Day #324 – Cape May, NJ

When we woke up this morning the skies were clear although storms were predicted for later in the morning.  Andy and I got out and rode bikes to the marine store and the market.  As we were leaving the market the rain started lightly but there was lightening in the distance.  We barely made it back to the boat before the skies opened up.

Rain is expected most of the day so I guess it was a good decision to stay in Cape May for at least another day.  My guess is that we will be here several more days waiting for the right weather window.

Fortunately, yesterday after we arrived we got our bikes down and went exploring.  Cape May is a beautiful resort town on the Atlantic Ocean.  It was recognized as one of America’s top 10 beaches by the Travel Channel and has many Victorian structures as well as a rich history. Cape May is a seaside resort that draws visitors from all over the world and especially from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Our first stop was the town center where we were treated to a bagpiper performing outside of the church.

Their downtown shopping area is charming.

Even the shops are colorfully and beautifully decorated.

Cape May has been drawing vacationers since the mid 1700s and is recognized by the United States government as the country’s oldest seaside resort. It is noted for its large number of well-maintained Victorian houses — the second largest collection of Victorian-era homes in the nation after San Francisco. In 1976, the entire city of Cape May was officially designated a National Historic Landmark. It is the only city in the United States wholly designated as such. That designation is intended to ensure the architectural preservation of these buildings.

This is the historic Inn of Cape May.  It is beautiful, huge and 115 years old.

These magnificent homes line the street that looks right out onto the endless beaches on the Atlantic Ocean.

They just go on and on as far as the eye can see.  No wonder Cape May keeps vacationers coming back year after year.

Is there a better way to end a rain storm?!?

Day #323 – Cape May, NJ

We left Chesapeake City this morning at 6:20 hoping to travel with the tides and currents.  Since the sun comes up about 5:30, visibility was great. Below is a picture of Salvage Crew pulling out of port.  I guess we aren’t the only crazy boaters as two sailboats passed going the other way.

We traveled a few more miles on the C&D Canal and then entered Delaware Bay.  If you look at the map in the bottom right corner, you will see Cape May, today’s destination.  Delaware is off our starboard and New Jersey is off the port.

The Bay can be very rough, but Captain Andy did his research and the day was perfect.  Waves were less than two feet and there were small swells.  The distance from port to port was 74 miles.

We passed the Salem Nuclear Power Plant on the Delaware River.  It is a two unit system being built in 1977 and 1981. In the 1990s, the Salem reactors were shut down for two years because of maintenance problems. Actor Bruce Willis worked at Salem Nuclear Power Plant as a security guard before pursuing acting.

The Ship John Shoal Lighthouse marks the north side of the ship channel in Delaware Bayis made of cast iron. The Ship John Shoal took its name from an incident in 1797 in which the John, captained by a Robert Folger, ran aground while on the way from Hamburg, Germany to Philadelphia. Passengers and cargo were unloaded safely, but the vessel was lost.

The shoreline begins to be lined with beautiful homes.

The channel from the Bay is busy with dredging equipment, ferries and pleasure craft.

The no-see-ums are biting and the flies are huge.

We arrived at Utsch’s Marina in Cape May about 2:00.

We decided to take on fuel before our next leg which will take us out into the Atlantic Ocean.  Their price today was $2.37 per gallon.  It’s going up again, but still much better than when we left last August.

We hoisted the bikes down and spent the afternoon exploring.  Stay tuned for more on that tomorrow.

Day #322 – Chesapeake City, MD

The weather didn’t clear the way we had hoped so we ended up spending an extra day in Chesapeake City.  Note Good News is in the background.

When the rain stopped for a bit we got the bikes down and did a little more exploring.  The town is charming in its own way.  Many of these harbor towns are similar, but each one unique.

There are several bed and breakfasts,

beautifully painted homes,

a charming Main Street,

interesting shops,

including a place called, appropriately, Sanford and Son,

beautiful gardens,

many great restaurants,

and a beautiful city park.

We have enjoyed our time here as always but are anxious to leave in the morning and make the crossing across Delaware Bay.  It can be quite rough, you have to pick your time carefully and we will be glad to have that portion behind us.

Day #321 – Chesapeake City, MD

Cool and cloudy this morning after a very peaceful night.  At 8:00 we headed out for our last day on the Chesapeake.  Salvage Crew led the way.

We have spent the last 24 days exploring this area and could have spent many more.  If we plan to complete the Loop it is time to get moving.

The osprey are all nesting and it is fascinating to see how big the babies have become already.

It was a very quiet day on the Bay with cloudy skies and storms coming our way.  We passed another fleet of Navy ships again.  This time there were six in formation.

We entered the C&D Canal off of the Chesapeake after traveling down the Elk River.

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a 14-mile long, 450-foot wide and 40-foot deep ship canal that cuts across the states of Maryland and Delaware. It connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore.  Many beautiful homes line the shore.

