Harborview Marina, Baltimore, Maryland

The 1814 powder chamber

The first mate on one water taxi was a real clown

Another hot humid day. We are breaking records for heat in Baltimore. Apparently the temperature is about 15 degrees above normal for this time of year. Caught the water taxi this morning and went out to Fort McHenry. This fort stands guarding the entrance to Baltimore Harbour and the city itself. During the war of 1812, the Americans burned York (Toronto) and in retaliation, the British burned Washington. They then turned to Baltimore and attacked by land and by sea. The citizens had built earthworks around the city, which the troops were not able to get past, and the British warships bombarded the fort for a day and a night. However, the fort had bigger cannon, so the British were unable to get close enough to do a lot of damage. The next morning, the British pulled out and the stars and stripes were raised over the fort. That inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner". The bridge under which we passed as we entered the harbour is named for Frances Scott Key. The fort was used as a prison during the Civil War, and as a rehabilitation hospital during World War I. Since then it has been designated a national park.

A bomb shelter to protect people in the fort from enemy fire, called a Bombproof

Fort McHenry

One of the boats on display and open for tours here in Baltimore. This particular boat is a coast guard boat, and is the only boat still around that  survived Pearl Harbour.

Baltimore is a huge industrial city, with an ethnically diverse population. It was second only to New York as an entry point for immigrants.  The city of about 620,000 entered a period of decline in the 1970s; the past few years the city has begun a renewal project, including a whole new waterfront with a 7.5 mile boardwalk along the water, lots of shops and restaurants, office buildings and condos. They are also selling homes in some areas for very little money, but the purchaser has to prove that they have the resources to renovate, a program that is proving popular with yuppies. The waterfront is a busy place with lots of people out and about, we didn't venture into other areas of the city.

Some of the cannon at the fort

This afternoon did some laundry, got together with Jim and Gloria for dinner on our boat. We plan to move on tomorrow.

Baltimore Harborview Marina, Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore world trade centre, the world's tallest pentagonal building

A poisonous frog at the Aquarium

a lionfish at the Aquarium

The Lightship Chesapeake

Hot humid day today. Temperature in the 90s (that would be in the 30s in Canada). Beautiful day to be on the water. Got to Baltimore just after lunch. This is the 3rd day of a long weekend here, so lots of boat traffic, and most of it seemed to be leaving Baltimore as we came in. Lots of people who have not heard that it is impolite to wake other boats.
Toured the Chesapeake, a light ship here in Baltimore Harbour. This lightship is one of a few remaining that did duty as floating lighthouses in the 30s and 40s. During WWII this particular lightship was fitted with two 20 mm cannons, and used as a patrol/ inspection vessel near th entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. In 1945 she was returned to lightship duty off Cape Henry, VA. She was replaced by an offshore light tower on pilings in 1965. She has been in Baltimore since 1982.
Then Gloria and I went to the Baltimore Aquarium; the men thought it was too hot, so they went to a Barnes and Noble Book store and browsed the books. The Aquarium was great, well worth the visit. We did not get to see the dolphins, a mother had given birth to a calf this morning, so they had shut down the dolphin display to give mother and child a chance to rest.

Met the Pride of Baltimore as we entered the harbour; she is a replica of the type of ship used during the Civil War, and sails out of the harbour as an ambassador for Baltimore.

Met Gloria's cousin and her husband for dinner, nice to meet them. Still warm tonight, we have not used the air conditioning in the boat,  may be tempted tonight. We plan to stay here another day.

Annapolis City Docks, Annapolis, Maryland

sign on a sailboat here at the City docks; when I stopped to take a picture, he asked if I had a granddaughter, or who I might have had in mind when I took the picture. Didn't tell him granddaughters were 6, 4 and 1. He apparently was seriously recruiting a first mate (female).

Part of the residence at the Naval Academy; the area in front of the residence is used as a parade ground every day at noon when school is in session.

One type of archicture here in Annapolis; in these buildings the bricks were turned on end, made a very strong wall, but very expensive, so this means that someone very rich built this house.

