Kalyra at sunset

St Michaels is a little bit out of the way as you head south down the Chesapeake, but we decided to stop because it sounded really cool and Trip has a childhood friend living close by.  On our sail over we saw our first pelican, so we decided this was the sign that we really were heading south.  Unfortunately they’re a bit skittish so I don’t have any photos to share.

 

Anchoring seems to be a contact sport in the Chesapeake based on the reviews I read in Active Captain (yelp for boaters).  We came into St Michaels and looked at the anchorages that were described as good for 6 boats – we didn’t think so,  and we moved elsewhere.  Luckily there was another anchorage in a spot called Parrot Point with only one other boat and plenty of room.  (The owner of the other boat later told us that 10 boats had been in that exact anchorage just days before and I realized I’m much too spoiled from anchoring in Maine now, where 100 feet to another boat can feel much too close).

 

Screw pile light house

Since we were ‘downtown’ we opted to row the dinghy over to the marina to pick up diesel (recognizing that the coming days were bringing light or no winds so we’d be motoring).  Then we headed over to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  They have a huge piece of property with multiple buildings and all sorts of exhibits.  Everything from a boatbuilding school (where people can come and apprentice to learn older boat building techniques), to a salvaged screwpile light house (unique to the Chesapeake, the screw-in sitting pilings were supposed to be resistant to ice in the winter – only 3 of 45 remain so I’m guessing not so successful), to exhibits on the oyster industry and modern day boating.  They even have docks where they have historic boats.  My personal favorite is the skipjack, or bugeye, which was a beautiful sailboat with very little draft and huge sails used to harvest oysters while under sail (still boggles the mind).

 

Oyster boat at work

What saddened me most about the exhibits is the future of the Chesapeake.  We had already heard in Annapolis that the front part of town is steadily sinking.  The flooding that happened only 4 days a year now happens 40.   Oyster beds are being over fished.  Excessive farming is dumping pollution openly into the water.  Recreational boating, especially power boats are eroding shorelines.  Invasive species.  Over development of the shoreline.   I could go on….I’m just glad we’re getting a chance to visit while it still exists.

 

The museum was almost overwhelming so we took a break and wandered the streets of St Michaels – it’s a very cute place.  Because it’s the end of the season the stores are having clearance sales and I’m regularly reminding Trip how lucky he is that we can’t fit anything else on the boat, because if I were going home I probably would have packed a U Haul and towed it happily.

 

We met up later with the sister of one of Trip’s high school friends and her husband.  Karen and Bill retired to the Chesapeake after years in New Jersey and they kindly gave us the local tour.  We got to see both Easton with its thriving art community and Oxford, a throwback in time that looks like it’s still living out of the 1950’s.  Then they took us home for a home cooked meal of crabcakes (yum, can’t get much more local than that!), asparagus,  and wild rice.  Though the local ice cream shop had shut down for the season the week before, Karen had picked up a container of butter pecan which was so ridiculously rich and delicious I think I’m still digesting it!

 

 

 

 

Breakfast:  leftover shrimp & grits with poached eggs

Lunch:  burgers & shrimp at the Carpenter Street Saloon

Dinner:  crab cakes, asparagus & wild rice, butter pecan ice cream (thanks Karen!)