We Walked our Way thru Washington DC – and walked, and walked, and walked…

Coming up the Potomac with Washington Monument
dead ahead, and Jefferson Memorial to port.

We spent 4 wonderful, but tiring, days visiting Washington D.C.  We made reservations to stay at Capital Yacht Club, which is only ¼ mile from the Jefferson Memorial and about ½ mile from the Mall.  Wonderful location to start each day, either on foot or on the Metro subway.  We had visited DC several times by car, back when Sue’s uncle lived about 5 blocks from the Capitol Building, and when our daughter went to college in New York City.  We had previously seen the major monuments and museums, so this trip we focused on visiting secondary museums, and seeing some of the newer monuments.

Our first day, just before the storm clouds
opened up.

Which beer does Sue like?
ALL OF THEM!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Navy Memorial, one old salt stands next to the
statue of The Lone Sailor

"The Peoples House", but don't try to get in there!

But this time, we did more than our share of walking – sometimes more than 5 miles a day.  Some highlights of our week were a walking tour of Arlington Cemetery (including watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns); a walking tour of the monuments one evening (with a night-time look to all the monuments); a free musical performance at Kennedy Center; a tour of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing; and of course, Sue finding several brew pubs to sample all the craft beers. 

 

Main entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, with
Arlington House at top of hill, where Robt E Lee lived prior to 1861

At the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Sgt inspects
the butt plate of the rifle of the on-coming sentry.
Very impressive.

"Here rests in Honored Glory an American soldier
known but to God"

Each time we visit this city, we are amazed at the significance and extent of this country’s history.  Seeing all the monuments and memorials, learning their history and the achievements of the subject individual or group of people, becomes a very emotional experience. 



The relatively new WWII Memorial is right on the Mall.
If you visit this, look for evidence that "Kilroy was here"

Sometimes the ol' feet just need a good soaking

Jefferson Memorial at dusk, reflected in the Tidal Basin

Inside the Jefferson Memorial.  President Kennedy,
addressing a group of Nobel Prize winners at the White House,
said that they were the greatest assemblage of talent in the White House
since Thomas Jefferson dined there alone

 

Night view up the Mall from the side of Lincoln Memorial

Finally, since the yacht club was right next to the seafood markets, Sue ran over there before we left to buy a dozen crabs, so that we had proper survival rations for our trip back down the Potomac.  We departed DC on Friday morning in absolutely beautiful cruising weather, and made our 70+ miles back to Colonial Beach VA where we’ll keep the boat for several weeks while we become landlubbers again.  We’ll rent a car for a trip to Chattanooga to care for Sue’s mother and to go boating on the Tennessee River with Clint & Leigh, followed by a jaunt to New Orleans to spoil our granddaughter and to get some doctor visits.  Finally, on our way back up here, we’ll stop to retrieve our own car, which we left somewhere in North Carolina (I think).

Will Obama say that this guy has more wealth than he "needs"
and needs to share some of it with those less fortunate?

 

How about this guy?  OH WAIT - this is Washington's
Mount Vernon estate!

Up the Potomac (without a paddle)

Crossing the Chesapeake Bay just north of Smith Island
is Solomons Lump Light, former home of another
lonely lighthouse keeper

After a couple weeks at Crisfield MD, plus another couple days waiting for the winds to die down, we departed the Eastern Shore, but not before buying another pound of lump crab meat.  At only $15/lb, we’ll have to eat crab for the next couple days (yeah, I know, this traveling life is hard to take).

 

Crossing the Bay, we passed the restored skipjack
heading to Crisfield.  Skipjacks were the original
Bay oyster boats.

 


READ YOUR CHARTS!  In the middle of the Bay
are wrecks still used by the Navy for bombing
and strafing targets!

We thought we’d be dodging thunderstorms during the entire crossing of the Chesapeake Bay to the western shore, but we had no rain and only 2’ waves.  We entered the mouth of the Potomac River near slack tide, so the water wasn’t turbulent like many boaters find it.  Once we entered the River, I was amazed at how calm & smooth the waters were.  Certainly different from being out on the Bay.

At the anchorage, Sue relaxes on the swim platform
while she drinks her beer, just before she
jumped into the water for a swim.

We were told by several boaters about the beautiful anchorage in Horseshoe Bend up the St Mary’s River, so that was our destination for 2 nights at anchor.  It was a very pretty location with lots of protection from wind and waves.  Following our boater-friend’s advice, the next day we put the dinghy into the water (after fixing yet another air leak), and rowed ashore to see the restoration of Historic St Mary’s City.

Working replica of the "Dove".  Sails are still
unfurled by hand by climbing the cat ropes.