Chesapeake City is the only town in Maryland that is situated on a working canal.

Today there are only about 800 full time residents.  The town was originally named Bohemia (or Bohemia Manor), but the name was changed in 1839 when the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was built. Today, the town contains numerous old homes from that era that have been converted in to bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and the local historical museum.

Day #320 – Worton Creek, MD

This was the beautiful night view of downtown Baltimore as seen from the deck of our boat.

We were a little sad to be leaving Baltimore as we enjoyed our stay there so much.  But, time to move on and our destination was Worton Creek, MD.  This is our last stop on the Chesapeake Bay.  That is hard to believe as the Bay is such a highlight of the trip and now it is behind us.  We have enjoyed every minute we spent on it.

The buoy pictured below marks the spot where the ship carrying Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner, was anchored during the bombardment of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.The lyrics were written in the morning after battle as he saw the flag rise above the Fort.  Each year the Coast Guard sets the buoy in the spring marking the location of the event and then removes it in the fall.

The water coming across the Chesapeake today was a bit rough, but the trip was only three hours so we weathered it well.  Again, crab pots and net markers are everywhere.

We passed these three Naval training vessels traveling in formation.

Our marina is the Worton Creek marina.  It is hard to believe that just 30 miles from Baltimore it is this remote.  We have very limited internet and cell phone coverage.  It feels like one of the stops in the river system.  The closest town is 15 miles away.

This lovely bird decided to grace Good News with her presence.

It is going down into the 50s tonight.  Where did our warm, sunny weather go????

Day #319 – Baltimore, MD

We decided to do a little exploring before we returned the rental car.  The Federal Hill area sits right up above the marina.  Good News is docked in the center of the photo.

For much of the early history of Baltimore, the hill was known as Signal Hill because it was home to a maritime observatory serving the merchant and shipping interests of the city by observing the sailing of ships up the river and signaling their impending arrival to downtown business people.

The Cross Street Market is located in the Federal Hill area and is a historic marketplace built in the 19th century. The market continues to serve residents as a reliable source of fresh meats, produce, flowers, seafood and baked goods.

The Pride of Baltimore Memorial Park is located just below Federal Hill.  The Pride of Baltimore was an authentic reproduction of a 19th century Baltimore clipper schooner commissioned by citizens of Baltimore, Maryland. It was lost at sea with four of its twelve crew on May 14, 1986.

We toured an area of high priced waterfront condos and the flowers were magnificent.

Look what we found…

THE Stanley Cup.  And everyone thought it was in Pittsburgh.

The city agreed to give the American Visionary Art Museum a piece of land on the south shore of the Inner Harbor under the condition that its organizers would clean up residual pollution from a copper paint factory and a whiskey warehouse that formerly occupied the site.  It was covered in small mirrored pieces.  Notice the parked bus is as well.

The Harbor Place runs through town and is an area of high end shopping.  We thought this store was appropriate.

When the pirates arrived, we decided to go back to the boat.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Baltimore and even decided to stay one day more than originally planned.  Off tomorrow to Worton Creek, MD.

Day #318 – Baltimore, MD

Last night as we were headed to our “Last Supper” the weather looked a little threatening.  It seems we avoided bad weather again as it passed without incident.

Not wanting to miss what might be their last opportunity, the girls took a moment to pose.  Hard to believe, but they had not rehearsed that.

We had a great dinner and will really miss their company.  We made a pact to meet, somewhere, sometime for the six of us to have a reunion.  Thanks, Bob and Deb, for the friendship and the memories.  Safe travels and happy boating.

Today was an absolutely perfect weather day.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed 80 degrees, sunny, low humidity and a gentle breeze all day.  It was the ideal day to do our “tourist” exploring.  We bought the water taxi tickets and off we went.

Out first leg was from the marina to a downtown stop, then to Fells Point.

Fell’s Point is a neighborhood in Baltimore. It is home to a variety of shops, restaurants, coffee bars, music stores, and over 120 pubs. Located on the harbor and famous for its maritime past, it now boasts the greatest concentration of pubs and bars in the city, they are everywhere.

This waterfront community is a much-visited location in Baltimore, accessible by water taxi, freeway, and several bus lines. The neighborhood has also been the home of large Polish, Irish, and Mexican-American populations throughout its history. In recent years a steadily increasing numbers of middle to upper middle income residents have moved into the area, driving up property values. Fell’s Point is one of several areas in and around Baltimore that are listed on the National Register of Historic Districts.

As a side note Michael Phelps, Olympic Gold Medal winning swimmer, came from Fells Point.

Our next stop was Fort McHenry.  We passed this on our boat on the way into Baltimore and were glad to go back and explore. Below is a relief of the fort which was said to be shaped like a star.

