Solomon Island - pretty place

As we left Tangier Island, we encountered this ship in the fog. Looked military and we were passing through an area that had been used in the past for "practice".  There were several wrecks that were marked as hazards.

Buddy and I ran in the morning and found this pretty sight where fishing boats are launched.

Some of the homes on the way into Solomons were impressive.

Charming Victorian home.

Spring Cove Marina has a solar golf cart/car.

We cooked a meal with Ruth and Wayne and they cooked a steak for Jim. With a vegetarian wife, Jim doesn't often enjoy a steak off the grill. He loved it!

The Calvert Museum is incredible. There is so much information, you could spend an entire day.

The original Drum Point lighthouse is located at the Calvert Museum. The lighthouse was removed in the 60's and was in poor repair. Today it is beautiful. The Drum Point Lighthouse is one of three screw-pile foundation lighthouses on the Chesapeake. The foundation pilings were each screwed in manually.

The light remains in the lighthouse.

This stove was in the original lighthouse.

This is one of the screw pilings.

One of the bedrooms in the lighthouse. Early on, a man in the Lighthouse Reserve was allowed to raise his family in the lighthouse. Could not have been an easy life.

Jim especially enjoyed the complete display of outboard engines. He was showing me the engine his father used on his fishing boat.



No stop would be complete without some mechanical issue or question. Jim tackled changing the fuel filters and  had difficulty bleeding the lines (removing air in the lines). With Wayne's help, Jim was able to finish the job and start the port engine. Bad news is....he still needs to change the fuel filters on the starboard engine.

Off to Annapolis - a stop we have been looking forward to for a very long time.



Adrienne, our daughter would have enjoyed watching the otters play.

Elizabeth City, NC - Harbor of Hospitality! Yes it is!

I noticed when reviewing my previous blogs, that I had failed to publish this blog. Instead it had remained as a draft. So, it is out of order and I apologize. We stayed in Elizabeth City on May 13 just previous to entering the Great Dismal Swamp. If I were good at this technical "stuff", I would put it in the correct spot, but I am not!

Albermerle Sound is one of the largest bodies of water to cross on the Great Loop. It is separated from the Atlantic by the Outer Banks. Weather is a great concern on the day of the crossing as the Sound is shallow and wind can create nasty wave conditions.

Fortunately the forecast was for 10mph winds and the weather held as predicted. After we crossed the sound, we cruised up the Pasquotank River, home of a large Coast Guard Operation employing 1500 people. Planes and helicopters flew overhead and we saw a dirigible on shore.

Elizabeth City is known as the Harbor of Hospitality. The City sponsors a Wine and Cheese Party whenever there are at least 5 boats in the Harbor. About 10 boats came in today and we heard from the former mayor and a city resident of the details of the route up to Norfolk and the opportunities in Elizabeth City.

Two of the boats are French speaking. One boat is from Montreal and the other couple is in a Grand Banks 42 and are from Normandy. We enjoyed dinner with the two couples as High Spirits had cruised with the couple from Montreal previously in Canada and other places along the Loop.

Tangier Island, MD - way cool!

John Smith stopped by Tangier Island in 1608. Watermen still live on the Island, but being a crabber is a tough profession. Streets are narrow and there are few cars on the Island. Transportation is primarily by golf cart, walking or bicycle. A ride to the mainland is $40 per person. Most residents don't leave the Island very often.

Tangier Island is an island in the Chesapeake Bay. It is 1 mile by 3 miles and has 3 ridges of higher land...the rest is salt marsh. Years ago the population was 800, but as time passes, the population dwindles. The main occupation for 40 years has been as a waterman, harvesting crab and oysters and fishing.



The "buy boats" are beautiful and are used to pick up the crab or oysters.



Crab pots organized for he next run.

These sheds are watermen's "man caves". They work from the shall shed daily, but some have been known to have Lazyboy chairs and other "luxuries". 

The salt marshes are beautiful and cover the largest portion of the land.

The water table is high, so graves are partially above ground.

This was one of many cemeteries in the main part of town.

This woman's husband had died recently and now lies outside her kitchen door with vegetables newly planted around his grave. He would love the vegetables!

If you are a Park, Pruitt or Crockett, you are one of the few families on the Island. There are only a few more family names. Most can trace their ancestoral roots to the Island back 300 years. Their culture and manner of speaking is unique as their own version of English.  The language is like a southern cockney filled with idioms. When residents talk to tourists they slow down and talk English more similar to our speech. If you listen to the watermen talk, you have a hard time following the discussion. Phrases are typically reversals, such as when you missed an opportunity - they might say "looks like you came too soon". Family ties are extremely strong and religious values are paramount. Tangier is a dry Island, with no liquor of any type sold or served.

Cemeteries are everywhere and anywhere. Many people have tombstones in their frontyard. Residents are allowed to bury their family outside the kitchen door! As just said, one woman did exactly that and had her grandson bring in some potting soil and plant some vegetables around him..... while we were in Tangier.

