Baltimore, MD to Chesapeake City, MD

Date            May 30, 2012                            
Day             337
Departure    Baltimore Marine Center, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD 7:05 am
Arrival         Chesapeake City Free Dock, Chesapeake City, MD  1:25 pm
Miles               52.8             
Cumulative   5429.1

The morning started out gray and rainy, with light winds and seas of 1 foot or less.  As the morning progressed, the rain stopped but the skies remained overcast. We saw  a good number of cargo ships on the Chesapeake Bay today.  Below is an example of how very large they are!

Throughout our travels on this trip, we have see an enormous amount of great blue herons and ospreys.  The herons have always been found alongside the rivers and the ospreys are usually found nesting on the top of the channel markers.  This is a first, a heron on the channel marker!!

After docking the boat and checking in at the Town Hall, we walked over to the C and D Canal Museum.  The C and D Canal Museum, which is adjacent to Chesapeake City, is housed in the old canal pump house and is open to the public, free of charge. The museum contains exhibits and canal artifacts. One of its main features is the oldest canal engine of its kind in the United States, still on its original mount.

The old canal pump house

A picture showing the old pumping plant

This steam engine was actually used to turn the water wheel used in the canal operation

We will be turning right tomorrow, towards the Delaware River

However, it looks like this caricature pointer wants us to go to the left!

Bohemia Street-the main street of Chesapeake City

Brown Eyed Girl, Erika Lin and Native Son tied at the free dock in Chesapeake City

While the crews of the boats above were sitting on the dock enjoying an evening docktail, Beth and Dean from Kismet, along with Beth's mother and sister arrived by car.  We last saw Beth and Dean in Solomons, MD almost a week ago.  Beth and Dean are docked a short distance up the C and D canal, Beth's mother and sister live in the area and came by to visit them and they all came to Chesapeake City for dinner.  Amazing how small the world is!

Memorial Day in Baltimore, MD

Date            May 28-29, 2012                            
Day             335-336
Departure    Yacht Basin Co., Annapolis, MD  7:15 am
Arrival         Baltimore Marine Center, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD  11:20 am
 Miles               31.7             
Cumulative   5422.8

May 28th-Memorial Day.  Another great day to travel on the Chesapeake.  Light winds, 1 foot seas.

Lighthouse along the route to Baltimore

Even though it is Memorial Day, the watermen are still out working on the bay.  This is a crab boat piled high with empty crab pots.

The Seven Knoll Light was built in 1855 and is the oldest screw pile lighthouse in Maryland.  It was initially installed on a shallow shoal, Seven Foot Knoll, at the mouth of the Patapsco River. The northern reach of this river is the  Baltimore Harbor, where the now-decommissioned lighthouse has been placed as a museum.

As we proceed up the Patapsco River, we pass by Fort McHenry.  Fort McHenry is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the war of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British Navy in Chesapeake Bay.  It was during the bombardment of the fort that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Fort McHenry

After we reached our destination, we went off for a visit to Fort McHenry.  It was extremely warm and humid, almost 100 degrees, but the breeze coming off the river into the fort brought some relief.   We toured the Visitor Center and watched a brief video then headed on up the hill to the fort.  We arrived at the fort just in time to view a flag changing ceremony and Lynda participated in helping to raise the new flag.

Lowering the flag that was to be removed

Holding the flag as it is about to be hoisted up the flag pole (Lynda is in the one in the middle with the hat!) and below is the new flag atop the flag pole.

A painting of the star-shaped Fort McHenry, as it appeared in 1814.

Sights around the inner harbor of Baltimore

Three of these boats came into our marina.  They are test boats for the US Navy

View of Baltimore skyline at night from the back deck of Erika Lin

May 29th - Today's weather is more of the same, hot, humid and sticky.  We decided to spend the day inside the National Aquarium in Baltimore where it was much cooler!

Puffin

Queen Triggerfish

Squirrel fish

                                                            An assortment of jellies

Solomons, MD to Annapolis, MD

Date            May 24-27, 2012                            
Day             331-334
Departure    Spring Cove Marina, Solomons, MD 8:45 am
Arrival         Yacht Basin Co., Annapolis, MD  2:25pm
Miles              52.3             
Cumulative   5391.1

Before we left Spring Cove Marina, we needed to get to a CVS pharmacy to fill a prescription for Bob.  Fortunately, there was a CVS only about a mile away, so we took the marina bicycles and headed off at 7:45 am.  We arrived at CVS as they were opening, they filled the prescription in record time and we were headed back to the boat within 10 minutes.  By 8:45 am we had cast off our lines and were pulling away from the dock, headed for Annapolis, MD.  We had another delightful day on Chesapeake Bay.  Clear blue skies, light winds  from the south and waves that were no more than 1 foot.  We encountered a few more boats on the water than we have in recent days, due to the unofficial start of the long Memorial Day weekend.  One of the things I had wanted to see on this trip was the Thomas Point Lighthouse.  It is a "screwpile" type lighthouse and we have a painting of it in our home in Connecticut.  I wasn't disappointed!

