Baltimore, MD updated

We awoke to another beautiful sunrise on Wednesday morning, Aug. 12. 

Jonny got up and dinghied into town to go for a walk and buy some coffee. Actually, the coffee was one of the main reasons we came to Annapolis this time. When we were here to meet Stephanie and Ryan, Jonny had found a coffee shop with excellent coffee and he wanted to buy some more for the boat.

He returned quickly and we cast off of our mooring ball by 8:25 for the short four hour cruise up to Baltimore.  Our plan was to spend a few days in  Baltimore so we could get our AC fixed and pick up some items that we had shipped to Amanda’s home (Stephanie’s best friend).

The day started ourt sunny but quickly clouded up as we got out onto the bay.  It was so foggy /cloudy that at times the horizon was indistinguishable.  The sea and the sky just melded together.

But the seas were calm and there was very little boat traffic as we got to the busier waters of Baltimore. We passed  under bridges (love the bridge shots) and by some huge (Navy?) ships.

We are staying at the Anchorage Marina, a dockominium complex where we’ve stayed before. It’s in a great location, close to restaurants and tourist activities and best of all,  the AC mechanic lives aboard in the marina.  We timed our arrival perfectly because it started raining later that afternoon and it continued to pour as the day wore on. 

On Thursday morning, Woody, the AC mechanic came on board to fix our AC.  And wouldn’t you know it after he re-set it and poked around a little, it worked perfectly!  One thought was that the extreme heat over the last few days might have strained it.  But who knows.  Of course, the temperature had cooled considerably so all we could do was continue to run it over the next few days to see if it was still OK (and it was)!

Both Safeway and West Marine are just a couple of blocks away so we walked over to do some shopping. There is a most unusual contraption that runs up and down the harbor picking up garbage.  It looks like a ride at an amusement park and it does a great job!

The nearby West Marine gives a big discount to those staying at Anchorage Marina on Thursdays so we bought some supplies to refinish the teak table on the aft deck and got to work on that.  For dinner, Lynn made one of her favorite comfort foods, Pasta and Ceci (ditalini pasta and chick peas).  

On Friday, Jonny went for a long walk while Lynn did some needed cleaning before she joined some of the ladies from the marina who had invited her for lunch. It was a treat to get away with 7 other women (all boaters) for a delicious lunch at a waterfront restaurant.  

Upon returning to Zendo, Lynn and Jonny took another long walk all the way to Johns Hopkins to get flu shots at the Walgreen’s there. On the way back we walked through the beautiful (and huge) Patterson Park and passed an imposing Ukrainian Orthodox church.

On Saturdays, Baltimore has a great farmer’s market in the Fell’s Point neighborhood which is close to the marina.  This historic neighborhood is very interesting with many cobblestone streets,  renovated row houses and good restaurants and bars.

After stocking up on lots of fresh vegetables, we met Stephanie’s best friend, Amanda, at a nearby wine bar.  Amanda is a resident at Johns Hopkins and we had some items mailed to her that she kindly delivered to us.  We had a very nice time catching up with her.  The walk back to Zendo from Fell’s Point takes us up past beautifully renovated waterfront condos. Baltimore has transformed their waterfront with lots of attractive walkways that are well used by walkers and bikers. 

Upon returning to Zendo, Lynn did two large loads of laundry thinking that we would be leaving to continue our journey the next day. Some of our dockmates invited us for “docktails” and afterwards we had really delicious local corn on the cob and a great heirloom tomato salad for dinner.

We decided to delay our departure until Monday, August 17 since Sunday was rainy, dreary and the winds were a little higher than forecasted for Monday.  So we spent the day doing boat chores, a little more grocery shopping and making a slow cooker pork tenderloin dinner which turned out to be a keeper!  The next day we’ll head to Chesapeake City.

Annapolis, MD

After witnessing a beautiful sunrise on Tuesday, August 11 we continued our journey north on the Chesapeake Bay leaving Solomon’s Island at 9:30.

