Day 371 - 374, June 26 - 29, 2023

 Day 371 Monday, June 26, 2023

The weather doesn’t look good for travel until Friday so we’ll have to make the best of it.  Jerry helped Neils do an oil change and I tried to catch up on the blog.  The Lobster House restaurant was calling so we all went out for dinner. Jerry and I shared the lobster bisque – delicious.  I had the sautéed scallops, roasted potatoes and seasonal veggies – cooked cabbage with carrots and mushroom.  Jerry had the baked, stuffed flounder and baked potato.  What a shame, we were too full for dessert.

 

Day 372 Tuesday, June 27, 2023

We ate breakfast at The Lobster House Café, recommended by Neils and Doris.  The Lobster House is a huge complex of multiple restaurants including a main dining room (where we ate last night), the café, and fish market, a take-out restaurant, a schooner bar and a patio deck.  Last night proved to us just how popular it was. 

The café was more like a diner with a long counter with stools and waitresses dressed in matching white uniforms and aprons.   The restaurant staff last night also had vintage uniforms.   Doris and Neils enjoyed breakfast so much they showed up again!

  

 How would you like this hot chocolate??

Back at the marina we paid for our additional day stay and picked Bob’s brain regarding travel to Atlantic City.  Boaters have 2 choices.  They can travel the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (NJICW) or travel outside in the Atlantic Ocean, along the shore.   The NJICW is calmer but quite shallow in spots while the ocean is more weather dependent but can be quicker.  We are quite concerned about the inside route so are being patient regarding the weather.  Waves can be high but if they are from the right direction and far enough apart they wouldn’t be a problem.

We Ubered to Washington Mall, checked out the shops, had some ice cream (homemade, of course) and then took the Trolley tour.  The conductor was funny and informative but the tour speed made it difficult to take pictures.  We took the free Jitney ride back towards the marina, picked up milk and bread at the WaWa, and then walked the rest.

  

Beautiful Victorian Homes

 

Great view of the Atlantic.

  World War II lookout Tower.

 

Marking the remains of the S.S. Atlantus.   Check out the ship sticking out of the water in the 2nd photo.   The S.S. Atlantus was a concrete ship built in Brunswick Georgia, launched in 1918.   The ship ran aground in 1926.  It was the 2nd concrete ship built in the World War I Emergency Fleet.   She was used to transport troops back home from Europe after WWI and then to transport coal.

Day 373 Wednesday, June 28, 2023

 Awelon Y Mor invited everyone to pasta dinner on their boat.  We volunteered dessert thinking we would hit the local bakery for something yummy.  Madison’s Bakery is closed on Wednesday.  Boo hoo.  They have another branch so we walked to Washington Mall.  Bad idea – nothing suitable, just some cinnamon rolls or individual cupcakes.

Now Plan C.  We passed ACME grocery on our way so we snagged a frozen Key Lime pie and other stuff we could have done without and got an Uber back.

Dinner was delicious -- Caesar salad, bread, and Pasta Bolognaise, and with great company.  Doris and Neils are leaving tomorrow with Elysium.  We have a technician scheduled tomorrow to check out our engine so we won’t be leaving until Friday.  Call Me Curly is going to stick around with us.

Day 374 Thursday, June 29, 2023

We waited all day for the engine technician to show up.  Mission accomplished, he replaced belts, Raycor fuel filters, engine filters and breather elements with Jerry’s help.   Tomorrow we move on to Atlantic City. 

 Our slip neighbor

Day 369 - 370 June 24 - 25, 2023

Day 369 Saturday, June 24, 2023

Harbor East Marina Baltimore, MD to Delaware City, Delaware

6:30am start to our day.  Grey and overcast, we are hoping that the weather and waves improve over the last few days.  We are traveling with Call Me Curly and Awelon Y Mor.  Plans are to travel to Delaware City from Chesapeake Bay down the C&D Canal and to the Delaware River.   From there our next stop would be Cape May, but weather will dictate if we can travel on Delaware Bay.  Cape May sits right on the tip where the Atlantic waters and Delaware Bay meet.  The waters can be challenging there and many boaters have had to wait days in Delaware City for favorable seas.  Let’s hope not.

 

Awelon Y Mor

It takes almost an hour to get through the Baltimore Harbor to the Francis Scott Key Bridge.  We were warned by the dockmaster to be out of the harbor early; the harbor was closing for some event and boats wouldn’t be allowed to travel after 7:50.  We made it by 7:17, even with the 6mph speed limit.

