying out! It started raining while we were at dinner tonight, and its still coming down strong at 11:30PM. During breaks in the rain we ran back and forth to the laundry. Then once the laundry was done and bedtime drew near, I had to walk Beamer. One problem with Annapolis is there is no where to walk the dog! There is either concrete or brick walkways everywhere. If there is any grass it is in someone’s private yard with fences or signs indicating that dog walking is not welcome! We’ve found a place across the canal from where we are staying, so about a 3 block walk, that’s just a little patch of grass between a parking lot and a building and that is the only place poor Beamer will “go”. When Beamer and I left the boat, it was drizzling steadily, but by the time we got back the sky had let loose and we were both drenched to the bone!

Other than the rain, today was another great day touring Annapolis. We took a 1 hour trolley tour this morning. This afternoon I toured the William Paca (a signer of the Declaration of Independence) house while Rick rested up.

We had chatted with a couple in Solomons that live in Annapolis, and they told us about the weekly sailboat races on Wednesday afternoons. So at 6PM we stood on a bridge over Spa Creek and watched a huge number of sailboats preparing for the race, then motoring or sailing out from the yacht club just below the bridge out into the harbor. The couple we had met, Maria and Bill (we never got their last names) were easy to spot in one of the very small sailboats…there were only 4 of that small size. The rest of the boats were much larger, some with 10 or more people on board. Unfortunately, there was no wind, so eventually the race was called off, but we still enjoyed watching the rigging and the boats heading out getting ready for the race that never was. Maria and Bill invited us to the yacht club for a drink afterwards, which was a real treat. They were the ones that suggested we try to get dockage here at the City Dock, which has been a wonderful location (even though its very noisy at night because there are several nearby bars with loud music). They also suggested dining at McGarvey’s restaurant, which we did and it was superb!

Tomorrow we head for Baltimore, just a short distance. We’re hoping the weather will clear up. The weather forecast has called for thunderstorms every day, but they’ve held off until late in the day or evening, so we’ve been lucky. We’ll probably spend 3 days in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, near the aquarium and other major attractions.

06-02-09 Annapolis MD

Rick Speaks:
We had a perfectly delightful day here in Annapolis. We started the day with a visit and tour of the United States Naval Academy. The docent was excellent and the tour was “Top Drawer”. The only negative was that the crypt of Johns Paul Jones was closed today for some repairs to the room and we did not get to see the crypt (or John Paul Jones). The chapel was very nice with Tiffany designed glass in the stained windows. Three pictures are attached so you can see the beautiful windows. We then went to the Naval Museum second floor to see the world class display of model ships, dating from the 1600’s. The Academy claims the world’s best and most extensive display of wooden model ships. There is no value on the collection, as it is irreplaceable.

Later in the day, we took a 40 minute narrated tour of Spa Creek and the surrounding old Annapolis in a tour boat. All in all, another good day.

06-01-09 Two weeks in and still going strong - Visitors Welcome

Betsy here.
As we left Solomons Island this morning, we were again thankful for friends…Jim and Lisa Favors are spending the summer in Solomons on their yacht Kismet. Jim was kind enough to lend us his truck yesterday to go to the grocery store for minor provisioning. The Favors have completed the loop at least once, and are living aboard their boat in Solomons for the summer. We had met them in Charleston in April. They have written a book about the loop and Lisa is just getting started on a second book about women and boating. Theirs was one of the several books we had read prior to departure.

We had a smooth 3 hour cruise to Annapolis, (as witnessed by Rick and the AutoPilot in the photo) and as I was working my way between mooring balls heading for the Annapolis City Dock, we were pulled by the Coast Guard. I knew I wasn’t going too fast or making any wake because I was just creeping along making sure I was headed in the right direction. Rick did the talking while I stayed at the helm…they just wanted to board us for a safety check. First question was whether we had any weapons on board. The easy answer to that was “no guns or knives allowed on a 6,000 mile trip with 2 people on a boat this size!” Anyway, Rick answered all their questions and displayed all safety equipment required, so we now have an official safety inspection report that we can just show if they try to board us again during this trip. (Side note to Toad….we aren’t required to have a bell!! Ha! Ha!)

We are in the heart of downtown Annapolis, docked at the City Dock. We would be happy for any friends or relatives in the DC or Annapolis area to visit us. Many restaurants are within sight, and all the shops are right at our fingertips. We plan to be here for 3 nights, then on to Baltimore for 3 nights. So if you want to see us underway, give us a call and we’d love to have a visit…sorry we can’t provide overnight accommodations!

Beamer enjoys using the AutoPilot.....

ps. Remember, if you click on a photo, it will display larger for you to enjoy.