Colonial Beach, St. Mary’s, Solomon Island and Tilghman Island

We left D.C. at 6:30 Thursday morning it was overcast, foggy and drizzling but the Potomac was nice and calm until we reached an area that the River widens  where the wind  and waves picked up and we were uncomfortable.  We were not too far from Colonial Beach where we had stayed on our way up the Potomac so getting into this narrow area was not as difficult as the first time.  We decided to stay at a marina that was closer into town called Bayside Marina.  The owner of the Marina, Ed was very helpful and told us about the restaurant at the marina.  We did a quick tour of the small quiet town with a stop at the local coffee house and had a great dinner that evening at the marina.  Everyone in this town was extremely friendly and we would recommend Bayside any time. 

This boat was actually underway!

This is the Potomac River

Remnants of the 50's

 We left Colonial Beach with overcast skies and light rain and fog again.  We are headed to St. Mary’s Maryland, it was the first capital of the state.  The town was established in 1634 by British Colonists and the first to mandate religious tolerance.  The town started to die after 60 years when the capital was moved to Annapolis and disappeared not too long after.  What remains now is one of the country’s best preserved colonial archaeology sites, the area was very interesting and we spent at least 4 hours exploring. The college of St. Mary’s is right in this area as well and they had a dock that we were able to tie to while we explored.    We then anchored for the night in the bay not too far from the college.  It was a beautiful peaceful anchorage.

At the college dock.

Replica of the ship that brought the Colonist's to St. Mary's

The reconstructed church on the original foundation.

On Saturday morning after getting all of the mud off the anchor we were off to Solomon’s Island for two days.  We arrived to the Spring Cove Marina at about 1:00.  It is a very busy boating area, especially on a Saturday afternoon over Memorial Day weekend.  We had a message from John and Mary ( our buddies from Mackinaw City) and learned that they were only a short ways away at the Navel Marina, we made plans to get together on Sunday.  

The Calvert Marine Museum was only a short walk  away from our marina so we spent several hours going through there very interesting exhibits that included history of area ship builders, maritime history, estuarine biology and paleontology.  Drum Point Light was also included. This light house had been moved to the Museum in 1975. The pictures that we have were provided by John’s camera since we have forgotten to take our camera with. Thanks John!

Sunday we took the marina shuttle to the grocery store in the morning, John worked on our holding tank (fun job) and I did a load of laundry.  In the afternoon we had a late lunch with John and Mary and then we went to the Annamarie Gardens together.  They had offered for us to be a buddy boat and stay with them at the Navel Marina and since the weather didn’t sound like it would be good for travel on Monday we were thankful to have this invitation.

Monday morning the wind seemed calm and we decided to go out of the harbor and see what the conditions were like.  As it turned out it was pretty smooth just a few rolling waves so we headed to Tilghman Island.  We were greeted by Greg and Kate from Grianan who had just completed there Loop and were able to chat briefly with Fred and Julaine from Boreas before they left for St. Michael’s.  

Chesapeake mid channel lighthouse.

Boras leaving Knapps Landing Marina

We used the marina bikes and rode over the bridge and onto the island.  We stopped at the workboat harbor and John realized that we had been here in 2005 with Christy and Eric.  When they first moved to DC we came out for a visit and spent the Labor Day weekend at the “Eastern Shore”. 

After the bike ride John worked on a few misc. boat projects while I stayed cool in the cabin reading a book.  We enjoyed happy hour with Greg, Kate and some of their marina friends under the pergola along the river.  We all brought something to grill and had a nice dinner and great view of the sunset.

The plans for tomorrow are to sleep in, do a load of laundry explore a bit with the dinghy, have just a lazy relaxing day.  We will also work on picking spots to stay as we work our way up North.  We will be meeting Kelly and family late June in the 1,000 islands for a week.

Good Night,

Mary and John