We were bound for Annapolis, about a five hour run.  The weather was once again sunny and very hot.  But as long as we were moving we could catch a breeze, we just needed to stay in the shade. The bay was calm so it was a pleasant and uneventful trip.

By 3:50 we had arrived in Annapolis and we stopped at the fuel dock to fill our tanks before settling into our mooring. We chose to stay in the outer harbor which though it is more bouncy, we were more likely to catch a breeze than in the quieter moorings further in.  As is always the case in this iconic boating center, we were surrounded by some pretty impressive vessels.

We cooled off a little by taking a quick dip off the swim platform but a longer swim wasn’t advisable since we were in the middle of a populated mooring field.  The swim managed to refresh us after a long hot day in the sun. 

After relaxing for a bit (and celebrating Biden’s announcement of Kamala Harris as his running mate) Jonny prepared the dinghy for our short run to dinner.

We love the Boatyard Bar and Grill which is in the Eastport section of Annapolis.  We manage to dine there every time we’re in town.  Although we usually sit outside when we eat out in this Covid era, we chose inside air conditioned seating since the restaurant had carefully spaced tables.  We also strayed from our usual choice of their crab cakes (truly the best - second only to Marilyn Bracken’s homemade version).  We shared a luscious bowl of  chilled cucumber crab soup.  Jonny ordered a seafood melange chock full of scallops, shrimp, a crab cake and clams oreganato in an herbaceous wine sauce and Lynn had the soft shell crab sandwich. We were very happy with our choices. 

By the time we left the restaurant the sun had set and we dinghied back to Zendo in the twilight.  This is such a picturesque harbor, no wonder we keep returning!

Solomon’s, MD

After being away for 3 weeks, we were happy to resume our cruise on Monday, August 9.  During our time away we had driven back to South Florida where we successfully packed up Jonny’s mom’s apartment and put her things in storage since she is staying at his brother Andy’s home while we are cruising.  We had to put on PPE while we were in Janice’s senior living facility which was pretty crazy!

We brought Janice back with us to Miami for the few days we were there.  It was nice being in our comfortable Miami condo but Covid was raging in South Florida so we had to be very careful.  We actually had to make an appointment to use the pool in our condo!

After a week in Miami we drove north (safely) visiting Natalie and Alex in Jacksonville and Cathy in Davidson, NC on our way back to Zendo which had remained docked at our marina in in Kinsale, VA.  

Our original plan was to cruise up to Philly to visit Stephanie. But Hurricane Isaias put a damper on that plan.  It was heading up the east coast so we had to scramble to prepare Zendo in case it hit us on the Chesapeake.  We spent 5 hours taking  down the bimini and Stratoglass and moving to a safer location at the marina. Of course, because of our careful preparations, the storm  wasn’t that bad. Better safe than sorry!  But because of those lost days we decided to drive to Philly instead which afforded us the opportunity to stop for lunch in Alexandria and visit our friends, Greg and Lynda which was a treat. We spent a long weekend with Stephanie and had a great time with her and Ryan walking all over the city, having some terrific meals and generally hanging out with our favorite daughter and her boyfriend, Ryan!

The delay also provided another chance to visit with our cruising friends, Liz and Steve, before our planned departure. Unfortunately, our air conditioner never got fixed so we decided to wait until we got to Baltimore where Jonny has faith that a fellow MTOA member there is lined up to help us. Luckily we still have AC in our cabins but the main saloon and galley gets beastly hot as the temperatures are close to 90 degrees and very humid.

So we finally took off on a beautiful sunny day by 9 a.m. for a 5 hour cruise to the Solomon’s.  We figured we would take two days to get to Baltimore and our second stop would be in Annapolis.  We cruised down the wide Potomac River and headed north on the Chesapeake.  It was perfect cruising weather, sunny, not much wind and very little boat traffic.

We arrived at Calvert’s Marina in Solomon’s Island about 2 p.m. and docked behind a big Nordhaven.  

