Tidings of Joy: End of the Chesapeake

Our final day in Annapolis and we were up and out early. We took the 7:15a.m. commuter bus to D.C. for the day. The bus was really nice - lush, air conditioned and very comfortable. It was more like a charter bus then a city bus. When we arrived in D.C. for the final time we headed straight for the Library of Congress. The building was beautiful and the library itself so inviting and somewhere you would want to spend a lot of time reading and researching. I inquired how you get into the library and was told you just have to get a library card. If I lived in D.C. that would be my library. From the Library of Congress we headed over to the Supreme Court which was this very grand white pillared building. It as quite remarkable. Once inside we signed up for a lecture which got us into the main courtroom and an intern talked all about the Supreme Court and people got to ask questions. It was informative but for some reason I thought we were going to hear a lecture on a specific topic by one of the justices. Wishful thinking I guess. From there we headed over to the Capital Building and awaited our tour. I was really excited for this. While the monuments and museums are nice I’m more into the working buildings of D.C. Show me how the day to day operations take place. Our tour group was shuffled into a large theater where they showed us a movie about the history of the capital and what the day to day looks like there. When the movie was finished we broke into smaller groups and followed a guide around. We were shown the dome and some of the inner hallways but not the Senate and House of Representative rooms. We were told congress was still in session and unless you got a special pass from your state representative you weren’t allowed in. I was really disappointed. This was all I wanted to see. The tour ended and it was late afternoon so we headed back to the bus and back to the boat in Annapolis. We spent a quiet evening onboard and prepared for the next mornings 7a.m. departure to Baltimore.

Library of Congress

Supreme Court

Library of Congress

The Capital

Capital

Speaker of House Office

Capital

After five event filled days we were ready to move along. The cruise from Annapolis to Baltimore was uneventful and after four hours we pulled into the Anchorage Marina. When trying to choose a marina in Baltimore I considered price, proximity to downtown and weather or not they had a pool. This marina while not right in downtown seemed like a good deal and I thought we could bike to downtown. When we pulled in the place looked like it had seen better days. The docks were all dilapidated and falling apart. They were covered in tons of bird poop and we appeared to the newest and largest boat there. Never a good sign in my opinion. We like to pull in and see lots of large new, well kept boats. Tells a lot about the marina. Either way we overlooked all of this because in the past month it’s been so hot and sweltering that we were so excited for the pool. We decided after we got checked in we would go for a dip and figure out the rest of our day later. We checked in and paid the lady in the office who was quiet the character as were most of the employees there. I quickly got into my suit and Jeff was heading to the boaters lounge to access the wifi. It didn’t reach all the way down to the docks. I made the long trek down C dock all the way to the end to the pool just to find it gated up and pad locked saying, “closed until further notice.” What?! Our only reason for grinning and baring this marina and we couldn’t use the pool. That was the last straw for me. I made the trek back to the boaters lounge and told Jeff we were leaving. He was really surprised since we have never left a marina before. After talking to the office lady she understood and gave us a full refund. I found another marina in town that was a bit more expensive but they had a pool and we could walk on and off the boat right into downtown Baltimore. Perfect. We made the move very easily and once tied up we decided to hit the pool, again. This time it was located inside a hotel called the Royal Sonesta. Finally a pool. And as we were leaving the pool we were offered a glass of wine by the front desk stating it was happy hour. Ahhhhh finally we were at the right marina. That night we found out that the Oriels were in town and playing the Indians. Extra fun for me being from Ohio. Jeff agreed to go if I bought the tickets. I was shocked since Jeff is not a sports fan whatsoever so I gladly agreed. Just as we bought our tickets and made our way inside it started pouring. Rain delay. Jeff was not happy. We had a couple of beers and 45 minutes later the game began. Oriels would end up loosing 5-1. Kinda fun to watch Ohio win.

