Memorial Day Weekend in Maryland

Last week we spent some time in little Deltaville, Virginia. The marina had a courtesy car and bikes, so we got to see it all!

The hardware store, a shop owner called it "Mecca".

Not many boats at the marina (Doziers Regatta Marina) at first, but there is a boating club from Yorktown on the way here for the weekend, and were expecting to be full. Couldn't have been a nicer marina. 

Saturday, May 28, 2016, we left Deltaville and headed back into the Chesapeake Bay. The predictions were for one foot waves, but they were more like two feet. It takes a lot of energy for Robbie to drive the boat over rough water, we were both exhausted when we arrived in Solomons, Maryland.

Saturday afternoon, one of my former students, Crystina Liddington, drove three hours to see us! I was her teacher when she was in 6th grade, then I moved on the the high school, so I got to be her teacher again when she was a freshman and sophomore. She was so special to me, it is amazing to see her as a grown up. She is a wife, a mother, and has a Bachelors and a Masters Degree in education. She took classes I wouldn't have attempted! Very proud of this young lady! So sweet to see her!

Robbie dropped his prescription glasses off the back of the swim platform, so we hired a diver to find them, and he did!

Success!

Monday, Memorial Day, May 30, 2016, we went to Calvert Cliffs State Park to look for shark's teeth and fossils. We found some fossils, and we met two girls who found a shark's tooth. But that's not all we found.

One of the girls spotted a snapping turtle stuck in a tree root, right beside the area where we were standing. I never would have seen him. She called the park rangers, and one came in a four wheeler, but the ranger said they were not going to intervene. The turtle was injured, the tide was coming in, and he was going to drown. So, after the ranger left, Robbie and the two girls cut branches, pushed, pulled, risked being snapped at, and got him free. Then Robbie had to lift him off the beach and onto the ground above because there were cliffs he would not have been able to climb. Now he has a chance. We wish him the best and hope he can recover. We are disappointed that the park chose not to help him, he needed to be taken to a wildlife sanctuary.

He is caught in that tangle of roots.

See his little face?

This was the only safe side for fingers.

Free at last.

We walked two miles back to the front of the park, and had a picnic on the way. It was raining, very lightly, but we brought our rain gear.

The trails had this on one side, woods on the other.

Someone made a chair!

After our park adventure, we took an Uber cab to Solomon's Island, where we had some lattes and Key Lime Pie, and then I found the art work I have been searching for in every town we have visited, for four months! The kids gave us a gift card for Christmas, and I have been saving it just for this. These photos were taken by a local artist named Terry Quinn, who owns Solomons Gallery. He made this special for me, because I needed vertical, and I wanted these particular photos. He has many others, they are all wonderful. These are blue crab.

There was a mirror here, but I wanted some local art. I am so happy with this! Thank you Julie, Jennifer, Rick and Kristin...and Terry!!!

We got home just in time, now it is raining pretty hard, and we're safe and dry on the boat. 

If the water looks calm on the Chesapeake Bay we will venture back out tomorrow, headed toward Annapolis.

Norfolk to the Chesapeake Bay

Sunset last night in Great Bridge, Virginia

Maggie thinks it's time she was allowed to go exploring. She is not going anywhere.

Sunrise Thursday morning

We left the Atlantic Yacht Basin in Great Bridge before 7am Thursday, May 26, 2016, to catch the bridge opening at 7, and the train bridge opening at 8. We heard the train bridge closes between 9-1, so we weren't going to take any chances.

Bridge #1

In this lock, we had to loop our lines over their cleats and hang on while they dropped the water.

This is on the Norfolk Naval Station, we think it might be part of the hospital. I thought it looked like the White House.

Here is the Portsmouth Naval Hospital where I offered my expert (HA!) assistance to my stepdaughter, Kristin, when she gave birth to Sydney. Sydney is graduating from high school next week!

Robbie spent 6 years in this slip, on a different aircraft carrier.

Here is a Naval Police boat like the ones Robbie used to be in charge of.

There were three tug boats pushing this around.

In the Chesapeake Bay, one of these went past us, and threw out a six foot tall wake.
We rode it like a bucking bronco!

Being on the Chesapeake Bay looks and feels like open ocean to me.

Except early in the trip we ran into Steve and Kathleen on "Our Time". They have the exact same boat, and they took this photo as we passed them. We met them at the Thunderbolt Marina a couple weeks ago.

Now we are in Deltaville, Virginia at the Dozier Regatta Marina.

Flotilla to Virginia!

Last night we were still in Coinjock, where it continued to rain. It didn't bother this family one bit.

Today, May 24, 2016, we headed for the Currituck Sound and the Virginia border. The Sound was pretty flat, just what we were hoping for. Then we got into the Albemarle Chesapeake Canal. Because there were two bridges that only opened on the hour and the half hour ahead, the boats clustered together so we could all go through at the same time.

In the canal, we were told to stay in the middle, for good reason. We dodged several "dead heads" logs sticking up in the water.

Love seeing bald eagles.

We all arrived at the top of the hour, and six of us went through the bridge.

This is a train bridge that stays open, and a large bridge that we could easily get under.

We stopped in Great Bridge, Virginia, at the Atlantic Yacht Basin. These boaters continued on. There is a draw bridge and a lock just north of the marina that we won't have to worry about it until we leave here. We can see it from our boat.

We spotted some Canadian Geese with chicks, headed for the bridge.

These big things are the counter weights on the bridge, they lift the road up in the air.

Our view from the boat as I write this, 8:00 pm EDT, Tuesday night.

We will stay here two nights because we are expecting some mail, then we will listen carefully to the water condition reports on our weather radio, because the Chesapeake Bay is up ahead.

Memory Lane

Sunday, May 22, 2016, we were finally able to leave the Alligator River Marina, and we headed north into the Alligator River, across the Albamarle Sound, then into the North River to a marina in Coinjock, North Carolina.

This is the North River, very flat and calm, after we left Albamarle Sound. Even though the photos can't capture it, there were one foot waves in the sound, so this was a welcome break.

Here is the reason we stopped, this is Bish Godwin,
he was the art teacher at the elementary school in Spain, and we hadn't seen him in over 25 years! He lives in Elizabeth City and still teaches. He retired from the Dept of Defense schools in 2009.

Looking at photo albums and reminiscing.

We are SO glad we stopped here, what a fun day! Thanks for driving over to see us, Bish!

The Outer Banks

We are still on the Alligator River, due to rough water ahead. Wednesday, May 18th, my birthday, we were stuck on the boat without any transportation, and it rained all day. In the evening, the marina opened their little restaurant, and we had a nice dinner with three other boating couples.

Thursday, May 19, we managed to get a ride into Manteo so we could rent a car for a couple of days. We looked around in Manteo on Roanoke Island.

Manteo has a cute waterfront area with many shops and restaurants.

Then we went to Nags Head.

It was too cold and windy to walk on the beach!

These are huge sand dunes at Jockeys Ridge State Park, people hang glide off of them, and there is a school there.

We saw some interesting road signs, apparently there are bears here.

A new day.

Some of the boaters here have more tolerance for waves and wind than we do. There was a mass exodus one morning.

More bad weather rolled in on Saturday.

We are hopeful that the weather will be favorable on Sunday to head for Coinjock, NC.