On Our Way To Solomons Island

July 16 - 20 , 2012

The Washington Monument is visible from
almost every corner of DC.

Downtown Georgetown

We were totally exhausted after everyone left last night.  It felt good to sleep in Monday morning before starting on load after load of laundry and cleaning the interior.  We wanted to go to Georgetown and just do a quick walk through.  Since it was soooo hot again, we decided to wait until 5:30 to leave the boat.  We are anchored in the middle of the Potomac, so the dingy was launched.  We walked to the Metro station, took the subway and then caught a bus to Georgetown.  Now, it is 8:00.  An hour of walking around was enough for tonight.  Headed back via bus, taxi, dingy and finally at the boat – 10:30.  Dead tired. 

Colonial Beach from our anchorage

Tuesday we began our trip back down the Potomac.  No more long days.  We anchored out for three nights after 35 mile days.  A very relaxing pace.  Wednesday we stopped near Colonial Beach.  The inlet is too shallow for our boat.  We set the anchor in a bay and took the dingy in to explore.  The waitress at lunch told us downtown was a block away.  Does this sound familiar…..?  We found nothing in the area that resembled a downtown.  Continued walking to the ‘shopping center’.  That turned out to be a 7-11.  So much for my grocery list.  Keep in mind the temperature is near 100 with humidity at a similar number!  So 1 ½ miles later we have a dozen eggs to show for our effort.  The dingy ride back to the boat was expanded to see the local beaches and cool us off. 

A portion of the campus waterfront

Man and his faithful dog on a paddle board --
Isn't balancing on a paddle board hard enough?

Thursday brought us to the St Mary’s River.  We anchored in Horseshoe Bay and once again took the dingy in to explore.  St Mary’s College of Maryland is a beautiful campus of about 2000 students.  It was originally established in 1840.  St Mary’s City was the fourth permanent settlement in British North America and was Maryland’s first capital.  It is also host to the Governor’s Cup Race, the largest sailing race on the East Coast.  Bob and Deidre, an Australian couple, were anchored near  
us.  We share mutual friends, Jon and Bonnie.  After our ride into town, they stopped over for a drink and an exchange of travel information.  A good evening.   

Friday morning we are off early.  We left the Potomac and are back on the Chesapeake.  When the two  bodies of water converge, there is a lot of current from two directions plus wind and wave action.  It can be a little dicey.  We were told to enter at slack tide (highest or lowest point), which for us was 9:30 AM.  We made it with no incidents.  The Chesapeake was fairly flat with only one to two foot waves on our bow.  Yea, no sea sickness for this leg!  For the first time in about a week, we were able to turn off the air conditioning, open the windows and enjoy the fresh air.

We arrived at Spring Cove Marina on Solomans early this afternoon.  It seems that every inch of waterfront is one marina after another.  We have never seen such a concentration of boats.  The island has been inhabited since colonial times with  early businesses of ship building and a cannery.  Obviously, they found out that making space for boaters to visit is much more lucrative!  Unbelievable.......           

Gotta smile -- we're lovin the ride!