04/01/2024 Southport to Norfolk, Virginia 04/22/2024

 

 

05/02/2024

Views of Annapolis from the water as we were leaving

 There were lots of Grammar school kids having field trips around the area by us. This group of kids were on a pirate boat spraying a pirate whom was in a row boat trying to knock him off. He obliged and fell in the water several times for them (what a fun field trip)

We continued to Rock Hall, Maryland a population of 1200. We docked on a free wall with power. Lucky we had the electrician onboard, he was able to figure out which circuits were working. Lots of locals driving by to check out the two new boats in town. I got my bike out to check out the area.

Originally known as Rock Hall Crossroads, this quaint fishing town had humble beginnings. First as an important tobacco port and later as a major fishing and crabbing center. George Washington has been known to have passed here at least eight times.    

Oyster Shucking was a popular occupation - no longer

Above the mural  "Honoring the Past     Looking to the Future"

As Matt and I walked over to the restaurant -This Deerkill bird definetly had me fooled at first. I thought she was injured and was going to look for someone to help her (She acted like she had an injured wing and couldn't fly). She was faking the wing injury to protect the nest - which I never saw LOL. But she flew after we passed and she flew around the next morning.

As I was sitting up at my computer about midnight a bunch of cars pulled into the parking lot with their lights facing our boats. I woke Matt up - as it turns out one of the guys was hot rodding and broke a tie rod. They were going to try and fix it - never did. But, why they pulled in facing us - not sure !!

5/3/2024

Left Rock Hall and headed to Havre de Grace It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of the Chesapeake Bay does have a larger population of 12,000. Nancy and I got our bikes out to tour the town. It was First Friday so a celebration was planned that evening in the downtown area.

There was an art studio in town - the artists had painted at least 30 murals on the buildings outside the studio. These are just a few

The above is a statue dedicated to the towns famous horse Havre de Grace. She won several races and was sold for 10 million dollars when she was retiring and becoming a dam ( a female horse in the act of fertilization and parenthood)

We rode our bikes to The Lock House and Museum: it was constructed in 1840, built of brick at a cost of $1615.00. The building served dual roles as the home of the lock tender and the office of the toll collector- positions filled by two different people.

This is all that is left of the canal. People would go thru and there would be a walker with a mule that would carry the boat and load, the rest of the way down the river. Mules were used because they will stop when they are tired. Whereas a horse will continue until he about dies !!

Matt and I took the free golf cart uber back into town for the First Friday festivities. What had been a warm day turned into a very cold and drizzly evening.

On the ride back to the boat we passed the Concord Point Lighthouse which was lit up

The Concord Point Lighthouse is the second oldest lighthouse in Maryland that is still standing and it is the symbol of Havre de Grace. Built in 1827, the lighthouse served as a beacon for sailors in the Upper Chesapeake Bay until being decommissioned in 1975. 

5/04/2024

Dave, Nancy and I took the Golf Cart uber back to town to the Farmers Market. This was really a farmers market - only one stand was selling something other than the list below.

 A perfect picture to depict the day we had here. Most places have the butterfly or angel wings but I am guessing this area must get a lot of rain.

Dave really wanted a breakfast with eggs - we found a small old fashioned cafe. After breakfast Dave headed back to the boat while Nancy and I walked around to celebrate the Decoy Festival which was held held in the school gymnasium. To be honest I never new there was such a demand for duck decoys !!

  These were murals in the school for upcoming plays to end the school year.

So many ducks for sale

This pair was painted by a famous duck decoy painter and were selling for $1500

There were also wooden birds and fish. The cardinals above sold for $400

We walked over to the decoy museum. Duck cane heads

One of the early maker and painter of wooden ducks

This is a quilt made by the ladies club

Of course we found the candy and Ice cream shop

We stayed at the boat for the evening to avoid the heavy rains still coming (One of the few times Matt pulled into a slip rather than back in)

05/05/2024

Left the dock under continuous rain and now fog

Trying to fit as many houses as they can into facing the Bay

These are not only buoys but can give updates on wind speed, currents, wave heights and local conditions.

Arrived at Chesapeake City with a population of 736. We were unable to get space on the free dock wall (which you were allowed one free night only), so we anchored out and rafted together. We took the dinghy over to the dock to check out the town.

