July 6-8, 2017 - Philadelphia

Since neither one of us had ever been to Philadelphia, and we were only 4 hours away, we decided to take a quick 4-day side trip. We had light rains the entire way up. Most of our trip was through an industrial area and we had to maneuver around several barges.  We docked at Penn's Landing Marina around 12:30 which was only about six blocks from the historical district. Once settled, we headed into town for some lunch and a history tour (still in the rain).  First up was the Liberty Bell and the museum. After hearing and reading about the Liberty Bell, it was very moving to finally see it in person.  What really impressed me was that there was a blind lady in the crowd and the guards let her inside the roped area to actually put her hands on the bell.  We then headed to Independence Hall for a tour of the rooms and a brief history of the parties involved in the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  After that it was an Uber ride to famous Geno's for Philly cheesesteak sandwiches.  We took two sandwiches back to the boat for dinner, but neither of us liked ours so most of it went into the trash.  Oh well, at least we tried.

Friday we woke up to rain - again, but that didn't stop our sightseeing adventures.  We boarded a double-decker bus (only we sat downstairs) and headed to the Eastern State Penitentiary.   It was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world but is now crumbling.  It once housed Slick Willie Sutton and Al Capone.  When we finished our tour, the sun was out and we sat on the top of the bus for the rest of the tour.  We got off at the United States Mint and toured that building.  It was very interesting to see all the steps involved in making each coin.  We watched quarters and pennies filling several conveyor belts.  After that, of course, was our stop for ice cream at the Franklin Fountain.

Saturday we woke up to sunshine, so we hopped the Phlash (the city bus) and went to Cathedral Basilica of SS Peter and Paul.  The cornerstone was laid in 1846. Our next stop was the Museum of Art - or better known as the Rocky stairs - and then across the street to the Washington Monument.  We then hit the One Liberty Observation Deck and viewed Philadelphia from 57 stories high.  After a stroll around a downtown park, we headed back to the boat.  It was an exhausting three days but we enjoyed sightseeing around the city and looking at all the historic buildings mixed in with newer, modern buildings.  The waterfront area is filled with playgrounds (including many hammocks tied to all the trees), an outdoor roller skating rink (that is turned into an ice rink in the winter), and many activities for everyone.

We stayed out of his way

One of the many empty terminals along the waterfront

Approaching Philadelphia

The Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

This room was used as the courtroom

This room was set up as it was when the Declaration of Independence

was written and voted on

Can't go to Philly without a stop at Geno's

Eastern State Penitentiary - very large and imposing

Welcome to Cell Block 2

This cell block had two stories

Jack is not impressed with the accommodations

The guard tower

Samples of the types of historic homes in the downtown area

Home of Betsy Ross

Going into the Mint - no pictures allowed inside

Benjamin Franklin's tombstone - many signers of the

Declaration of Independence are buried in this cemetery

The first U.S. Post Office

The waterfront park - skating rink and ferris wheel

More of the park area - setting up for a festival

A nice outdoor theater setting

Cute little paddle boats

Best part - a hammock park.  Hammocks are hung

all over the park area. 

More hammocks and swings

Looking across the Delaware River to New Jersey and the USS New Jersey

The finale to a long day of sightseeing

Cathedral Basilica of SS Peter and Paul 

A beautiful mosaic hanging in the cathedral

The altar

The ceiling was just beautiful

Standing at the bottom of the Rocky steps

I didn't run all the way up but I did run part of the way

Beautiful view of downtown Philly from the top of the steps

Statute dedicated to George Washington

A view of Philadelphia from the Observation Tower

This view is looking toward the Delaware River

This is the Mushulu - the world's oldest and largest square rigged sailing

vessel still afloat and is the only restaurant venue on a Tall Ship in the world

(it was docked right behind us)

July 4-5, 2017 - Cabin John Creek, Delaware City

We left the marina around 8:40, went to the marina next door for fuel and a pumpout, and were anchored in Cabin John Creek by 9:40.  About an hour later, I saw Foster and Susan (Quo Vadimus) coming into the creek.  They had anchored out the night before and passed us on their way back to their marina so decided to stop.  We rafted together and spent an enjoyable afternoon together.  Since it was the 4th, we had hot dogs, beans, corn on the cob (fresh) and watermelon (also fresh) for lunch.  We then put our swimsuits on and went for a swim off the back of the boat.  We evidently anchored in a happening place because by mid afternoon there were quite a few boaters and jet skiiers partying close to us.  About 30 minutes after Foster and Susan left, all the other partyers were gone and we had the place to ourselves. 

