Thursday

May 18, 2017

Today it is 91 degrees, hot and sunny.  

As you see in the pictures, we are under blue sky's.  Just like Milwaukee the spring temps here are constantly changing.  We will be in high 60's by Saturday.  

We are enjoying the Georgetown area atmosphere.  Visited two large antique stores in Galena, MD and then went to Middletown, MD for a Super Walmart stock up.  The marina loaned us a Honda minivan filled with gas.  We believe it was one of the newest marina loaners we have used with only 48,000 miles on it compared to 270,000 miles on most of the loaners.

A few pictures of the Georgetown Yacht Basin Marina.

The pool and ice cream store don't open until Memorial Weekend.

Above are two pictures of the Kitty Knight House.  As the British advanced up the Sassafras River in May of 1813, they burned Georgetown, reducing it to ash, except for a church and two brick houses at the top of the Hill.  Catharine "Kitty" Knight refused to leave an invalid neighbor, defied Admiral Sir George Cockburn by declaring "I shall not leave.  If you burn this house, you burn me with it."  The British finally relented.  

Mike and Elwood walking toward the marina's small sandy beach.

Sunset on the Chesapeake 

Good Nite...

Tomorrow we have a short run to the Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbour Marina in Chesapeake City, MD.  This will be our staging area with fellow loopers, to take the Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Bay Canal, Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean run together.

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 😀