Saw some historic homes on Main St.

A pirate escaping out of the hotel

Matt waiting for us at the house that had the book and puzzle exchange also toy donations

When the historic Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was opened in 1829, barges pulled by mules transported cargo 14.6 miles between Chesapeake City and Delaware City. The animals walked along a dirt tow path on the north side of the canal, sometimes led or ridden by a young boy known as a "hoggy". This depicts a mule resting at a stop along the way.

Spotted an eagle in a tree

Looks like a much busier town than what we saw with all the signs here

Red carpet to lead you into the old fashioned Candy Store

An old fashioned toy store with lots of collectibles

 Headed back to boat for an early dinner.

 

05/06/2024

Woke to a very foggy morning

The free dock had opened so we headed over there before any other boats got there. The city does charge $15 for electric - paid on honor system. Now that we were on the dock, I got my bike out to ride around. Saw this snake in the water - first one I have seen the whole trip.

This is the Little Wedding Chapel - The inside and outside are so cute

The house above needs some work - but no worries the garage has been remodeled and is air conditioned

After I got back - Matt got his bike out and we went to check out the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Museum

The canal began as a vision of a need to connect two bodies of water during the 17th century. The canal would greatly reduce the 300 mile trip around the Delmarva Pennisula and would increase the economy of the region.

This was a model of a showboat and the tugboat that pulled it down river.

The canal in earlier days

This was used to work the canal to allow the gates on the canal to open and close

A map of Chesapeake City - hard to get lost here LOL

Matt and I walked over to the bar (which was actually very busy for a Monday Night !!

Stuff hanging from the ceiling of the Tiki Hut

05/07/2024 - 05/08/2024

Left Chesapeake City to go to Delaware City

 

Arrived at Delaware City Marina in the early afternoon. Enterprise picked me up to get my car rental (a brand new Pacifica with 33 miles on it). I needed to take Matt to Philadelphia Airport so he could fly home as he needed to get some things done there. After dropping him off I headed to Philadelphia and spent two days on the Hop on Hop off Bus.

Betsy Ross home credited with making the first stars and stripes flag. She was a successful upholsterer. She produced flags for the government for over 50 years. Ross represented many women who supported their families during the Revolution and early Republic.

On the wall of Constitution Museum

The dragons of ancient Chinese culture were water deities believed to control the rain and rivers that sustained life. They also projected a sense of prosperity, happiness, strength, and good luck. Four of these bronze dragons are appropriately placed outside China Town.

The Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed public market in Center City Philly. It originally opened in 1893 under the elevated train of the Reading Railroad Company. It moved public open air markets indoor. You can find anything

Love Park named this after this structure was placed there

Built between 1846 and 1864, it is is the largest Catholic church in Philadelphia

Of course had to see the Rocky Steps and Statue

This is the Philly Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Liberty Bell

The Bicentennial Bell was a gift from Queen Elizabeth II on her visit in 1976. (It was tucked away in some unknown corner) It will be on display here with American and English flowers and Garden.

 The street of flags of countries worldwide

City Hall with William Penn at the top

 

Eastern State Penitentiary was operational from 1829 to 1971. It was considered to be the World's first Penitentiary. (This was the only tour I did in Philly)

It was made in a wheel design with 7 corridors. Someone sitting in the center could watch down all the corridors. Originally slated to house 250 mostly psychiatric patients. When it closed there were over 1700 inmates with varying crimes.

The cells were ahead of their time with running water and toilets. They also had a small door at the rear to go out to the yard. Guards would put hoods over the prisoners head so no one would be recognized. The Penitentiary was intended not simply to punish, but to move the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change.

The guards tower

This was the infirmary area where it is believed that Al Capone had surgery for appencititis

The Yo,  is connected with Philly through Rocky’s “Yo, Adrian” scene. Yo Philly or Oy Philly

This was the best and most knowledgeable tour guide I have had. She also had lots of personal local history stories.

 

05/09/2024

Stayed around the town (population 1900) and checked out the downtown area

Thought at first this was a working payphone with Verizon as the provider

Never far from home I guess !!

Picked Matt up at the airport - returned our rental car.

