Tuesday, May 23 - The East Shore

Tuesday, May 23 - The East Shore

In the planning stage of our trip, we anticipated spending at least a week on the Chesapeake.  Our weather and repair delays have made that impossible, but I still wanted to say we have been to the Eastern Shore. 

The weather forecast was for better weather in the morning, so we got an early start.  This picture is the beautiful shore just north of Solomons. 

It was a cloudy, yucky day but the waves weren't too bad and we made it to Oxford around noon.  We had planned to anchor out at one of the places suggested in our cruise book, but none of them looked great.  Danny settled on a spot that looked at least OK.  

We had hoped to dinghy into town and walk around, but it was cold and rainy, so we stayed on the boat all afternoon and evening.  Eating dinner out wasn't an option since Google Maps showed the closest restaurant as 7 miles away!

This was the quietest place we have ever been on this trip.  No cars, no boats, no people, no birds, nothing

The town itself was pretty from the water but I didn't get my visit to an Eastern Shore town. 

Monday, May 22 - We Are Repaired!

Monday, May 22 - We Are Repaired!

The parts are in!  We left for the repair facility around 11:00, stayed until just after 3:00.  As we left, Danny commented that it's expensive to pee!

Danny has been working on macrame zipper pulls.  I am impressed with the results!

The water today was the smoothest we have seen in Solomons.  It really did look like glass. 

Debbie and Gil came on board for docktails.  Danny wasn't falling asleep, I just snapped the picture at the wrong time. 

Night pictures from our dock.

 

Sunday, May 21 - Still at Solomons

Sunday, May 21 - Still at Solomons

The big event of the day was taking the dinghy across Back River (I called it "the creek' in an earlier post) for the breakfast buffet at The Angler.  As we pulled up, I was so excited to see a ladder at the dinghy dock.  Something to hold onto makes it SO much easier to get out of and into the unstable dinghy.  I admit to being "dinghy challenged" as Danny has named it, so I am relieved when any assistance is available.  I have even asked random men to hold my hand! 

The breakfast was very good, except for the floppy bacon.  (Thought about you, Pris.) It looked almost raw.  Danny asked the waitress for some crispy bacon and she brought him "an order" - and a $3.00 charge.  When Danny questioned her, she offered to remove the charge.

We rode around for a while looking at all the marinas.  There were SO many just in this section.  Everyone in Maryland must own a boat, and most of the boats are sailing vessels. 

This boat pulled in today.  I just had to take pictures of its name.

This is what happens when a boat approaches a dock.  Everyone comes out to help.  These folks had just bought their boat, so I'm sure they appreciated the assistance!  (Be sure to look at Danny's Chaco sandals tan.)

Saturday, May 20 - Docktails

Saturday, May 20 - Docktails

The marina "bistro" is open for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, so off we went!  It's been a long time since we have been docked close to a breakfast place.

As we were leaving, Jennifer called and we were able to talk to her about her trip to Morocco.  She had such a great time and we enjoyed hearing some details.  I can't wait to see all her pictures.

Two large loop boats pulled in right after lunch.  They had crossed the Chesapeake to get here, and had some really rough weather.  This one had tipped so badly the rub rail was in the water, and it's a long way from water line to the that rub rail.  That would have scared me to death! 

It was time for a grocery run.  We also stopped at Ace Hardware to get some paracord for Danny to make zipper pulls.  This was a HUGE store!  And it was so crowded, we ended up leaving without our merchandise because the check-out line was so long.

Deb had suggested that we have Docktails/Pot Luck Dinner tonight.  Danny grilled and served some Carroll's Sausage, which everyone loved. 

Friday, May 19 - Storms!

Friday, May 19 - Storms!

Slow day on Ellis' Island.  

Deb and Gil's daughter is visiting, so they brought her down for introductions.

 We ventured down to the marina restaurant, excuse me, the "bistro" for a late lunch and Danny was excited to find chicken livers on the menu.

The rest of the day we watched dark clouds and rain.

Thursday, May 18 - More Friends Come to See Us!

Thursday, May 18 - More Friends Come to See Us!

The guy at the repair place said to be there around 8:00, so we had to get moving earlier than our normal!  He got to our boat about 9:00 to evaluate, then left to print up a parts list.  

My goal for the day was to get my bicycle fixed.  While we were riding in Hampton, it kept slipping out of gear.  I know that's not a technical term, but that's the only way I know to describe it.  Several times I got it started again, then I couldn't get it to engage and we started walking it.  Danny turned it upside down and worked some magic and it connected again.  I stayed in first gear all the way back to the boat.  There was no bike repair shop in Hampton, so we loaded it on the boat and hoped to find a repair shop soon.

