Thursday 8/30/2012 Away we go. It almost took a diver to cut the roots growing from Tourist's hull but we finally slipped away from Deltaville. Into the Bay and pointing North past Smith Point Light and then into the Potomac River for a short distance before turning up the St. Mary's River. The anchor dropped right off of St. Mary's College dock in time to watch the afternoon races.
We finished the day in this picturesque setting sitting on the back of Tourist watching the students kayak, paddle board, sail, and jump off the dock. My kind of school!
Friday 8/31/12 St. Mary's was the 4th permanent British settlement in North America and the sight of the first capitol of Maryland. In addition to the college there is a reproduction of the original settlement nearby. With walking shoes on (That means flats for Pam!) we dropped the dinghy in and set off to explore. The college lets you tie up at their dock and from there it's just a short walk up the hill.
The first thing you come to is the old State House which has been rebuilt using bricks from the original building. It has also been relocated a few hundred yards from the original sight. Other than that nothings changed!
Nearby is the Episcopal Church and cemetery overlooking the river.
A few more steps and we arrive at the entrance to the settlement. It's then that we find out that due to budget cuts in Maryland the attraction is closed today. What! It's Friday of the last big summer holiday week-end. Another classic case of you shouldn't let government run a business. Anyway, back across the parking lot we go to check out the college.
The school is a small Liberal Arts College nestled in the gentle hills along the St. Mary's River. We walked around the campus and ended up at the student center where we ate lunch at a Quiznos, located adjacent to the cafeteria. Pam had their Cobb Salad & I a sandwich as well as soaking up some of their air conditioning.
We checked out their book store and small convenience store before heading back to the boat.
Originally the weather called for sunny & dry conditions through Sunday and then rain Monday and a slight chance on Tuesday. Since it's a holiday week-end St. Mary's seemed like a good place to just hang out till Tuesday or Wednesday and then head up the Potomac. Guess what? The forecast changed to rain starting Saturday night with the chance of thunderstorms increasing from Sunday through the rest of the week! Here comes the remnants of Isaac. And another thing. It's still hot!
We don't like to run the generator (for A/C) all that much and the thought of being at anchor with these temperatures in the rain for that long, coupled with the potential for increased debris on the Potomac made our decision to up anchor and head to Solomons, Md. and a marina that much easier. Back to the bay and make a left turn. 43 miles later we pulled into Calvert's Marina. Not the Ritz but at $1.00 a foot and floating docks, one of the best buys on the Chesapeake. Plug in the power and hey! We're cool! Bring on the rain.
Of course we had no rain on Saturday and just a mist on Sunday in spite of thunder and lightning all around us. (St. Mary's received 3" and had flash flood warnings issued.) Anyway we're here with a nice view along with power and water and plenty of movies. Life is good!
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