By this time it was very hot and we cooled off by reading in our aft cabin with the AC blasting.  Later on we walked over to their nice big pool which fortunately was deep enough to have refreshingly cool water.

That evening we had had a light dinner on the aft deck and caught up with our family members by phone.  We then split up and separately watched our own forms of television entertainment!

Kinsale, VA

We went for a long walk to explore the grounds of the Dennis Point Marina and Campgrounds on Tuesday, July 14.  The grounds were huge with many boats on the hard including this very interesting one!

We didn’t leave until almost noon because we needed to arrive at White Hall Marina, our home port, at low tide.  Because we have a covered slip and a flybridge, we have to time our entry accordingly so we don’t have to remove the flybridge to get in. Only the radar had to be taken down. We were happy to return to White Hall  - it’s a well run marina with competent and caring staff, great docks, a lovely wooded setting and a sparkling pool!

After a short two hour run across the Potomac from Maryland to Virginia, we arrived and settled in for a couple of days of boat repairs and cleaning.  Our plan is to get started on the installation of the new generator exciter and arrange for the air conditioner to be repaired while we drive down to Miami for a week to ten days.  We need to pack up Janice’s apartment and put her things in storage.  Her senior living facility is still in lockdown mode and she is staying at Andy’s for now until we return from our cruising this year, at which time she’ll stay with us.  Hopefully, once this pandemic settles down, she will be able to move back to Willow Wood, which had really felt like home to her until this. 

In the late afternoon, we went for a refreshing swim and started working our way through the food in the refrigerator.   Next day was more of the same - repairing, cleaning, swimming and talking to family.  

That evening we took a long walk on the beautiful property surrounding the marina.

Can you see the rather interesting shape of the right side of the tree on the next photo?

We ended up at a beautiful point of land on the river where there appears to be an abandoned fish processing plant

or maybe an oyster fishery!

We were graced by a dramatic sunset 

and an even more stunning sunrise the following morning.

Our blog entries will resume when we return from Miami and continue our cruise. Until then...

St. Mary’s City and Dryden, MD

We continued our journey on the mouth of the Potomac River on Monday, July 13 at 8:20 and headed to St. Mary’s City.  This is a beautiful area that we had visited 5 years ago. We loved it so much that we were eager to visit again. It is a the site of the first capital of Maryland and it’s graced by St. Mary’s College, a small state-funded honors college. The setting is bucolic and perfect for boaters as the college is known for its sailing program. After a short one hour cruise, we arrived there with only one other boat in sight. We dropped anchor, dinghied in and tied up at the school’s large and impressive boat house.

Everything was closed due to COVID so we just strolled through the lovely campus and then over to the historic cemetery that looks out on the St. Mary’s River and the Potomac. There are gravestones dating from the 1600’s!  That’s because St. Mary’s City was the fourth oldest permanent English settlement in the U.S.  It was founded by Lord Calvert and is known for being the birthplace for religious freedom in the U.S. having been established specifically to be a haven for both Catholic and Protestant religious faiths. Unfortunately there are no original dwellings from those early times but some of the buildings have been recreated.

There’s also a replica of one of the ships that brought the original settlers over from England. 

We strolled around the pastoral grounds imagining what life must have been like in this tiny colonial “city” in the new world. Some of the grounds were subdivided to show where archeologists have found traces of structures and other artifacts.

We finally tore ourselves away and headed back to Zendo and on to our final destination for the day, Dennis Point Marina and Campground in the town of Drayden, MD.  It was just a short one hour cruise. 

Tying up at the slip we were assigned was not a fun experience.  We had to back in because there was just a short finger pier and we wanted a starboard tie.  That is usually not a problem, but their tie up posts were not easy and the marina offered no assistance.  After about 30 minutes, we were finally tied up properly.  But when we plugged into the shore power and turned on the AC which was desperately needed after all that work, the AC switched off immediately.  We were so frustrated we were ready to untie everything and leave but Jonny diagnosed a bad power stand on the dock and switched to another one. All good. We went up to the marina office to sign in and pay and learn about the pool and other basic amenities and discovered that the pool was closed! The owner said that COVID requirements were that they couldn’t keep the pool open unless management was on site and management was leaving.  Hence, no pool and obviously no swimming in the river because of the jellyfish!