Russ told us to look for the Francis Scott Key Memorial Buoy—we found it!

  

Once back on the Chesapeake we had to be vigilant for crab pots.  We passed Poole Island Bar Light and Aberdeen Proving Grounds (restricted area used for munitions practice). 

 

We reached the C&D Canal entrance at 12noon.  The tide was on our side – we were doing 10 knots, equivalent to 12mph! 

We reached Delaware City around 1pm.  The marina is on a canal off of the main waterway with a shallow and narrow entrance.  With directions from the dockmaster Charlie, all 3 boats made it without problem.  We headed to the fuel dock for a pump out while the others made it to their “slip”.  The slips are actually along one long dock.  Each boat pulls in, throws a bow line to the dock attendant who then swings your boat around to face out the way you came in.  I needed to be ready with the stern line from the opposite side so that he could pull us around.  They made it look easy.  All this maneuvering was important since the current and tides are significant and it would be difficult to get the boat off the dock when we left. 

Delaware City offers a captain’s meeting at 4pm daily to help boaters judge the weather and travel for the next day.  Charlie ran the well-attended meeting (including the 2 marina dogs); he had a power point presentation and confirmed that the next day would be good for travel and advised us what time to leave.

Foster, the local harbor host met everyone and generously answered all of our questions.  He recommended a restaurant and the “corn ball” appetizer.   Russ and Janet arrived (they only live 30 minutes away) and we all headed to dinner at Crabby Dick’s.  Doris and Neils, Jerry and I tried the corn balls.  Foster was right, they are delicious.

Janet graciously went shopping for our 3 boats.  Our ice maker has been replaced and we stocked up on tonic water.  Russ took the dead ice maker off our hands, promising to get it running again.

Day 370 Sunday, June 25, 2023

Delaware City to Cape May, New Jersey

Janet and Russ were off the hook.  They had offered to entertain us and taxi us around to stores and local sights if we got stuck due to weather but the forecast held and we headed out at 6:20am.  We were glad that our boat was facing out as there was quite a bit of current.  Some of the boaters had been worried about getting their boat off the dock; Charlie had a dockhand there early to help shove people off! 

We pulled out of the channel and passed the green buoy marker.  The osprey nest on top was occupied, momma guarding as we coasted by it in the shallow water.  

We were out of the Delaware City channel and into the Bay at 6:45am.  High tide was at 4:27.  We traveled with Call Me Curly, Awelon Y Mor, After Hours, Elysium and Pinnacle.  Another boat, Rush Hour, left at 5am.

We passed nuclear power plants.  It was very hazy, most likely due to the fires in Canada.  Sometimes you can smell the smoke. We were following Bob423 course but it was bringing us through lots of crab pots so we moved back into the main shipping channel.  Luckily we only had to deal with one freighter, Scorpion Confidence.  It had a significant bow wake.   We kept hearing this eerie noise and realized it was fog horns from the lighthouses.

 

We passed Ship John Shoal Lighthouse, Elbow of Cross Ledge Light, Cross Ledge Lighthouse ruins and Miah Maull Lighthouse.  Miah Maull’s fog horn seemed the loudest.

 

 

We reached Cape May Channel and boat traffic was very busy.  In addition to the car ferry that crosses Delaware River there was a lot of recreational boats and Sea Doos.

We had a very tense moment when the local tour boat decided to pass under the Cape May Bridge at the same time we did.  It felt like I could reach out and shake hands with the passengers.             It was a VERY tight squeeze.

Utche’s Marina is a bit rustic and congested with narrow fairways.  Our slip was next to a tug boat; it was a little awkward getting on and off the boat. 

Day 364 - 368 June 19 - 23, 2023

Day 364 Monday, June 19, 2023

Annapolis Maryland to Baltimore, Maryland

Moving along up the East Coast through Chesapeake Bay!  Sunny and calm for our 9am departure but so many crab pots. It was quite confusing -- not knowing which would be the safe path.  We passed the abandoned Sand Point Shoal Light and Baltimore Harbor Light.  The Baltimore Light was the last lighthouse built on Chesapeake Bay.  Finished in 1908 it actually took 18 years to build.

 

We saw lots of big fishing boats.

Baltimore is on the Patapsco River.  We passed under the Francis Scott Key Bridge and by Fort Carroll.  The cargo ship ARC was loading -- John Deere tractors. 