Warm sunny day today. Went on a walking tour of Annapolis, learned the history of many of the buildings in the historic district, then went to the Naval Academy.  Toured the Capital Building; it has the original capital building, built in the 1700's and used for a few months as the federal capital after the Revolutionary war, and the new section built on in 1902. The original senate chamber was restored a few years ago, then they discovered a crack in the plaster. On investigation, it was discovered that damp was getting in through the walls because they had not been finished properly so it is being redone. The dome on the original part of the capital building is of wood, and is the largest wooden dome in the US. At the naval academy, we toured part of the residence. There are over 1000 students in each of the 4 years, and all live in residence. This was the largest residence in the world until Moscow built an even larger one in the 1950's. The tour guide wasn't sure if it was still standing, but one of the people on the tour happened to be from Moscow, and knew that it was still there and in good shape.
This afternoon sat on the back of the boat and watched the activity. We were boarded by US Customs and Border Patrol again, but our paperwork was in order and we have been reporting in regularly, so no problems.  There was a car show here this morning, then they moved on and tents were set up. They had entertainment all afternoon, singing, someone walking on stilts, face painting, balloon animals,  and lots of people on the waterfront. At the same time, boats were going up and down the waterway in front of us, down "Ego Alley", and the bar across the waterway was doing a great business. Very busy place.

Our guide on the walking tour - very knowledgeable

Historical plaques on buildings in Annapolis; there is a different colour for each period. The tree represents the liberty tree here in Annapolis, just taken down a couple of years ago. Each city had a liberty tree prior to and during the revolution, that is where the people who wanted freedom from England met and made their plans.

The original senate chamber in the Capital Building; the whole room was the blue colour that we see in the one section. This is the room in which George Washington resigned his commission

The wooden dome of the capital building; it is even held together with wooden pegs, no metal in any of it. The guide told us about the man who did the decorative plaster work inside the dome, he had it almost finished when he fell off his scaffolding and died. When his wife came to collect his pay so she could take the children back to Ireland, the foreman refused to pay her anything because the contract called for him to have completed the job. People in Annapolis took up a collection to get enough money to send them home. They say his ghost still walks in the dome, people feel cold air on the back of their neck, and see a candle light being carried around in the dome at night.

One of the many, many boats that went up and down Ego Alley in front of us today.

Had dinner with Jim and Gloria on their boat, then walked up the street for ice cream. We plan to move on to Baltimore tomorrow.

The new Senate Chamber in the Capital Building

Washington, DC

The Korean War Memorial

The lineups to pass by the wall of names at the Vietnam memorial were huge; many left flowers and/or pictures of loved ones

The motorcycle parade

A vet is searching the book of names at the Vietnam Memorial

We rented a car with Jim and Gloria and travelled the 30 miles to Washington. Beautiful city, with so much to see. We started with the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You needed a prior appointment to actually get a tour of the White House, so we had to be satisfied with just looking on from the outside. Then on to the Washington Memorial, which is a huge obelisk. Visited the Lincoln Memorial, a marble statue of the president inside a structure of 36 marble columns. The Washington Memorial and the Capital building anchor a long mall, about 2 miles in length, with museums and statues along it's length.  Near the Lincoln Memorial is the Vietnam memorial. It consists of a wall with all of the names of those who lost their lives in the war inscribed on the wall. As we neared the Vietnam memorial, we saw a long, long row of motorcycles coming along the street, and many were flying the American flag. Apparently every Memorial Day, thousands of veterans come to Washington by motorcycle to participate in this motorcycle parade. Today was just a practice run, the real parade is tomorrow. At the Vietnam memorial we saw many veterans, including one group that had on vests that said Canadian Cav. I asked them where they were from, one girl is from Winchester, one man from Renfrew, another man from Gatineau. They have come down, along with many other Canadian vets,  to participate in the motorcycle parade as well.

Dorothy's ruby red shoes, in the pop culture display at the Smithsonian

Spent most of the afternoon at the Smithsonian, could have spent several days. Visited the Natural History Building and the one on  American History. Saw dinasaur bones, fossils, a display on global warming. Also saw a display of dresses worn by first ladies at inaugauration balls. Interesting to see the changes in fashions over the years.  Then walked to the other end of the mall and saw the Capital building. They were setting up for a big concert tonight, so we couldn't get a good picture of it.

