Nothing but love for Annapolis!

Ben, Joanne, Terry, Michael, Lesley and me on the flybridge of Jammin Jane.

The reason we made a visit to Annapolis was to see our friends Lesley and Michael...and what fun we had! They stopped by with friends Joanne and Terry and we all got into some painkillers at Pussers enjoying time spent with those we love. Sad the time was short, but blessed for the time! We will plan a longer stay here when we come back down.

If St. Michaels was a small quaint town, than Annapolis is that on steroids! Lots going on here and everything we love. We both prefer small towns but it is always entertaining to visit bigger towns. We were able to take care of a few things like hair cuts and new phones here because it is a bigger town. We were able to get good mexican food and sushi, because it is a bigger town. We really had a great time here taking in the town, eating lots of yummy food, shopping and staying longer than we expected! 

Ego Alley in Annapolis...got its name from the endless parade of boats that come through here. This is a narrow body of water right in town. We did not dock here, I'm not interested in everyone looking into our boat as they walk/hang out on the wall surrounding the boats.

The town

Our Maryland swag from Lesley and Michael

Another shot of ego alley

Yacht Basin, this is where we stayed...with all the big yachts!

Chick and Ruth's Delly...everything here is awesome!!!

Corn beef and hash for a crowd!

A stop by the naval academy

Am I back in WI?...

Enjoying Foxy's

How do you describe a quaint town riddled with historic homes and nothing but shopping and eating and drinking and an awesome maritime museum? The way I describe this is perfect! This town reminds me so much of where we started our trip back in Door County, WI. The town caters to tourists, with everything from housewares to Sperry Topsiders. It is a boating community with the small town feel. And it is very cute, boasting great shopping, eating and boating...all with-in walking distance from our marina.

When we came into dock at St. Michaels Marina, our slip assignment happened to be in the same basin as a 35ft Sabre. Mind you the basin we are sharing is 28 feet wide total, we are 14 feet wide and the other boat is 12.8 feet! Doesn't leave much room! Of course as soon as Ben was making the move to stern-in (back in), the wind started gusting. I had fenders out all around, the dock hand knew what he was doing and most of all, my captain is more than capable of landing our girl in tight spots. This just happened to also be right in front of a bunch of people dining/drinking at Foxy's (this is the U.S version of Foxy's in Jost Van Dyke in the BVI). We always say you are either the show or the audience when docking...We were the show and in a good way!! Ben got us in no problems. And not without compliments from the dock hand! So, we stepped off our boat and literally stepped into Foxy's! 

We spent two nights in St. Michaels. We shopped, caught the farmers market, ate more than our share of ice cream, played tourist at the maritime museum and soaked up the sun poolside. 

We will for sure spend time here again!

If you look close we are the second boat from the left about 1:00, tight squeeze! Foxy's is located right behind our boats, along with two other restaurants on the property. We loved it here, some people complain of the noise from the bar...we just joined in on the noise!

This rope is from 1813, used to tow U.S warships that were hit by Royal Navy fire during the British invasion of St. Michaels.

The main drag, lots to see!

Of course Ben spotted this!

We got lucky and ran into a bunch of our fellow Loopers. We shared our winter in Marathon with most of them and it was wonderful to catch back up, even if briefly.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Boat shop...it is an active shop, with builds of historic local boats.

This is the Hooper Strait Lighthouse which used to be located on Tangier sound. It is one of only four screw-pile lighthouses in existence. Located at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for tourist to walk through, it is furnished and provides awesome views of the town.

At the top of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse.

Working hard in my white boots oystering at the museum!

Solomons...we are in Maryland

Lighthouse on the Chesapeake coming into Solomons, MD

Solomons, MD is located at the north end of the Patuxent River where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. Solomons is an unincorporated waterfront village. It is very pretty, reminds me of being back home with the large tree lined waters and beautiful homes. And it is fun! With only two miles of water (Back Creek which is a tidal inlet) to travel around in Solomons, and at least five seafood retaurants/bars, many marinas (all full with boats), gift shops, ice cream and a marine museum within a short dinghy ride. Woot woot! We hit it all, actually not the shopping but everything else!
 
We traveled just under 50 miles to Solomons and experienced many jets flying over us as we were entering the River off of the Bay. The U.S Patuxent River Naval Air Station is located right across from the Solomons community. During WW11 it was the location for amphibious training, which proved to be helpful in many military plans, including D Day.

We docked at Calvert Marina, it was not anything fancy but it was cheap, including a small restaurant AND a pool. 

Dinghy Fun! 

Bob and Liz along for a ride!

Ice Cream!!

Breathtaking sunset! 

They even had my favorite...butterscotch topping! 

Drum Point Lighthouse located at the Calvert Marine Museum. This is a screw-pile style (Lighthouse on piles that are screwed into the muddy/sandy bottom) lighthouse. It was moved from its original location in 1975 and brought here for tours. 

The top of Drum Point Lighthouse

Happy hour at The Lighthouse Restaurant. 

Look close you can see our dinghy docked! 

Back Creek Bistro, a tiny restaurant on the marina property. 

Crisfield, MD...another dying town.

Standing on piles of oyster shells. This town still harvests oysters and sells them out of the shell in bulk across the country.

