Tuesday October 15th

We woke up to a second day of sunshine!  The warmth of the sun feels so good after 5 days of constant rain.....of course it had to be during the sailboat show!  Once we were dressed and moving around  we discovered that we had visitors last night....those darn ducks were sitting on our dinghy and they had some big issues with diarrhea!!!  While Chuck was washing the dinghy out, I  was rolling the enclosure panels up for our trip across the bay.

Hey, there's Mar-A-Lago!

We needed to pull over to the Annapolis City Marina first to pump some gas for our dinghy and generator, but mainly to get water.  Being able to hold only 70 gallons of water on Happy Hours II, we did really well with managing our water for 3 weeks on the mooring.  But now, It definitely was time to fill up!  The dockhands were super helping boaters dock and depart.  They told us to take our time and use as much water as needed.  One of the older guys gave us some helpful advice of where to find free docks around Norfolk and what marinas to stay away from….didn’t catch his name but he was from Sandusky, Ohio.  What a small world.

Once we were ready to leave the fuel dock, we knew it was going to be a challenge.  The wind had us jammed up against the dock but with the dockhands' help, we were able to back the stern out and around the catamaran docked behind us.  There for a minute, I thought our anchor might take one of their pilings with us…LOL…but no problem! 

I love Annapolis and didn’t want to leave but it was time.  The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder.  It’s time to leisurely head south.  We decided to head to the Eastern Shore and take in St. Michaels.  We were there many years ago by car when our kids were young.  Now it’s time to explore the area by water.  We popped the jib and headed southeast for approximately 10.5 miles to the Bloody Bar Light which is at the lower most tip of Kent Island.  Just around the shallows is the mouth of the Eastern Bay.  We continued 19 miles east up the bay to the Miles Inlet and from there to St Michaels.

Bloody Bar Light

Mouth of the Eastern Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 We approached St Michaels and turned to starboard into Fogg Cove.  There were already about 6 sailboats at anchorage.  I guess this gets pretty crazy in the summer during the weekends!  It’s pretty calm and quiet today.  When we dinghied into the dingy dock, we could see that about 6 more sailboats anchored a bit further away from the town but they don’t seem to be as protected from the winds and waves like we are.

 

Museum in background

Oyster on the Chesapeake in background

Perry Cabin Inn

 

Maritme Museum

When we decided that It was time to go ashore and stretch our legs, it didn’t take us long to find the public dinghy dock.  It’s around the east side of the Maritime Museum and the Crab Claw Restaurant. By this time the clouds were putting a damper on the evening and it started to sprinkle…(where are our foul weather jackets when you need them???)  The museum was closed, so we walked the few blocks to Talbot Street which seems to be the main drag. 

 After walking up and down both sides of Talbot for 10 or more blocks, we discovered that this definitely is a tourist town.  There are many small shops, restaurants, a PNC bank, churches, PO, and an Acme Grocery Store.  Most of the shops were closed.  I think we might have to spend another day to visit the museum and shops!!

Suddenly, Chuck’s on a mission.  All of a sudden he’s hungry for pizza.  We found a cute little restaurant called Ava’s Wine and Pizzeria.  When the host asked us if we wanted to sit out back on their patio, we almost said no.  However it was very cozy and nice. They had 2 fireplaces burning with a waterfall between them.  The back wall of their building had a water scene made out of broken pieces of mirror and glass….very unique to say the least!  From there, we stopped at JoJo’s Ice Cream and Cupcake Shop before heading back to the boat.  It dawned on us that we needed to get back quick.  It was dark and we needed to turn on our anchor light! 

Ava's Patio

It’s time to unwind but I made the mistake of going out into the cockpit to look at the lights.  I told Chuck that our anchor light wasn’t on…he didn’t believe me….it was on when we came down below into the cabin.  It’s not working!!!! Oh no!  He check the wires and the juice is there but still no light.  So we turned the steaming light on.  Guess what's on our agenda for tomorrow….Chuck’s going up the mast.  Hopefully, the base of the bulb just needs cleaned.  Oh well, I found a West Marine in Easton, MD which is suppose to be only 2 miles east of where we are at the moment.  I’m crossing my fingers that this will be an easy fix.