Ahoy there!

We know that we've been very lax in e-mails during August but we have had guests for over three weeks and are still recovering! We've obviously embraced the relaxed cruising lifestyle more than we thought as we found moving every day exhausting! The first morning after everyone had left we didn't wake up until 10 a.m.

 

Our first guests were Andrew's sister Carole and her two daughters Rachael and Lucy who stayed with us for a week and then friends Carol, Roger and their two sons Pete & Jamie for two weeks. We did similar itineraries for everyone although we went a bit further south to Solomons Island with Carol & Roger. Towards the end of the first week with Carole we had another severe heat warning so their last couple of days were very hot. Carol & Roger arrived in this but happily a cooler front from Canada came in so we lost some of the humidity.

 

Our rendez-vous point for everyone was Baltimore which is a great city. They've spent a lot of money on the Inner Harbour which is a really fun area.  They have live entertainment, lots of eateries as well as the aquarium and some old sailing boats. The marina we chose was a short walk to the water taxi stop where you could get an all day pass for $8. On our return trip Roger got tickets for us all to see a baseball game at Camden Yards to see the Baltimore Orieles playing the Los Angeles Angels. Neither of us had a clue about the rules of baseball but quickly realised that the game was only part of the reason that people were there. Surrounding the seat areas was a wide boulevard with fast food outlets and seats where people would eat, drink and chat. Very few people sat through the whole game, they wandered off to see friends or have something to eat. At intervals you would get a blast of music which was the cue for audience participation - for example you would hear thundering horse hooves and everyone would shout 'Charge! The Orieles mascot spent the whole time inciting the crowd to more noise. It was great fun and very family orientated.

 

The month before guests arrived we'd been exploring to find some nice towns. One was Rock Hall which is small but has an old main street and The Watermans Crab House. The Chesapeake Bay is famed for its crabs and seafood restaurants are everywhere. We visited by ourselves first and Sharon amused the waitress greatly by choosing from the kids menu.Being a vegetarian causes more than a few problems in the U.S. When Rachael visited she decided to have crab - 10 half crabs helped out by Andrew & Carole. Crab take forever to eat and Lucy and Sharon thought they would be there for the afternoon! As this was lunchtime we then went to the ice cream parlour where there is an original 1930's soda fountain, all chrome & glass. The water at the anchorage is fairly jellyfish free so we were able to cool off   in the creek.

 

Our third visit was for an evening meal at the crab house. Everyone but Jamie & Sharon decided to indulge in a ' crabfest '. The table was covered with sheets of brown paper and then 18 steamed crabs were heaped in the middle - another long and very messy but happy meal followed!

 

St. Michaels is a slightly larger town and one of Sharon 's favourite anchorages, probably something to do with the proximity of a sunflower field! The day we arrived with Carole and the girls we had a fairly wet day and we put the bimini up when we got there. Andrew & Rachael made chocolate brownies and we played a very long quiz game. St. Michaels has a really good maritime museum with a screwpile lighthouse, old oyster boat you can climb about in as well as a boat restoration shed. We'd seen it once but went round again with Carole but couldn't face a third visit in so many weeks so left the Fletchers to themselves while Andrew serviced the generator – he knows how to have a good   time ! On Thursday evenings in the summer they have free concerts in the park which we went to. St. Michaels has a Christmas shop which we think is a chain as we've seen several of them but never been in one until now. It's amazing. They have dozens of trees all decorated with themes. There are the normal trees - angels, snowflakes & Victorian and then the others. Trees with nothing else but dogs, cats, flamingos, fishing, nautical items and even one with only red & purple hats and shoes. You have to see them to believe! The other shop we like is Flamingo Flats which has more sauces, seasonings and tabascos than you could possibly imagine.

 

We were very impressed with the steering skills of Rachael, Lucy, Pete & Jamie - all who could steer a straight course within 20 minutes of being on the wheel. All our guests settled really well into the boating lifestyle becoming particularly adept at Margarita & Pina Colada drinking! It's been less than a week since they've left and we're hoping that more of you will visit soon.

 

We had originally planned to stay just a couple of days in Baltimore after everyone had left and then cross the bay to Sassafras River to spend Sharon's birthday swimming in a quiet creek. However the weather forecast wasn't too good and we were still too tired to move! When we went to the marina to extend by another  couple of days it was only an extra $40 to stay a  week so that's what we did and planned a short trip to Washington - more of that later.

 

Hurricane Katrina has caused complete devastation in New Orleans as well as causing a rapid increase of fuel prices. Although the hurricane was the other side of the Appalachian mountains we still had some effects with strong winds last night and a tornado watch across Washington and the bay. Also it has brought in hot, humid air giving us a heat index today of 100 degrees. Tomorrow (Thursday) should be calmer and cooler as we leave Baltimore .

 

Thank you all for your e-mails, we should be able to reply a bit quicker now!

Warm regards

Sharon & Andrew 

P.S Anyone wants cheering up got to www.mycathatesyou.com