Oxford. We left
Kent Island on August the 21st. We didn’t have any place we needed
to be until the 23rd – when we had reservations at the Hyatt Regency
Marina in Cambridge, MD – so we decided to spend the night at anchor in Fatty
Cove, near Oxford Maryland. We also decided that since we were there, we might
as well take a little trip into Oxford and … well … get a beer! We downloaded
the dinghy and off we went. We stopped at our favorite little waterfront bar in
Oxford – Schooner’s Landing – only to find it closed on Wednesdays! Now if you
know Oxford, you know that there really aren’t too many other places to go for
an afternoon beer. So we roamed around a little and ended up at the Robert
Morris Inn. You may recall that last year we had a scrumptious meal at the Inn.
We hadn’t planned on eating there this year, but we certainly could have a beer
and some fries.
This isn’t one of those places on the water, it’s a block or
so inland, so we decided just to sit at the bar rather than in the restaurant itself.
It wasn’t much of a view, but I gotta tell you that those fries were delicious!
They were crispy, just as I like them, and they were made with parmesan cheese
and rosemary sprinkled on top. MMM mmm good! And it was one of those hot, humid
Maryland afternoons so the beer – we each had one of the local craft beers –
tasted especially good. After the beer and fries we strolled around the town a
little, just enough to remind ourselves that there really isn’t much to do in
Oxford. We headed back to the boat, watched a video or two and went to bed.
Cambridge. It was only about two hours from Fatty Cove to the Hyatt and
the weather was just beautiful. Now the Hyatt is a true destination resort. On
the property there are probably three restaurants, three swimming pools, a golf
course (for those who indulge), a miniature golf course for the rest of us, a
game room, a nice work out facility and lots of other stuff. Although we have
been there in our previous boat, we hadn’t been in Traveling Soul simply because it was sooo expensive ($3/foot/day,
plus $15 electric/day, plus a $25/day resort fee – that would have been a total
of around $196 PER DAY.) Sorry, but that’s not gonna happen. Well, somebody
somewhere got smart and reduced the dockage fees. It was now $1.50 per foot per
day (plus electric and resort fees), AND you get three nights for the price of
two. Ok, it is still not cheap, but a three day total of $276 is a lot better
than a three day total of $588.
Our friends Dave and Joan came to visit and we celebrated
Dave’s birthday at a little downtown restaurant called Bistro Poplar. We have been going to Bistro Poplar since it opened.
In fact, I think we may have been there the first night it was opened – or at
least during its first week. The food
was good, the company even better and the resort … what can I say? It lived up
to all of our expectations.
After a few days lounging around the pool and walking around
the property, we took off. We were on our way to St, Mary’s MD, but on our way
we decided to spend a night anchored in Hudson Creek, just off the Little
Choptank River. It was during our stay there that I went fishing for the first
time off Traveling Soul’s stern. One of the reasons I have been hesitant to
fish until now is that I really wanted to get some circle hooks. Because of
their design, fish rarely swallow circle hooks. Since most of the fish I catch
are really too small to eat, I wanted to be able to throw them back uninjured.
Circle hooks allow me to do that. (Don’t worry, I haven’t gone over completely
to the Green side. if I ever catch one big enough to eat, I most certainly
will!) Anyway, I caught two small (8 inch) croakers and threw them back alive.
 |
| The view off our stern in the St. Mary's City Harbor. You can't really see much, but it sure was pretty! |
 |
| This was the caption on what is thought to be the oldest map of VA and MD after John Smith's |
St. Mary’s City.
St Mary’s City, MD is one of the best kept secrets on the Bay. There are
several really cool things about it. First, it has a magnificent anchorage. It
is almost like a lake, in that it resembles a circle with only one relatively
small entrance and a relatively small exit. The water throughout the “lake” is
15-20 feet deep – even near shore—so it is a little deeper than most boaters
would prefer, but it is so big that you can let out as much rode as you want. I
think we let out 150 feet, leaving us with about an 7:1 scope. We could have
let out more, but given the weather, that was plenty.
The second really cool thing about St. Mary’s is that it was the
first capital of Maryland! The city was founded in 1634 by a group of 300
English settlers. I mean it is only 27 years younger than Jamestown and is the
fourth oldest permanent settlement in British North America. It is considered
the birthplace of religious tolerance in the United States, as the colony
passed the Maryland Toleration Act at its capital, St. Mary’s, in 1649.
The original land grant for Maryland was given to George Calvert, the
first Lord Baltimore, by his patron and grateful friend, King Charles I. George
had served Charles well until he (George) committed the unpardonable sin of
declaring himself a Roman Catholic. After that, it was sayonara. In fact, it
was because of the Calvert’s faith that the colony was so strongly supportive
of religious toleration. About forty years after the Toleration Act, however,
in 1689, the religious tensions in England and the Colonies became so great
Maryland’s Protestant settlers revolted against the Lords Baltimore. As a
result, the English Crown took responsibility for the Colony away from the
Calvert’s and appointed a succession of royal governors. In 1695 Maryland’s
capital was moved to Annapolis. Between 1695 and 1934 St. Mary’s City became –
quite literally – lost. Its buildings were torn down, and it became farmland.
 |
| This is the Catholic Church in St. Mary's City. When religious problems arose back home, the Church was literally locked to prevent worship. |
 |
| This was the "courtroom" (of sorts) in St. Mary's City. Ya think maybe Ann is getting illusions of grandeur? |
By its 300th birthday, St. Mary’s City had been “rediscovered”
and the state held quite a birthday party for it in 1934. (There are pictures
of the harbor at St. Mary’s filled with 40 – 50 of those elegant wooden 1930’s
yachts – kewl!) Ever since, it has been the subject of archaeological digs and
historical research. As a tourist attraction it is laid out extremely well and
has several “interpreters” dressed in Colonial costumes throughout the complex.
