Tourists at Last!

Rain was suppose to begin at 11a.m. today but we were determine to see the sights so we put two rain jackets in the backpack and we were off first to the Calvert Marine Museum. We were hoping to tie up the boat at the dinghy dock provided by the museum but sail boat races were going on right in front of the water side of the museum!  Yes, even three masted schooners!  But look carefully.... they are radio controlled models.  :-)  

So we proceeded to the dinghy dock at the Yacht Club and walked through the pretty neighborhood to the front entrance to the Museum.  Above the street there still was the sign from Friday night's concert:  

Beautiful Flowers and Quaint Houses Everywhere

Even their Fire Hydrates are pretty

Drum Point Lighthouse

I think the most interesting thing we saw might have been the Drum Point Lighthouse.  When it was decommissioned it was taken down and completely reassembled at the Museum.  It is a Screwpile Lighthouse.  The Bay has too soft a bottom to support the conventional masonry style lighthouse so they came up with this idea.  The piles are hand screwed into the bottom of the Bay. We will be passing two that are still in the water as we continue north. 

Narrow Winding Staircase to Top of Lighthouse

One of the Rooms in the Lighthouse

And a Room OUTside the Lighthouse on Porch 

       

After the Lighthouse we walked through the museum. Walter & I both had just read James Michener's Chesapeake so seeing the real log boats displayed and the Skipjacks was exciting!  It took me getting old to really appreciate history... is that because I have become history?!  And seeing the old photos of how they ran the Crab & Oyster businesses was so interesting and confirmed the amazing details of Michener's book!

Skipjack

From the Museum we walked to West Marine to get parts for the boat which Walter has already installed.  Our dinghy will be more secure now with new cleats in place.

Stoney"s Restaurant

Then we continued down & across a little short bridge that actually put us on Solomons "Island" to a restaurant that has the BEST Crab Cakes in the USA... according to my sis in law who used to live here.  Walter had just one on a sandwich and it was bigger than a baseball and ALL crab meat! Delicious!   

After lunch we walked down the street to almost the end of the Island. We stopped at the pier because a fire boat out in the Patuxent River was spraying a huge stream of water and making circles with it.  Then we noticed a man in a white robe standing on the swim platform of another boat.  And boats of all sizes and types were lining up in the river..... It was the Blessing of the Fleet.  Each boat would come near the robed  man who prayed for them. How fun to have been there for this special event.  AND it never Rained today!  God Blessed us!

  

Tomorrow we planned to cruise to Oxford, MD only a little over 4 hours which is great since our last two days of travel were very long.           

The Happy Adventurers