During the War of 1812 British warships continuously bombarded the fort. The British ships were largely unable to pass Fort McHenry and penetrate Baltimore Harbor because of defenses including a chain, sunken ships and the American cannon. The picture below looks out over the harbor that we entered through three days ago.

Several reenactments took place while we were there and they had sample living quarters and ammunition sites for us to tour.  The building in the background was one of areas where the soldiers actually lived.

Francis Scott Key, witnessed the bombardment from a nearby truce ship. An over sized American flag had been sewn by Mary Pickersgill for exactly $405.90 in anticipation of the British attack on the fort. When Key saw the flag emerge intact in the dawn, he was so moved that he began that morning to compose the poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry” which would later be renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and become America’s national anthem.

One of the volunteers who had worked there for more than 30 years took our picture.  He even let Patti wear his hat.

It is  Flag Day and they are going to have the US Army Band from DC and fireworks in celebration at Fort McHenry.  Wish we could have stayed, but we hope to watch them from our boats at the marina.

The Inner Harbor was busy on a beautiful summer day.

We came back on the water taxi to the marina and all took siestas before getting together for dinner.  We were all thankful for another beautiful day on our adventure.

Day #317 – Baltimore, MD

Yesterday we arrived in beautiful Baltimore Harbor.

As you enter the harbor you pass Ft. McHenry with the city skyline in the background.  Ft. McHenry is a star shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in the Chesapeake Bay. It was during this bombardment of the fort that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the poem that would eventually be set to the tune that would become our national anthem.

The harbor is busy with commercial ships as well as pleasure craft.  This little sailing club was a colorful welcome.

This photo captured many of the harbor sites and attractions.

The water taxi shuttles all day to 14 locations and attractions.  It is a great way to tour the city for $9.00 per person as you ride all day and get on and off as many times as you like.  The triangular roof line is their aquarium.  In the far right corner of the picture is a replica of a working lighthouse also pictured below.

The marinas are plentiful in the area. Also, there are an abundance of waterfront condos and apartments lining the harbor.

As seen below, the USS Constellation is the last Civil War vessel still floating.  It was built in 1854 and is the last all-sail warship built by the US Navy. After years of restoration, she was returned to the Inner Harbor on July 2, 1999 and is open for tours as part of their Maritime Museum.

We passed all of that getting to our marina which is the farthest one into the harbor.

Bob and Deb were there to catch our lines again.

Shortly after that, they pulled out and moved to another marina where they will leave their boat for a couple of weeks while they head home.  Salvage Crew pulled in next to us shortly after.

Andy and I walked for about an hour in the Inner Harbor and here are some of the sights we enjoyed.

Dragon boats and the Aquarium…

Inner Harbor walk way…

Pier Fountain…

This is a great city and location with rich history.  We look forward to exploring a little more each day.

Day #316 – Baltimore, MD

We spent last evening with Liz and Richard Montaner as their guests at the Annapolis Yacht Club.

They were such gracious hosts.  The conversation was spirited and the food delicious.  Thanks Liz and Richard for a wonderful evening.  We enjoyed every minute!

This boat named Winning Drive was docked at the marina.  It belongs to the owner of the Baltimore Ravens and is a 130 foot Westport.

The sun rose over Annapolis harbor.

Above and below is a picture of the vessel named “Manitou.” John F. Kennedy made this boat his official Presidential Yacht in 1962 and was photographed on her many times.

We were a bit sad to leave beautiful Annapolis this morning at 8:00.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here and it is one port that we really want to spend more time in.  We hope to return.

The trip up to Baltimore was 32 miles and further up the Chesapeake Bay.  Beautiful homes line the shoreline and lighthouses are abundant.

We are staying at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Marine Center.  It is located right downtown in the heart of the city.  We have never been to Baltimore before and look forward to seeing as much as we can of this beautiful area.

More about Baltimore tomorrow as we are exploring today.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals…Detroit vs. Pittsburgh!

GO WINGS!

Day #315 – Annapolis, MD

We had a great, although quick, visit with Bob and Charlotte and it was wonderful to see them again.  They stealthily slipped off of Good News this morning at 6:40 and we weren’t even up to tell them good bye.  We will see them next in Honey Harbour in the Georgian Bay.

The town of Annapolis is one of our favorites.  The marinas are located right in the center of town and the area is bustling.  Below is the view from the top of the street down to the marinas.

Their streets are lined with inviting shops

and homes.

There are several beautiful steeples reaching up through the trees.

Their Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, dating to 1772. It houses the Maryland General Assembly. The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome built without nails in the nation. They used wood pegs.

In the small park down by the waterfront there is an area that honors Alex Haley and “Roots.”

It is thought to be the actual site where Kunte Kinte was auctioned off as a slave.

We have enjoyed every minute of our time in Annapolis and hate to leave, but hope someday to return.