October 12-15 Baltimore, St. Michaels, Annapolis, Maryland

We wanted to meet Stephanie, Lynn, Cindy, Sharon, and Pinki (The Sisters) in Baltimore at the city docks within the Inner Harbor.  We had stayed there two years previously when we chartered a boat and cruised the Chesapeake.  It is the perfect location for touring the city, restaurants, and enjoying the fantastic ambiance of the waterfront  Since the city marina does not take advance reservations, we left on Wednesday to insure that we would get a good place.  Our trip to Baltimore was picture-perfect—sunshine, gorgeous blue water, a light breeze, and interesting boat traffic.  We were successful in getting a slip at the city docks and were once again dazzled by the Baltimore skyline and the harbor front neighborhoods.  There are few places we have seen that are as beautiful as the Baltimore harbor area at night with the lighted buildings reflected in the water.       

Baltimore has recently begun a free shuttle that provides limited service in the downtown area.  We took advantage of it to go to the grocery store one more time to stock for the girls’ visit.  It’s always interesting and fun to utilize public transportation to see the city and meet the people.  We were very impressed with Baltimore.  It appears to be a clean and safe city with friendly and helpful people.  We are planning to return this year before going south.  David and I love to walk in the areas near the harbor.  There is a large Barnes and Noble bookstore housed in an old power plant that had been renovated with considerable style.  The huge smokestacks were still in place in the interior and had been coated with copper plates.  It was a great example of utilizing old buildings for new uses.

The girls arrived on Friday at noon.  They promptly had a glass of wine and went to the bridge to enjoy the sunny day and the great view of Baltimore.  They seemed to be awed by the whole experience—the trip, the view, the boat.  We ate lunch on the boat and they promptly left to explore the city.  They returned tired and ready to crash.  We ate dinner on the boat, talked, laughed, and had a great time visiting.

We left Baltimore on Saturday for a trip across the bay to St. Michaels.  The wind rapidly increased in velocity when we left the Patapsco River and entered the bay.  Pinki had not taken Dramamine and promptly became very ill.  She stayed prone on the bridge until we docked and continued to look a little “green” for the remainder of the day.  Those of us who were not sea sick went to The Crab Shack for delicious seafood and then took a long walk through the historic district.  The girls found some good shops and brought back to the boat sacks of sweaters, hats, and other items.  David made his delicious fish recipe from the fresh “butter” fish that we had found in a market.  It was outstanding and he received numerous accolades from our guests.

Sunday was calm and sunny as we cruised to Annapolis.  It was good to see Pinki in great spirits and enjoying the journey.  We docked at The Yacht Basin marina and had a front row seat watching boats of all kinds cruising up and down the river.  There were some megayachts in our marina on the way to Florida with crews of six to nine people.  It was all very beautiful and interesting.  Annapolis offered some good shopping and the girls contributed significantly to the local economy. David and I attended the Powerboat Show and he had another opportunity to gain information about radar systems.  I quickly became bored, returned to the boat and spent two hours washing off the salt from the spray of the waves.  Dinner was at the Annapolis Yacht Club and again we were fortunate to have a place on the deck to enjoy the great weather and the boating scene.  The following day, the girls had a final foray through Annapolis, ate lunch, and then left with Maleek, our favorite taxi person, for the airport. They were missed immediately! We spent the rest of the day packing and preparing to leave the boat for almost a week while we were in California. David had business in Oakland and that gave us an opportunity to visit Suzanne and see her new home. The boat remained in Annapolis at the Yacht Basin marina.