Next time DC

  There is so much to see in our nations Capital and everything is far away from each other. There is no way you can do justice to the city in a couple of days. I think you could spent a few months here and not see everything.  So there is always the next trip back.

    We had plans to anchor out, but the weather said otherwise.  We had a very long day on the water when we left DC and headed to Solomons MD.  That s about 150 nautical miles. We made it in 8 hours.  We plan to stay here until the weather clears. It probably will be on Saturday when we can leave. Our plan then would be to anchor out on our way to the York River, then on to visit Yorktown and Jamestown.

Perfect day in the city

   Today was such a beautiful sunny day, mid 70's no humidity.  It was a great day to be a tourist.  We booked out tickets for the trolley and had to walk about 20 mins. to one of the stops to pick it up. That stop was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  We waited about 1/2 hour for the trolley to arrive.  Once on board the driver told us about the new African American History Museum opening along with a large festival that was being held today.  Along with that came a bunch of road closures.  The trolley could not go down to the memorials which is where we wanted to go.   The closest stop was near the White House and we would have to walk the rest of the way. So off the trolley and begin the walking.  It was a long long way to  get to anything really, but we did fine   We went slow but we made it to the Lincoln Memorial, Washlngton Monument, Korean War Memorial, and the World War II Memorial.

After that we walked through the African American Festival which was going on and stopped to here some music.

That is the new African American Memorial that was just opened today.


    We walked back to the White House stop and had lunch at the outdoor restaurant at the Willard Hotel.
 

After lunch we got back on the trolley and stopped at Union Station. The Capital.

Our last stop was back at the Air and Space Museum  and another 20 min walk back to the boat.

Tomorrow we will do it all over again and see the sites we missed today. For now I am going to soak my feet and hope they work tomorrow.

Washington DC

    We have made it to DC.  Over the years we have visited here either by car or plane, but to come on your own boat is pretty cool.

    The Potomac river on the 2nd day was not as nice as the 1st day,  It was a cloudy day with northerly winds. It was a little bumpy at times just to remind you that you are on the water.    We passed by Mount Vernon. Fort Washington, and Reagan National Airport.

We settled in at the marina and started to make plans about touring the city.   We decided to buy 2 day  tickets for the hop on hop off trolley tour for the next day.  Hopefully that will  be the way to see everything and not half to walk so much.

Up the Potomac we go

    Now I know I said that our next destination was Solomons, MD, but I changed my mind. BTW  that drives Bob crazy. You would think he would get used to it after 40 years. The weather was so perfect on the Chesapeake that I hated stopping at noon to anchor out for the night.  It was also a hot day, so the later at anchor the better.  The only boat we saw was this tanker heading probably to Baltimore and you can see how calm the water is.
 

      

     We have decided to take the side trip up to Washington DC after all.   We had planned on doing it but then I fell and we were unsure if I could do it.  I think I can handle it by taking the on and off buses that the cities have for tourist.   

    We have heard that the locks at the beginning of the ICW at Norfolk are flooded and there is no time table when they will reopen . So that made our decision to go up the Potomac.   We are anchored out tonight off of one of the many small inlets off the river.  Tomorrow we should make it up to DC

Last Day

    The sun was finally shining today. The weather was perfect, warm with no humidity.

    We took a walk in to town this morning to see what was there.  It is your typical tourist town with gift shops and restaurants and ice cream shops.

    It was a short 2 blocks to town so that was very doable for me.

        Later in the afternoon we went to hang out by the pool.  The pool water was a bit chilly with all the clouds and rain that we have had.  We just relaxed on the lounge chairs.

We went to have lunch at the Town Dock restaurants.  I happen to love oysters on the half shell. I saw them on the menu and decided that I would splurge on this last day here. I ordered a dozen, 1/2 were Delaware Bay and the other were from Crisfield, Md.

  Now I am a fan of oysters, but do you see the size of those suckers. The largest ones were from Crisfield, MD.  I have no idea what kind of face I was making.  Just look at the oysters.  I did manage to eat most of them, but not the way your suppose to.  They were tasty.