05/10/2024

Weather was forecasted for heavy winds and high waves - we hung around the boat all day until we met with the Marina hand who explained about the upcoming weather window for travel and water conditions. After talking with other boaters we all decided to leave at 6 am for the next leg of our journey.

05/11/2024

We anchored out right outside the Coast Guard Station in Cape May

First sunken boat in a long time - we never saw any in the Chesapeake Bay area

There was Osprey nest with babies near us - fun to watch

05/12/2024

Pulled anchor and followed 2 other boats heading through the Atlantic Inter coastal Waterway.

These homes were really close together on the Jersey Shore

These homes looked a little worn

A little paint and caulk will get you a home on the Jersey shore

Maybe you could make the above home look like these

Glad we were on the Inter Coastal and not the Atlantic Ocean

We had been hearing throughout the afternoon that a board with sails had been found but that there was no one attached to it. The coast Guard was circling in helicopters doing a search grid for anyone in the water. We never heard if they found anyone.

Made it to Ocean City and threw the anchor again.

05/13/2024

 Caught the early morning sunrise

Pulled anchor and the plan was to get to Atlantic City starting on the inter coastal then we would have to enter into the Atlantic Ocean since the inter coastal ended. One of the other boats did not follow the buoys out and went aground. Fifteen minutes later we were all underway. They kept looking at weather and were afraid it was going to get bad. The other boats headed into Atlantic City - we felt it was very calm and wanted to take advantage of the smooth waters. Another boat that had been at anchor the night before came up behind us. We got in touch and they were headed to Shark River. We followed planning on throwing the anchor there. Headed into the Marina  to get gas and ice. Talked with Rosalie and Allen and they decided weather was so good they were going to continue onto New York. We thought it was a good idea and followed them to Liberty Landing. This was probably our longest day on the water (10 hours and about 100 miles) 

Heading into Shark River the fisherman was in a hurry and did not want to wait for us to go through first !!

Finally arrived and dropped the anchor for the night

5/14/2024

 

We took the dinghy over to a dock and locked up our dinghy to Copacetic Too's dinghy. Turns out this was not a dock we could use and we both got tickets for launching a boat - of course we did not launch a boat - we rowed over and Copacetic motored over !! We headed over to another dock that we thought held the ferry to take us into New York. Instead it was a private ferry for the Women's Mizuho Americas Open. We talked to the Captain and he finally agreed to take us over - there were only 4 other passengers !!

Got several pictures crossing the Hudson River to New York

Ellis Island

Brooklyn Bridge

Lady Liberty

Spent the next few days with Rosalie and Allen

Upon arrival we headed to Brookfield Place for a quick lunch (this place had a variety of lunch food venues with a Florida setting)

We headed over to the 9/11 memorial - unfortunately the museum was closed on Tuesday (glad I had been to New York and was able to visit it)

This Callery pear tree was discovered amidst the wreckage. Although the bark was charred and limbs broken it still had leaves showing signs of life. It was transported to a nursery and was cared for. Finally December 2010 it was transplanted here.

Only one of the fountains was working at the Memorial - still amazing.

A Memorial dedicated to New York City Police. Those are names of officers where it looks like decorated stone.

Gillie and Marc have been called “the most successful and prolific creators of public art in New York’s History. The artists are best known for their beloved characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman, who tell the autobiographical tale of two opposites coming together to become best friends and soul mates. As unlikely animal kingdom companions, the Rabbit and the Dog stand for diversity and acceptance through love.

We then headed to the bus stop to pick up the Hop On Hop Off Bus (this had become our way of first visiting sights and deciding what we want to see)

In artist Beverly Barkat hands, discarded plastic bags, bottles and cups transformed into stained glass-like pieces that she fused together to create a giant globe.The above is a view from inside the globe.

This was a privately owned small park. Couldn't really find out any information about it - it was a very unusual architectural design with a water fountain.

Charging Bull statue in the financial district - the line to take a picture with the bull was wrapped around the block !!

The oldest Fire Station - now an office building

I think the next few are Self Explanatory

Korea Town shopping court so many shops on one little corner

St Peter's Church - it was much more beautiful than the pictures show.

Looked like cargo containers stacked to make a building

Headed back to where our dinghy was only to find 2 tickets from New Jersey. 1 - for launching a boat (we clearly rowed our dinghy to the dock) 2 - not having the dinghy registered (which it is in Illinois). The other couple got a ticket on their dinghy for launching a boat. Our dinghy's are not boats they are inflatable rafts !!

