GL063: Middle Chesapeake: The Best and the Brightest

On April 25^th, we left Tangier Island, VA to go to the town of Solomons, MD.   Solomons was forty-six n/m to the northwest of us, but due to the wind and wave conditions we didn’t take the direct hypotenuse route which would have exposed us to beam-seas for most of the trip (bad); and instead headed northeast to get to the Maryland side of the Bay so that we could run north protected by the Eastern shore of Maryland, and then cut over to the west where the Bay narrowed.   The consequence of this was about an hour of pounding into some “saucy” seas.    The plan worked well, though we did have a few things knocked about inside the cabin.

We pulled into a nice marina (Safe Harbor) at Solomons (courtesy car with a driver, free laundry, really nice showers) and washed all the salt of Hygge.  The big highlight of our stay was the Calvert Marine Museum.  Nice small aquariums, oysterman, and big exhibit on a Chesapeake Bay showboat from “back in the day” (but “old man bay,” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as “old man river.”)    The highlight though was the tour of the lighthouse which they moved to the museum when it was decommissioned.

https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/27/Visitor-Information\

 A big highlight for Nancy was the Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (I enjoyed it, but not as much as Nancy!).  

 

On the 27^th we went back west across Bay thirty-five n/m to Oxford, Md.  We anchored in a great spot on the east side of town and dinghied in.  Unfortunately we just missed the annual “Oxford Day Parade.”   We enjoyed walking around the town and talking to the parade-viewing stragglers and having a cocktail at a local bay-side tavern.   Nice small-town America.    The anchorage was a peaceful as could be, and I took this panoramic video to share:

 

History:

Restored Customs House:

On the 28^th we took a short twelve n/m ride up to St. Michaels, which is a great town!  First stop was a local small, but eclectic, classic car museum.  Super high-quality vehicles. https://www.classicmotormuseum.org/   Matt and I were in our element and had a nice chat with the docent.  They are looking for ways to promote the museum and we both suggested contacting Hagerty Classic Car Insurance to get a visit on their YouTube channel “Barn Find Hunter.”   (They don’t just visit rusty cars in barns, but also museums.)

The next stop was a local cigar shop that only sells hand-rolled cigars by the owner.  I bought two milder versions, and they were excellent.  Wish I’d bought more!   The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around this historic town and the waterfront park.   Great place.    That night we had a great meal of grilled shrimp (fresh from a local place) on the boat and enjoyed a perfect anchorage.  

Good cigars!

Lovely homes:

They like their kayaking here:

Sunrise if you didn't watch the video:

Creek views:

 

Sunrise panoramic view of our anchorage at St. Michaels:

 

 We could have spent a few days at St. Michaels, but we were anxious to get to Annapolis, so on the 29^th we left relatively early for the thirty-five n/m trip back East again across the Bay, but this time in really calm waters.  The first calm day on the Bay so far in fact.  It was nice.

 

What can I say about Annapolis but spectacular!   

We had a spot at the City Dock* right next to the Naval Academy and the people watching alone was worth the trip.  But the highlight was the guided tour of the Academy and the next day’s visit to their museum.  The guided tour is a must-do.   We learned about the history of the Academy and all that goes into getting into the Academy and what it takes for the Midshipman (and women) to complete their four years.   When you consider the academic, athletic and leadership qualities required to graduate from our service academies, only one conclusion can be made:  these students are truly the best and the brightest this country has to offer. 

The guide was a retired Navy/Army nurse who served in Vietnam and retired as a Colonel.   Excellent tour guide (though she made a few historical boo boo’s of which I corrected two, much to Nancy’s horror; but hey, Alan Shepherd was not the first person in space, first American yes, but not the first person!   She thanked me after the tour.)   A highlight of the tour was seeing the noon parade formation which the Midshipmen are required to do to go to lunch.   When the band played “Anchors Aweigh” it was hard not to get a bit of a lump in your throat.  

 

The next day we went to the museum, which was small but great.  To see actual swords owned by naval hero’s such as Stephen Decatur, was super cool!   I’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with their Admiral Halsey exhibit which gives the impression that he won the battle of Leyte Gulf, when in fact it was won in spite of him (he should have been court-martialed for abandoning the landing fleet and leaving it unprotected by the fleet carriers.)  After an excellent lunch at the officers’ club (open to the public) Nancy and I headed to the NA Cemetery to pay our respects.   Unlike a person we all know of, I think this man was a hero, even if he was “captured:”

 

Naval Academy:

Captain's quarters (nice!):

French architecture is stunning:

Tomb of John Paul Jones:

One of the original Wright "Aeroplanes," not a replica:

A hero:

In the afternoon, Nancy took advantage of the “May Day Garden Tours” around town while I installed the replacement Garmin AIS 800 unit.  Success: people with AIS receivers can now see “Hygge.”    That night, a work colleague and her husband came over from Rockville, MD and treated Nancy and I to a great dinner at the Chophouse (Thanks Ladan and Gary!!!!).   It was great to catch up with

 Nancy's walk:

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Dave

Odometer:  3,751

 

*We had to back into the dock in a very narrow slip in a narrow channel across from a restaurant with lots of people watching.  No big deal, but once again my stern thruster shear pin broke at a crucial moment.   Some weeds or something got sucked in.  Luckily, I was able to back in without incident.   I was able to replace the stern thruster in record time, this being the third time on the trip.