Crisfield is located on the eastern side of the Chesapeake bay, located on the Tangier sound in Maryland. It is distinguished as the southernmost town in Maryland. It was once a booming fishing town, known as the Seafood Capital of the World. It is said that the town is built on top of oyster shells. Sadly this is yet another small dying town we have found ourselves in. For every store front that is open and operating there are probably five that are closed and for rent.
Today the town is mostly a tourist town and really draws crowds for a variety of festivals through out the year. We happened to be here on a Monday and there was only two restaurants and a Dollar General open. But that was ok for us, we found food! The marina we stayed, called Somers Cove, was once a happening place. Majority of the slips were empty but they have a great pool and the grounds were wonderful to walk around and Crocket had a great spot to run. We spent one night.

All the boats you can see in the picture are all that is here. They have over 300 slips.

Not much happening here! 

 This picture is taken from the city dock looking into town. 

My captain is falling apart!!!

My poor husband in the hospital

No sooner does Ben start to feel back-to-normal with his back pain, he wakes up early morning dizzy and nauseous. This time it lands him in the hospital.

I woke up at 5:30am and watched him stumble from right to left while trying to make his way to the head (bathroom). We were expecting rain and storms, so I thought maybe the boat was rolling and I was just used to the movement. Only when I finally wake up a couple hours later did I realize how bad he was feeling. He describe his symptoms which was that everything was spinning and he thought he needed to go to a doctor. "OH GOSH! This is serious!! He wants to go to the doctor!!!!" For starters, my husband is the strong, tuff one, always in charge and definitely not the one who needs any help! Well...this time he needs help.
We are in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, nothing is around us but the marina we are in. I run straight to the marina office. Judy, sees the distress and simply says "Tell me his symptoms." I do and she tells me she will drive us to the hospital (University of Maryland Shore Medical Center Hospital), only 9 miles away. I wanted to hug her at that moment.
We happen to be docked in the farthest slip on the property which means poor Ben has to get himself off the boat and down this LOOOOONNNNNGGG dock. I should remind you that his world is spinning and he can not sit up let alone walk the dock to the car. THANK GOODNESS for our buddy Bob, he helped Ben from our boat to the car. Liz met me at the car with a snack and a Gatorade and off we went.

Ben was extremely nauseous the 12 minutes to the hospital, and was sick a few times during this whole ordeal. Judy got us to the hospital, checked us in and offered us a ride back to our boat later. This strong guy (Ben) spent the next four hours feeling like he was on the "spin cycle" of a washing machine. His only relief was to lay on his left side. After admitting him to the hospital and going through an MRI and CT Scan, Ben checks out all clear of anything relating to a stroke and no inner ear issues. BUT, he does display a case of sinusitis.

His awful experience was diagnosed as a severe case of vertigo. Came out of nowhere and we hope it never comes back. He will carry medication to help with the dizziness if it were to ever happen again.  I am just so blessed that everything worked out the way it did. Ben was not driving the boat at the time this happened. We had our friends with us and they watched Crocket and kept me entertained while Ben spent time in the hospital. This small marina let me use their vehicle so I could be with Ben and finally drive him home from the hospital. I also was able to use the car to grocery shop since we were going to be spending a few extra days in this small town of Chestertown, Maryland, while he recovered.
I am so thankful for all the generous and caring people who came to help us. Another wonderful plus to small town America.

After several days of rest and medication (antibiotic and anti-dizzy) we are back on the water!!

2 days in a small town...

We had a great run, it was foggy and humid but not lumpy out!

This seems to be our adage the last few stops we've made. All small towns...and we LOVE it!! There is a special feel to a small town (the locals all know you are not from around there), everyone says "hello!", they are proud of their towns and usually recommend a few "must-see" places, and there is no traffic, resulting in few people. The only downfall we have encountered is few restaurant options open during the week (in some spots) and grocery stores can be a car ride away. Not convenient for us with only our legs or bikes to get us around. However, most larger towns have Uber, taxi service is usually available but not always reliable and we've had some marinas offer a car for an hour at a time. We also plan for this and always have plenty of food on our boat.

We spent two lovely days in an adorable town called Onancock, Virginia, with a whooping population of 1,500. Onancock is located on the Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern shore. The towns harbor was once where steamboats carried passengers to and from Baltimore, Maryland and Norfolk, Virginia.

Onancock is located up the Onancock creek, off the Chesapeake Bay, about 4 miles long with gorgeous homes along the waterfront. The town is loaded with Victorian homes, lots of beautiful trees, neat little shops and a tasty bakery, also with some bars and restaurants and a few antique stores to get lost in. We even enjoyed a movie at the local single screen Roseland movie theatre built in 1950. All this was within walking distance, what a treat this was for us!!

Onancock Wharf marina boat house (showers, bathrooms, laundry and marina office).

Our slip was located right in the center of town.

I love all these historic towns and homes.

Crocket and I went for a walk and we decided we could live in any of these houses!! hehe!

We enjoyed two meals here at The Mallard restaurant (which used to be the towns general store), located steps from our boat...literally.

This bench is where the local gentlemen come to watch boats and tell tall tales!

Nestled in between a Tallycraft and a sailboat.

The Corner Bakery...I had a coffee and a glazed doughnut the morning we left for our next stop. Yummy!