Part of the WWII Memorial

The statue of Lincoln inside the Memorial

The elephant in the entrance hall of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Had dinner in Washington, then returned to Annapolis. Full day, but worthwhile.

In front of the White House

The Washington Monument stands 555 ft, 5 1/2 " tall, at one time the tallest structure in the world.

Annapolis City Docks, Annapolis, Maryland

Spent a good night on the mooring ball, but our plan was to go into the City Docks if space became available today.  Crawdad went into the first space, then watched for another boat to leave, which it did about 11. Crawdad radioed us and we came right in and took the next space. It is on a first come, first serve basis, so you cannot reserve. Got into a good space, this one wide enough for the boat. Only a few boats left today, so we were lucky to get a space. Went on a trolley tour of the city, very interesting. The guide pointed out some of the different types of architecture in the city. Annapolis has some of the best examples of Georgian architecture in North America. In the historic district, people are obliged to get permission to change anything about the building, from doorknobs to windows to front steps. However, they can paint their houses any colour they wish, so there are some very colourful houses.

One of the midshipmen who graduated today. He is wearing a dark jacket because he will go from here to Quantico for training to become a marine.

Went on to the Naval Academy. We were going to see the naval museum housed there. As we entered the naval academy grounds, we had to go through the visitor's centre. Security is such that we had our bags X-rayed, and we had to show photo ID to get in. Went into the chapel as we passed by. It is beautiful. They have both Catholic and Protestant services there. The stained glass windows have been donated by different graduating classes from the academy.  On the side of the chapel they have a crypt that houses the remains of John Paul Jones, a Revolutionary War hero. The naval history museum is amazing, a wonderful chronicle of history from the Revolutionary War onward from the naval perspective. We spent an hour and a half there, could have spent much longer so hopefully will have a chance to go back.

View from a lookout overlooking the war memorial in Annapolis. The Maryland state flag is flying at half mast because a Maryland state trooper was killed in a car accident last night.

Pictures cannot do justice to the beauty of the chapel at the Naval Academy. We have been told that many of the graduates from the academy get married here, I can see why.

The crypt of John Paul Jones. It is said that he embodied the spirit of the US navy and the navy academy

Preble Hall, which houses the naval museum

Alex Haley Memorial here at the City Dock. It commemorates the 1767 arrival of Kunta Kinte, an African slave immortalized by Alex Haley in his Pulizter prize winning book "Roots". This statue shows Alex Haley reading to children.

Came back and Gloria and I put together dinner on the boat, then we went up the street for ice cream. It is a warm evening, there are crowds of people along the waterfront. It is so interesting just watching the people going by.  Tomorrow we plan to tour Washington.

The State House forms part of the distinctive skyline of Annapolis. It is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use and the only state capital to have been the US capitol. The US congress met here from Nov. 1783 to Aug 1784, the Treaty of Paris was ratified in this building, thus ending the Revolutionary war, and George Washington resigned his commission here so that he could become President.   In the foreground of the picture is the restaurant where we had dinner last evening, the waterway in front of the restaurant is "Ego Alley" and  we are docked just across the way; the picture was taken from our boat.

Annapolis, Maryland

The one remaining functioning screwpile lighthouse marks Thomas Point shoal; we passed it just before we turned in to the Severn river and Spa Creek to Annapolis

Several cadets from the naval academy out and about the town

We had dinner at a restaurant along the water, the area is known as "Ego alley" because boaters bring their boats down that narrow alleyway, turn at the end and come back so that everyone can see them