The government built a new school......and medical center. The doctor who visited every Monday died of cancer and now Inez Park Pruitt is the Physicians Assistant caring for the residents. (She is Mr. Park's daughter. Mr. Park owns the Marina.) This morning at 6AM what we thought was the fire alarm, went off. It was the signal to all those who need to assist with evacuation come to the aid of a woman with chest pain. She was medivaced to a hospital on the mainland. Hope she was OK.

The Parks Marina is the only Marina, so we thought we would go there! Ruth called Parks Marina and Mr. Parks told her he would be glad to help us in, as long as it was after church. He arrived in his suit and tie to greet us and tie up our boats. Mr. Parks told us the temporary minister ( the minister died...seeing a pattern?) and the temporary minister could have done minor surgery in church on Sunday. Mr. Parks only fell asleep twice!

Mr. Parks asked that we come into the Marina after church. He met us in his suit and tie to help us into the Marina.



Mr. Parks cares for their 30 cats. 6 live in the house. He doesn't like them, but cares for them for his wife of 59 years.



Miss Anna Parks (named after Mr. Park's Mother), then Crawdad on the dock.

Not the lap of luxury, but clean enough!

I am a cat lover and I was thrilled to see a number of cats around the Parks' residence. We were told the Parks feed 30 cats. The cats were neutered 3 weeks ago. The Humane Society came and trapped all the cats on the Island. Now the cats sport a trimmed ear and the females exhibit a shaved belly. Good news in this cat over run environment.

The Island is dry. Mr. Parks told us he had never had a drink. Liquor isn't available on the island. Lots of other things are not available either and a ride on the ferry will set you back $40 per person. The only grocery store has very little available. If you like vegetables and fruit, you had better learn to live without. None in the store.

Not the best meal we have ever had at the Chesapeake.

Cute Victorian house that is a restaurant, bed and breakfast.

The local restaurant, The Chesapeake, was not good. Perhaps others were better, but after the poor meal, we mostly ate on the boat!

We rode our bikes and hiked on the Island and found the local people friendly, but we would have stopped at Tangier Island just to see Mr. Parks. He is quite a guy. Tangier Island is a slice of how life used to be....in the 30's or 40's.

Deltaville, VA - Doziers Regatta Marina, relaxing.

We left Yorktown and cruised by the Wolf Trap light on the way to Deltaville. Some time had passed since we last were on a large body of water, other than crossing Sounds and Bays. We are cruising the Chesapeake!

Imagine living at this light house. Not easy duty!

Menhaden fisherman were at work.

There were two large boats and two small boats. Menhaden are important for fish oil and fish meal used for livestock feed. Menhaden migrate and this is the time of year for harvesting on the Chesapeake.

Sometimes we just look at each other and ask....what?

We have seen many crab boats either setting or cleaning their traps.

Now, this is a lot of crab traps! Wonder where they will be delivered.

Doziers Regatta Marina is a great destination. We have found riding bicycles to be useful for our needs and exercise as well. We would not want to be without our bicycles. We rode our bikes to the Hardware and shops. Dozier's has two courtesy cars, so we didn't feel isolated. Besides, there are TWO West Marine stores withing 1 mile of each other. Yes...we visited both stores.

The weather needs to warm up to use the pool, but it is beautiful! Usually VA is hot by now, but we haven't had even one day of hot, humid weather.

Couldn't help myself. We just don't see such nice bathrooms on a routine basis. Makes one want to take a shower!

Jim was thrilled with the fountain. He can't wait to get home to his fountain and.......does it need more work?

Buick Roadmaster with 200,000 miles. Paint peeling, but it works just fine. Reminds us of Jim's partner, Harry's cars. He had two!

Loading up the cart makes our lives easier. Wayne and Ruth went grocery shopping with us.

A wedding in the afternoon!

Perfect day for a wedding. Love the black bridesmaids dresses!

Historic Markers are found in every state. This one was particularly interesting. John Smith named Stingray Point. When stuck on a shoal, John Smith was fishing (with his sword) and managed to stab a Stingray. The Stingray stabbed back, but John Smith survived and ate the Stingray. How interesting!

A few weeks ago a tornado ran through this Baptist Church. The sign in the forefront flew about 200 feet.

Our good friend Clive Van Orden visited us in Deltaville. Clive lives in Williamsburg and has ridden bicycles with us many times over the years on our trips with the Dutch Connection. Remember Pat and Ernie from Hilton Head?

Got to love fresh vegetables. Sweet peas, tomatoes, strawberries!

The Deltaville Maritime Museum was very interesting. Wooden boats is their specialty.

This "buy" boat was used to pick up oysters from the oyster men.

Jim and Wayne cannot help themselves. They were looking at the Detroit Diesel engine.

Down in the hold they found the original log construction. Five huge logs were secured together to form the base of the hull. Jim and Wayne's inspection proved the fact!

Another gorgeous sunset. The days are getting longer. Tomorrow we are off to Tangier Island.