With it looking like the wind wasn’t going to quit for the next several days, we decided to take our time getting back to the Chesapeake. So we stayed another day, Tuesday, at Belmont Bay. Don has been looking for the time to do an oil change on the boat and there were few stores in town I wanted to go to, so it worked out. One store brought a taste of home 😊.

Literally a taste, as they have my favorite fruit tarts! 😋

When I got back I took the fluff for a walk through the nature preserve and did laundry. While waiting for that I also ordered our wedding invitations 😄. The only hiccup with them is not knowing the exact delivery date, or where we will be when to have them sent to…. Luckily I have the awesomest maid of honor ever, who graciously said I could have them shipped to her and she would send them out for us.

All in all it was a fairly productive day. Wednesday we moved down to Colonial Beach. It was definitely a little windy and the water was pretty choppy in some sections, but we made it to the Boathouse Marina.

We docked on a t-head right behind another Looper, ‘Love on the Locks’. They have just started their Loop. We had docktails with them that evening and shared what we have learned so far.

The marina also has a resident cat that was super friendly and all about getting love. She hung out in the lounge waiting for people to come in and offer scratches. I was very happy to oblige and get a kitty fix.

It was a pretty rocky night with the wind, and Thursday morning it looked like it was going to continue. I took Skia for a walk, we went along the river side of the peninsula and the waves were kicking!  It is a very small beach side town and the marina has a golf cart you can take around town. When the fluff and I got back, Don and I took it to the Post Office so I could send stamps to Joy for the wedding invitations, and while out and about we stopped at Food Lion for a few extra things.

Later we took the cart again to The Huasteca Mexican Restaurant for dinner, which was pretty good. On the way back we took the scenic route along the river, which was still ripping. We checked on the weather and it didn’t look like tomorrow would be a pleasant travel day either. So we decided to stay here one more day.

Overnight was a little calmer wind wise and we got a better night’s sleep. Friday morning we both went for a walk with Skia. The river looked better than yesterday but still not great and we were glad not to be out there. When we got back a different boat was parked in front of us, ‘Changin’ Latitudes’

The marina asked if we would slide around the dock and into an actual slip to make room for a sailboat that was coming in this evening. They helped us reposition, then we had docktails with the new boat.

Saturday finally looked like it would be a decent weather day to travel. We woke up to heavy fog but the waves looked calm. So we headed out with limited visibility, but enough to see the ever present crab pots.

We stopped at Cole’s Point Marina to fuel up and headed back out into the Chesapeake. The fog started to lift as we left the marina and by the time we reached the mouth of the river we could see the land on either side again.

The Bay was a little choppy, but certainly not the worst we’ve been in and it was perfectly tolerable. We came to Solomon’s Island, which was nice and protected from wind. I took the fluff for a walk to stretch both our legs and we just had a chill evening.

Once again the wind is supposed to blow so we decided to stay here for two nights. Monday’s weather looks decent again and we want to make the run up to Annapolis. ‘Faith’ is on a mooring ball there and said it was a great spot. Having had a bad experience in Chicago on a mooring ball I am sceptical, but Linda assures me that it is very nice, and calm. They have a dog too and she said there were tons of dinghy docks to run to shore.

Sunday we prepped for being on the hook for at least four days, which means doing laundry and filling water. Also that evening would be a hair washing shower using the marina facilities. With only a 40 gallon fresh water tank I try to avoid washing my hair on the boat.

While waiting for the laundry I walked just down the road to Grandmother’s Store, a little antique shop. I found some throwback cookbooks from the early 90’s that give all the nostalgia vibes. One was written by sailors of recipes for cooking on a boat. I look forward to trying some of them out.

When the laundry was done we took the dinghy across the way to go to the Calvert Marine Museum. They have a dinghy dock you can usually tie up to. This time though there was a mini sailboat race going on and the dock was blocked. We were meeting up with ‘Rose Cottage’ who was docked at the marina on that side, so we tied our dinghy to the dock by their boat and then just walked to the museum.

We have been to a bunch of maritime museums on this trip but this one was particularly impressive. Along with having a bunch of cool boating artifacts and information, they also have a lighthouse, several aquarium exhibits, including an otter habitat, and fossil display.

From there we went to the Bugeye Grill for dinner. It was such a nice spot along the water and I had a very delicious Maryland crab cake sandwich. It was a little different than others I’ve had, with larger chunks of “meat” and less filler.

This morning we got ready to leave for Annapolis. Skia had done something to her leg last night and this morning she was limping and not wanting to put weight on her one back leg. Poor fluff 😟.

We headed out of the harbor and back out into the Chesapeake. As we got further out it started getting choppier. It was definitely a little bigger than when we came in on Saturday but still tolerable. ‘Faith’ was keeping an eye on the mooring balls for us, and as we got further North the water calmed down a bit.

We came into Spa Creek, right past the Naval Academy, and found the mooring field. We hooked up to a ball right behind ‘Faith’ and then took the dogs to the park in the dinghy’s. They have been here a few days already and showed us all the docks we can use to get ashore.

Skia was still hesitant to put weight on her one leg but as she walked a little bit it seemed to be better. Don manipulated her paw and leg and it didn’t seem to cause her any discomfort. So we’re thinking she wacked her leg jumping onto the dock or pulled something and it’s sore today. We will watch her over the next day and see how she is.

‘Faith’ had made dinner plans with another Looper boat, ‘Maia’, who was also tied up here, and invited us to join them. ‘Razors Edge’ and ‘Odyssey’ also arrived and tied up here and were invited as well. Though we haven’t formally met ‘Odyssey’ we have seen them when traveling in the rivers.

So we set a plan for 5:15 to meet in the dinghy’s. Then our little parade puttered to the main town dinghy dock. Linda had made reservations for us at Mangia-Italian Grill. They had fresh baked bread with garlic olive oil, and lasagna that was delicious!

The sun was starting to set on our way back to the boats and the reflection off the water was so pretty.

Dan and Deb from ‘Razors Edge’ had made reservations to do a walking tour of the Naval Academy tomorrow, and we decided to join them. It will be fun to explore the city over the next few days.