Baltimore Harbor

Downtown Baltimore

Baltimore

Oriels Game

The next few days we would make our way to a number of neighborhoods including Fells Point and Little Italy. We even made our way back to where the first marina was and went to the town there called Canton. We ate at a couple of good restaurants and toured some old sailing ships and a submarine. The day we were due to leave the wind was picking up and there was a small craft advisory so we asked the marina to extend two more days. They told us no problem but the rate was going to go up since it was the weekend. Jeff was not happy about that since the marina was half empty so we decided to move to our third marina in Baltimore- The City Docks. This was quite the experience. Moving was no problem and we were the only boat in the marina which were wood docks right in the center of downtown. This should have been our first clue but we were happy to be saving money and right in town. That night we had some drinks on the boat and played some music. The next day more sightseeing around the downtown area and back to the pool. We kept our keys from the Royal Sonesta so we returned to cool down and again had some wine for happy hour. That night while we were on the boat some of the weirdest things happened since being on the loop. Jeff and I were sitting on the couch in the salon and I felt a jolt. I peered out the blinds and saw a person standing on the boat in the walkway right outside the window. Shocked I quickly opened the blinds and the person and her two friends took off running. Stunned I said to Jeff, “was that person really just on our boat?” He confirmed and I went to the front of the boat and watched them walk away. I went outside to make sure they saw me watching them walk away. What the hell?! A little freaked out and standing on the bow another group of woman walked up and and told me they were doing a bridesmaid scavenger hunt and one of the items was to take a picture on a boat and could they come aboard. Under normal circumstances I probably would have said yes but I was still in shock from the last incident and told them just to take a picture next to the boat. I went back into the salon and tried to get back to relaxing when all of a sudden Jeff told me to look outside. There was a woman sitting on the side of the boat while her boyfriend took pictures of her. That was it. Who do these people think they are? I opened the blinds and that just seemed to give them ammo because the boyfriend joined her on the ledge and they started making out while I watched. I banged on the window and they jumped off the railing. I couldn’t take it anymore and went outside and confronted them. They acted clueless as if they were doing nothing wrong. When I told them this was our home and we wouldn’t be so rude as to go to their home and sit on their porch while they were inside, they then apologized and left. We were both a little paranoid going to sleep that people would be hopping on and off of the boat so we left the lamp on in the salon. Needless to say we were more the ready to leave in the morning.

Downtown Baltimore

Sub We Toured

Ship We Toured

Happy Hour After Swimming

City Docks

Dinner in Little Italy - Joe Benny's

Little Italy

Rude Girl Sitting on Boat

Same Rude Girl Sitting on Boat

We left early in the morning for our first stop out of the Chesapeake Bay - Chesapeake City, Maryland. After twenty days cruising the Chesapeake it was weird to be leaving. The cruise was hot and long and when we arrived in Chesapeake City we headed into the anchorage. We saw 4 feet of depth which doesn’t work for us since we draw 4 feet 8 inches. We drug the keel through the mud and quickly got out of there. We found a marina across the way that was willing to squeeze us in and we tied up and settled in. The marina was really a loud crowded restaurant that had a few docks. After the restaurant closed at 8pm we were the only boat in the place. A nice quiet night was perfect.

Chesapeake City

Restaurant Dock

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

We were really excited to get started the next day because we were taking a side trip to Philadelphia via the Delaware River. Neither of us had been to Philly and we were anxious to see what it was all about. Our six hour cruise was mellow and we passed a ton of barges and tows. When we arrived at Penn’s Landing Marina it took a few calls on the radio and the phone to get the dock master to answer. Finally we were given a slip and two men helped to tie us up. The marina was small only about 10-15 boats and several gold loopers were already there including our neighbor's “Jim’s Joy.” After checking in we threw on our tennis shoes and headed into the city. We decided to head straight to the historical district to see the liberty bell, independence hall and some other historical buildings. The area was packed with tourists and it was hot as hell. But we were very glad to be here. We ended our evening by going to a place I had googled called Blackbird Pizzeria for vegan Philly cheesesteaks. They were really good and we were happy that we got to partake in the city’s well know tradition.

Philadelphia Harbor

Downtown Philly

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell

Old Court Room

Congress Room

Old Congress Room

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak

The second day we slept in which was so nice after many days of getting up early and traveling. We headed back to the historical district to see Ben Franklin’s grave, The Christ Church and The Quaker Meeting House. Of all of these places I found the Quaker House the most interesting. There was a docent who gave a talk to us and one other family about the history of the meeting house and how William Penn had founded it. She also spoke about what it meant to be a Quaker ideas like peacefulness, integrity, humility and not adhering to any particular faith. She said they had several atheists in the community. Sounded really nice. After the Quaker house we went to and saw Elfreth’s Alley which is the oldest continually inhabited street in the United States. It had a brick street and adorable single homes all with their own cellar which I wanted to open but resisted. After all that we were pooped and headed back to the boat to cool off in the a.c. and make dinner.

Elfreth's Alley

Quaker Meeting House

Ben Franklin's Grave

Old City Hall

View From Back of Our Boat

The next day we would hop on the Phlash bus, Philly’s commuter bus and see the Rocky steps, The Rocky Monument and then walk inside to see the Philadelphia Museum of Art. When we arrived we saw several tourist at the steps doing the run up just like in the movie while a street musician played the Rocky theme song. It was really funny watching all of these people reenact the scene and then shake their fists when they made it to the top. Jeff even took a picture of the Rocky statue with a family posing in front of it. He thought it was funny. Inside the art museum had a wonderful photography show by Michael Nichols a photo journalist once with National Geographic. He created a wonderful show about animals and his close encounters with them. He took some amazing pictures of the redwoods and printed two of his photos on full floor to ceiling banners. It was quite spectacular and we were so glad we got to see it. The rest of the museum was nice too showing the typical art museum artiest such as Monet, Manet, Van Gough, Dahli, Picso ext. It was a very nice day.

