Oxford, MD on the Trett Avon River

On Memorial Day we arrived in Oxford Maryland which is located on the Trett Avon River off of the Little Choptank River on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake.  At first we thought we would anchor near the mouth of the the harbor leading into the town but we decided to cruise into the narrow harbor to "check the town out" from the water,  We were immediately entranced with its charm.  As we looked at the various marinas, we found one that had remarkably low rates and was located in a perfect spot. It didn't take much arm twisting to go for it and that's how we ended up at Oxford Yacht Agency.

The Oxford Yacht Agency is primarily a broker and marina for Grand Banks yachts and we were the only non-Grand Banks there.  Surrounded by those beautiful trawlers was a real treat and the name of the boat docked next to us reflected our feelings.

This marina was not the typical modern marina. Instead, it looked like a weathered New England village with natural shingles and a homey vibe.  

 John, the owner, was extremely helpful in pointing out the features of the five restaurants and ice cream parlor we had to choose from.  He recommended that we first go to the Oxford Mews (the local food market) to buy sandwiches and eat them in the waterfront park across the street to get a real "feel" for the town. We took his advice and walked the couple of blocks through this incredibly quaint and well maintained town to enjoy a breezy lunch in a beautiful spot.

 Afterwards we walked all around the town with one street looking prettier than the next.

We also chose this marina because Jonny had to do his first oil change by himself on Zendo and he needed to take the head apart and see if he could fix it.  John was willing to be there as a coach for Jonny and help him where necessary.  This was a real advantage in allowing us to see if we (Jonny) could handle the repairs ourselves with a little professional consultation as needed!

The first evening in Oxford we had dinner at the Key West-type restaurant that had very good crab cakes and a great view of the sunset.

Docking here also provided a great and affordable place to leave the boat for a couple of days so we could rent a car and drive the five hours to Connecticut to attend Aunt Pearl's funeral and then spend a day at Stephanie's in Parsippany to help pack up her apartment for her move to the Philadelphia area.

Upon returning from our short trip north, we spent the day doing repairs and trip planning.  Jonny did a great job with the oil change (saving us over $600) and was able to take the head apart and find the source of the problem.  Unfortunately in doing so, we found that the solution required some new parts which we won't be able to get for a couple of weeks.  Lynn wasn't originally convinced that we needed two heads on a 36 foot boat, but she is certainly convinced of it now!

That night we ate at another of the four restaurants in town and enjoyed a delicious meal. We have to leave the next day to continue on our journey but we could happily spend more time in this slow-paced and lovely town and hope to return another time. 

Solomons Island, MD

On May 23, we arrived in the Solomons, on the western short of the Chesapeake, after a sunny cruise with one to two foot seas.  Even though we knew that Solomons was a major boating center, we were unprepared to see all the marinas and the large number of  boats traversing the waters.  All of a sudden we had to be very cautious of heavy boat traffic moving this way and that!  We had reservations at the very friendly (and cost effective) Calvert’s Marina.  We borrowed the courtesy car, an old Mercedes, and drove into “town” to the grocery store and fish market.  Since one of our goals was to eat as many soft shell crabs as we could get our hands on, we eagerly bought four fresh ones from the local fish market.  

While Jonny washed down the boat (you wouldn’t believe how salt–encrusted it can become running through the Chesapeake), Lynn made the best soft shell crab dinner we’ve ever had!  These were fat, juicy and succulent and along with corn on the cob and salad, we had a meal as good as, if not better, than any we could get at a fine restaurant!
The next morning we took the dinghy just across the inlet to the Calvert Maritime Museum.  There were several highlights here including a real lighthouse that had been transported from the bay to this spot.  It was one of the old fashioned lighthouses that the keeper lived in with his family.  The museum also had displays of the many wooden boats used in the Chesapeake as well as an aquarium and displays of endangered and invasive species of fish and plants.   

Later that afternoon we left to cross the Chesapeake on a four hour run.   Although we had checked the winds, the ride was pretty rough.  We had to carefully “batten down the hatches” as the boat was rocking so much that the heavy salon table fell over as did many other miscellaneous  items.  Unfortunately, we did not do a good enough job of securing every little thing (i.e. one of the toilet lids) because the little rubber sink plug in the forward head must have popped off the counter and into the toilet.  When we went to use it, an awful noise ensued and that was the end – at least for now- of that head!  Good thing we have two of them!

Sadly we learned that afternoon that Jonny’s Aunt Pearl died in Connecticut at age 94.  Fortunately, Jonny had just gone to visit her knowing that the end was near.  We stayed at a peaceful anchorage that evening on Fish Creek off of the Little Choptank River surrounded by lovely homes as we figured out how we could get to her funeral.

St. Mary’s City, MD

---

On our way back down the Potomac from Alexandria, we visited St. Mary’s City located on the St. Mary River which is on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.  St. Mary’s City was Maryland’s first colonial settlement with the arrival of the passengers in two vessels, The Ark and The Dove in 1633.  It was also the first capital of Maryland and remained so for 50 years until the capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695.  The original buildings are no longer here but it is now the center of extensive archeological research and essentially a living history museum.  It is well worth a stop for a number of reasons.
It is the home of St. Mary’s College, an honors college within the Maryland public university system.  The college is situated on a beautiful bay adjacent to the historic town. The setting is out of this world!  We pulled up at the college’s docks and the dock director and an enthusiastic student oriented us to what the school and the town had to offer.  St. Mary’s College has an extensive collection of sailboats and rowing vessels. In fact, this year they hosted the annual collegiate sailing championship for which this is a perfect location!

