We headed to Gibosn Island area as we planned: mid morning...
Since we didnt want to make the tear in the main, worse we relied on the motor...dear lawd is our litte Atomic 4 Diesal SLOW!!!!!!! haha. Felt like we were getting nowhere fast! We arrived in the Sillay Bay around 1436, and after reading the guidebooks, decided with the N winds, anchoring off of a little cliff of island, called Dobbins (henceforth Dobby's Island for us HP fans)would suit our purposes best. The island was loocated across from Gibson, with a little private island seperating them...the private island calle Little, is very tiny. Only contained one house...so...can someone please buy it? would be fun to come and crash!!!
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Little Island (and its house) from atop Dobby's |
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| Atop Dobby's Island |
09/13-16/2012 => Annapolis, MD (sailors :))
Off anchor and under way by 0900!! Annapolis is the boating capitol of the Atlantic Coast, so to say we were exicted is alittle underwhelming! Not to mention the return of our Salty dog!!!!! Mom and Dad Cinkewicz were to join us for the weekend in the city, so we wanted to get to a mooring plenty early! The city has a certain amount of moorings right next to the town center, and they are first come first serve, so grabbing a good one is key! The day was gorgeous and sunny; not too chilly and with strong winds! Because of the tear in the sail, we could only put up the jibb, but that was enough to help move us along! We passed under the Chesapeak Bay Bridges, both of riduculous long spans..so much that even my panaoramic camera feature couldnt get them in one shot!
We arrived at 1200, and were able to grab a pretty nice mooring spot...right across from the Naval Academy!! whoot who! Again, if you know me, then you know my love of Fleet Week in NYC and all things sailors (and marines too!)...and not for any other reason than the uniforms...haha! Again, there is no tender to and from moorings, and you either use your own dinghy (with tons of dinghy docks at every street end) or call the Water Taxi. So to save on money, we hauled out the dinghy, and rowed (while everyone else motored) ourselves down "Ego Alley". Ego Alley is located right in the heart of the town; a wide and deep canal, with open patio resturants on one side, and an open walkway/docking area on the other, ending in very crowded dinghy dock! Its called Ego Alley due to the fact that large, and I mean LARGE sailboat/powerboats go cruising down this canal, jsut to show off their "toy", turn around and head back out to moorings or docks...so for us to come along in our awesome dinghy, with Mike rowing was awesome! Got many looks (and come hecklers) but it was all in good fun :). We had decided to "treat" ourselves to a Thurs Happy Hour, as there seemed to be on end to all the bars and resturants! We ended up at this very Irish place, just off the main square..were Oyster Shooters were 1.00, mixed drinks 4.00, and martini's 5.00! (domestic taps 2.00) and select appet's only 5.00. We made friends with the bartender (Tom) and another couple next to us (they were oddly enough travelling too, except by motorhome). Drank a lot, ate some really great food, and were able to converse with other people! This made the beginning of our night a success!! So much so (damn you vodka) we went onto another bar...for even more food and drink (had the best "crab fries" ever...with real crab and cheese...eat your heart our Chickies and Pete's!)...we had a very interesting row back to say the least :) We continued on deck to drink and be merry, playing card games well past our now usual bedtime of 2200.
Friday, 0530: I am woken to a very strange sound...first the sound of a gun shot, followed by many, many very cheery men Who-Rahing...for a really loonnngggg time...dear lord, if you told me in college that I would 1-be getting up before dawn to go running 2-be super happy about it, I would have laughed in your face..but apparently this is the norm for US Naval Academy! Go Navy, you run at the butt crack of dawn...just dont be so jouval!! ha.
Mike wanted to get to this major sailing depot called Bacon's about 2 miles inland, so we called the taxi and embarked with our bikes and shower stuff! To say I was not feeling the bike ride, or even the excercise is an understatement! I think about 5 minutes into the ride, through the main and very adorable center of Annap, I was not a happy camper! Just didnt feel good at all~hello sinus attack! we made it to Bacon's...barely...I was almost run down about 3 times by cars...my balance goes way off the more stuffy I get, so ...Anyways, Bacon's was the answer to our sail tear prayers, as predicted! It would mean Mike sitting there taping and then sewing by hand the tear, but we will take it gladly over having to buy a new main sail:). We treaked it back to the town center, with a couple stops along the way to view the sights: State Capitol being one, and just the very "new england" meets Ireland feel of the town itself! Despite being a getting sick grump puss, I was falling in love with this little town! We took the bikes back to the boat, rested for bit, then rowed into prepare for our Salty, and went along some of main streets cute little shops. I stumbled upon a Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar place and just had to go in! All the EVOO and Balsamic's were in little steel casks, available for taskings! We settled on a Dark Chocolate Balsamic, which is soooooo freaking good!
Mom and Dad arrived around 1700...and as they pulled into the city parking, I could see my big, fluffy headed dog in the window!!! She jumped out of the window straight into my arms, with Mike right beside us! I have missed her so much, but pretty sure she will annoy me in the next couple of days, ha! Mom and Dad went to go get some dinner while we bonded along the walkway of Ego Alley...and noticed a very familiar boat docked there! Mark and Lou, and Chester, were in Annapolis too! (friends from Cape may/Delaware City). Chester and Salty bonded (mostly chester molested my poor dog) but was great to see them again! We met back up with Mom and Dad C, and got what is becoming the requirement among all cruisers at every port: Ice Cream! ha.
