On Saturday, August 1, Su's sister, Jane, arrived to spend a week aboard Palmetto Moon docked in Solomons, MD. On Monday, August 3, Su and Jane walked through most of the shops on Solomons Island and Jane toured the Calvert Marine Museum which covers maritime history and life on the river and bay. One exhibit features the fossilized remains of local ancient inhabitants, including the extinct "megatooth" white shark of the Miocene age.

On Tuesday, August 4, Jane and Su toured Sotterley Plantation which is on the opposite shore of the Patuxent River as shown above. The mansion was started in 1703 and was modified or expanded eight times with the current building completed in 1947.

On Wednesday, August 5, Jane and Su toured Historic St. Mary's City which is one of America's best-preserved colonial archaeology sites. The town became the colonial capital of Maryland in 1634 when two ships arrived with 140 colonists led by Lord Baltimore. The colony was the first place in British North America to mandate religious toleration. Today the site includes the Woodland Indian Hamlet, Town Center, Chapel Field, State House, and The Maryland Dove -- a re-creation of a 17th century square-rigged ship used to transport supplies from England and coastal trade.

After walking the site, we drove down near Point Lookout and had lunch at Courtney's Restaurant & Seafood in Ridge, MD. The crab was excellent; however, nothing has changed inside for 30 years!!

On Thursday, August 6, Jane and Su walked Annmarie Gardens & Arts Building in Solomons. The entrance on Dowell Road (right side shown) are two enormous walls covered with eight tons of ceramics that bracket the iron gates. The grounds are incredible with a walking path that meanders through the woods past permanent and loaned works of outdoor sculpture, many of them are on loan from the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

In addition to the outdoor sculpture placed among trees in the 30-acre park, there are pieces of paintings hidden on trees. Fortunately, the museum had given us a brochure about this "scavenger hunt"; otherwise, we would have really been surprised at such colorful, artistic bark on the trees.

On Friday, August 7, Jim, Jane, and Su joined Terry on M/V Hawkeye and cruised up the Patuxent River to Stoney's on Broome Island for a lunch which included crab in some form.

On Wednesday, August 12, we cruised across the Bay to St. Michaels, MD founded in 1677. The town prides itself on its role during the War of 1812. When British marines planned a night attack, the forewarned residents hung lanterns high in the trees and on masts drawing fire away from the town -- only one house was hit. The town has many cute boutiques and restaurants; however, we walked by most and headed to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum which is pictured above. The round white building was the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, a fully restored 1879 screwpile wooden structure. We climbed up the stairs to visit the living quarters and to see the Fresnel lens that surrounds the light on the top deck. The museum offers many interactive exhibits on boat building, historic boats, decoys, and Bay history.

On Thursday, August 13, we cruised about 26 miles down to Knapp's Narrows which is a shortcut between the Chesapeake Bay and Choptank River. From our stern, we watched boats navigate the channel and the lift bridge. Although we saw many pleasure boats, there were many more working boats going in and out. We had dinner at Bay Hundred Restaurant which is next to the marina and on the left just before the bridge. Excellent food and a terrific view.

On Friday, August 14, we cruised to Cambridge, MD where we walked around the village and admired the architecture of the historic homes on High Street. This is a 325 year old town that is experiencing a renaissance with shops, galleries, and restaurants opening on the main street. The boaters were extremely friendly; we met two couples at the marina and one of wives asked if we were transients and her next question was did we need a ride to Wal-Mart or a grocery store!

On Saturday, August 15, we had a very short cruise down the Choptank River and up the Tred Avon River to Oxford, MD, pictured below. We walked the village and visited the shops and toured the Oxford Museum. The town was founded in 1683 and was a major shipping center for tobacco and then later wheat; now it is a sleepy waterman's town with quiet charm and great crab. We dined at Schooner's on the waterfront and then stopped at Highland Creamery for wonderful homemade ice cream.

On Sunday, August 16, we returned to our slip at Solomons and spent a week catching up on boat chores while plotting our trip south. On Monday, August 24 we cruised to Deltaville, VA and passed our friends, Dave and Laurie on M/V Shangri-La as they came out of the Potomac River and headed north. On Tuesday, August 25 we pulled into Portsmouth as Jim wanted the generator gauges fixed.

On Thursday, August 27, we headed 14 miles north to Hampton, VA and docked at the Downtown Hampton Public Piers and gazed over at the Virginia Air & Space Center, the huge glass building straight ahead. On Friday, we walked around the town and then toured the Center. It was fascinating with the Apollo 12 command module and a three-billion-year-old moon rock, jets hanging from the ceiling, and many hands-on exhibits explaining the principles of flight and space travel.

On Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market which was two blocks away, toured the Hampton History Museum, walked the Summer Street Fest with live music, and dined at Oyster Alley, an outdoor restaurant with live music and good food. We decided we would return next year and stay the transient limit of days.

On Sunday, August 30, we cruised to Chesapeake, VA and decided to stay awhile as the north winds were blowing with strong gusts and rain. We are headed south but don't need to rush with windy weather! Crab eating -- soft-shell, jumbo lump, crab cakes -- is over until we return next year.....