We took our bikes out to cruise the grounds of the college and the historic area.  Although the original dwellings from the 1600’s do not remain, partial and full reproductions of many of them have been created in the spaces that they think the originals stood.  Guides in period costume regaled us with stories about life in colonial times.  Meandering through open fields, meadows and winding waterside trails was like stepping back to a more peaceful time (though the American Revolution was anything but peaceful)! The most beautiful spot was the very old cemetery behind the church that looked out over the bay  in which we anchored that evening. 


There was a reconstructed replica of the Dove, as mentioned above.  Lynn was particularly interested to see the Dove because it was a type of boat called a pinnace – a smaller vessel that often was used to transport goods in colonial times.  She has been reading the Outlander series and this is one of the boats that is featured in the third book of the series. 


Later in the afternoon, we left the college dock and anchored out in this beautiful serene setting.
c

Alexandria, VA and Washington, D.C.

---

On Monday, May 18, we arrived at the Alexandria City Marina (next to Founders Park )where we planned to dock for the next three nights.  Our good friends, Greg and Lynda Gallagher, who live in Alexandria (on the way to Mt. Vernon) graciously invited us to stay with them which we gladly accepted.  Lynn has known Greg since they were in 7th grade and she finds him endlessly entertaining!

You won’t see the usual D.C.  pictures here as we spent our time with our friends and revisiting a few of our favorite places, some of which are not on the traditional tourist path.

Docking in Old Town Alexandria allowed us to walk the historic streets and eat at some of their really good restaurants.  We met a good friend for lunch in Old Town.  Judith Chew brought us a unique boat gift which she and her recently departed husband, Richard, had a lot of fun with on their beautiful Hinkley sailboat.  The “fun-erator” is a specially contrived sling for shooting water balloons. We can hardly wait to use it on her stepson, Stephan and his wife, Kathy when they visit us in Montreal!

We had a few places that we really wanted to visit including the National Arboretum, the Capital Hill neighborhood where Lynn used to live and Eastern Market.  Greg loaned us his fancy new car (Fiat 500 Abarth) instructing us to be absolutely sure not to put a ding in it.  If we did, we should just “get it over with” and total the damn car!  Needless to say, we were extremely careful that day!

Lynn really wanted to see the brilliant azalea covered hillsides at the National Arboretum but we were just a little too late. Fortunately, the dogwoods were in full bloom and they were outstanding!

We drove by Lynn’s old home on Capital hill - such a cool area. Hers is in the first two pictures  The third shows homes in the neighborhood. 

We stopped at Eastern Market (a wonderful old indoor, outdoor market on Capital Hill) to buy flowers and cheese for our hostess.  Lynda and Greg were so good to us with Lynda cooking two delicious dinners after getting up at 4:30 each morning and working all day teaching school!  Thank you Lynda and I can’t believe we don’t have a picture of you with which to grace our blog!

 

Lynn spent Wednesday morning getting her hair cut while Jonny and Greg donned their cycling “outfits” and rode up to Mt. Vernon and back. What a handsome pair they made!

Afterwards we had lunch at an “old favorite” chili restaurant called Hard Times Café on King St which was within walking distance of the first home that we owned.

    

Greg dropped us off at the Metro so we could go to Dupont Circle and visit the Phillips Collection, Lynn’s favorite museum in D.C.  Out of all the outstanding museums we could visit, we chose this one and we were not disappointed in the least!

 

On Wednesday night, after a yummy pizza dinner in Old Town,  Greg dropped us off so we we could spend the night on the boat and get an early start the next morning. 

We had the most wonderful visit and look forward to the next time we can see these very special friends!

Journey to Alexandria

---

On our journey to Alexandria and Washington, D.C., we stayed at an anchorage on  the Mattawoman Creek off the Potomac River and just northeast of Quantico.  In October, a local marina on the Creek hosts the biggest bass fishing tournament on the east coast. You would never know based on the few number of boats we saw in this area. We passed an interesting sight on the way which was a graveyard of wooden boats.  During World War I, the U.S. quickly built and deployed a fleet of flimsily constructed wooden steamers in response to German submarines destroying much of our shipping.  However, this new fleet was the victim of bureaucratic snafus of a major proportion and only a fraction(about 200) of the 1000 planned ships were ever completed with very few done in time to use for the war effort.  After the war, they were sold for scrap, stripped and burned to the waterline.  Those and other abandoned boats are now located in nearby Mallows Bay and are being reclaimed by nature you can see just a few remnants of their hulks when cruising by. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we proceeded up the Potomac we passed this day marker and beautiful Mount Vernon on the banks of the river.  We knew that we were almost in Alexandria!

 

 

We’ll be spending the next few days exploring our old haunts in Alexandria and D.C. and visiting some close friends there.