May 26-31, 2015 - Annapolis-St. Michaels-Rock Hall

We spent our last two days in Annapolis getting us and the boat ready to leave.  This involved a hair cut, pedicure, and grocery shopping.  Jack had an electrician come to the boat to check out our inverter to make sure it was working as it should be.  We took one last trip by dinghy into the harbor for lunch on Wednesday.  We left Annapolis on Thursday at 8:30 and dropped the anchor around 11:30 at St. Michaels - right in front of the Inn at Perry Cabin, a really nice resort and spa.  After a week of the hustle and bustle of Annapolis and D.C., St. Michaels was a very pleasant and relaxing change.   Thursday the town was very quiet, but by Friday night the weekenders arrived by car and boat.  We spent two days exploring the town with its shops, restaurants, and winery.  We spent part of one day at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  It was a great museum spread out over about 14 buildings giving the history of the area from boat building to oystering and crabbing and the move to recreational boating.  We took the dinghy into town each day.  And, as if we don't spend enough time on a boat, we paid to go on a tour boat around the areas surrounding St. Michaels!  As a bonus on our last night, the Inn behind us held a wedding so we got a great view.  We left St. Michaels around 8:30 Sunday and arrived at Rock Hall Landing Marina around 11:15.  We took a trolley tour around the town, but there wasn't much to the town - just a few shops and restaurants.  We came back to the boat and took a swim in the marina pool.  It was very nice and refreshing.


Homes approaching St. Michaels

Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Lighthouse being renovated by the Museum

Grounds of the Museum



Historic homes part of the Museum



Downtown St. Michaels

More downtown

Bed and breakfast

Aboard the Patriot tour boat

St. Michaels harbor

St. Michaels harbor and marinas

View of the Museum from the water

View from one side of the boat - the Inn at Perry Cabin

View of the bay from the other side of the boat

Our view of the wedding

The Inn at Perry Cabin

May 25, 2015 - Memorial Day in Washington D.C.

After a relaxing day on the boat, we were ready to head back into D.C. to do more sight seeing.  Again, we drove to the Metro station for a 26 minute ride into town.  Today we went  to only one of the Smithsonian Institutes (there are 9) - the Museum of American History.  A few of the memorable sights at the museum were the original flag which inspired Francis Scott Key, a steel pillar from the World Trade Center, and inauguration dresses from the first ladies.  The exhibits represented life in the United States through the years and the effect of the wars on our lives.  We took a break from the Museum to go outside and watch the Memorial Day Parade which was very moving.  All branches of the Armed Forces and all the wars were represented.  The weather was nice and sunny which made a great day for watching the parade.  After the two hour parade, we went back into the Museum to finish the tour.  We then walked around the streets looking again at all the impressive buildings.  After two days of touring D.C., we were pretty exhausted.  We had some dinner and then headed back to the boat.





Houston should be proud that they are mentioned at the Museum in the "Crawl and Sprawl" section!

Waiting for the parade

Presenting the Colors

These boys had a hard time holding on to the flag

Shriner High School Band, Shriner, Texas



Deer Park High School Band

70th anniversary of the end of World War II

Remembering those who lost their lives in the wars

A few of the Rolling Thunder



Post Office building

Old Post Office - being refurbished by Mr. Trump

May 24, 2015 - Annapolis with Steves Family

Fred and Courtney Steves and crew arrived around 11:00 with kids and food in tow for our lunch cruise.  The weather was a little windy and the waters a little rough.  Since it was a holiday weekend, there were many, many boats on the water.  The group consisted of Fred and Courtney, their son Ben and his wife Andrea, another son, Roy, and Courtney's niece Sara and her husband John, plus four excited young boys. It was a great day and everyone enjoyed themselves and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone.

Picture with Fred

Sara and John

Ben and Fred

Getting some sun - Andrea, Ben and Sara (from the back)

The boys were fascinated by pulling up the anchor

Jack had a lot of helpers with the anchor

He also had a lot of help driving

May 23, 2015 - Washington, D.C.

Today was set aside to tour Washington.  Our first experience was to drive to a Metro station and take a train into the city (a 26 minute ride into the heart of DC and much easier than driving).  When we first arrived, we were struck by the architecture of the buildings - no 40 story glass buildings.  The whole town just speaks power.  We boarded a tour bus for a 6 hour tour of DC which included the capital (from a distance since they were setting up for a concert), the White House, and most of the monuments.  Our lunch was on a tour boat on the Potomac River -- what a novelty!  Andy, our tour guide, put a lot of emotion into describing the monuments and we came away with a new meaning of all the monuments.  We visited monuments for World War I, World War II, Viet Nam (we couldn't get close because of the crowds), Iwo Jima, Korean, and of course, Washington and Lincoln.  We drove past Arlington Cemetery but didn't stop.  The city was very crowded because of the holiday weekend but the tour was very interesting.  Rolling Thunder is an annual event that brings motorcyclists and spectators (mostly veterans) to Washington to celebrate Memorial Day.  The news reported over a million bikers and spectators attended the events.  All the bikes in the parks were almost as impressive as the monuments.  As we were driving back to Annapolis, we learned that Fred and Courtney Steves (friends from Houston) were in Annapolis to celebrate a nephew's graduation from the Naval Academy.  We stopped by for a quick visit on our way home and arranged a lunch cruise on the boat for Sunday.

First stop - the Metro station

The Treasury Department

Hmmmm

World War II memorial - there are monuments for the Pacific fighting and Atlantic fighting

World War II monument for each state and territory who fought in the war

Washington Monument


Washington Monument from Lincoln Memorial

Jefferson Memorial


Waiting to have a word with Abe

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Washington harbor

Arlington National Cemetery

Iwo Jima

Some of the Rolling Thunder - bikes as far as you can see