We left Annapolis by 10:30 bound for Baltimore. It was a sunny day but a bit cool. We passed an array of kids racing their little sailboats which is always fun to watch.
It was also pretty windy which made for a somewhat uncomfortable passage. The bay settled down some once we got to the Patapsco River.
This time instead of staying at Anchorage Marina where we usually stay, we stayed at Lighthouse Point Marina just down the waterfront a bit. We chose to stay here because it is an Oasis Marina and we had won a large gift certificate for Oasis Marinas at the last MTOA Rendezvous and we wanted to take advantage of the free dockage before our cruising season ends.
Upon arriving after our four hour cruise, we were surprised to see how few boats were in the marina. We were quite pleased, though, to see a sign welcoming us at our designated slip. That was a first for us!
It turned out the marina had recently been totally refurbished and that and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge resulted in less business for them this season. The dockmaster was very friendly and helpful and the marina had fine services and accommodations. Our plan was to stay here for four or five nights nights because Jonny had scheduled a team to detail Zendo and we find it very comfortable staying along Baltimore’s attractive waterfront.
The cleaning crew arrived bright and early on Monday morning and spent four plus hours with five workers cleaning and polishing every nook and cranny on the outside of Zendo. It has never looked so clean in the ten years that we’ve had her! The team was friendly and professional and the price was less than what we we had ever paid in the past. Needless to say, we were very happy!
That night we returned to Ne Ha for another excellent Chinese dinner. This is the restaurant that Stephanie and Ryan had found when they visited us a couple of weeks ago.
On Tuesday, the museum we had wanted to visit was closed so we walked to Fell’s Point to have lunch at Bunny’s Buckets & Bubbles. But upon our arrival we discovered that it wasn’t open for lunch on Tuesdays. So instead we went to nearby Cooper’s Tavern which turned out to be quite good. We sat outside at this historic tavern which was creatively decorated for Halloween. Jonny had a terrific burger and I had my first soft shell crab of this trip.
We had a relaxing rest of the day and skipped dinner as we often do when we have a big lunch.
On Wednesday we took an Uber to go to the Baltimore Museum of Art where we spent a couple of hours wandering through their very large collection. They had a particularly extensive collection of Matisse’s works along with many other Impressionists. In addition, they had a fascinating Native American collection, a large African collection and some very interesting modern art installations. It was a lot to take in and it was well worth our visit.
That evening we finally got to Bunny’s, Buckets &Bubbles for dinner. Stephanie and I had been here for lunch a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It’s very kitschy and it features excellent fried chicken and other goodies and emphasizes pairing them with a large selection of champagnes. It sounds like an odd combination but it works. We shared a smoked trout appetizer, a fried chicken dinner and delicious shrimp and grits and of course, a bottle of champagne. It was a lot of fun!
After dinner we walked back to Zendo along the waterfront with a beautiful sunset lighting the way. The next day we will be heading up the Bay to the Sassafras River where we were given another gift certificate for two nights to a marina there. Lucky us!
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