   Tonight we will be watching the patriots game.  GO PATRIOTS


   

Hanging in St.Michaels

    For all of you who have been wondering about my feet after the fall, I am getting better every day.  So I think Dr Bob was correct in his diagnosis of just badly bruised feet.  I have been walking around with just a little limp.

    We left Annapolis and went about 3 hours(driving slow) to St Michael's Marina.  We have read that its a great marina in the center of all that St.Michael's has to offer.  It has not failed in that reputation.  There are 2 restaurants at the marina including a pool, a a couple of blocks from the town.

    When we arrived on Sunday the weather was great we sat at the tiki bar at  one of the restaurants and enjoyed the afternoon.  Then on Monday the rain came all day and night. We pretty much stayed on the boat and did work.  On Tuesday it was showers on and off, so we decided to rent a car and some provisioning.

   Wednesday it was still cloudy, but no rain in the forecast. We still had the rental car so we went over to the Chesapeake Maritime Museum. We could have walked there, but we had the car so we saved my feet.  Bob enjoyed it as this is what he likes to see. He is all about the history of places.

    Thursday we plan to walk in to the town and explore St. Michael's. ( we heard from the driver from enterprise that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have homes here) maybe we'll meet them in town.


    Friday morning we plan to leave and head to Solomons, Md on the west side of the bay. Our plan is to anchor out for the next few days.  St.Michael's is not inexpensive so wee need to save money on our next few nights.



 

these photos of are me in my new air boots,2nd one shows all the lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay and the 3rd is the DrumPoint Lighthuose

Hanging in St.Michaels

    For all of you who have been wondering about my feet after the fall, I am getting better every day.  So I think Dr Bob was correct in his diagnosis of just badly bruised feet.  I have been walking around with just a little limp.

    We left Annapolis and went about 3 hours(driving slow) to St Michael's Marina.  We have read that its a great marina in the center of all that St.Michael's has to offer.  It has not failed in that reputation.  There are 2 restaurants at the marina including a pool, a a couple of blocks from the town.

    When we arrived on Sunday the weather was great we sat at the tiki bar at  one of the restaurants and enjoyed the afternoon.  Then on Monday the rain came all day and night. We pretty much stayed on the boat and did work.  On Tuesday it was showers on and off, so we decided to rent a car and some provisioning.

   Wednesday it was still cloudy, but no rain in the forecast. We still had the rental car so we went over to the Chesapeake Maritime Museum. We could have walked there, but we had the car so we saved my feet.  Bob enjoyed it as this is what he likes to see. He is all about the history of places.

    Thursday we plan to walk in to the town and explore St. Michael's. ( we heard from the driver from enterprise that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have homes here) maybe we'll meet them in town.


    Friday morning we plan to leave and head to Solomons, Md on the west side of the bay. Our plan is to anchor out for the next few days.  St.Michael's is not inexpensive so wee need to save money on our next few nights.



 

Annapolis

    The second day we took the water taxi to shore to see the city.  Taking the walking tour did not seem to be a good idea, but we wanted to see the city.  We stopped at the visitor center and they suggested this tour in an electric car.  It was a great tour with a great tour guide.  Bob and I were the only ones for the tour. He took us around the city with a good history about the sights he stopped at.  We got to see things like the Capital of the State, great neighborhoods, Naval Academy all other historical spots.  I did not get a lot of pictures but there are a couple took.

     There is a schooner from New York called America that is here.   I read that Jimmy Buffet was in town a coupe of days ago and went on a sail in the Chesapeake on the America.

    The evenings have been pretty rocking and rolling on the mooring which has made my sleeping even worse than normal.  We are leaving to go to a marina for the weekend.

Short Hop

    We decided we needed a change in scenery, so we went 18 or so miles over to the western shore of the
Bay to Annapolis Harbor.  Seeing how I have a couple of bum feet, we though that a mooring ball would be easier to handle than another slip.   I grabbed it on the first try,

    In Annapolis Harbor they offer mooring balls along with slip at different Marinas. They also have a water taxi that will take you anywhere around the harbor.  Again with me and my feet the water taxi was a much safer way to to go ashore than the dinghy.