Rocky Statue

Rocky Steps

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Nichols Photo Banner

We were supposed to leave the following day but due to high winds we decided to extend a couple of days. We were told there would be fireworks and the symphony playing by the water in the evening and we would be glad we chose to stay. We made our way to Reading Terminal Market this very huge indoor market of every kind of food you can imagine along with a bookstore, kitchen store, sweet shops. It was quite the sight to see. We got a Pennsylvania Dutch pretzel which we were told not to leave without and it lived up to it’s reputation. Later that day we visited the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Apparently there are 13 or 14 throughout the country. They gave us a bag full of shredded money and there were lots of displays to read all about money. I found it super boring but Jeff loved it. We walked back to the boat, made dinner and watched a really nice fireworks display from the bow.

Reading Market

Fireworks From Boat

Our final day in Philly we visited the Masonic Temple. I had no idea about this and was stunned once inside. The temple was gorgeous. We were given a tour of all of their meeting rooms and told the history of the temple. George Washington and Ben Franklin were both members of that temple and George Washington’s bib is on display there. Right after, we walked across the street to City Hall and joined the 12:30 tour. This building too is gorgeous and our tour guide give us a lot of history of both Philadelphia and the building. We learned a lot. After we walked over to Reading Terminal Market for lunch. Since it was still earlish we decided we had time for the U.S. Mint. This is where money is made and we got to see that process happening through windows into the factory. This was fascinating. We saw how they took long sheets of metal and turned them into coins. After we walked back to the boat, made dinner, walked over to the symphony and watched a second and final fireworks display. We would leave in the morning.

City Hall

George Washington's Bib - Masonic Temple

Masonic Temple

Finally after six nights in Philly we were back on our way. We would go 43 miles to Delaware City, Delaware our one and only stop in that state. There wasn’t a whole lot there except for a couple of restaurants and an antique shop. The houses were small and simple and the people all very nice. The best part of our stay in Delaware City was the evening weather briefing at the marina. The marina owner asked where we were going and pulled up a local NOAA weather website and talked all about the currents and wind and told us the best time to leave in the morning in order to ride the current out and get a significant increase in speed. What valuable information.

Marina Delaware City

Local - Delaware City

Get it? :)

House in Delaware City

The next morning at precisely 9:30a.m. we were on our way to Cape May, New Jersey. We both felt a little funny about this. New Jersey is so close to New York and so close to the closure of our loop. It was getting real. It was a long hot day to Cape May and when we arrived at 4pm we were more then ready for the pool. The man in the office was very rude and aggressive towards us and we felt very shocked by this greeting and treatment in a marina. We were dumbfounded. I figured maybe it was a jersey thing. The pool was nice and refreshing an we were looking forward to seeing town and fireworks the next day for the fourth of July.

We lowered our bikes and headed towards the office to ask for directions. When we did the office guy (a different one) acted really annoyed that we were asking and once again we were left with a sour taste in our mouths. Once over the bridge it was quite a way into town. We stopped at the hardware store for something Jeff needed and again as we walked into the store a man rolled his eyes at us as we walked in and he was waiting to come out. What was going on here? Is everyone in Cape May just miserable? When Jeff asked where a part was he was given a scoff by the employee as she told him where it was. This was getting ridiculous why was everyone so negative and mean here? We did manage to find another employee and the check out girl to be nice and helpful but that was it. We rode our bikes along the boardwalk on the street because no bikes are allowed on the boardwalk after 10a.m. When we parked the bikes and attempted to walk out to the beach we were stopped by a lady asking if we had wrist bands. What are wrist bands I asked? She explained in order to use the beach we had to pay for access. Again, I was completely dumbfounded. Pay to use the beach?! Seriously?! We took a selfie and left. What is with this place? Well at least we could swim in the pool. When we returned to the marina we found a party set up by the marina with kegs of beer, mudslides and some appetizers. This was nice. We drank some beers as we sat in the pool. We stayed in the pool for so long we got prune hands and headed back to the boat right before the rain began. The fireworks were far away and kinda boring from our vantage point and it didn’t really feel much like the fourth of July.

Cape May

Beach- Cape May

Tidings of Joy

Thursday, July 6, 2017

End of the Chesapeake

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