Oh well, at least we had AC on board. So we went back to Zendo to relax and read.  Oops! No more AC in the salon! It just stopped working.  Jonny was very frustrated.  He did what he could to try to fix it but there wasn’t much he could do. Because there are actually two units, we at least had it in the cabins (bedrooms).  The day was starting to cool off (a tiny bit) but the temps have been in the 90’s.

We settled in and relaxed until the 6:00 FaceTime call we had scheduled with our good friends Peter and Paula in MA. Lynn has known Peter since grammar school and we both know Paula from UConn where all four of us went to college.  We had a great time catching up with them and that call was followed by one with Greg in Charlottesville, another of Lynn’s childhood buddies and then surprisingly a call from Mark in Portland, OR, yet another of Lynn’s childhood friends who she hadn’t seen since the last high school reunion 10 years ago!  What a great bookend to a day that could have been more frustrating than fun!

We finished up the evening with a light salad for dinner and an early night of reading in our cool cabin.  We’ll sign off this entry on a pleasant note with this shot of Zendo in the harbor back in St. Mary’s City.

Point Lookout, Ridge, MD

On Sunday morning, July 12, Jonny ventured out to paddle among the jelly fish.  We recently learned that they are called nettles in this part of the world. And there were many of them. Apparently they arrived a month early this year - lucky us!  

While he paddled, Lynn settled in to start watching her favorite Sunday morning political shows.  But that was short-lived as Jonny was anxious to shove off. And so we did at 10:10 bound for the Potomac River.

The bay was sparkling and calm and though the temperature was still hot, there was much less humidity.  There was surprisingly little boat traffic.  We continued watching our morning shows until George Stephanopolous’ show mysteriously stopped broadcasting and ran endless commercials at which point we tuned into some other shows until we burned out on watching the depressing spectacle of our nation’s politics.

As we turned onto Smith Creek, we passed this pretty and unusual blue-roofed barn.

We arrived at Point Lookout Marina just inside the mouth of the Potomac River at 2:30.  We are continuing to stay at marinas for now because it’s so hot that we want to use our AC and our generator is broken so we can only use the AC while at marinas.  This one had good reviews so we thought we would give it a try.

We tied up with the helpful aide of the owner, a friendly woman named Jennifer whose reputation in the reviews had preceded her. There were very few boats on the docks, but as we explored the grounds we discovered many on the hard in the adjacent boatyard. The marina did have a pool but getting to it required us to walk through a hot dusty parking lot and the boatyard.  It was nowhere near as attractive as the pool at Spring Cove plus it was filled with kids.  We walked back to Zendo and relaxed and read in the coolness and comfort of Zendo’s AC.  

Before long and after a brief nap, it was 5:00 and we had lost our motivation to go swimming. Instead, we opted to try the marina’s on-site restaurant.  We donned our masks and walked over and were seated on their porch overlooking attractive grounds, a small koi pond and the river.  We were the only guests until finally about 6 tables were filled, all appropriately socially distanced. We had a surprisingly good dinner of steamed shrimp, crab cakes and especially delicious green beans (with garlic).  

Seated nearby was a couple who had recently docked behind us.  We were immediately attracted to them because they had a Catalina 30 sailboat, much like the one we used to have.  They were a very nice couple from Kentucky and were interested in our transition to a trawler.  We chatted with them for a bit  and invited them to come on board later to see Zendo.

They took us up on our offer and came aboard and it was clear that Rita was particularly impressed with the comfort level of a trawler vs. a sailboat.  Lynn got a kick out of the fact that she had read most of the books that Lynn had lying around and mentioned being active in the Black Lives Matter movement  back home in Kentucky.  This was a welcome antidote to the not uncommon siting of Trump flags on boats that we have encountered on this cruise.

After a beautiful sunset,  we just read and retired early.