We left the anchorage Wednesday morning around 7:30 and headed to Delaware City.  We entered the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (the C&D Canal) which is a 14 mile canal that connects the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River making shipping easier from Philadelphia to Baltimore.  We crossed the state line into Delaware, and were docked at the Delaware City Marina by 10:30.  We had been here two years ago but the weather was rainy and cold and we never did get to explore the city.  We spent a lot of time walking the streets today looking at the 19th and early 20th century homes.  They were all built on very narrow lots and some looked like several houses were built together with a common wall.  We continue to have problems with the dinghy motor so we left it there for someone to work on it.

Celebrating the 4th with Susan and Foster

Rafted up for the afternoon with Quo Vadimus

There was quite a party going on behind us

By 6:00 everyone was gone

Our nice peaceful anchorage

Part of the main downtown street

One of the historic hotels

More of the main street

A real blacksmith shop

This house dates back to the 1800s

One of the locks of the original C&D Canal

The marina is one long dock along the original C&D Canal

A sample of how some of the homes were built sharing a common wall -

narrow in the front but they extended back

Of course, there is ice cream

July 1-3, 2017 - Bohemia River

We left our anchorage around 8:30 for an hour and a half trip to Bohemia Vista Marina on the Bohemia River.  We spent three pretty uneventful days here.  The marina was nice, but our dock faced the river and was constantly tossing us around because of heavy winds and boat wakes.  A pretty wild storm passed through around 6:00, but was gone in 30 minutes.  Later that evening, we were treated to a somewhat small fireworks show out in the river.  Sunday we met some other loopers also in the marina - Mike and Carol, Knot Tide Down.  We also spent some time with the people on the boat next to us, Michael and Giselle, and gave them a tour of our boat.  They had only had their boat for about a month and were still getting used to it.  Summer has come to the upper Chesapeake so we took advantage of the nice pool Sunday afternoon.  Foster (Quo Vadimus), also the harbor host, took the gas can from the dinghy (with the bad gas) and was able to dump it for us and refill the tank.  On Monday he took us to a great Amish farmer's market, the grocery store, and a tour around Chesapeake City.

Beautiful cliffs entering the Bohemia River

This huge house overlooks the marina and the river

Really nasty clouds

Thirty minutes later all gone

View of the river from up the hill from the marina

View of the docks - we're in the middle of the picture next to the

big fishing boat

Nice pool

This farmer's market was fantastic

(absolutely beautiful flowers)

Quo Vadimus leaving for an overnight anchorage to watch fireworks

June 28-30, 2017 - Rock Hall, Sassafras River

We left Kent Narrows around 7:40 and made the Kent Narrows bridge opening at 8:00.  After a pleasant hour and a half trip, we docked at Rock Hall.  We had stayed here two years ago.  After getting settled, we called the tram to take us to the grocery store. That was followed by a one hour ride on bicycles around the town.  After that we were exhausted.  We met one of our neighbors, Joey and her grandson Rocco, and had docktails with them and another couple who joined us later.  We were going to leave Thursday morning, but it had been very windy all night so we stayed another day.  This allowed us to get some cleaning done around the boat.  Joey offered her car to go into town to do laundry and we readily accepted.  Jack readily accepted, that is, because it meant he didn't have to go with me.  We spent more time with Joey and Rocco in the afternoon.  Friday it was still pretty windy, but we decided to move on.  The first hour was pretty rocky, but the waters smoothed out after that and three hours later we were anchored in a beautiful spot on the Sassafras River.  We just relaxed and enjoyed our afternoon, although the winds kicked up again.

Beautiful sunrise

Waiting for the Kent Narrows Bridge to open for us

The marina office

Nice grounds complete with playground and picnic tables

Plus a nice pool

The Blue Crab Crawler - our transportation in Rock Hall

A cute little village in town with small, colorful buildings

(sadly most of them were empty)

However, there was a very good ice cream shop there

A nice beach area at Rock Hall

Harbor Shack - our dinner spot

Our home for two days

Joey and Rocco - sittin' by the dock of the bay

(Rocco was fishing and having a little success)

Our view from our anchorage on the Sassafras River

Nice, windy day for sailboats

The Coast Guard was also anchored overnight - don't know

if they were stalking us or keeping us safe