July 2005
Wilmington, North Carolina

We're on our way (home)...

On Tuesday, May 24th, George and Beth left for their Summer 2005 Chesapeake Bay trip!  Plans are to take our time and visit each charming town we come to.  Today is Friday, July 15th and we arrived in Annapolis from Havre de Grace, Maryland (just past Baltimore).  We took our time going up the Chesapeake, stopping in charming towns like Elizabeth City, the Solomons, and Baltimore - where we watched the July 4th fireworks.  We have been lucky to have wireless internet connection on the boat just about everywhere.   Click here for new photos of:

              
The boat is perfect, well, very close to perfect!  George had the bottom painted just before we left, at Anchors Away (used to be Marker 90) - everyone there was so kind and helpful.  He ended up staying there nearly 2 months and made lots of friends.  We planted two herb gardens and hung a flower basket from the upper deck.  It looks and feels like home.

Our first overnight was at Mile Hammock Bay.  Lots of helicopters flying around and an occasional cannon shot made it loads of fun.  We saw two water spouts over the ocean.  When we left Mile Hammock Bay, we were joined by a dolphin that had to be 8 - 10 feet long.  He played in the bow wave of the boat just long enough for some great photos.  At the lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal we ran into an old friend from Wilmington, Jimmy Carter, aboard a sailboat heading down the canal.  In Norfolk, we saw Ron and Linda Gumm, also from Wilmington, on their way around the Great Loop.

It's been a perfect trip, cool in the mornings and warming up quickly each afternoon.  Our favorite spots have been Beaufort, Oriental, and Norfolk - where we spent nearly 2 weeks, Elizabeth City, Solomons, Baltimore and Havre de Grace on the trip up the Chesapeake.  Our trip home was mostly on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, with highlights at St. Michaels and Tangiers (our overall favorite spot), although we also stopped in Annapolis and Eastport since we missed them on the way up.

We are back in North Carolina (August 2nd) and will enjoy a few days in Oriental and Beaufort before coming back to Wilmington.  We'll try to keep the website updated, meanwhile, hope you enjoy the new photos, 

George and Beth