Left Solomons early this morning; the marine forecast was giving a small craft warning for after 2 pm today, so we wanted to be up here before that. South breeze, so the waves were coming behind us. Nice trip, warm and we had small biting flies in the boat,  not sure where they came from. We had reservations at the yacht club here in Annapolis; we were only able to get in because Jim and Gloria are members of a yacht club in Michigan. They had given us one price on the phone, when we arrived the price was quite different. We called around, there was one place to dock at the city docks, and there were mooring balls. Gloria and Jim took a mooring ball, we were going to the one dock. When we got there, it was only 12.5 ft wide, a little too small for our 13 ft wide boat. Therefore we are on a mooring ball as well. We had anticipated some difficulty getting hooked up to it, but it went quite well. Got the dinghies down and went for a tour of the town and got some dinner. Beautiful town, lots to explore. This is a big weekend in Annapolis, the naval academy graduation is tomorrow; apparently about 1000 cadets graduate each year. The Blue Angels were supposed to be putting on flying demonstations here Tuesday and Wednesday, then doing a flyover after the graduation tomorrow, but apparently they came a little too close to each other for safety in practice, so have gone back to Pensacola to practice some more. Another group will do the fly over tomorrow.

We went by the Calvert Cliffs as we left Solomons today, they go on for 30 miles.  It is in these cliffs that many fossils have been found.

Our boat on the mooring ball.

We plan to stay here over the weekend and tour both Annapolis and Washington, DC.

Spring Cove Marina, Solomons, Maryland

The little solar powered car/golf cart that took us to the grocery store yesterday. It had just clouded over so the driver had put up the plastic sides just in case.

The lightkeeper and his family lived in the lighthouse; one lighthousekeeper and his wife had 5 children, hard to think they raised 5 children in that small space. Kids were asking their parents what this was.

Maryland's (or many just the Solomons) version of don't drink and drive

Magnolia tree in bloom at the marina

Solomons is a deep water port just inside the mouth of the Patuxent River. This area is known for recreational boating, fishing and crabbing. In the past there were several boatyards in this area, but they have not survived to the present day.There is the town of Solomons, and Solomon's Island, a small island connected to the town by a car length long causeway (easy to miss, we rode bikes over it twice without realizing we had done so). There are marinas everywhere you look here, some more for sailboats and recreational boaters, some more for fishing boats. Right now, people are fishing for rockfish, and of course for crabs. When we arrived yesterday, we wound our way among the crab pots, both leaving Tangier Island, and coming in here.
Went to the Calvert museum today, a good display of the history of the area and of local animals, plants and fish. There is also a large paleontology exhibit. The Calvert Cliffs are in this area, and many fossils, including a whale jawbone, have been recovered from the cliffs. Storms wash out the base of the cliffs, and of course eventually the top of the cliff breaks off as well, so fossils are continually appearing. It also means that land mass is disappearing; the museum posted an interview with one lady whose house is getting closer and closer to the cliff edge; they can neither sell it nor save it, so will soon have to just abandon it.

Screwpile Lighthouse

We also toured a "Screwpile Lighthouse". These are short squat versions of a lighthouse, built in areas where the bottom would not support a regular lighthouse. It was built by screwing piles into the bottom of the waterway, then building the living quarters and light on top of the piles. This one is no longer in use, in fact where it used to sit is now beach because of the shifting shoreling. After it was decommissioned, it was moved to the museum. There used to be several of these lights in use, but there is only one currently working screwpile, and that is at Annapolis.

Out for dinner at a local restaurant. Beautiful day today, warm and sunny. It's starting to look more like home, we are seeing robins and swallows, and maple trees, but also magnolia and palm/palmetto trees.   Gloria and I got a chance to try out the pool here, first time in a long time that we have had access to a pool on a really warm day (and time to use it).  We plan to travel north to Annapolis tomorrow.

Tangier Island to The Solomons, Maryland

May 22, 2011

Parks Marina, Tangier Island, Virginia

We are on Tangier Island, a small island on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay.  The island is one mile by three miles, and was first settled in 1686 by John Crockett, followed by the Pruitts and the Parks (still the main names on the island and in the graveyards). There are few cars or trucks on the island, most transportation is by bicycle or golf cart. When I had phoned for reservations, the gentleman who answered had trouble understanding me on the phone, did not take my name or the boat names, just said to come on in, but would we please arrive after he got home from church at 12. We arrived at about 1220, just as he was pulling up on a motor scooter, all dressed up in his suit. Mr. Parks is 80 years old, and had abdominal aneurism surgery 8 weeks ago, and is still pulling boats in to tie them to the dock.  After we got docked, he took Jim and Gloria for a tour of the island in his golf cart, then took Wayne and I (three people barely fit).  Most of the men on the island work in the fishing or crabbing industry, or something related like working on a tug boat.  Mr. Parks told us that about 500 people live here,  much fewer than in previous years.