   On our first night we went ashore to Pussers Caribbean Grill.  We had to have the famous pain killers along with some apps.  We had an outdoor table with the view of the harbor and our boat. We went back to the boat and enjoyed the beautiful night in the harbor.

   

My name is Denise, I am a Klutz

     For everyone that knows me that title to this post is true.  I go through times in my life that I am walking , talking and trying to do too many things at the same time.   Which often gets me in trouble.  I once had a 4 year stretch that I broke something each year.  Which brings me to my current predicament.

    We have had a lovely time here at Rock Hall Landing Marina. This marina is well set up with a beautiful pool, which we went and hung out there yesterday. It also has nice bathrooms and showers along with laundry.   We took out the free bikes and did some errands in town.  Later in the evening we went out to dinner to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Bob always gives me a card asking me to renew his contract for another year, which I did  So far so good.
   
    When we came back to the boat as I was climbing in, I was not watching where I was stepping and fell into the boat.  I seriously rolled my right foot over and smashed my left foot too.  Bob saw it happen and knew what the outcome was.   I don't know if I broke my foot or badly bruised it, but it hurt like a son of a gun.  I can't put any pressure on the right foot without almost passing out but the left foot is a little better.   I can jump on one foot to get to the bathroom. I am spending the day sitting on the settee with my foot raised and iced. Its a good thing that I signed Bob on for another year contract. He has been taking very good care of me.

    We are going to be spending more time here than expected.  I need to be able to put pressure on my foot to continue on our adventure.  I have ordered crutches and a boot to use in a couple of days, so hopefully that will help.
 
    Here are some photos that I took today (my kids want more pictures)

 

   

Chesapeake Bay

    We left Cape May around 7:30am and found the Delaware river doable.  It  was a little rough at the beginning with the wide opening out to the Atlantic Ocean, but as you went north it got alot smoother.  There is nothing to see on the Delaware river just like the New Jersey Coast but you have to cross them to get to the fun stuff.

    We stayed at a little marina in Delaware City. It was such a hot day we just checked in, did laundry and spent the rest of the day inside the boat with air conditioning.

     The next morning we left about the same time we left Cape May and entered the CD canal (that's the Chesapeake and Delaware canal).  Finally we have reached the Chesapeake Bay.  Now I don't know why I get excited to reach this place, because its so much wider than Narragansett Bay that it can be unpredictable weather wise. Today was a pretty calm day and we made it to Rock Hall Landing Marina.  We will be here a few days and try to plan out what we want to see in the Chesapeake, before we hit Norfolk which is the beginning of the ICW (intracoastal waterway)

    We had lunch at the Waterman's Crab house and enjoyed crab cake sandwichs and a pitcher of beer.

Moving again

   We finally released the lines and headed south.   Spent 8 nights here at Half Moon Bay and the marina was safe and walkable but it was time to go.

    Left around 11:00am after Bob walked to the CVS to pick up our prescriptions, and we got the all important pump out.  You see nothing makes me happier than an empty tank for the head. We headed south to Sandy Point NJ. We anchored out for the night and it was a warm night, pretty uncomfortable with out air conditioning.

    Left around 7:00am with 2 destinations. One was Atlantic City which we would have reached by 1:00pm and Cape May NJ with an arrival around 3:30pm.  The Jersey coast was behaving itself so we decided to go to Cape May.  We are safely tied to a dock at Canyon Club Marina.

    Tomorrow we will head up the Delaware River and be closer to the Chesapeake Bay.

Waiting for storms to clear

    We are at Half Moon Bay Marina waiting for Hermine to clear from the Jersey Coast and for the seas to calm down to a reasonable height.  It looks like it might be the end of next week before that happens.  We will keep checking the forecast.

    This little town is walkable from the marina and has everything that you would need. There is also a river walk that goes right by the marina as well.  We have been getting out and walking everyday.

    We did rent a car for a couple of days to try to see some things, but there were so many road closures that we came across with no detours to follow. It was a rainy day so we gave up trying to get to West Point and found a West Marine store.  Boaters will never pass up on a marine store, so Bob went in and picked up a few items. The second day we just ran errands to the laundromat and post office and grocery store to pick up water bottles.

    So as you can see there is nothing too exciting to post about right now.