ST MICHAEL'S, MARYLAND -SEA NETTLES OR JELLYFISH

 We are trying to meander...you know take our time. After all the weather channel is into the Greek alphabet and I don't want to see any angry Greek god's wrath taken it out on Quicksilver.  So everyone said to check out St. Michael's, a nice little Maritime town.   First of all we left Annapolis Tuesday morning and as we were leaving the harbor I thought maybe we should of atleast read the news because maybe our president has wage war on us..there were no less than 15 military boats surrounding the harbor..then I remembered that we were at one of the largest Navy Academies. Whew, just maneuvers....now all we have to do is maneuver through them...Ughh...how close can we get to them??..do we have ask permission??  We made it just fine, of course,  and set anchor outside St Michael's harbor in the afternoon.  By the way, yes there was a lot of "telling time" for crab pots and enjoying the boiling water where the fish 🐟 are all rounded up by some bigger fish. 

Going around Bloody Point Bar Light towards St Michael's. We think is probably haunted. 

St Michael's is adorable and would be especially fun without the Covid restrictions or jellyfish (you would not believe all the Jellyfish/Sea Nettles, check out video below)...there are three or four restaurants and bars along the harbor (the Crab Claw & Foxys were a couple we visited)  you can imagine the fun of meeting new people there, but not this year. They were good in town where mask were required and many many shops to go in and out of if you wanted.  We visited an Italian store to see if we could get pepper cookies and were told that there is a National shortage.  So of course we called our friend Rob to get moving. Our favorite store was the Village Shop. They had a great deli,  groceries, vegetables, flowers and sold our favorite wine for about 3 dollars less than we paid in New York.  You must know already sailors like cheap and they love free.   Which reminds me, they have a pump out boat that is free....yeah free anchoring and free pump out!!  For those that don't know that is one way to get rid of our waste, other than carrying it around until you find a pump out station. . It usually costs between 5 and 10 dollars unless you buy fuel then it might be free. So the only one who is revered more than a pump out man on a boat, is a free pump out man on a boat. 

coming into the harbor from our anchorage at St Michael's 

Did I mention they have their own brewery and distillery 

Sea nettles or Jellyfish? best I could do of still picture at night, try blowing it up

video of the night of the Jellyfish

 Ok, I went off on a tangent,  try to keep up.  The absolutely best thing about St Michael's is the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. It has 13 or 14 buildings that were so well done that Jon and I spent about three hours exploring. They received a 5 million dollar grant to recreate the sailing  vessel, the Dove, which was a 84 foot 17th Century Trading ship that accompanied the first settlers to what is known now as Maryland in 1634.  Really impressive.   They have all kind of interactive boats and displays.   You can even take a virtual ride on the Dove that could get the best sailor seasick. 

besides "mugging" it up for the camera, we learned a lot about the oyster boat and crabbing boat history in Maryland..did you know most crabs come from Virginia....even the Maryland blue crabs...they are working hard to build it all back up again

The building of the Dove..

the light house that was moved to the museum, we were able to tour the inside and get a real feel for how it must have been to live there.   Sorry can't remember from where..you're turn to look it up

Jon brings up his first blue crab from museum 

We left St Michael's on Saturday morning under patchy fog, drizzle and a north wind of 5 to 10...mostly 5.  We came towards Solomon's Island and wondered why there were so many boats on our AIS...mostly sailing vessels, Jon did a quick Google check and we were heading right in the middle of a 75 boat sailing Regatta..from Annapolis to Solomon's Island. Oh geesh, I wonder if we will find an open anchorage...yeah they probably go to marinas because they don't want to carry an anchor...we found a spot at the end of Back Creek in front of someone's house..it was perfect, especially because it was 5:30 and we were tired. 

It is Sunday morning, still a little patchy fog, drizzle, 66 degrees and light wind.  We are motoring towards Deltaville, Virginia (about 50 miles)..we'll see how far we get. Until then, stay warm and dry everyone. And don't forget to leave your name if you make a comment so we know you reading this silly blog.