The people who live here have a very distinctive way of speaking, apparently from early Elizabethan era settlers.  They do modify how they speak when talking with us, or our communication might be somewhat difficult.

the general store

Dinner at Chesapeake House

We went up to the Chesapeake House, a bed and breakfast, and family style restaurant, for dinner.  We had to go early, because everything closes at 5 on Sunday, so we were there before 4 pm. You are seated at a table with whoever is there, tonight it was a couple from California. The ham, potato salad, cabbage salad, beet pickles were already on the table. They brought pound cake, clam fritters, crab cakes and fresh made yeast rolls. Family style, we passed the platters up and down the table. After dinner, we went for a walk around the island. Mr. Parks came along, showed us a crab shedding operation. They keep crabs in the water where the females shed their shells; that is the only time the male crabs can mate with them.  Very interesting to hold one of these crabs, with shell and without shell.

Mr Parks gave us all a tour in his golf cart

Monday 23 may, 2011

My lunch at Lorraine's, a crab sandwich, several small whole crab deep fried and placed between 2 slices of bread.

At the beach on Tangier Island

We have stayed over at Tangier island another day; weather forecast for today was for winds and waves, so we stayed put. Rented bicycles this morning; you go up the street past the Chesapeake house, see if the lady in the next house is home, if she is not then you ask at the Chesapeake house. They said  that the lady with the bikes was away today, but go ahead up the lane and in the gate by the golf cart, take bicycles and leave your money in the jar – worked quite well. Rode around much of the island with Gloria and Jim, ended up at the beach. One end of the island is a lovely sandy beach, so we walked along much of the beach.  Then came back and toured the museum. It has displays about much of the history of the island, including a short film about the way of life here.  The island itself is shrinking rapidly; a hundred years ago it was over 2000 acres, now it is less than 800, with only about 68 acres high enough for people to live on. The island consists of 3 ridges (actually just strips of land that are a few feet above sea level at low tide) and the rest is marsh with guts or streams running through them.  It is thought that within the next 50 years the island will no longer exist. The man at the museum said that the Army Corps of Engineers and other groups are making plans to stop the erosion of the island, but nothing is being done. As it is, we notice that at high tide, many of the front yards are covered with a shallow sheet of water.

With my fancy bike on Tangier Island; this bike has handlebars wrapped in tinfoil, added to the decor

The crabbers are concerned because new regulations about when they can crab and how many they can catch have severely restricted their ability to make a living.  All in all, between flooding and restrictions on crabbing, you wonder how much longer this island and its unique way of life can carry on.

The weather looks good for tomorrow, so we plan to travel to the Solomons if we can.

May24th, 2011

The Solomons,Maryland

Wakened up early this morning by the sound of fire reels, the volunteer fire department were responding to a medical emergency. Then heard the sound of a helicopter. A woman on the island had chest pain, the physician's assistant who lives on the island had seen her and decided that she needed medical care, so she was airlifted to a hospital off the island.

Left Tangier in cloud and waves of 1 to 2 feet on our beam, but the bay soon smoothed out and it was a great day to travel. Arrived at Spring Cove Marina in the Solomons just after lunch. As we travelled, came by a naval base, many planes/jets and helicopters taking off and flying over the boat, quite noisy. Very nice place here. They have a shuttle that takes people to the grocery store, it is a solar powered car, so Gloria and I took advantage of it and stocked up. Nice grocery store, a Food Lion. Then we rented bikes and rode around the area. Lots to see so have decided to stay another day and tour the museum and lighthouse.

Garbage cans over all of Tangier Island have this lovely lighthouse top

Sunset over the bay at Tangier Island

Visited a crab shedding operation; this is a shell and the crab that came out of it. After shedding the shell, the crab stretches out, so looks larger than the shell

Got together with Jim and Gloria tonight for a barbque, beautiful evening. By about 8:40 the bugs chased us in, just like at home.