Day 35 - 36 - Annapolis, MD

It was a bit of a rough day along the Chesapeake especially crossing past the Potomac River. But, Capt Bob smartly tucked behind a larger boat for an hour or two until it settled down.

As you get closer to Annapolis, the Chesapeake narrows in...so, it was nearly perfectly flat for the last couple hours of the journey.

Entering into Annapolis by water is really impressive - you can see the important tall buildings of the town and naval academy and there are beautiful boats (mostly sailboats) everywhere you look.

We enjoyed two days of nice strolls around the downtown area. It is such a pretty place. We arrived on a Sunday and town was packed but Monday brought a little more space and a chance to explore.

We had a great spot at the Yacht Basin Marina (right next to the Annapolis Yacht Club). We were surrounded by impressive boats and daily duck visits - Cass was on full "duck alert".

On Monday, I talked Bob into the short walk over to the Naval Academy. The buildings have such intricate details and the grounds are so well kept. Above are pictures of the chapel courtyard (when the plebes return from their summer sail, they are upgraded to youngster when they can see the cross of the chapel from the harbor), foyer of the memorial hall, and some of the cadet housing.

Below are pictures of The Battle of Midway memorial, senior professor housing (not bad!), and the perfect hydrangas of USNA.

My favorite picture that I took in Annapolis was of the traditional working sailing boat of the Chesapeake - the skipjack or catboat of this area. It is just so pretty...even at the dock!!

Tomorrow, Chesapeake City, MD!

Day 34 - Reedville, VA

We headed out of Urbanna with every hope of reaching Solomons Island but the Chesapeake Bay was a mess again. So, after a couple hours of waves crashing over our nose *submarining* we decided to pull into the little town of Reedville.

In 1874, Elijah Reed sailed in here from Maine and decided to expand his mehaden fishing and processing business to the Chesapeake Bay with "Reedville" as its headquarters.
He founded the town (obviously) and set up various plants to utilize every bit of the plentiful menhaden fish in the area. Many of his plants were steam powered and he built a 350' tower (The Reedville Stack) to show all how well he was doing. Currently, they are fundraising to "save the stack" from its crumbling/leaning condition.

By the early 1900's this industry made many Captains very wealthy and it is claimed that Reedville was the wealthiest per capita area in the country. (Note the amazing magnolia tree at The Reed House)

There are still enormous fishing boats here and the lovely smell of fish processing fills the air when the wind is just so. But it is much quieter now.

Luckily, there are some very impressive old homes left along the Main Street and nearly every home in town has waterfront and a boat or two

Next stop, Annapolis, if the Bay settles down.

Day 32 - 33 - Urbanna, VA

Urbanna, VA is a good 15 miles up the Rappahannock River and very protected. We were ready to get into the protected harbor as it was a somewhat rough ride in the Chesapeake and the river with strong following seas.

The Rappahannock River is famous for great crab and oysters and the "port" of Urbanna has been prized since British times for its deep, safe conditions. With all that in mind we were pleasantly surprised with the beauty of this small town. It has gone through many phases - tobacco port, oyster and crab processing center, and now it is a summer resort with a healthy fishing/crabbing community.

What was also surprising is the very low crime rate; a trolley that will take you all over town for 25cents a ride (Cass is free); and (Cass's favorite) no leash law.

Urbanna-ites are very proud of their town. Rightly so, we say!

Some views of this town where there is no need to buy a bike lock.....really!

Now, some views of Cassie enjoying the no leash benefit.

And, my personal favorite....the trolley signs!

Day 29 - 31 - Historic Triangle - Yorktown

JEN'S SCHOLASTIC ROCK VERSION OF YORKTOWN - (if I could only sing!)

After battling the American rebels for close the 7 years, the British concluded that they needed to just concentrate on the Southern States and try to keep them. So, in mid 1781, British Gen/Lord Cornwallis moved his army into Virginia from N. Carolina to try to save the Southern states. He attempted to establish a naval base in the Yorktown area.

Soon after Cornwallis established his base in Yorktown, the French Navy arrived to help the American cause and blockaded the mouth of the Chesapeake so poor Cornwallis was cut-off from new supplies, etc. etc.

At the same time, Gen George Washington (old wooden teeth) began moving his army in from the New York area to Yorktown. And, General/Comte de Rochambeau moved his substantial troops from the Newport, RI area towards Yorktown. It took Washington and Rochambeau some time to get there but Cornwallis was already suffering from the inability to get supplies.

So, it all "hit the fan" on October 6 when the combined American/French force of 17,000 started fighting the Cornwallis's 8,300 men. After 9 days of endless battle, Cornwallis tried to escape but the French Navy was there to turn him back. A couple days later he surrended. TA DA!

We walked the battlefield area for a bit; stopped at the impressive statue of Victory; and I swear Cass was looking for a few stray British to give them a piece of her mind.

The waterfront area of Yorktown has some quaint shops; a museum; and a nice beach area. There is also a bronze statue of Cornwallis surrendering to Washington - he is not handing George a red frisbee - I promise.

That's all for the history tour....thanks or sticking with me.

Day 29 - 31 - Historic Triangle - Williamsburg

In Williamsburg, we visited the little, historic Williamburg town and the market area full of restaurants, etc. Bob and Cass were not too impressed and it was a really warm day so our visit was short. I managed a pleasantly quiet, early morning visit during my run the next day so we were all happy.

Yorktown is next.

Day 29-31 - Historic Triangle - Jamestown

So,our main reason for stopping at Hampton, VA was to rent a car and head into Virginia history. Ready!

The British history in America pretty-much began and ended in the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamburg.

Jamestown is the spot, in 1607, on which Capt John Smith landed with about 150 people and this was the start of British presence in the area. They were there to figure a way to make money for the crown in the new world. Capt Smith nearly died of illness a year later but, legend says, Pocahontas cured him and saved his life. The old fort/town area of Jamestown is an active excavation site so they are still putting the pieces together of the original settlers and the later well-established settlement of Jamestown. The area has a mix of the 1607 "town" and the later, larger town of pre-Revolutionary war days. It is a very small area so perfect for my short-attention span husband.

Towards the end of our visit to Jamestown we noticed a crazy little bird flaring its tailfeathers and doing this dance in front of Cassie. It kept doing it and doing it. It looked like it was trying to taunt Cass but I'm sure it just wanted to look big and scarey.

Next stop Williamsburg.

Day 28 and 31 - Hampton,VA

It was a bit overcast leaving Norfolk but we were ready to go on to the next adventure. The Norfolk area is just so full with military activity. We had the pleasure of some pretty big wakes from the go-fast Navy boats out playing in the river.

We saw what I'm sure is the catalyst behind transformers - they are used for refitting large ships. It just looks like something a kid would create.

About 15nm later, we pulled into the channel for Hampton Town Marina with a sky that looked like it was going to burst with water. Bad news is that it poured while we were trying to tie up...the good news is we didn't need to wash down the boat...yippee! The other good news is that we were able to use our raincoats for the first time during the journey....finally some decent rain for the area.

We stayed 1 night in Hampton, then off to the Historic Triangle of Jamestowne, Yorktown, and Williamsburg via rental car.

Hampton is a big boating community and has the Virginia Air Museum and a beautiful, antique carousel, some cute pubs, and a company in the fishing industry tha just happens to have a familiar name and was started on the same year Capt. Bob was born. It seems these fisherman are steaming crabs continuously...not sure why but it smells quite good.

The Chesapeake is definitely dominated by sailboats....the Chesapeake Bay is famous for its great sailing conditions and loads of nice towns to anchor/visit. Our little powerboat is definitely the exception.