More May on the Bay . . . .

The Chesapeake Bay has over 11,000 miles of shoreline & one could easily spend six months crusing & not see it all.  Our next planned destination was St. Michaels on the eastern side of the Bay.  So on Thursday, May 26th, we left the South River in our wake for a short 28 mile run to St. Michaels.

The Bay was exceptionally calm & the fish were jumping, so Dave decided to try his luck at catching dinner.  He had fun trolling, buy came up empty handed.

After passing the cruise ship docked at the Maritime Museum, we dropped the anchor in Fogg's Cove for the next two nights. 

We were anchored next to a beautiful resort, as you can see here over my shoulder.

St. Michaels is home to one of the largest Maritime Museums on the Bay.  We went ashore in the dingy & spent the entire day with fellow Loopers, Bob & Jeanne on Grayling, exploring the museum & the quaint little community.

 Dave was impressed with the massive bandsaw,

& the massive "rack" of this vintage mast head.

Many of the exhibits were interactive, as you can see Dave catching oysters with  traditional waterman's tool. 

From the museum we could see Phase II on the hook.

On Saturday, May 28th we weighed anchor at sunrise for a 35 mile run to Annapolis with Grayling.

Along the way we passed one of the many lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay,

as well as the many tugs & container ships.

Look closely in the distance to the far left & you can experience our first sighting of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

As we approached the mouth of the Severn River, we came upon a fleet of sailboats participating in a race to St. Michaels.  Thankfully, they were heading in the opposite direction ~ nothing worse than dodging sailboats under sail!! 

Home for the next couple days, Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland & a charming waterfront city with great restaurants & shops.

While in Annapolis, we toured the United States Naval Academy.  The campus was amazing, as was the behavior of the cadets.

After Annapolis we had planned to stop at several other towns in the northern part of the bay, but the weather forecast showed rain & higher winds so our plans changed.  As usual, the "weather guessers" were dead wrong & Memorial Day proved to be calm & dry & a perfect day for a long run.  Seeing the Bay Bridge from the water was a beautiful sight.

And passing under it was quite an experience.

On of my favorite things to do is to sit on the bow pulpit while we are cruising.  It's such an amazing ride!

It makes passing the cargo ships up-close & personal!

After 3 1/2 weeks & over 350 miles, we reached the top of the Chesapeake Bay & the entrance to the C&D Canal.  It was a fabulous month of new experiences in new towns, lessons in history, wonderful restaurants, beautiful scenery, loads of fun with fellow Loopers & priceless family time! May on the Bay was everything we had hoped it would be!