One of our all time favorite things to experience in Charlevoix, our homeport, is Venetian Festival. It occurs during the peak of the summer and is a small hometown festival like none other.With the newly constructed marina, park and harbor this is a fabulous venue for all the fun activities the city of Charlevoix organizes every year. Every night of the festival there is a line up of some amazings bands. On Saturday there is a parade through town featuring…
Ain’t that the truth. We had a fun two weeks visiting with parents, siblings, sons and lovely Sarah, nieces and friends. We even met our new grand niece, Audrey.We savored the hugs and the time we had to share. Longing for our family and friends is the downside to the traveling that we do.We stopped in Sidney on our way to and back from Michigan to visit with Jim’s parents, Don and Diane and sister, Cindy and her husband, Steve.Our…
Our friend Mary emailed us to ask if "Date Night" was finally over.Sorry to keep everybody hanging with the Date Night post, but we left Solomon Island for a two week road trip back home (Michigan/Ohio) to see family and friends.Now that we are back we are starting to plan our next trip to explore more of the Chesapeake Bay area. Next Sunday or Monday, weather permitting, we will head out across the bay to St. Michaels and Oxford for…
It started in the late afternoon, with just needing to go to the public dock to get pumped out. While there we realized we were enjoying the opportunity to be untethered from the dock during an amazingly calm day and decided to go up Mill Creek where Jim had spotted a nice anchorage on the chart earlier in the week. Before we knew it we were anchored and settled in for a peaceful Friday night up the creek. It’s impromptu…
It’s a great feeling, when you are far away from home, family and long time friends, to gather together with a group of Loopers for some fun and good food. This opportunity arrived when Bob and Sharon, Catch Me If You Can, arrived this week and Larry and Sue (below-right), Sue Sea Q, came shortly after. Tonight we also met Looper's Jim and Sue, Palmetto Moon (below-left). Sharon & Bob (below-left), John & Jan (below-middle), Larry & Sue (below-right)
We needed to run to the Sam’s store in Annapolis and decided while there to visit the offices of the Waterway Guide to meet the staff and see what’s new. Then we went for a tour of the State Capitol Building.Surprise, surprise, look who we saw there. Just can't get away from these folks.Jim got to stand in the exact same spot that George Washington stood when he resigned his military post from the Continental Army.We finished up with lunch…
We feel fortunate in that we were able to spend the Fourth of July holiday with family and friends. Our Looper friends Bob and Sharon, Catch Me If You Can who is already docked here and Jim’s sister Denise and here husband Mark and son Gavin came to visit and celebrate with us the festivities being held at the Solomon’s Yachting Center. Starting with a BIG BBQ featuring pulled pork and beef brisket which was put on the grill in the…
We took three days on our return from the Capitol to Solomons. As we were passing Mount Vernon the 220-foot boat named White Cloud, which was docked with us in DC and now traveling a ways with us down the Potomac, pulls alongside of us on the glassy slack-tide water and slows to a crawl. We watched as the family entered their personal helicopter and took off from the landing pad on the deck of the yacht. It was fun…
Being from the Great Lakes one of the hardest things to become accustomed to while living in the Chesapeake Bay area are is the multitude of jellyfish present in the water. We are used to swimming, as soon as the water warms up a bit in the early summer, in the fresh waters which surround our homeport of Charlevoix, Michigan.As we travel by boat in this, new to us area, we are continually amazed that for all the varied coastline and waterfront…
As we’re retracing our steps so we can tour the Holocaust Museum we come across a road block. We looked up and down the side streets and we saw police blocking traffic at all the intersections. This can only mean one thing, the Presidential Motorcade is close at hand.We stopped on the curb just two blocks from the White House, and here comes the twenty-vehicle motorcade... motorcycles, ambulances, assault vehicles, a tricked out communications vehicle and of course two Presidential…
We’re up early and off the boat to catch the subway to the Capital Building where we have passes to visit the House and Senate Chambers. We got lucky in that all the Senate members were in attendance for an impeachment of a Texas Federal Judge. We heard it was only the 14th Federal impeachment in U.S. history and we were witnesses. So we saw all the usual suspects including Lieberman, Kerry and McCain who all spoke while we were in…
The Capitol Yacht Club was our home for three days and since we had such a long day we decided the Tuesday spaghetti dinner put on by the Yacht Club was just the ticket. No need to cook tonight. This is a Yacht Club that’s open to everyone. All the members we met in the boater's Lounge/Bar, our first night, introduced themselves and asked if they could help us in any way and gave us many useful tips on sight…
We’d been at dock so long we felt like kids at Christmas when it came time for our seven-day cruise up the historic Potomac River to Washington, DC, a 270 mile round trip. After cruising around Lookout Point, we spent our first night, after a short 40-mile day, anchored out in a cove off of Canoe Neck Creek. It was peaceful night surrounded by farm land, a dozen grazing deer and dramatic stormy skies. Up early for the final 80-mile run…
Well, we’re all caught up on boat maintenance and web updates and ready to enjoy summer and the Chesapeake Bay and it appears by the way our calendar is filling up it will be a busy time and busy is good.As we make this post to our blog it’s the first day of summer so let the fun begin. Because we’re not constantly traveling our summer will be a welcome change and it all begins with a week long trip…
Yesterday we wanted to leave the dock and head up the Potomac towards the Capitol to do some more sight seeing but the weather just did not want to cooperate. So instead of waiting until we got there by boat we hopped in the truck and made a quick road trip to Mt. Vernon. We thought that it would be more than appropriate to spend Father’s Day at the home of the father of our country, George Washington.Well, it turns…
Way back in January we asked our congressman for tickets to tour the Capitol Building and the White House. So we have been looking forward to a relatively short trip to Washington D.C. from our base in Solomons, MD.We drove part way to D.C. and took the Metro train the rest of the way in two different days as we could not get the White House tour on the same day as the other tours. The middle picture above (middle) is…
Just a quick overnight anchorage up the Patuxent. Calm, quiet and very relaxing.This week we met two boats from Michigan who were passing through the Solomons.