 

Baltimore Harbor has a strict 6mph speed limit.  We saw lots of harbor police and Navy warships. 

 

 

 The Domino Sugars sign is a landmark that our marina used to help us find them among the many other marinas along the shoreline. 

   

Once settled in at the marina we headed to the National Aquarium.  We were able to watch them feed the dolphins.  What a treat!  Our travel day was only 4 hours so we had plenty of time to explore.

Jellyfish

 

 

 White blob is a shark.

Belated Father's Day celebration -- awesome steak dinner at Ruth's Chris.

Day 365 Tuesday, June 20, 2023

ONE YEAR ON THE LOOP!!!

We celebrated by eating breakfast at the Blue Moon Cafe.  Jerry had the breakfast scramble and I had the veggie omelet and hash browns.  Both were huge servings and delicious.  Imagine, breakfast leftovers!

   

We really can't believe that we have been on this adventure for a year.  Time has flown, with so many great places to visit and wonderful new friends.  Today we were joined by 2 of those friends, Janet and Russ from Tug Bussle.  They drove from their home in Delaware to join Eric's Tuition and Call Me Curly for the day.  

First order of business -- walking to Little Italy.  Everyone worked up an appetite (except us, since we had a big breakfast), so we scouted out the restaurants.  We enjoyed our $12 Lasagna and salad -- shared since we had such a big breakfast. 

 

I loved the old buildings in Fell's Point.  We toured the Maryland Dove and visited Max's Taphouse.

 

 

 

Walking back to the marina we enjoyed the smells of fresh bread coming from H&S Bakeries, a family bakery established in 1943.  The business included multiple buildings in several blocks.  Time for happy hour and more visiting on Call Me Curly.

Day 366 Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Today's adventure was a trip to Walgreen's.  Russ and Janet graciously offered to bring us before they headed home-- we didn't realize it would be so memorable.  Jerry had ordered his prescriptions; we just needed to pick them up.
Google directions brought us to Mercy Hospital with no Walgreen's in sight.  So, we headed to the next store only a few blocks away.  Russ dropped Jerry off and we circled the block.  Jerry was back in no time (wrong store) but with stories to tell.  The store had 2 armed guards and everything, even the paper towels, was behind plexiglass and locked up.   We went back to the hospital and Jerry finally had success.  Everything there was in locked cases too.

The entire day was grey, 60's and raining so we spent it in the boat.  We made plans to visit Washington DC with Sharon and Grant tomorrow.

Day 367 Thursday, June 22, 2023

Today we Ubered to Washington, DC with Grant and Sharon.  Our plan was to do the Hop On, Hop Off Trolley and explore the Capital.  Cold and grey we were glad we brought jackets.

We had lunch at Harry's Bar then hopped back on the trolley to check out the Memorials -- Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean.  We had plenty of time to see each of them; trolleys were frequent and easy to get back on.  

We walked to the Whitehouse but access was closed due to a visit from the India Ambassador.  The park was actually closing as we walked to it.  We still managed a few pictures.

 

 

Vietnam War Memorial

 

  

Korean War Memorial

 

Museum of Natural History

 

Hope Diamond

Back on the Trolley Jerry and I got off to hit the Museum of Natural History and then joined Sharon and Grant at Harry's Bar.  They had tried to go to the Holocaust Museum but it had closed for the day.  We enjoyed a drink and lots of popcorn then ordered an Uber for the hour and 15 minute ride back to Baltimore.  Our timing was good, we didn't have to deal with rush hour traffic either direction. 

Day 368 Friday, June 23, 2023

Our original plan was to leave Baltimore today but weather helped us to decide to stay another day.  Winds, waves and thunderstorms were the prediction with Saturday's forecast much better.  Raining outside we had a lazy morning with a pancake breakfast by chef Jerry.   

 

 View of Baltimore from the marina.

Big tragedy -- our countertop portable icemaker died.   I'm sure Russ jinxed it when he admired it the other day!  Good thing we had ice made.

Happy hour was spent on Call Me Curly.  They are the "mother" ship with more, comfortable seating room.  Neils and Doris on Awelon Y Mor, from Toronto Canada were also invited.  They are AGLCA members as well, but technically not doing the Loop.  They have been in Baltimore for a few weeks on their 45 foot North Pacific.  They have done a lot of exploring and make me wish we had more time.

Tomorrow the three boats are off to Delaware City, Delaware.  WOW, another state!