Thomas Point Lighthouse

Marc's Ark and Jim's Joy had left Solomons about two hours before us.  They were already docked in Annapolis and waiting for us to arrive .  Shortly after we arrived in Annapolis on Thursday, we made the short walk to the urgent care clinic to have Bob's elbow rechecked.  We explained why we were there, the doctor looked at the elbow, said it looked like the antibiotics were working, but wanted to see him again on Saturday.  Fortunately, it is close by to the boat and we can walk there in about 5 minutes.  On Friday we decided to take a trolley tour with Marc's Ark and Jim's Joy.  We find these tours fun, relaxing and informative.  Saturday, Marc's Ark and Jim's Joy left for Baltimore, but Brown-Eyed Girl (Ginny and Craig) arrived.  We decided to tour the US Naval Academy, but first a trip back to the doctor.  Bob was very happy to hear that the doctor would not have to drain his elbow again and that the swelling had gone down.  The doctor did advise him, however, to have it rechecked again in a few days.  Now off to the Academy.  We signed up for a guided walking tour and learned about some of the history and what the buildings were.  This year, they have a record 22,000 nominations for attendance, however, they will only accept 1,100 appointments. Then on Sunday, we went to the Annapolis Maritime Museum which is housed in the last remaining oyster packing plant in the area, the McNasby Oyster Company building.  Following are pictures of the sights in and around downtown Annapolis.

A duplex - housing for the academic staff at the Naval Academy

John Paul Jones' crypt

Model collection made by French prisoners of war.  The models are made from bones!

This large wooden POW model bears the name "Amazon" on its stern with a host of lovely decorative carvings.  Unlike its British namesake, however, it represents a French frigate of c. 1800.  The rigging is authentic - and very brittle.

Victory Bell - rung whenever Navy beats Army in ANY sports activity except football.  There is another bell used for that.

Tecumseh, painted by the Naval midshipmen on different occasions

Black Crowned Night Heron perched near our boat

"Bill" the Naval Academy mascot

Inside the general purpose hall, formerly used for ice hockey and graduations

A view up an alleyway of the Annapolis capitol building

Flat-Iron building

Artifacts from the McNasby's Seafood and Oyster Co.  This was a packing house, not a cannery.  The oysters were not cooked or pasteurized and the cans were not hermetically sealed.   The packed oysters would stay fresh for two weeks as long as they were kept on ice or in refrigerated trucks.  McNasby's "Pearl Brand" oysters were shipped as far west as Cedar Rapids, IA and served in fine restaurants throughout the Northeast

Looking over a war memorial to the Chesapeake Bay

An Unexected Side Trip in Solomons, MD

Date           May 23, 2012                            
Day            330
Departure   No travel today
Arrival        Spring Cove Marina, Solomons, MD
Miles                  0.0   
Cumulative   5338.8

Spring Cove Marina, Solomons, MD

We rode the marina bicycles to the near-by Calvert Marine Museum.  They have amazing displays of twenty-million-year-old-fossils taken from Calvert Cliffs, just a short distance from where we are staying.  They also had a section on local wooden boat-building, oystering, a marsh exhibit, Bubbles and Squeak the otters and the restored Drum Point Lighthouse.  The lighthouse was moved from it's original location at Drum Point to the Calvert Marine Museum.  It has been completely restored and is open for tours.

Whale Fossil

Drum Point Lighthouse

Bubbles, or is it Squeak?

Arrgghh!!

Look at that, this pirate must have captured the sister of the mermaid we saw last week!!

















Well, we had quite an unexpected side adventure later in the day.  Some time last week, Bob had bumped and scraped his elbow in the engine room of the boat.  It seems it became infected, because his elbow was sore to touch, red, swollen and very warm.  We went to the urgent care clinic located near the marina.  The doctor said he needed to get to the emergency room at the hospital and have it drained as there was an infection in the bursa.  The hospital was 20 miles away, we didn't have a car and the marina was closed!  Lynda called the emergency number posted at the marina, reached the marina owner and he let us take the marina pickup truck.  We spent four hours in the hospital, Bob was given an IV, they did some blood tests, an x-ray, his elbow was poked with a four-inch needle and the doctor removed 5 cc's of fluid from his elbow!

The patient

They gave him an IV of antibiotics, some pain pills, a prescription for more antibiotics to get in the morning and instructions to follow- up with the urgent care facility in Annapolis (where we will be heading tomorrow).  We finally arrived back to the boat at 1:15 am!!  Whew, what a night.
Thankfully, it appears he will make a full recovery and we won't need to delay our travels.