For your history lesson today, you’ll want to know that St Mary’s MD was the 4^th English settlement in the New World, with everything starting around 1634.  Lord Calvert held the charter to the colony and set up St Mary’s as the capital of Maryland.  Since he was not allowed to practice his Catholic faith in England, he set up St Mary’s to be open to all religions, and in doing so, established the “birthplace of religious freedom”.  As luck would have it, his “experiment” in religious freedom lasted about 15 years before the Protestants protested (that’s what pro-testants do, isn’t it?), tortured the Catholics, and moved the colonial capital to Annapolis MD.  Archeologists have been reconstructing the homes, businesses, streets and city for years, so it is quite extensive and authentic.

The "Dove" square rigger sailing among the boats
at the anchorage

Of particular note was a replica of the “Dove”, a wooden sailing ship about 50 feet long which was one of the ships that brought the English colonists across the Atlantic to St Mary’s MD.  We went aboard to see how unimaginable it was to cross the ocean on such a small ship.  Further, the replica is fully functional, and sails regularly, as we found out that evening as a square-rigged sailing ship passed among the pleasure boats at anchor in the cove.  It’s not every day you see something like this!  “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!”



Sunset at the anchorage - the perfect ending of
another perfect day!

After two enjoyable nights at anchor, we cruised another 40 miles upriver to a marina at Colonial Beach to check it out for a long term visit next week.  It will soon be time to put the boat up for a month while we become landlubbers again to take care of personal commitments.  The following day we fought a 2.5 mph head current 40 more miles up the Potomac to an anchorage right across from the USMC Quantico base.  We felt very safe & secure sleeping that night.



We’re looking forward to the coming 4 days we’ll spend in Washington D.C. at a marina on the Potomac right next to the Jefferson Memorial.  We’ll have to write something in our blog about those experiences!

Fourth of July on the Fifth

Since we celebrated the hurricane on July 4, the town of Crisfield held their Independence Day celebration on July 5.  The little town put on quite a show.

We went to the city docks for the entertainment sponsored by the local American Legion post.  Food vendors, and of course the trinket vendors, and a couple live bands (they're more fun to listen to than dead bands).  One of the bands called "WW II-unes"  (WW II tunes) had played at the Blue Dog Café the night before we were there.  They played a lot of big band tunes from the 1940's, and Sue & I were one of those who were tapping our feet to that music.  Are we really getting that old?!?

"Sittin' on the dock of the Bay...."

Since this was the day after the hurricane, when the weather is always perfect, the sunset that evening was spectacular.  Definitely a photo-op.  Big giant high pressure over us, with just enough clouds at sunset to give it some color.

Of course, we had our flags up on our boat, as we try to do every holiday.  I've been accused of being a "flag-waver", and I guess that I've been called worse.  I was glad to see most of the transient boats at the marina were flying their American flags.

And then, the fireworks.  We left the festival on the city dock early enough to come back to our boats (we were with our friends Jeanie and Bill again), fix up a drink, set up our chairs right at the end of the dock finger pier, and enjoy a front-row seat for some surprisingly good fireworks.  The wind had calmed down to make the marina harbor almost like glass, so the fireworks were made even better by being reflected on the water.  A very enjoyable evening.

Yesterday we ate at our favorite local restaurant one more time.  Those giant crab cakes and sinful Smith Island cake for dessert was calling our name again. 

We then finished preparations for getting under way this morning, but the winds just didn't cooperate with us.  They were blowing 20 kts gusting to 30, and the waves on the Bay were 3-4 feet.  Both "Nemo" and we decided to wait until Wednesday to try to cross the Bay to the Potomac River.  Sue & I want to spend about 5-6 days cruising up the Potomac to Washington D.C.  We have reservations next week at a marina in D.C. that is about 1/4 mile from Jefferson Monument & Washington Monument, with most everything else within walking distance.  We'll spend about 4 days there, even though we've been to D.C. by car about 5 times.  We're looking forward to it.

I went to Crisfield & Got the Crabs

Everything in Crisfield has the crab logo

We’re finishing our second week in Crisfield MD, celebrating July 4 with a hurricane offshore.  We’ve really gotten around the area to spread lots & lots of our Yankee greenbacks.

Wild ponies on Assateague Island

Just a couple days after our arrival at Somers Cove Marina, we were joined by our sailboat friends Bill & Jeanie aboard S/V “Nemo”, who we first met in North Carolina.  We went sightseeing together, ate crab together, and held a Hurricane Party (an old New Orleans tradition) together. Everything was much more enjoyable sharing the experiences with friends.

We rented a car for a couple days to expand our horizons.  First we went to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands on the Eastern shore of Virginia.  Chincoteague seemed to be your typical small tourist town along the coast, but Assateague had a National Wildlife Preserve where the wild ponies live.  We saw some ponies, but only at a distance.  As we took the nature trail around the area, we did see a lot of other wildlife (which was quite different from the wild life that I saw in college!).

Bambi was out in the open on the nature trail

On the way to Chincoteague, we passed the NASA Wallops Island VA rocket facility, the oldest launch facility in the US.  This was where NASA first launched unmanned rockets, long before Cape Canaveral was invented.  Since Congress & your President shut down the manned space program, Wallops Island continues to launch unmanned rockets for satellites and to supply the manned space station.

