Rock Hall

          We thought we’d hug the Virginia shore as we made our way up into the Chesapeake, but the weather forecast didn’t look good for crossing the Bay to Rock Hall in the near future, so we took advantage of the weather at hand and crossed over to Crisfield on Thursday (May 9) and then proceeded to follow the exact same path we traveled last year - Crisfield to an anchorage in the Honga River and then to an anchorage near Queenstown just south of Kent Narrows.  This put us in Rock Hall on Sunday, May 12.  

We love Rock Hall.  Such a friendly small town.  We have already many memories of this place.  This is where my cousin Denny lives. This is where we first ate soft shell crabs. This is where Tommie jumped ship and where half the town kept an eye out for her for two weeks, and where the local feral feline caretaker lent us traps to catch her.  Denny was there to greet us, and came back later in the afternoon with his wife Laura so we could all go out to dinner and catch up on what’s been happening since we saw them last.  

Dan & Bonnie.  Notice the Lewis R French sweatshirts!

        Rock Hall is also where a long time friend of Dan’s lives with her husband.  She was a regular schooner passenger, not just on the schooner we used to own, but also the schooner Dan worked on as First Mate when he was in college, and often sailed with her family.  Bonnie and her brother Vin collected us and brought us to her home on Monday.  We had an incredible spread of food for lunch and then walked it off with a visit to the nearby Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge.  What a gorgeous spot!  We could look out over the marsh and straight across the Bay to Baltimore.  We didn’t stay long enough to see much of the wildlife, but we did manage to bring home a couple of ticks.  Bonnie’s husband Bob put together barbecued chicken and roasted potatoes for supper, and Bonnie’s mother Susan came over to make it a real family experience.  We had such a nice day reconnecting and reminiscing.  

        And to make the visit to Rock Hall a trifecta, on Tuesday (May 14), our cruising friends from Sequel, Eddie and Gail, drove over from their home on the Delaware shore to meet us for lunch.  As Gail puts it “Boating friends are the best.”  We have met so many people on our big adventure; some of them, like Eddie and Gail, have become ‘forever’ friends.  We know when we part, it’s not forever, it’s just for now.  We spent a great afternoon together.  

    

    This morning (Weds May 15) Denny came out in the rain to see us off.  We will see him again this summer at a family wedding.  We headed off into the foggy Bay, out of the Chesapeake and on up to Delaware City.  This is a charming town similar to Chesapeake City, but much smaller and much quieter.  The City Marina is one long dock in a narrow canal that used to be the route into Chesapeake Bay before they built the Chesapeake and Delaware canal.  We took a walk around town after dinner, before the rain set back in, and we met another cruising couple from Maine.  Turns out we have mutual friends back home.  Small world!  More forever friends.  

Delaware City