Mostly Maryland and the Chesapeake…

In a race to move along and find a place to wait out Ophelia, we round Point Lookout and wave to Scotland, Maryland as we enter the bay…

Point No Point Lighthouse

and cruise to Solomon’s Island where the friendly Solomon Island Yacht Club has agreed to offer a slip for a few days. However, we have a bit of excitement along the way as the nearby naval air station is clearing the area for live fire training.

We are contacted on the radio and advised to move closer to the eastern coast, away from their maneuver area. It is amazing to hear a boater tell the naval patrol boat he does not want to move to the eastern coast as it is out of his way. Minutes later, like a dog with his tail between his legs and head hung low, he has an escort of two patrol boats away from the live fire area.

We make it to Solomons Island in time to enjoy an evening of peaceful seas and our first taste (many more to follow) of the infamous Smith Island cake.

The rains hold off for another night as we host friends with homemade rye bread in hand, who live nearby, aboard Odysea II…

and spend time catching up and reliving stories of the guys high school days. What a treat!

And then, we meet Ophelia as she makes her presence known! We are grateful to be hunkered down.

When deemed safe-ish by the captain, we move north…

for a night at Herrington Bay in Deale, MD to catch up with friends from HYC just in time for Monday Mexican night at their marina. It is great to see Virginia and Ry.

Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse

As the Thomas Point Lighthouse comes into view, we are now in the Captain’s old stomping grounds and we make a bad call on water conditions. It is already a bit choppy and rainy, but as we approach the Bay Bridge…

the waves seem to calm…

a bit.

So instead of stopping for the night we pass our intended marina and push on to Baltimore.

I am here to tell you that bridge is big enough to break a mighty wind because once we cruise to the other side, the wind picks up again and continues to be an uncomfortable challenge until we make the turn into the Patapsco River.

What a welcome sight.

Since the Chesapeake is not our friend today, and will not be for a few more days, we end up spending extra days in Baltimore filled with wonderful memories made with family and new friends at the docks as we wait.

We celebrate Lynne, the Captain’s sister on her 65th, enjoy an Orioles Game at Camden Yards, a long walk to Ft. McHenry, discover Oven Bird Bakery, and feast on arepas from the Fell’s Point Farmers Market. Little Italy is where we savor the freshly made pasta at the tiny Osteria Da Amedeo. We end up meeting our next table neighbors who have a boat in Daytona and a Bounder RV.

Memories flood our minds as we tell them of our first odyssey way back in 1999/2000 with our then 10 and 12 year old children to all 48 contingent states in our own Bounder. Quite the God wink as we swap favorite travels and have communicated with them since.

Next stop is a lovely visit with another friend of the Captain and his hostess with the mostest wife who live on the Magothy River…with a dock… in beautiful Cape St. Claire.

Across the bay is the unassuming town of Rock Hall, settled in 1706, where we overnight at a mooring ball for the first time. Captain decides to let me circle the ball for him to ‘catch’. Let’s just say we made a few laps. Ha!

The marina provides bikes for a much needed ride through the town of 1300 residents. In search of a fishing license, we head to Larry’s Bait & Tackle. On the way, we stop off at the friendliest and cutest Walgreens ever. A woman referred to as ‘Short and Sweet’ checks us out and is not happy until we receive the discount for our item finally arranged with the card of a woman behind us in line wearing a ‘Sweet as a Peach’ sweatshirt. Like I said, friendliest Walgreens ever.

Two high school kids are rocking in chairs, drinking a soda from the soda machine on the porch of Larry’s. The school bus to and from Chestertown, one hour to the northeast had let them off, so while I quiz them about their life in Rock Hall, the Captain goes inside to visit with Larry. When he exits, he does not have a fishing license but he does have a grin on his face and a newfound knowledge about Larry’s secret eel bait. It seems Larry could sell a license but the computer work is just too much and he directs us to the ACE hardware down the road.

The next morning, we cruise the Severn River and dinghy to the community swimming hole where Grandma and Pop would bring the kids on our visits.

After a walk through the old neighborhood listening to stories about shortcut paths now gone behind houses, sledding down hills (streets) and playing hockey on the frozen area near the playground in winters, we mosey back up the river for a peaceful anchorage in the aptly named Cocktail Creek.

It is here, sitting on the bow, with cocktails in hand, the Captain receives a phone call from another high school friend asking what color his boat is. As he is telling him, a boat pulls up and they exchange hello’s! He knows we are on the Severn, but how he finds our anchorage is a wonderful mystery.

Always on the calendar is a long awaited visit to the Annapolis Power Boat Show. Fortunately, our marina is in Eastport, MD, established in 1868 and annexed into Annapolis in 1951.

It seems when the bridge was being repaired, the citizens took advantage of their isolation from “Annapolis Propers” snobbish oppressions and severed social, political and economic ties as well. The Maritime Republic of Eastport (MRE) has its own flag with a motto, “We like it this way” and was founded in a pub of course, on Super Bowl Sunday, 1998.

