Solomon to Annapolis

On the last update, we had arrived in Solomon for a couple of days with plans to travel to St Michaels and then to Annapolis. We had planned to spend two days in Solomon but Mother Nature had a better idea - the wind on Sunday was strong so we decided to spend another day - Mother's Day - in this cute little fishing village. On Saturday, we traveled with the crews from "Just Relax" and "Happy Clamz" to a state park where we hiked 2 miles through the woods to search for shark's teeth along the beach but only found a couple of fossilized sea shells but everyone enjoyed the walk. As you would guess, in a Maryland village on the Chesapeake, we enjoyed the fresh crab cakes at some of the local restaurants. We also visited the Calvert Marine Museum on Solomon.

On Monday, John, Sue, Doug, and Leslie departed for St Michaels and we departed for the 45 mile trip to Annapolis. Our traveling companions will join us in Annapolis on Wednesday. The trip up the Chesapeake to Annapolis was relatively smooth with overcast skies, a few drizzles, and light winds. We departed Solomon at 7AM and arrived at The Yacht Basin Marina shortly after lunch. This is a picture of the lighthouse as we entered the Chesapeake Bay - the cliffs were beautiful through the mist!

Since traveling up the ICW from Charleston to Myrtle Beach, this was our first venture without following John and Sue. We were happy everything went so well as we navigated the Chesapeake on our own. Jack has visited Annapolis many, many times over the years on business travel and this is the first time he has seen this bay city from the water - a whole different perspective. This is another lighthouse as we entered the Annapolis harbor - the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, the last screwpile lighthouse in its original location. (remember you can click on any picture to see an enlarged view).

The weather on Tuesday was a pleasant 70 degrees so we took the train into Washington for a marathon sightseeing expedition. We were amazed at how much we were able to see in a short 6 hour tour - many of the Smithsonian museums, the National Archives, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery. Our sore feet and joints can attest to our hectic walking tour but we had a great time. Pia had never seen DC and she was fascinated by the history of this great country. However, as an artist, she was most amazed with the American History of Art Museum and we made a picture of her viewing an original Monet. Jack enjoyed viewing the original documents of the founding of this nation at The National Archives. A great day of sightseeing!

Early Thursday, our traveling companions arrived in Annapolis in time for all of us to tour the Naval Academy. What a historic place with a lot of tradition

- we actually viewed John Paul Jones' crypt located below the chapel on campus. Graduation is next week so many of the students were busy cleaning and practicing for the big event. We will be back in Annapolis from our trip home just in time to see The Blue Angels perform for graduation.

So we are off to Charlotte for a few days - checked on line and discovered that we could fly home for the same price as renting a car and driving 7 - 8 hours one way. Kind of a "no brainer". We will be back on the boat Tuesday and will leave Annapolis on Wednesday and hope to catch up to "Happy Clamz" and "Just Relax" in Cape May, NJ. Although we are glad to home for a few days, we already are looking forward to continuing our trip!