05/15/2024

This was a 40 million dollar boat owned by the CEO of Nike - it also costs 4 million dollars a year to maintain. It was docked near us !!

A 15 foot bronze statue which depicts an unarmed American soldier carrying a prisoner from a concentration camp.

Some sight of New York as we left

Hudson River Park has been honored to host a mural by Stephen Powers, an internationally recognized contemporary artist, Fulbright scholar and local resident. Powers drew inspiration from local history and artists, as reflected in his artist statement:                                                “I WANT TO THANK YOU is a song by Alicia Meyers. In recognition of the many murals throughout New York for another artist who died of AIDS at the age of 36.

This is the "Water's Soul" statue - the message is "to keep silent, ... to listen to the profound noise of the water talking to us".

Docked at Half Moon Bay (Croton on the Hudson River) and grabbed dinner at a Greek Restaurant .

5/16/2024

Drove over to West Point Army Academy. We were not allowed the freedom to walk around like we did at the Naval Academy. In order to see most of the campus you needed to take a bus to get to. Therefore, we took a tour of the academy with a bus tour - getting off at designated stops.

These were originally regular windows. Starting in1920 the graduating class dedicated one stained glass window as a gift from their graduating class. Until 1976 every class donated another stained glass window. Over the course of time 178 were converted to Stained Glass

The Chapel was beautiful

Bob Hope headlined USO variety shows from the Second World War until the Persian Gulf. For his 78th birthday special in 1981 he wore this custom made cadet bathrobe, decorated with an array of patches, awards, service stripes and rank badges.

This functional model was made around 1840 known as the "Disappearing Seacoast Gun". It could roll down the stand to hide the cannon and make it appear as if the fortress was not defended. Most cannons were permanently placed through a hole in the wall.

After touring the grounds and visiting the museum we headed back to the boat. We planned on having dinner at the Culinary Institute of America. The students run the restaurant from taking orders to serving and cooking the dinner.

We had our choice of French, Italian or American Cuisine. We chose the American.

 

Matt chose the Pork dinner I had the Steak dinner

We did not really like the dessert choices. We had to stop at Cold Stone for some Ice Cream

05/17/2024

Left the dock early in the morning to get to Albany New York before the low tide.

West Point from the water - much larger than visiting by land

This is the new Cyber Tech building which should be done in 2025

The Culinary Institute

A working lighthouse

We never figured out where the steam on the water was from. This was Mid Day with the sun shining and only within this little patch.

Docked at Coeymans Landing Marina. The bathrooms, laundry and lounge had all been recently remodeled.

Hudson the swan showed up at the dock several years ago and has decided to make the marina its home.

We went to dinner at the restaurant/bar called Yannis - known as King of the Calamari (Matt and I don't care for Calamari so we can't know if this is true !!) They have enough signs to suggest it.

05/18/2024

Headed to the Airport for our flight home.The Belmont Stakes will be run at Saratoga Springs, NY - only 30 minutes from Albany !!

We arrived home safely

05/19/2024

Matt left in the early morning hours with our son to head back to Albany with the truck and trailer to get the boat.

5/20/2024

They took the boat out of the water and headed home. He got a flat tire and ran out of gas on the way but still made it home by midnight.

 For now our AGLC adventure is at an end. We will finish sometime in the future just not sure when.

Matt really wanted to spend the summer in Michigan, that is why we brought the boat home. We also have a rendezvous towards the end of July in Traverse City with Great Lakes Area Ranger Tugs/Cutwater Boats.

 

I have had several people ask if we would do it again and was it fun?

Yes I would do it again. The amount of people we met and the many small towns we visited was so much fun. I do believe we would never have stopped if we were passing thru by car.

We would like to especially thank Hygee (Nancy and Dave) for sharing the journey with us. Not only did we travel together but we shared lots of meals on each others boats. Dave was the King of Jeopardy on our boat (we watched shows that I had taped from previous days). We separated towards the end due to unforeseen circumstances. We had so many exciting adventures together and saw so many more things during the approximately 4000 mile journey so far. They will finish the loop without us - we have about 2000 more miles to go!! Good luck to them!!