Friends join us on the boat for cocktails before a lovely dinner at the nearby O’Leary’s Seafood and we have a quick visit with Captain’s sister Lisa.

Local discoveries include Davis Pub, Forward Brewing, Boatyard Bar and Grill, and Bakers & Co. known for their sourdough bread.

We begin our cruise down the Eastern Shore and our first stop is Tilghman Island at the active Knapps Narrows Bridge, where boats are in and out in the mornings and afternoons.

Tilghman Island, population 837 provides a quaint piece of history as we walk across the bridge…

to grab a cup of oyster stew at the Characters Bridge Restaurant and Bar where Tilghmans local characters enjoy the location and fare.

We stretch our legs and walk to see the Skipjack boats and shop the General Store. It is good to see the Methodist Church is making the best out of the local seafood.

On our cruise to Oxford we finally get to see the oystermen using tongs to pull in their catch. Quite impressive.

While Odysea II gets a spa day (pulled out for a bottom clean)…

we take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a night at Sandaway Suites and Beach complete with a bathtub! Oh what luxury!

Oxford is a favorite and this visit was no different. Strolls past homes lined with the Oxford picket fence, lunch in the park overlooking the Choptank River, listening to the church organ playing Sweet By and By…

“In the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore”…

the God wink is not lost on us.

Our night is capped off with pizza and live music at Pope’s and a beautiful sunset.

Nearby Cambridge, with its artsy quirkiness, is quite the opposite from Oxford’s refined composure, although equally historical. It is a larger town and with it, larger social issues.

After hearing of my quest for a grocery store, the marina attendant leads me in the direction where his mom has worked for years. On my walk to the store, I read of the Underground Railroad trial which took place in this county seat.

Murals abound and after a quick call to the Captain, he joins me at RAR Brewery where a group of employees from the local cannabis farm are celebrating.

As we continue south, the sight of two people on a lighthouse, yes, a lighthouse in the middle of the bay, catches our attention. 120 year old Hooper Island lighthouse was auctioned off in 2022 for a bit under $200,000 to an owner of an industrial painting and sandblasting company who enjoys “making something rustproof forever”.

Smith Island’s welcome party is in full swing and the hospitality continues as we dock at 3 Knots Marina in Ewell, MD.

As the population has dwindled to 260, the K-8 school has closed and high school students are picked up daily by a school boat. Most younger students are homeschooled.

Out for a walk around the island, we meet a new couple known locally as ‘come ons’ who bought property to remodel one month after falling in love with the remoteness offered by Smith Island. It is great to hear their means for receiving packages and groceries which range from Amazon packages delivered by ferry to weekly ferry trips to the mainland for provisions. They did have a vehicle ferried over after getting settled.

Our trip is made complete with a visit to the Smith Island Bakery where we left with half of a German Chocolate cake in preparation for the Captain’s birthday.

The other Smith Island community, Tylerton, is accessible only by boat or ferry, and is known as a waterman village boasting 50 residents. The only transportation is on foot or golf cart.

Tylerton women are known to get together to pick crab and sign gospel hymns. The Smith Island Crabmeat Co-op formed in 1998 after Maryland Health officials forced pickers to have licenses. What was previously done in each individual home of the crabbers became a community event.

We have somehow managed to avoid crab cakes until our visit to the mom and pop, Drum Point Market and are pleased to visit with Joan and her cousin Missy who boats to work with Verizon in Crisfield on the Eastern Shore.

While in Ewell, we had heard about a tornadic waterspout coming ashore last August and ripping apart a few buildings, with thankfully no fatalities. After lunch, we find the son and daughter-in-law of a woman whose house was torn apart, giving away her salvaged belongings. We listen to their amazing story and leave with two spoons for memory’s sake.

As mentioned in the heading above, most of the Eastern Shore along the Chesapeake Bay is Maryland, but there is an area of the southern Eastern Shore that is Virginia territory. So as we head south of Smith Island, we cross the imaginary line, where there have been contentious fishing allegations from Maryland and Virginia, to visit the great small town of Onancock (O-nan-cock)VA.

Downtown is filled with art galleries, a bookstore, a coffee shop, amazing restaurants and the best gourmet wine shop. The Old School House is home to artist studios, a Mariner museum and community activities.

High winds and a full moon bring extremely high tides and require some wading back to the boat. These same high winds allow a few extra days of sunsets on the Onancock Creek and the courtesy car provided by the marina let us venture beyond the area.

Our curiosity is peaked as we cruise into Cape Charles harbor alongside two stealth Navy Seal boats docked outside The Shanty where we later toast our adventure on this large, unpredictable bay. I bet those boats merely skim the surface of wild waves.

We luckily dock next to two impressive young ladies who share their freshly caught and cleaned trout for a perfect ending to our time on these waters.

As our time on the Chesapeake comes to an end, a moving sculpture of young Michael, who stands by the empty boots of his fisherman father, looks longingly out to the water, and we are reminded of the dangers of fishing. Something I forget to consider as I enjoy my fresh Chesapeake oysters, crab and fish.

Thanks for following along.

~ The Crew