July 19-20, 2017 - Baltimore

David drove their car and Linda traveled with us as we headed into Baltimore for a few days.  We docked at the Harbor East Marina in the famous Inner Harbor of Baltimore.  We spent four days here and had a great time.  The Inner Harbor area is very busy with hotels, restaurants, and many bars.  After we got settled on Tuesday, we had a quick lunch and then took a trolley tour around the town.  The tour guide was quite a character.  He was in his 80's and his one claim to fame was that he was Eisenhower's doctor (not sure exactly when).  He was too busy telling his personal stories and sometimes forgot to point out the sites. We all decided that no trolley tour can ever match this one! We had a great dinner at La Scala, in Little Italy, followed by a quick trip to the Cat's Eye Pub.

Wednesday we toured the B&O Railroad Museum and took a train ride covering the first mile of the railroad.  We opted for first class tickets so we got a drink and a snack.  One interesting tidbit is that the railroads are responsible for setting the standard time zones across the US so that all trains could keep on the same schedule.  Later we met friends Billie and Donna (also from Newport News) at the Hard Rock Café for lunch then back to the boat for a while.  Thursday night was the big Rangers/Orioles game and it was very, very hot in the stadium.  It was a fun night, even though the Rangers lost.  At least they made a game of it.

Fort McHenry from the water

Entering the Inner Harbor

View of downtown Baltimore

Under Armour headquarters- they even have an entire housing area,

including shops, for their employees

Also headquarters for Domino Sugar

Our view across the water

(evidently some famous athletes live in the top tower of the

building on the left)

Having a great dinner at La Scala - we didn't mind the

wait in the bar because we could watch some of the Rangers game

Our stop after dinner

Evidently the Cat's Eye Pub is not particular about its patrons

Getting ready for our tour

Our first class seats for our one mile train ride

This was our train

The museum building is round with trains around the circle starting

with a horse drawn carriage

This is a water wheel that goes around the Inner Harbor picking up trash

Looking from the outfield - we were behind third base

Ready for the game - David got a certificate since it

was his first time at a game

The boys are warming up

July 14-18, 2017 - Dundalk

We said goodbye to Brian and Janice and then left shortly thereafter.  We had a great trip to Dundalk.  The waters were as smooth as we have seen them.  We docked at the Anchor Bay Marina around 1:15.  It was pretty windy and we didn't get much help from the marina with our docking.  There is nothing close to the marina, so we spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday doing chores and cleaning up around the boat.

Friends David and Linda (Cooyan) drove up from Newport News on Monday to spend a couple of days with us.  Tuesday we drove into Baltimore to tour Fort McHenry - home of the Star Spangled Banner.  The Fort was very interesting and all the exhibits were very well done.  The last film we watched in the museum was a reenactment of the last battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner after he saw the flag waving over the Fort in the morning after the last battle with the British.  As the film was ending with the Star Spangled Banner playing in the background, the backdrop opened to view the flag waiving over the Fort.  It was very moving.  Everyone was standing.

Getting ready to leave

And they're off to Cape May

A paddle board class with people and their dogs - it was

pretty funny to watch

A nice park about a mile from the marina

Nice neighborhood just outside the marina

Several streets were lined with these townhomes

Two great engineering minds together - the new part didn't

fit so it still doesn't run

A nice dinner on the back deck

We are now honorary crew on Cooyon

Our dock at Dundalk

Hard Yacht Café - the food was pretty good

Our tour of Fort McHenry

Looking into the Fort at the guns

Looking out over the water where the British ships were located

The flagpole in the center of the Fort (which is in the shape

of a star)

The view out the window as the Star Spangled Banner was playing

July 9-13, 2017 - Delaware City, anchorages, Harve de Grace

We left Philly around 7:30 to start our southbound trip back to Delaware City.  We docked at the marina and met Foster and Susan at Lewinsky's on Clinton (yes, that's its name) for Sunday brunch and a bloody mary bar.  The rest of the day we relaxed around the boat since we had been kept awake until almost 2:00 am by a party on the Tall Ship that was behind us in Philly.  Monday we waited for the repairman to return our dinghy motor.  He said it was running fine, but when he put it back on the dinghy, it wouldn't work.  So we took off without a working dinghy for two nights of anchoring.  We went back to Cabin John Creek for one night and to the Sassafras River for the other night.  Both places were great anchorages.

Thursday we headed for Harve de Grace, a small town on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay. This is another small town rich in history.  In 1789 the House voted between Washington and Harve de Grace for the permanent location for the capital.  The deciding vote was cast by the Speaker of the House.  I took about a 3 mile walk around the city looking at all the historic buildings.  A bonus for this trip was that we learned that our friends Brian and Janice (Fugitive) were traveling in the area and they came into the marina to see us.  We traveled with them in 2015, and had seen them in Ft. Myers in 2016.  They leave their boat occasionally to head back to Canada to work and see their new granddaughter.  We had a great time with them.  Of course, the first night the Tennessee Honey came out and we talked and laughed until after midnight.  The next day we took the marina courtesy car to WalMart.  Then came docktails, a pretty good dinner at McGregor's, and back to the boat for Port and chocolate candy.  Thankfully, this night ended a little earlier.  We had a great time with them and will probably see them in Florida this winter.

Sunrise above the Delaware River

Back to Delaware City

Yes, there is even a picture of Bill inside

Nuclear power plant - didn't know there was one in this area

Entering the C&D Canal again

The beautiful Maryland countryside

Sunrise over the Sassafras River

Harve de Grave Methodist Church - built in 1901

A Sears & Roebuck catalog house built in 1940

The main downtown street

Here comes Fugitive

Fugitive docked in front of us

A good time was had by all