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August 22, 2005

Trips to Rock Hall

Rock Hall is one of the closer destinations as it takes about 2 hours to get from my marina in Baltimore. It is basically just across the Chesapeake Bay but slightly south.

On the first trip, we stayed at a marina and took the shuttle trolley bus to and from the various destinations. It was 100 degrees and you could stay on your air conditioned boat, go sit in the pool, or go tour around Rock Hall on wind-only cooled trolley bus. We decided that we would take our chances that the trolley bus would travel fast enough for some wind movement on the inside. It actually was a very quaint little trolley with very large open windows and a very personable 'conductor' that must work 18 hour days.

Rock Hall has both large and small restaurants/bars, antique shops, ice cream shops, fudge shops, etc. as well as various scheduled activities. There are a few places that have nightlife including local bands that keep both locals and transients entertained. Our favorite was Waterman's Crab House. They had both inside and outside drinking and dining in a casual atmosphere. Half of the outside deck on the water is covered if you need refuge from either the sun or rain. On Saturday night, they have a local band playing on the outside deck area.

On our second trip, we called Waterman's ahead of time to ascertain the current situation with the slips around Waterman's. On some weekends, the boaters get there early on Friday night, so showing up at 2 pm on Saturday is already way too late. But on other weekends, you may be the first one there at 2 pm on a Saturday. We had a slip right next to the outside deck area and we paid to spend the night. They even had electrical hookups. Within a few hours, the other slips were filled and we had new transient friends all around us. In addition, the atmosphere is one in which the customers from Waterman's felt comfortable stopping and talking for awhile.

In addition to conversing, eating or drinking with new-found friends, you can also dance under the stars on deck or on your boat to your heart's content. The band seems to play as long as people want to be entertained. In our case, we had the opportunity to enjoy both the atmosphere and our boat at the same time. Even if you did not get a slip at Waterman's, most of the marinas are within walking distance of every place that you want to get to.

On our second trip, we actually took our bicycles and traveled around Rock Hall via bicycle. The 'local' folks seem to be very aware of the 'transient' folks that are walking and riding around town, so in addition to watching out for you crossing the roads, they will also offer assistance on both locations and venues for activities.

The crew of Livin'Nauti' found this to be a very comfortable destination for a weekend trip.

Posted by Kimberly on August 22, 2005 11:42 AM

August 14, 2005

NPYC Long Cruise

July 2005. The 10-day long cruise was a trip starting from the Washington Marina down the Potomac to the Potomac River Yacht Club Float-in and then to continue with the NPYC for the next week at various destinations on the Chesapeake. We decided that we would take the 3 year old with us on the trip and unfortunately she was not feeling well.

We left late Friday afternoon and spent the night on anchor at Fairview Beach on the Potomac. Then we left early Saturday morning to arrive at Crisfield Maryland around 11 am just in time for the activities.

Crisfield, Maryland

Crisfield is basically a destination for another reason. In our case, it was the destination for the Float-In. There are a few places to get food within walking distance to the marinas. But on the whole, there's not much to go see or do in the town. However, if you like to go crabbing or fishing, this may be the location. The Float-In has a combination of social events, classes/instructions, and competition between the Yacht Clubs. Some years are better than others and unfortunately, this year we had 100 degree weather and an already limp 3-year old. We left on Sunday for our first destinations as part of the NPYC Long Cruise.

Cambridge, Maryland

So far, Cambridge is the only 'resort' that I have visited on the Chesapeake Bay. There is a pool with a water slide, a pool geared towards people sitting around conversing, and a heated inside pool should you decide you are not an 'outside' person. There is also a small beach area with various water sports. There are multiple areas for eating both formal and casual. There are even facilities for getting some exercise, such as the workout center and playing golf …. although the latter isn't really exercise, but you COULD walk around the greens.

There are activities on the resort or it's a short ride into town for shopping. There are two problems with Cambridge. The marina is very far from the main hotel and it is a very long hot walk in the summer. You can ask the marina store to send a cart, but they were at least honest and told us that it probably will not happen as since both an underutilized employee and cart must be available. By the time you get to the main area for dinner you have walked a mile in 100 degrees. In addition, after two years, they still do not have a working pumpout at the marina.

Since it was 100 degrees, we spent most of our time mid-day in the pool. The yacht club got together several times for meals and had a great time. We did not go golfing but this would be the place to bring your clubs.

St. Michaels, Maryland

This quaint destination is a must for most boaters on the Chesapeake at some time or another. St Michaels provides various marinas all within walking distance of the various restaurants and shops. If you aren't in the mood to walk or ride your bike, they have made it pretty easy to get around with the air conditioned shuttle vans or the ferry boat. There are a multitude of quaint little shops for you to peruse as well as some good eating establishments right next to your marinas. Our marina had a small swimming pool and all the hotel facilities were literally about 20 steps from the boat. The only negative was that for some reason our Yacht Club decided this destination would only require one day. In retrospect, I would have opted for 2 days at St. Michaels and 1 day at Annapolis since I have been to Annapolis quite a bit by land.

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis has a lot to offer year-round to tourists. There are many restaurants and shops within walking distance of most of the marinas. Annapolis isn't necessarily quaint since it caters to both transient boaters as well as the land-based tourist industry especially with the academy in Annapolis. We stayed at the Annapolis Yacht Basin, which did not have a pool and since it was 100 degrees out, a lot of the boaters spent the afternoons in their boat. You do have a much wider selection of eating establishments and the area definitely has a lot of foot traffic even during the middle of the week, so it has that 'people-watching' perspective that some of the quaint destinations do not have. And, of course, there are more nightlife alternatives. We actually left this destination after one day as it was too hot to stay another day just sitting inside the boats. Theoretically, the other option is to sit in all the watering holes all afternoon but not really a great place for a 3-year old.

Baltimore, MD instead of Solomons Island

Solomons was supposed to be the last destination before going back up the Potomac. However, I had recently taken a new job in Baltimore and would be docking the boat at a marina 3 blocks from my workplace. So, we decided that we would not travel all the way down to Solomons since 1) we were already close to Baltimore, and 2) the weather was still going to be 100 degrees. My new marina, Baltimore Marine Center, had a nice pool area including the pool, Jacuzzi and children's pool as well as good restaurants both on the premises and within walking distance in every direction, so we decided we would be better off just going to Baltimore. Baltimore actually has a lot of activities for singles, couples and families even during the middle of the week. Between the tours and activities at the Inner Harbor, outdoor festivals or bands, eating and nightlife establishments, as well as children-oriented activities, you can keep pretty busy in Baltimore.

Posted by Kimberly on August 14, 2005 07:53 AM