Photos (above) courtesy of Mary SarverJune brought us several opportunities to share some fun with friends as they passed through the Solomons area either by land or water.Andy and Mary Sarver, on Good News, Brad and Patti Salvage, on Salvage Crew and Bob and Deb Koerner, on Headquarters all stopped in the Solomons and we were all invited over to Salvage Crew for cocktails and Good News for dinner.We were surprised to be the recipients of the traveling wine gift…
Maintenance, that ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure came together all at once for Kismet, upon our Solomons arrival. First order of business was to change the engine oil and filter, fuel filters, engine zincs and thoroughly clean the engine room. Completed we headed to Washburn’s Boat Yard to have Kismet hauled out of the water where they immediately power washed the bottom of the boat the clean as much of the barnacles and slim from her…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
We arrived in Morehead City, North Carolina today for a much anticipated visit with our friends Louis and Diane Wade on Bella Luna (bottom-left). We have traveled with them on and off during our trip and some of our fondest Loop memories involve these two amazing people. They had graciously invited us to stop for a visit at their beach house in Morehead City, when we were traveling through, for some R & R off the boat and we knew that…
Helicopters, and other assorted aircraft, practice landings, bombs heard in the distance... it’s all a part of anchoring near Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. This is a popular spot for boaters to anchor as there are not a lot of options in this stretch between Carolina Beach and Morehead City.
Cruising this morning to an anchorage in Carolina Beach and saw this tug pulling a LONG load southbound on the ICW. It just kept going and going. At the end there must have been about a block long of dredging pipe dragging in the water. The things you see while traveling by water.
We remember traveling through this idyllic stretch in 2006 and today we just could not get enough of it. Lisa kept running outside to take photos of the mirror-like water reflecting the clouds and shoreline. Today, for the most part, was mostly uninhabited territory with dreamy fields and woods lining the ICW.Tonight we sat on the flybridge in our anchorage on Calabash Creek, off of Little River, watching the tide go up with our Kismet now almost hugging the state…
We always love to go to Farmer's Markets. and today Pam and I arranged to meet and spend the day at the market as we still had more catching up to do. I picked up a lot of good looking produce and found some cilantro to replenish batch I had that was looking kind of sad.
Lisa has not seen her friend Pam Baugh Trudeau for almost thirty years. That's a long time but when you live on different sides of the country, Pam lived in Washington State until a few years ago, time just kind of slips by. As always is the case with good friends, we seemed to pick up right where we left off after catching up on the general details of the years in between.Pam and her partner, Mike met us at…
We arrived mid-day to tie up at the Maritime Center which is within walking distance of downtown. We cleaned up the boat and went for a walk downtown. We like this marina because it is convenient walking to town, grocery store and the Farmer's Market on Saturdays.
The Low Country of the South is made up of marshlands and swamps along the ICW and for us it is most beautiful from Beaufort north. Bull Spit, Parrot Creek, Alligator Creek, Oyster House Creek and our favorite for an amazing anchorage is Tom Point Creek. Tom Point Creek meanders back off the ICW about 2 miles or so and is surrounded by marshland grasses and some trees for wind protection. From the vantage point of the anchorage you can…
We left Savannah, Ga., with 576 miles to travel before we make it to the Chesapeake Bay, our home for the summer. Next stop is Beaufort (pronounced Bewfort), South Carolina, a real gem of a small Southern town. There is also a Beaufort (pronounced Bowfort) in North Carolina and it’s wise to pronounce each correctly when you’re visiting. We had a nice walk through this one which is the second oldest town in South Carolina, founded in 1711, almost 300…
Just before we took Ross to the airport we made a final trip to downtown Savannah. We walked around a little more looking at houses and wondering what it would be like to live here. Came across this precious dog and I guess he gets a lot of unwanted attention.Just as we were becoming hungry, which seems like all the time lately, we came across this market which has a little of everything it seemed. Flowers, herbs, produce, nuts, james…
We rented a care this morning to explore some of the surrounding areas, revisit downtown Savannah and to take Ross to the airport later today.We thought Tybee island would be THE place to go but unless you just want to visit the beach it was pretty forgettable. But we did come across this little jewel of a spot on the way, Ralph Douglas Jones - Fish Art. This guy has quite the imagination and can make marine life out of…
Savannah, Georgia’s first city and one of the nation’s most unique cities, was founded by General James Oglethorpe in 1733. Savannah is also known as America's first planned city. Oglethorpe laid the city out in a series of grids that allowed for wide open streets intertwined with shady public squares and parks that served as town meeting places and centers of business. Savannah had 24 original squares; 21 are still in existence. This is what we find so appealing about…
