Leaving Reedville, VA
June 16th, After a nice dinner with Mary, Walt and Ben at Tommy's on Sunday is was time to get underway again. We left
the idyllic spot that our friends Mary and Walt enjoy on Cockrell Creek. Their friend Ben Fulton left at 7 AM. We enjoyed breakfast and gathered our stores
from their refrigerator and repositioned things aboard. Our wave good bye was at 9:30 as we headed to
the fuel dock to top the tanks. CrossOver
was underway at 10:00.
On our way to the Great Wicomico I counted at least 9 Osprey nests. This trip was under good travel
conditions. The tide was coming up the
bay and winds light from the SE. We saw
numerous fish balls in the Bay before we reached Smith Point Light.
Let me tell you a bit about Reedville. This is the Menhaden fishing center. The industry flies spotter planes to find the
fish balls (large groups of fish in an area churning up the water) then
notifies the main ship is dispatched to those areas. Small boats with nets are lowered. The nets are spread and the boats then close
in and tightening the net. The main ship
picks up the nets. Fish are brought to
the plant and cooked, you really like to be down wind during that process. The plant has made changes to filter the
chimneys in recent years. The by product
is fishmeal used for fish food and fish oil.
Our trip was pleasant
this day. I enjoyed seeing familiar light
houses, Smith Point and Point No Point. Crossing
the Potomac River was no problem today. It is 10 miles across and the currents and
wind can make passage difficult at times.
Dave spotted 4 Mylar balloons on the water. They are an ever present danger to turtles
and other sea creatures. Next trip we
may carry a crab net to pick them out of the water.
As we rounded Cedar Point to enter the Patuxent River heading
to Solomon’s Island, I noticed our friends the Reynolds were heading down the
Bay to their home port in Mill Creek near Solomon’s Island. We communicated and were able to get together
in the evening.
This trip is special, no thunderstorm on the Bay to run from
as has happened many times in the past.
We were able to get a slip at Zahnisers’s Marina. We are just a few slips from the showers,
laundry and a nice porch (a new building with the Dry Dock Restaurant on the
second floor) and not many steps from the pool.
We docked at the same time our daughter, Adrienne, and her dog arrived. After some visiting and exchanging birthday
and Father’s Day gifts we headed to the pool to cool and work on tans.
We got directions and met the Reynolds at their condo for
cocktails and a tour of their dock.
Afterward we were introduced to the Ruddy Duck Restaurant, great meal
and a fun evening all by chance.
Adrienne dropped us off and she and Lt. went to the Comfort Inn for the
night.
Adrienne had never been to
Solomon’s , Brad however had worked here part of a summer. We took her to the Calvert Museum, which has
grown since our last visit. Lt. enjoyed
the otters through the glass in the outdoor tank.
We came back to the boat to cool off, have
lunch and nap. Dave was having pain in
his heel so he dropped Adrienne and I off at the Annmaire Sculpture garden and
did errands at ACE Hardware and West Marine.
The Sculpture Garden had 20 sculptures on loan from the Smithsonian,
Hirshhorn collection and 66 fairy gardens submitted by artists and individuals. The walk is easy but with temperatures of 98
and no breeze it was quite uncomfortable.
What a fascinating place; I hope my grandchildren get to go sometime.
The pool was a welcome relief, unfortunately
it closed at 6. We showered and headed
to what we thought would be a pet friendly restaurant but the only seating was
in the sun. We found a nice Mexican Restaurant
in the next town; by then the sun was down and we could leave Lt. in the car. After dinner Adrienne headed back to South
Riding and we found our pillows shortly after that.
Wednesday and another hot one! We got an early start and biked to the end of
the peninsula to see some Chris Crafts Dave spotted yesterday and to see the
Kalmar Nyckel, the tall ship from Wilmington, DE. We got to talk to two lady crew members. Interestingly the Capt. and Co-Capt. are
women. The Pride II from Baltimore,
Sultana from Chestertown and The Dove from St Mary’s are due her tomorrow to
take part in the Star-Spangled Celebration.
The occasion is to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the
Battle of St. Leonard’s Creek. The other
attraction this weekend is Sheryl Crow.
For you fans, she will be at Musikfest in Bethlehem.
We rode our bikes to the other end of town hoping we would
find a Minute Clinic at the CVS to have wax removed from Dave’s ear. He can hardly hear out of it. No luck. We find a thrift shop and got him
some more Tee shirts so I won’t have to do laundry so often.
After lunch Bonnie Shiplet drove over to say hello, see the
boat and take a dip in the pool. It was
so nice to get a chance to spend time together.
Bonnie lives in Columbus, Ohio and is our daughter-in-law’s aunt. She is visiting her father and brother before
going to London with her daughter.
We stayed at the pool;, later did laundry, dinner aboard and
when the sunset we walked the docks.
Tomorrow we head to Galesville, MD on our way to the Severn
River to visit with our friends the Adensams.
It would be nice if the storms hold off until we anchor and then bring
some cooler weather.
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