Oct 16 - 18:  Severn River to St Michaels and up to Rock Hall

     Friday the 15th we left Baltimore after a nice walk through the brick-paved streets of Fells Point where we admired the early nineteenth century architecture and read all the billboards about the history of the area and its contributions to the War of 1812.   We hoisted sails and cruised back down the river and under the big double bridge that connects the Western Shore with the Eastern Shore, en route to the Severn River where we'd been offered the use of the McGeady family dock.

Annapolis

     We passed by Annapolis, where the US Powerboat Show was in full swing, and up the quiet river almost to its end.  "Big Joe" McGeady was waiting on the dock for us.  What a lovely quiet cove.  The trees were just starting to turn.  They must be spectacular in peak season.  We spent two nights at the dock and enjoyed our time with Big Joe, who found a laundromat for us and chauffeured us there on Saturday and to do other errands, entertaining us with anecdotes about his past working on the water in marine construction, his present various volunteer jobs, current history and climate of Baltimore and the area, and his extensive family.  It was fun getting to know him, and we really appreciated his hospitality.  He and his wife Emily also allowed us into their home for hot showers.

Willie Dawes at the McGeady dock

Nightfall with crescent moon.

     We decided to bypass Annapolis until the boat show was over, so we bid goodbye to the Severn River and crossed the Bay to St. Michaels, where the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is.  What a fabulous town and what a nice museum!  Admission gives you two days' entrance, much needed to see all the exhibits.  We spent all afternoon exploring the various buildings and returned again in the morning to make sure we didn't miss anything they had to offer.  Saturday night we had dinner out at a boater-friendly ("we welcome shorts and boat shoes") restaurant.

"Screw-pile" light house - moved from Hooper Strait to the CBMM.  Pilings were screwed into the sand for a more secure footing and the house built on the platform above.  Ice destroyed many of these lighthouses.

Mitchell House at CBMM. Eliza Mitchell was the sister of Frederick Douglass.  The left portion of the house is original; the right portion is a replica of the addition.  The Mitchells raised nine children here, though not all at the same time.

      Sunday we set out up the Bay, cruising through Kents Narrows, to Rock Hall where my cousin Dennis and his wife Laura had reserved a slip for us at Haven Harbour Marina.  The winds were strong from the North, and the seas were some choppy, bouncing us around a lot.  So much so, something jiggled loose in the engine and alarms buzzed steadily for the last hour of our trip.  Alternator, Dan thought, or a battery wire.  Something electrical.  Good thing this is a full-service marina, I thought; if this turned out to be something major that Dan needed help or parts for, he'd surely find it here.  Turns out it's more of a frustration & headache than a major problem.  The engine is fine, the alternator is working, the batteries are charging.  We just have a buzzing alarm going off when the engine is turned on.  Dan will track it down.  We planned to be here a couple of days anyway, as I haven't spent much time with Dennis and Laura in a very long time, and Dan had never met them.  They had us over to their house last night for a wonderful home-cooked meal and sent us home with goodie bags for our fridge.