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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