In short it is a wonderful place to visit – kind of like Jamestown with a dash
of Williamsburg, but much less commercialized – and if you haven’t been there
you should go!
Deltaville. After St.
Mary’s we headed on down to Deltaville, Virginia. We left the boat to be bottom
painted at Deltaville Boatyard while we went on a vacation to the Great
American West. Some of you will remember that we used to have work done by
Zimmerman’s Boatyard here in Deltaville. Some of you will also remember why we
won’t make that particular mistake again. Anyway, let me explain a little about
bottom painting. All recreational boats that operate in salt water need some
kind of a bottom paint, otherwise all sorts of little sea creatures (like
mussels, barnacles, etc.) and slime (like, well, slime) will form and grow on
the bottom of the boat. They, in turn, will slow down the boat and
significantly reduce its efficiency as it runs through the water (think reducing
mileage). Properly applied bottom paint prevents this in two ways. First, it
contains and slowly releases a biocide that kills the nasty sea creatures –
kind of like a slow release capsule only it’s a covering rather than a pill and
it releases over a couple of years rather than 24 hours. Second, the paint sloughs off over time, so
any sea creatures that stick to the bottom – whether they are alive or dead –
come off as the boat travels the seas.
 |
| Traveling Soul on the travel lift preparing for her bottom painting |
We generally have the bottom painted every two years with two
coats. The top coat is blue, with a red coat underneath. As the blue coat sloughs off the red coat
shows through. When you see the red coat, you know your bottom is still good,
but it is time to start thinking about painting again.
Anyway, while the boat was being worked on, Ann went to Portland,
Oregon to visit her mother and sister while I went to Green Valley, Arizona to
visit my mom. We then converged on Twentynine Palms, California to visit our
daughter and her family.
ANN’S NOTES: As usual
Michael gives a good overview of what we have been up to.
Our visit to Oxford was fun. The weather was very hot so the
walking tour was short, but sitting at the bar was nice. I had a beer that was
brewed in Annapolis and the name of the beer was Magic … now how could one
refuse a nice cold glass of Magic. The town of Cambridge is so quaint but so
many of the store front and homes are closed or for sale. Small town USA is slowly disappearing, I am
sorry to say.
I really enjoyed our visit to St. Mary’s. The weather again was
hot and humid but there were a lot of shade trees to walk under most of the
time. I learned so much that day about the history of Virginia, Maryland and
the East Coast. The living history actors were excellent and made it fun to
listen and learn from them. We saw many old grave markers, the oldest tobacco
barn in Maryland and the machine that packed the tobacco into barrels for transport
back to England. I agree with Michael that it would be a great weekend getaway for
a family with older kids.
The visit to Cambridge as always was wonderful, the Hyatt Resort
and marina is such a nice place to just relax. And they have a Starbucks!!! What
more could one ask for? Having Dave and Joan visit makes it that much more
special. Dave had a nice birthday dinner and got a present he actually liked.
While Traveling Soul was
being pampered and made to look pretty, the Captain and First Mate took off for
some fun time of their own. We flew together out of Norfolk to Atlanta and then
parted ways; Michael went to Arizona and I went to Oregon. I left Portland in
1973 and this was the first time back. Oregon really is a beautiful state, with
mountains, trees, rivers and friendly people. It was great to be with my mom
and sister and her family. I also did some work for my sister that needed to be
done, like moving boxes and furniture. My sister is going to have back surgery
next week and she is limited on the amount of lifting and moving she can do … so
… the one with the good back and ample strength from boating volunteered to get it all done. I am glad I could help and
have fun at the same time.
The time was short but sweet in Twentynine Palms , California.
Being with family is the best feeling ever. It was wonderful to hug and talk to
the older grandchildren. Nikolas is a fine young man with a bright future and
has received early admission to Arizona State University. He is also trying for
a naval ROTC scholarship. Maddy is a beautiful young woman, and also has early
admission to ASU. She wants to be a vet. She has a great love for animals and
will do well in that career. Trent is a freshmen in high school. We share the
same birthday and we all went out to celebrate. He has always been quiet and
likes time alone. He is a also a really
good soccer player.
I could not believe the landscape of the high desert, it is so
different from the desert in Arizona. It is beautiful in a hard sort of way. The
Joshua trees are my favorite. I think I have found where all the “old” hippies
of the 60s went, they live in Joshua Tree, CA … trust me … they are alive and
well.
I also want to thank Michael`s mom, Barbara, for showing us a good
time in Green Valley and sharing her car with us. Also for driving all the way
to CA to visit Lisa and family. Love you Mom
I know that Michael wants to get this posted today so I better
wrap this up.
Sorry dear readers…not much in the wildlife count, I was told
always leave my readers wanting more ... so that is what I am doing.
Traveling Soul….OUT
No comments:
Post a Comment