Wednesday

May 17, 2017

Yesterday, we took off from St. Michaels, MD and headed to Chestertown, MD.  It was a beautiful ride on a winding river.  The day was warm and the wind was kind.  Our friends took off for Annapolis, across the Chesapeake Bay.  We tend to spend more time at the smaller towns, so we stayed on the eastern side of the Bay.

Elwood was squished behind Joell and happy about it.  He must have thought we would be in for another ruff day on the water.

Noticed this "Sand Bar" along the way at a marina along the Chester River...

This is the name of the mobile bar Mike built at SSYC...

Looks like they used a work/crabber boat to make the bar...

These two houses were in Chestertown.  One very old and one very new.

This large brick home is known as the Hynson-Ringgold House.  It hosted George Washington in 1773.  It also hosted Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry, and other Revolutionary leaders as they traveled throughout the region.  It was donated to Washington College and now is home to the College President.

The pink shown in the above home really was in the picture.  There is a red roof that reflects up from the porch on the home.  Pretty cool!

Interesting about the above building is traditionally it is known as the Custom House.  Yet it seems the office of His Majesty's Customs was likely in the building below.  This mansion was in fact the home of Thomas Ringgold, a merchant, lawyer, and prominent advocate of American liberty, although he was also a large-scale slave trader.

Chestertown is not very large by todays standards, but around the Revolutionary War era, it had become the largest and most important town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, with thriving cultural and educational institutions.  In 1782, Washington College-the first college founded in the newly independent United States- was established here.  Today Chestertown water traffic comes from recreational boating.

We left Chestertown early Wednesday (before 6:00am) morning and headed up the Chesapeake Bay to our undecided destination.  The River was beautiful in the early morning sunrise and the wind was calm.  

After over seven hours of driving, we arrived at Georgetown, MD for a two night stay.  The Chesapeake was so calm, we decided to head further than originally planned.  When the going is good, the boat gets going 😀