 

Lighthouse at Assateague Island.  This is one we
didn't get to climb.

 

The Boardwalk in Ocean City MD

I called my sister-in-law in upstate NY for advice in visiting Ocean City MD.  She & her husband vacationed in OC several years & knew the place well.  We went up & down the Boardwalk where the typical tourist stores sold what they could, and admired the wide, white-sand beach.  To me, it looked like a mini-Myrtle Beach.  We then drove a couple miles south to the northern end of Assateague Island & saw the other herd of wild ponies right next to the road.

 

 

The wide beach at Ocean City & the "Screamer" boat

 

 

 

Jeanie and Bill join us at the Blue Dog Café
(not related to Lafayette LA artist John Rodrigue's Blue Dog)

Bill & Jeanie joined us to visit the Blue Dog Café in Snow Hill MD, which I had heard about from another boater we met in Coinjock NC.  In short, it was a superb dining & entertainment experience.  One of the owners had been an understudy to a Broadway play in NYC, and sang for us all evening.  Most of what he sang had some humor in it.  For example, he continued to sing while he helped to bus dishes into the kitchen, and while he was mixing drinks behind the bar.  At 9:00 on that Saturday, he broke into Billy Joel’s song “Piano Man”.  It was a most enjoyable evening.

Sue eating her soft shell crab, with
my crabcake sandwich in front

 

For dessert, we had Smith Island Cake - a 10-layer
cake like a New Orleans doberge cake,
made only on Smith Island

These watermen with their crab boats have finally
become our friend, after dodging thousands of
crab pots this past month

Tangier Island has the same crab on their water tower

And then the crabs.  No matter how hard Sue tried, she couldn’t eat more crabs than what the watermen were bringing in each day!  We went on a walking tour around Crisfield to visit crab processing plants for both hard shell crabs and for soft shell crabs.  We learned that Crisfield supplies the entire US with about 80% of all soft crabs.  A crab will molt its shell as it grows about 20 times in its 3-year life.  A soft shell crab is processed right after molting, before its new shell begins to harden.  To do so, the hard shell crabs are placed into bins, based on how close they are to molting (I guess the crab itself & the “watermen” processing it both know when that happens).  The crabs are then monitored every 3 hours, around the clock, until they start to molt.  As the molting progresses, the crabs are moved to the next bin and the next one, until at the last bin the crab has fully molted and it is moved into the processing facility.  Most soft crabs are shipped all over the country as live crabs, so they are shipped out the very next day from Crisfield.

The hard-shell crabs, on the other hand, are cooked and picked right in Crisfield.  The hard crab industry has changed little over the last 100 years, so if your momma worked at the crab-pickin’ plant, so did you.  When you buy lump crabmeat in plastic containers, the meat is fresh.  If you buy it in metal cans, it has been frozen or pasteurized. 

Crab shanties along the entrance to Tangier Island

As if the plant tours weren’t enough, the next day we took the ferry over to Tangier Island, where crabbing is the only business.  Being a somewhat remote island, Tangier is basically stuck in the 1950’s.  Most residents speak a dialect with a British accent, going way back to when the British took over the island to base their Chesapeake Bay campaign during the War of 1812.   All along the entrance channel to the island were crab shanties where the watermen keep their boats & traps, and where they’ve set up their own soft crab bins.  Each morning, they’ll send their molted crabs into Crisfield via the daily mail boat. 

 

 

Loading the boat with supplies and mail, headed to
Tangier Island.  Reminds me of similar activity years ago
when I visited my relatives on the Lake Erie Islands.

 

 

Two cemeteries across from each other on
Tangier Island

The other interesting item about Tangier Island is the existence of about two dozen cemeteries on a 1 x 3 mile island.  Apparently, way back when, the residents would bury their deceased right in their yard.  Either that, or there was very lax enforcement of the zoning laws.  Headstones are now right next to the kids’ swing set or the laundry line.

 

Narrow road on Tangier Island. Very few cars on island.
Mostly golf carts and scooters (like Put-in-Bay
on Lake Erie).  Note another cemetery on right.

So now our July 4 Hurricane Arthur.  It passed this morning about 100 miles to the east of us, having made its first landfall last night on the Outer Banks of NC as a weak CAT 2.  Our marina is pretty protected, and we’re on a floating dock with 12 dock lines holding the boat.  Still, the boat has been dancing around in its slip all morning.  We had very little rain, and winds have been about 35 mph gusting to 50.  So this makes the 3^rd hurricane our boat’s been in (or close to), along with the 2 tornados and one marina fire.  Maybe I should look to see if there is a bull’s-eye painted on our transom!

Line of crab bins for processing soft shell crabs

 

Soft crabs are very docile, unlike when they have a
hard shell, and fight with other crabs

 

Live soft shell crabs packed in shipping box, headed
to your favorite restaurant

 

Crab pickers working through a mountain of steamed
hard shell crabs

Hard shell crabs are cooked in huge stainless steel
baskets inside a retort