After a short two hour cruise we arrived at the Chestertown Marina and tied up on our own. I immediately called in for my lesson with no problem. The marina sits at the end of the Chester River, one of the longest rivers on the Eastern Shore. The marina was a very nice one but strangely it had very few boats in it probably because it’s late in the season and a weekday. But we didn’t mind as it was close to the town and a park and we could walk Archie nearby without a leash.
Chestertown had been recommended to us and described as second only to Annapolis for its charm, architecture and history. We definitely agree! It’s a lovely town with beautiful, well-kept homes, attractive and interesting shops and restaurants and a clearly affluent population.
It also has one of the coolest bookstores we’ve ever seen. It looked very small from the street but it had numerous small rooms chock full of books and organized in a unique manner with whole sections on the presidents, espionage, boating, the Chesapeake, etc.
The next morning Jonny picked up some delicious croissants from a local bakery - the best and most flaky croissants we’ve had since being in Paris.
Michael Bracken came to pick us up on Wednesday to bring us to his parents’ beach house in Bethany Beach. We stayed with him for a couple of days which was great. The beach there is gorgeous - wide and deep, and sparsely populated at this time of year. We spent many hours walking along the shore. Archie loved it and discovered sand crabs which he chased into the water. He must have run a hundred miles up and down the beach in two days!
We strolled along the boardwalk and through the cute town of Bethany Beach, a lot quieter than usual now that the season is over.
Jonny and Michael went for a long bike ride and rewarded themselves afterwards at a local pub. We ate out both nights, once in Bethany and the second time in Rehoboth Beach where we discovered a particularly delicious restaurant called Shorebreak. It had fine food and incredible deals that night with half price bottles of wine and 50% off the second entree! Unfortunately, Christina wasn’t arriving until the next day so we would miss her but Michael now has a new place to take her for dinner!
On Friday, we packed up the car so Michael could take us back to Chestertown. Ophelia was making its way up the east coast and we wanted to be sure that Zendo was well secured at the dock. But as we started to leave, the car was not sounding right and Michael wisely decided to take it in to get checked (hopefully just a new battery). He had to leave the car and rent one which delayed us some but we were in no hurry. Returning to the marina, Michael helped Jonny add more lines and secure the boat before heading out to pick up Christina who was flying into Salisbury. We were all worried that she might get stuck in Philadelphia due to the storm. Fortunately, Christina made it and wasn’t too terribly delayed.
For the next couple of days we hunkered down aboard Zendo waiting for the storm to pass through. It was very windy and rainy but we had no problems and just stayed cozy on board except to walk Archie between downpours. On Saturday night we ventured out for a date night to have dinner at a restaurant called Watershed Alley that had been highly recommended by a few people we met. We bundled up in our boating wet gear in case it started raining again and walked to the restaurant. Fortunately the rain held off. The restaurant lived up to its reputation. The food was excellent and we had a lovely evening together!
On Sunday we started to prepare the boat for our first visitors of the season. Addie and Lange have begun a tradition of staying with us each year on my birthday. They will meet us in Baltimore for a couple of days to help me celebrate turning 70 years young! That evening I made a new recipe from the New York Times - a fish Provencal with shrimp and squid. It was a big hit - very savory and delicious.
The next day we will travel six hours to Baltimore where we’ll be staying for the next 12 days. We will be volunteering at TrawlerFest by staffing an MTOA booth with the goal of recruiting new members to MTOA. After Addie and Lange leave, Stephanie will give me my favorite birthday present by coming to visit for the weekend!
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