Thanks to Google, I knew there was a bike shop in Solomons, and it was much closer to the repair dock than to our marina.  The plan was to ride the bikes, me in first gear, to a restaurant for breakfast then on to the bike store.  Well, guess what?  The bike wouldn't go into gear, no matter what we did.  The marina offered a shuttle that went by the repair shop, but since the bikes wouldn't fit, they offered to take our bikes in the marina truck.  WELL, the shop didn't have the free wheel to repair my bike, and couldn't get it until Tuesday.  Bummer.  The marina truck came back to get us, but we had no breakfast and no bike.

Mary Kay to the rescue!  She met us at the repair dock and took us to Leonardtown for my haircut.  We had lunch at a delightful coffee house, then on to the salon.  We thought the appointment was at 1:15, they had us at 2:15, so I didn't get my hair cut.  Not having a good day.

Back at the repair marina, we had to move our boat back to our "home" marina.  As we pulled out into the creek, we got a great view of all the boats.  We thought Florida had a lot of boats, but the Chesapeake takes the prize!!!  The number of boats is overwhelming! 

Back at our "home" marina again, we saw a Vol Navy flag flying from a boat showing Knoxville as its home port at our marina! dock next to ours,

We had another Thursday treat.  Tommy and Ann Murphy came to visit.  Tommy is a friend of Robert's who mailed Danny a key to his apartment in Washington so he would have a place to stay until Jennifer and I moved up.  They took us to the Tiki Hut which is famous in these parts, to the Pier for dinner, and back to the boat for us to talk and drink beer.  Ann is a craft beer fan, so we had a lot to talk about.  We had a wonderful time.

I just can't resist the sunset pictures. 

Wednesday, May 17 - Flies and More Flies - And They Bite!

Wednesday, May 17 - Flies and More Flies - And They Bite!

Now that Danny had his fishing license he wanted to troll while cruised, so Deb and Gill took off ahead of us.  We needed gas but our marina didn't sell it, so we went to the next marina inland.  As we made a turn we were astounded by the number of boats.  I read that there  are 1 1/2 times more boats than people in Deltaville, and we are believers.  Even the creeks were full of boats! 

We asked the guy at the fuel dock about a huge boat named Big Red that Gil saw coming in yesterday.  He pointed a few docks over, and said, "Yeah, it's over there.  It was made for Billy Joel."  You think it had a piano?

I loved this view, looking out from the marina into the Chesapeake.  The water s gorgeous! 

This boat gets the prize for largest fishing boat we have seen.  Even the two boats on the back were huge! 

We also saw fish trap markers in 60 feet of water.  Not sure how that works.

While I was driving so Danny could fish, this beautiful dragonfly came for a visit.  It had flown a long way, or hitch hiked from land.

Around noon we started noticing flies.  LOTS of flies,  BITING flies!  Hundreds of them.  Well, it seemed like hundreds. Danny would spot and I would flap, then he went down to the "patio" and killed at least 50 there.  My job was to pick up the dead flies.  Karen send a text asking if we were having trouble with flies, so we knew it wasn't anything to do with our boat.  When Danny went downstairs to check the pump, he handed me the fly flap and said, "Protect yourself."  They were that bad!  As we pulled in to the marina in Solomons, Jim's (Shell Bell) first words as he grabbed our ropes were, ""Weren't those flies terrible?"

After 5+ hours of cruising, we got our first glimpse of Solomons.  Boats and boats and boats and more boats!  Again, thanks to Debbie, we had a reservation at Calvert Marina, one of many in this small town.  And the pump seal in the front head is leaking, so Danny had called three repair places and finally found one just across from this marina that could look at it tomorrow.

                               

We had arranged to meet our long time friend MaryKatherine Gonzalez in Solomons.  She lives in Hughesville, MD and this is the closest stop on our trip to her house.  It was wonderful to look up and see her walking down the dock!  Her late husband, Victor, suggested "Ellis Island" as the name for our boat, so I wanted to take her picture with our new Ellis Island decal.  (Thanks again, Wes Wansley.).

Mary Kay and her boyfriend Tad took us on a tour of Solomons and then to dinner.  Mary Kay, bless her heart, even shared picked crab with all of us.  I am still not a huge fan of crab, but this was the best I have eaten so far. 

We had a terrific visit and made plans for tomorrow.  I have a hair cut appointment at MaryKay's hair salon - Yey!