GL062: Old Dominion Part 2

On April 20^th we took the rental car up to see Jamestown, site of the first permanent English settlement in North America.   I remember going there when I was young and even then thinking, “those ships are really small to cross an ocean.”   And they were.  

More or less exact replicas:

 

The museum at Jamestown is just phenomenal and I recommend it to anyone.   The history of the settlement, John Smith, fact vs. fiction on Pocahontas, artifacts from that era, and a recreation of the original fort.   It is amazing to me that the first English people landed in 1607 and just short time later we had major cities like Philadelphia, Boston, etc. and by 1776 we were declaring independence from Great Britian.

  https://www.jyfmuseums.org/visit/jamestown-settlement

 

Part of the fort:

 

Matchlock demonstration (note to the Supreme Court “originalists,” it took three tries for this experienced gunsmith to get the gun to fire.  The flintlock, state of the art in the time of the 2^nd Amendment, wasn't that much more advanced: a far cry from modern assault rifles with bump stocks, just saying):

 

 After Jamestown we headed to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens which was really nice.   I only got a few pictures (Nancy has “infinity pictures”) but I got this nice panoramic video of a small portion of the place:

 

I thought this story of an eagle who nested there for many years was pretty cool, and a bit sad.   It got hit by an airplane (Norfolk A/P is next door) and it was so beloved that they erected a statue in its honor:

 

The next day, the 22^nd, we had planned on heading north to Yorktown, but the weather was bad and we extended our stay at the marina.   We walked in the rain about a mile to take a ferry over to Portsmouth to check it out.   The weather wasn’t conducive to walking around, so we ducked into a German restaurant for a nice lunch and then visited the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum which covers the naval history of the Norfolk and Portsmouth area.  Highly recommend a stop there as well. https://portsmouthnavalshipyardmuseum.com/

 The ferry:

A statue honoring sailors:

We took the ferry back to Norfolk and Nancy went exploring the town while I hung out at a coffee shop working on this blog.  

A few shots from Nancy's exploring:

Chrysler Museum:

On the 22^nd the weather still wasn’t great, but we decided to venture out none-the-less and head the thirty-six n/m up to Yorktown.   First we had to wait for this cruise ship to clear out in front of the marina:

 

The first twenty-four miles out to Hampton Roads and up the Chesapeake Bay were a bit “saucy:”

 

We made it into Yorktown only a bit shaken and stirred and had enough time to visit the battlefield but too late for the National Park Visitor Center. 

Monument that took approx. one hundred years for Congress to actually fund the construction:

The next day we spent the morning at the  American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, another really great museum. 

 https://www.visitwilliamsburg.com/listing/american-revolution-museum-at-yorktown/4752/

 Among the exhibits was a one about “The Midnight Ride.”  You’ll recall our friends who have the boat, “Willie Dawes” named after one of the two men who actually completed the ride, and none of them was named Paul Revere.  He was captured!   Everything you learned in grade school history is b/s.   Revere just had a better p/r man in Longfellow.  The REAL scoop:

https://www.history.com/news/the-midnight-ride-of-william-dawes

Yorktown sights.

Sunrise at Yorktown:

.

The "Big Four:"

Windmill replica:

The small marina:

 After and excellent morning walking around and seeing the museum, we had lunch and then headed out for the thirty-one n/m trip up to Deltaville to reunite with the Murphy’s on Katmat who had gone on ahead at Beaufort, N.C. while I played golf and Nancy toured that area.  The anchoring area was small, so we rafted off to them and had a potluck dinner.  A  nice couple from Great Britain doing the G/L trip dinghied over and we enjoyed some cocktails with them on Hygge.   They have a sailboat in Greece which the use in the summer months, and they have a three-winter/spring plan to complete the G/L on a trawler that they bought here in the States.  

On the 23^rd, we headed across the Bay to Tangier Island, V.A. which is on every guidebook’s “must see” list.   Unfortunately, the place doesn’t really open up until Memorial Day, but it was a nice stop. Nancy and Kathy rode bikes around the area while Matt and I spent the afternoon troubleshooting our respective Garmin AIS transponders*.  Mine was brand new having had it shipped to Beaufort.  It would receive other vessel information, but not transmit Hygge’s info.  After troubleshooting it for three hours with info from the user manual and Garmin’s support page, I finally called Garmin Support.  The gal on the line simply asked me to read off the serial number, which I did, and she said, “yes, that is one of the defective units, we’ll ship you a replacement.”    That is three hours of my life I can’t get back!

 Tangier Island:

Sunset:

Dave

 

Odometer: 3,623

 

PS: how many times have I mentioned that dolphins are camera shy?  I’m not the only one.  From FB:

 

 

 

 *An AIS transponder is a device that uses GPS and VHF radio to automatically communicate with other ships and coastal authorities about a ship's position and identification. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System. The system uses a built-in GPS receiver to determine its own position, speed, and course, and then combines this information with other navigation information and automatically communicates it between AIS equipped vessels