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A Step Back in Time… St. Mary’s City

Today we decided to take a road trip to see some of the countryside while heading toward historic St. Mary’s City, which is the site of Maryland’s first capital. English settlers established the colony in 1634, not long after the founding of Jamestown and Plymouth. The small city flourished until the capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695. Today, the city is a National Historic Landmark and is recognized as one of America’s best-preserved archaeological sites.The original city no longer…

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Calvert Marine Museum

Last excursion of the day was the Calvert Marine Museum. The Chesapeake Bay is fed by hundreds of rivers and creeks which flow into salty, tidal currents to form this brakish body of water. More than 2,500 species of animals and plants are supported in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. From the prehistoric past to the present and ever changing Chesapeake Bay this small local museum was fun and well worth the time.We learned a lot about crabs and…

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Annmarie Garden – Sculpture Park

The last full day with Skyler and Sarah started with a walk through the Annmarie Garden, Sculpture Park which is located just a few miles from our marina. It was a very relaxing walk through the woods while discovering obvious and hidden sculpture. It gave us a chance to experience the local flora and fauna... Delightful, even though all of our allergy triggers were tripping full force as we inhaled spring’s fragrant and woodsy, flowering plants.

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Passing Inspection

Just after we set the anchor and got settled to watch the Blue angels, we saw the brightly colored Coast Guard boat approaching, quickly, along Kismet’s portside. There were a lot of boats in the Patuxent River today to watch the air show and this situation is always a good occasion for the Coast Guard to do a lot of boat inspections. For us this is a great opportunity to meet some of the young men who protect the waters of…

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Crazy About the Blue Angels

While formulating the plan to meet Sarah we found out that the Blue Angels would be the featured event during a Aviation Show, Saturday and Sunday, at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. We love the Blue Angels and told Skyler that we had a surprise for them when they got here.Well, little did we know that, Sarah is a Blue Angel junkie. She just cannot get enough of them. She has watched them at many venues in Michigan and…

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Meeting Sarah

A month or two ago our son Skyler Nelles informed us that he had a girlfriend he wanted us to meet. We suggested Skype since we did not have any plans to return home in the immediate future. But Skyler said that he really wanted us to meet her in person.We were excited to meet someone that Skyler thought of as special and we devised a plan for them to drive our truck out to meet us over Memorial weekend,…

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We Have Arrived… Solomons, Maryland

On tuesday we arrived at our 2009 summer homeport in Solomons, Maryland, a little later than planned due to continuing windy weather but it was only a one day delay.We pulled into the Solomons Yachting Center and were welcomed to our slip, B5, by Quentin the harbormaster. Not many people around here yet but we can imagine that this place is really hopping after Memorial Day.There are so many marinas and boats here, predominantly fishing boats and sailboats. We are…

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Mother’s Day in Deltaville, Virginia

We love stopping at Dozier’s Regatta Point Marina. This marina is well thought out and definitely has the boater in mind. The homey surroundings will make the transient boater feel relaxed with a large, open, porch bedecked with many white rocking chairs and a warm, cozy boater’s lounge. If you happen to run into Jack and Craig Dozier you will always be greeted with big smiles and a warm welcome.We were fortunate to spend Mother’s Day here with a mother duck…

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Day Two on the Lush and Peaceful Dismal Swamp

After a peaceful night tied up to the dock at the Visitor’s Center, along with Queen Ann’s Revenge, we depart at a reasonably slow pace this morning. We almost hated to leave since we were able to enjoy a very mellow night with just the sounds of the swamp to amuse us.We helped Hank and Ann untie and leave the dock, we were not too far behind them. When traveling through the Dismal Swamp you want to make sure that…

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Day One in the Hot and Steamy Dismal Swamp, NC

We left Elizabeth City this morning to go through the Elizabeth City Bridge and on to the Dismal Swamp State Park. There are locks at either side of the swamp with about an eight-foot elevation.Early mapmakers described the swamp as a dismal and forbidding place. Our experience is quite the opposite, however if it were dark, cloudy and raining I could see howit might live up to that name.The first reference to the Dismal Swamp appeared on a map in…

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The Rose Buddies – Elizabeth City, NC – Welcome Kismet Back

Elizabeth City......here’s a city that knows the definition of hospitality, they even state it in a full size waterside billboard that welcomes boaters to their town along with welcome flags lining the dock and they’ve been doing it this way for over 25 years.On days when enough new boaters come into port a city representative (some times the Mayor) sponsor a short wine and cheese get together and all the women get roses. During this welcome party they provide up-to-date…

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Dowry Creek Marina – Bellhaven, North Carolina

We were here three years ago with our son Skyler Nelles, who joined us for a week after his graduation. We only stayed one night but we knew that we wanted to come back again. This time we borrowed the loaner car to drive into town for a few food items and a quick tour of Bellhaven. Last time we got in late and didn’t have much time to explore.Shortly after we tied up we heard that there was a…

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Oriental Yacht Club – Oriental North Carolina

First time to Oriental, NC for us. We arrived today in very windy conditions and were relieved to have crossed the open spance of the Neuse River to get tied up before it got even worse. This is a cute little town, a favorite of the sailboat community.Our friends Wade and Susie Ehlen, on Miss Happ, drove over from their home in New Bern for a dinner out and a nice long visit. Our last time through this area by…

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A Little Taste of Southern Comfort

“Please, we just want y’all to RELAX!” This was the refrain we heard from the moment we set foot in the Wade’s beautiful beach house which faces north, northwest on the ICW in Morehead City, North Carolina. As you can see, Jim and Charlie really took their instructions to heart.No sooner had we left the boat at Coral Bay Marina, we were off to eat (a favorite pastime of Loopers it seems). The Wade’s decided that we needed to go to…

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