Saturday, again I was NOT feeling all that great, and after breakfast, opted out on the Naval Academy tour (you know I was not kidding about being ill) and chilled (passed out after taking sinus "happy" pills).
Mike came to get me for a cruise boat that was very dog friendly, so we were excited to take salty with us. She behaved really well throughout! The boat brought us around the point of the Naval Academy proper to the creek on the northern side of the city, with informational dialogue over the loud speaker. There was a bar on board, in which the captain recommended the bartenders own recipe of a mohito…so of course me, mike, and mom had to partake! Dad is a staunch vodka person and ordered a black Russian. The little tour only lasted a little more than an hour, but was enough (and I guess relaxing enough) for us to unwind…particularly Dad…
Prior to our cruise, mom had bought a surprise for
Salty!!! See below for what it is! We decided, upon the recommendation of a
Denny’s waitress to the C’s, to try a couple places for dinner well outside the
city limits (don’t ask why we would leave a city known for food and
seafood). After a bit of a to-do, we
ended up at this creek side place, known for their crabs. Mike and Mom partook of the fest, while I had
a really good salmon burger! This will
be Mike’s 2nd week in a row of Cheaspeak Crab feast! I think he is getting spoiled!!
Sunday morning was again bright, and perfect weather! Mike and I had a number of things to accomplish
this day, and while we wanted to be back on the water travelling, decided to
not stress ourselves (and Mom and dad) out and just leave on Monday
morning. We rowed back in, scouted a dog
friendly place for breakfast and chilled along Ego Alley waiting for Mom/Dad to
arrive; Salty showed off her new present
from “grandma” as well; like mother like daughter, as they say:
We found a little crepe place called Sophies, right off the
waterfront…soooooooo freaking good!!! Salty behaved wonderfully throughout the
meal too! Next up on our agenda was some
grocery shopping, then loading the stuff we requested from Mom/Dad (most def
not a little list at all!: (2) deep
cycle batteries for the house part of the boat, (gooooogle) Water crates, Paper
towels, Scary chemical Bug Spray (black flies suck), AA/AAA batteries, Salty’s
bike carrier, salty’s toys, crab traps…) We loaded this all on (still via the dinghy in multi trips)
while Mom was able to peruse the shops up and down main street some more!
(salty was hoping for more presents). we were finished around 1:30, we were a
little hungry…so where else to go back to but the crepe place, this time for
the “sweet” ones! I obstained, but
Mom/Dad both got PB and chocolate chip, while mike rocked this (for the philly
peeps its Italian wit evryting sweet) ham, cappicola, provolone, peppers,
onion, seasoning…I think I really love this town…seriously.
Part of this trip was to discover other cities: mainly a place where Mike’s superclose
suburban upbringing can mesh with my notreallycountry,butstillclosetoamajorcity
locale. I think Annapolis has it. Its only 20 miles from Baltimore (a good
commute if you don’t live in the NYC metro area, otherwise that’s about 2 hours)
where the Arch industry is fairing better than in Annap, keeps up with my idea
of buying a house, and it having a yard bigger than a postage stamp, town still
has that small town feel without the horrendous traffic,, AND we are on the
best place on the Atlantic coast to sail or fihs/crab…yup, I think we are in
love!...and we found a Target!!! But alas, my affair with NYC is still calling me back as of now:) We said
our goodbye’s to Mom and Dad around 3pm, wishing them a safe ride home, and soo
grateful they could join us (and bring the salty!) in Annapolis!!!
In case you are wondering, the C’s also have our George; trust
me that he is extremely happy there! No
crazy dog jumping on him to make him actually move, and constant food as there
is no mean mom saying “no George, you already had enough to make Salty full!”. I am sure he misses mike though…and I find
myself missing his “fluffy” arse!
The 16th of September is always a hard day for
me, it was nice to be able to take my mind off of some not great thoughts, and
concentrate on more mundane things; but alas, I would be remise (and a horrible
daughter) to not take the time to give thanks for the woman who is one of my
inspirations. September 16 will always
cause me to be a little sad, but I will endeavor to not regret what little time
I had, and instead be extremely grateful for my 19 yrs and 8 days; Mom, I love you and miss you…and dear LORD, I
don’t want to know how much you would be yelling/calling/making sure Mike and I
wore our lifevests 24/7…not to mention the possible death threats you would be
giving Mike if he didn’t bring me home safely!
And probably calling Mom C to see if she heard from us about every 2
hours! “I would give everything I own”
to have her be that annoying again. Its
been 10 years, but I can still hear her calling me “Wha-Ka-Chease”, and no that
is is English, its “Cherie”, the birthplace of the language known as
“Patrice-ian”, its where words pronounced oddly came from…like ruin becoming
rah-on and (as my NYC office likes to poke fun at) radiator pronounced
raad-ee-ah-tor…
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