May 10, 2004 - View the photos
We spent a delightful week end in St. Michaels in the Eastern
Bay of the Chesapeake. The East Bay seems less populated both
with homes on the shores and with boats.
The weatherman had forecasted thunderstorms for the week end.
Instead we had temps in the 80’s and sun. We did have rain
Friday night but last night we had a spectacular thunder and
lightening storm with lots of rain and wind. (At least we
missed the hail that was predicted.)
We spent a lot of time enjoying the town and people of St.
Michaels. Friday we spent most of the day at their Maritime
Museum. The focus was different than the Solomons with more
information about the oyster industry and the watercraft that
harvested this crop. They have also rescued a lighthouse and
relocated it to the museum site. The view from the lighthouse
is spectacular.
The harbor and the town of St. Michaels is a busy week end
boating spot. There are lots of anchorage sites and the
marinas have hourly docking rates. We had lunch at a great
restaurant on the water. The “Crab Claw” has a long dock and
is opened for lunch and dinner customers. The crabs are boiled
and served on a tray with newspaper for a tablecloth, hammers
for cracking and fingers for picking the meat out of the
shells. The crab was delicious but Bob and I both needed
another shower to clean up after our dozen crabs and
hushpuppies.
Saturday we finally made a grocery and wine run. None of the
marinas we’ve been in lately allow grilling on the boats. I
have a convection oven but it makes the cabin so warm. Darn
the luck. I guess we have to eat out again.
Not only does St. Michaels have groceries. The town has some
many fun shops from nautical to clothing to antiques and more.
I found a T shirt for the “Boat Drinks Yacht Club”. I think I
can join that club.
Sunday we found the local Methodist Church to celebrate
Mother’s Day. Mandy called between the 11 and 12 o’clock
buffet reservations to wish me the greeting of the day. Sounds
like she had a busy day with lots of reservations for the
annual Mother’s Day buffet. She and Andy and the crew did a
great job!
During the storm last night the electric went off and was
still off this morning. We decided since everthing was closed
we’d just cast off and head for Annapolis.
The sun was shining and the Bay was calm. It only took us 2
hours from marina to marina. We’re at “The Yacht Basin” in
historic Annapolis. The Navy Midshipmen are everywhere.
(Graduation is near.) We did some sightseeing this afternoon.
What a beautiful city. The homes have so much character. We
did get in the middle of a filming for “West Wing”. They were
shooting a funeral scene at an Episcopal church. We saw Martin
Sheen and the stars that play Charlie, Mrs. Bartlett and the
Chief of Staff.
The temperature was in the 80’s again today. I guess we
accomplished our goal of catching up to the warmer weather. We
plan to be here tomorrow but from there it depends on the
weather. We’ll be in more open water from here until we get to
New Jersey. I’d like to stay out of the rain.
Most of the pictures here are of St. Michaels (including the
sunset). The lighthouse in the middle of the bay is the Thomas
Point lighthouse not too far from the Severn River where we
turned west to Annapolis.
We’re going to the Naval Academy tomorrow. I’ll write more
then.
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