During July we continued our plan of visiting with family and friends. As we headed up the Chesapeake, we turned up the Potomac and anchored at St. Mary's City for their July 5th free Friday night concert by the Chesapeake Orchestra, and fireworks. Poor planning and a nice chat with a volunteer conspired against us hearing the concert, but we made it back to the boat and had a front row seat for the fireworks.
During the month we managed to attend two more of the free concerts, where we did hear and enjoy the music. If you're ever in the area we highly recommend them.
While on the Potomac we visited Joe's brother Rick, along with his wife, all three of their children, the spouses of those who have them, and their children. The children included two babies born in March, Emily and Luke, that we hadn't had the pleasure of meeting before.
Also on the Potomac, we stopped at Cobb Island twice (on the way up and down) to visit Don and Barbara (N-37 Island Swan). Randy and Barb (GH37 Lazy Dolphin) joined us there on the second stop and Barbara treated us all to steamed crabs at Shymansky's - thanks again! The crabs were wonderful!
Randy and Barb continued down river with us to attend an informal Looper gathering at Corinthian Yacht Club.
It was so hot, but Corinthian has good power for a/c, a nice pool, and an air-conditioned meeting room - along with a commercial kitchen and cottages for rent. A very nice facility. The gathering was well attended - mostly by people we'd not met before - and each afternoon folks gathered to discuss places they had cruised or wanted to cruise.
Our plan with Barb and Randy had been to move to St. Mary's on Friday for the Baroque concert, but it was just too hot to anchor so we went across the river to Olverson's Marina. As it turned out, Fred Olverson always takes his boat over to the concert and offered to take us along. Once the sun dipped below the horizon things cooled down enough for us to enjoy the concert, but it was sure nice to come back to an air conditioned boat.
Next stop on the visiting tour was just off the Patuxent River at our former neighbors Jim and Judi's. They're always such generous hosts and we enjoy visiting them so much. We actually didn't get to spend that much time with them when we were neighbors, but we've made up for it during our cruising years. Their house on Helen Creek provides a beautiful setting watching the local wildlife. One morning I watched a bald eagle swoop down an pick up a fish like it was just sitting there waiting for him.
They have two hummingbird feeders and can hardly keep them full this time of year. Judi got the great shot of them chowing down.
While there, Jim loaned us his truck so we could attend the last concert at St. Mary's. We've finally learned where to sit and the evening was much cooler. The orchestra had been cut down to the Big Band group for the occasion and played lots of the popular big band favorites including - Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, the Blues Brothers (!) and of course, Sleigh Ride. Evidently Sleigh Ride is always the last number of the season - and this year it was done Big Band style!
After a few days in Solomons where we attended pot-luck dinner with MTOA members, we moved across the bay to Cambridge, MD. A few years ago we'd met Dave and Vicki (Nellie D.) at an anchorage and then we saw them this spring in Edenton. Both times they invited us to visit them at their home dock on Church Creek in Cambridge. We'd liked them both right away and were intrigued by the story of the house they were building - and they were offering free dockage which we seldom pass up. After a little trouble finding the right dock, we spotted Nellie D. and Dave and Vicki. We plowed through a little mud, got tied up and plugged in, and went up to the house.
The house tour was incredible, followed by a great dinner and lots of conversation. I've put more about the house on picasa, but basically they've built the entire house themselves (except the foundation), over a period of 13 years (a few months a year), and have included some amazing details.
Nothing has been done the easy way, as evidenced by this crab whose legs reach down into the soap-stone and bead board back splashes. Vicki said it had bothered her for while that the house was taking so long, but then she realized it was a hobby and settled in to enjoy the process. Kind of like cruising at our slow speed - the destination isn't the important part, it's the trip along the way.
More pictures on picasa
http://picasaweb.google.com/joseph.pica
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