St. Michaels escape and some warm fall weather

Having skipped really cruising the bay on our way north we wanted to spend this month cruising and enjoying our old home. St. Michaels was at the top of my “must do” list. At first glance, it’s not my type of town—pricey shops, upscale eateries, art & jewelry—but this town won me over in our early years with plentiful parks, a great museum, and ice cream. It has stayed at the top of my list due to the fact that the anchoring is good, it’s walkable, and there are some great dining/drinking options. And I still love the museum! 

This visit we mostly stuck to the waters around the boat as the weather was PERFECT for paddling! Warm and calm! We anchored in San Domingo Creek and Baby Owl Cove, and we made a few trips to town to visit our old favorites—JoJo’s Cupcakes & Ice Cream, Eastern Shore Brewing, and Blue Heron Coffee. It was great to relax and enjoy some wonderful fall weather!

On-water fun

In-town fun

Oxford escape

We were short a crew member again this weekend for another fantastic sail across the Bay, this time to an anchorage in Trippe Creek.  We love this peaceful spot and its proximity to the Scottish Highland Creamery in Oxford!  It’s been great having some dedicated time with our youngest on these outings.  He did some solo dinghy driving and we all got to see the log canoe race!  

Wye not?

With the girl away for the weekend, it was a small crew as we sailed across the Bay for some fun on the Wye River.  Great sailing, a few undersized fish, swimming, and movies made for a perfect weekend escape.

A visitor!

My big sister came to visit this weekend and I couldn’t be happier!  We goofed off in D.C., she visited my office, and she got to experience the joy of sailing the Bay with a visit to St. Michaels!  Loved having her here!

Bring on the heat! 🥵

Today I...installed a check valve, cleaned the a/c strainer, and blew out the a/c lines.  We are ready for the heat wave!! 

Sailstice 2019

We enjoyed a nice Sailstice sail on the Bay with our sister and brother-in-law this year.  It was a beautiful day and Trent took the helm under sail for a good stretch!  We ended the night at a marina bbq party. More good times with good food!

Beach Bonfire

Our marina throws parties through the season and tonight was an early season bonfire with beer & wine! It was great catching up with neighbors on a beautiful evening and the kids got a bunch of folks going on volleyball court!

A non-traditional Christmas

Oh, how I've longed for a Christmas at anchor for the past 2 years! But alas, it wasn't meant to be. After filling water and warming the engine to get underway on Christmas Eve, we got stuck on a hump of bottom as we tried to leave the dock. Rather than get stuck in the channel, we pulled back in and changed our plan. Just based on the tide charts, we should have been fine, but when winds are out of the north the Chessie tends to empty a bit and tides can be lower than expected. We could have made it happen, getting underway or anchoring in the dark, but our desire to relax and goof off with the kids was strong, too. Winds on Christmas were forecast to be "sporty" so it all just kind of worked out.

We had a LAZY holiday! We played games, watched movies, and of course exchanged presents! I scored a ukulele, the boy loved his new Barcelona Messi jersey, the girl got clothes and books, and the Captain got a new back-up plotter/game platform. ;) And the whole family is going to head to the mountains to try our hand at skiing. It was a very merry day!

Time for a little Star Wars action--we have tickets to go see the new movie later this week!

Return to Quiet Waters

Man, it's great to be back on the Bay!  After our delayed start we hit one of our favorite off-season anchorages this weekend--Harness Creek.  This is a great (albeit tight in the summer) anchorage for visiting Quiet Waters State Park.  We had the creek mostly to ourselves but found lots of other folks out hiking and enjoying the park.  We hit the ice rink early and skated for a few hours.  We are going to be so sore!

Our peaceful anchorage.

The crew heads ashore.

Skater Swab

Skater Mate

Downrigging Weekend

Well, with "Frankenstorm" on its way we are sticking with our plans for the weekend! We got to Chestertown tonight just in time to walk out on the 231 bridge and watch a great fireworks show behind the tall ships. The kids and I splashed around in the pool and now they are resting up for our sail on the Lady Maryland tomorrow. Should be fun!