Baltimore, MD

Sunday, September 22 - Maureen loaned us her car to go to Home Depot and Walmart for groceries in the morning. We left at 2:00 p.m for Baltimore. It was a partially cloudy day, half the sky was clear and half was grey. The wind was blowing around 8 knots and we were able to pull the sails out for a little while once we were in the Bay but it didn’t last long and by 4:00 we had pulled both back in. We went past the Francis Scott Key bridge at 4:20 and saw the large gap where the ship crashed into it. We anchored south of the bridge at 5:00 p.m. next to the Maryland Yacht Club.

Monday, September 23 - The morning was cloudy and cool - a sign that fall is here!! I’m excited and hopeful to see fall foliage for the first time in over 30 years! We pulled anchor around 10 a.m. and motored under what would have been the Francis Scott Key bridge then up the Patapsco River in the Fort McHenry Channel. We arrived at Anchorage Marina, our home for the next 8 days, shortly after that. As we circled around the outside of the marina we spotted Unteathered, Adrienne and Paul’s boat, who we met coming up the east coast. Their boat was closed and we weren’t sure if they would be around. Once tied up to our dock we checked out the marina amenities and picked up packages we had delivered there. For dinner we ventured toward the area called Fells Point, though with hindsight we went the wrong direction, when we saw a Caribbean restaurant that looked interesting, Judy’s Island Grill. The food was good but service was adequate given we were the only customers. It did a lot of takeout business while we were there.

Tuesday, September 24 - We spent the day getting ready for the upcoming week - moving all the “garage” items off the bed for Deb’s visit, doing laundry, filling the water tanks, etc. Kevin saw Paul from Unteathered on the dock and we got together with them after dinner in the captain’s lounge. It started raining late that afternoon as Hurricane Helene was coming up the west side of Florida.

Wednesday , September 25 - Kevin left at 4:45 a.m. for his annual golf trip with the boys in Branson, MO. Debra arrived to hang out with me at 6:00 p.m. During the day I cleaned the forward cabin while all the “garage” items were off the bed and to get ready for Deb’s arrival. It was a very rainy day but fortunately when Kevin left in the early morning and Debra arrived in the evening the rain was light.

Thursday, September 26 - Debra and I spent the day touring Fort McHenry, the inspiration that prompted Francis Key Scott to write the Star Spangled Banner. Story is he went to the British ships to plea a case to release an American hostage and was trapped there while the British bombarded the fort during the War of 1812. In the morning through the fog he saw that the American flag had been raised, indicating victory. We slept in and waited for the rain to stop. We walked a half mile to the water taxi launch site, took the water taxi across the river, then walked about 2 miles to the fort. We started with watching a movie about the history of the fort and walked through the museum. Then we went outside to tour the Fort. It is well preserved/restored and gives one a sense of what it looked like it the 1800’s. Afterward we stopped at a tavern we spotted on our way in and had a late lunch. Lots of walking and a tiring day! Fortunately the rain held out during the day. We finished the day having appetizers for dinner and began watching “The Perfect Couple” on Netflix starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiner.

Friday, September 27 - Deb and I spent the day touring the Baltimore museum of Art, taking a Lyft this time! It has a lot of Henri Matisse art and displays his numerous styles of work throughout his career. It also has a few Renoir and Monet pieces, 2 of my favorite artists.. That night we continued watching “The Perfect Couple” and guessing who the murderer was.

Saturday, September 28 - Shopping Day! The rain took a break and the sun came out for one day. We walked to an outdoor shopping center looking for long length shorts for me, which were hard to find as it was past the season. We finally scored at JCrew with a 70% off sale! Proof you should never pay full price. That night we went to Mama’s on the Half Shell for dinner, recommended by one of Kevin’s golf buddies. Meh. (Sorry Brian.) We got calamari for an app and it came with ranch dressing (come again? Ranch?). I got rockfish with crab stuffing that was good and green beans that were cooked to a perfect texture but overloaded with butter and garlic. Deb got a hot lobster roll and fries and enjoyed it. Once again service was bad, server brought our drinks and appetizer, then took our dinner order and we never saw her again. By the time we paid our bill both my cocktail glass and water glass had been empty for most of the meal. We finished the night watching the last episodes of The Perfect Couple and Deb guessed the killer correctly! The rain came back that night and fortunately I closed the hatches before we went to sleep.

Sunday, September 29 - It was a drizzly, rainy day. I did laundry, cleaning all the wet towels from the rain, and Deb helped me defrost the freezer and do large item grocery shopping. In the evening we called Jan (she was invited to come but had other obligations) and we watched the George Clooney and Brad Pitt movie “Wolfs”. It was ok, a bit of an “Ocean 11” spinoff in terms of the back and forth quips between the two of them.

Monday, September 30 - Debra caught a Lyft at 7:15 a.m. to go to the airport just as the rain lightened up and Kevin returned from Branson, MO at 6:25 p.m. I spent the day dodging the rain and doing errands; last minute run to Safeway; liquor store; laundry of bedsheets; running 3.25 miles, filling water tanks, indoor cleaning while bottom job was being done, etc.もっと詳しく