Saturday - Great anchorage last night. Hung out for part of the morning. Have a problem with the generator overheating. Called a couple of marinas and decided on Tall Timbers. Headed out about 10:30 this morning.
Watched an airplane do aerobatics over St. Mary's River. Also saw this fishing boat, must have 9 or 10 poles hanging off all sides, but only saw 2 people on board.
Didn't know what to expect going into the marina. It looked pretty run down.
But the rates were good and the owner, Rick, was the nicest guy. Plus there was a restaurant/bar on site that was open weekends.
When we talked to Rick, he advised us to watch out for the sailboat regatta in the cove. As we came around the channel buoy, we saw probably 25 small sailboats.
This was so cool. We got tied up and headed into the restaurant to check it out. Come to find out these were high school kids in team races. Winners today would progress to races tomorrow at St. Mary's College where we had anchored last night. The winners there would go on to a state competition.
Break time. All the boats came in and the kids were either in the restaurant getting food or hanging out on shore eating and drinking sports drinks. This apparently is a lot of work. These kids made it look fun and easy.
Jerry called MaryJo to let her know we were at Tall Timbers. They were loaning us their pickup for the weekend. She came to the marina to get us. Fortunately she told Jerry what kind of car she was driving since they hadn't seen each other in probably 30 years. We went to their place and visited for a few hours. What gracious people. And such a beautiful place to live for so many years, right on the Potomac
I mentioned how much I liked a photograph on their wall of one of the lighthouses we had passed. Pat directed me to the shells prominently displayed on the mantel. They were shells he had collected along Calvert Cliffs over the years. He had them dated at the Smithsonian to the Miocene age.
He had me pick one from some they had in a basket. We were thrilled to have it. Pat is showing me some of the research he had done on these shells, shark teeth and other fossils. It was fascinating to listen to his discoveries.
We bid our good byes and took the truck. Jerry wanted to go by some places he remembered while he was at Patuxent Naval Air Station. He couldn't find the airport where he had taken lessons (found out later it was long gone and the house had burned). We went back to St. Mary's College. Saw the place where his father-in-law had his garage, it's something else now. Pointed out bars he used to frequent.
Sunday, we had brunch at the marina restaurant. After brunch, Jerry got into the engine room to try and figure out what was wrong with the generator. He had replaced the impeller a few days ago, and found blades from the old impeller blocking the flow to the heat exchanger. Once those were out, it ran like a champ.
Next on the list was reinstalling the holding tank for the forward head. He needed some parts so we went to Walmart. Got parts and some groceries. On the way back we stopped at a roadside stand to get some homegrown strawberries. Got some for MaryJo and us. Oh, they were good. Red all the way through and so sweet.
The sailboaters were back again today. We heard this was a consolation race for the kids that didn't make the cut to go to St. Mary's to race. Still cool to watch.
Later in the afternoon, we took the dinghy out, motor and all. This motor has been riding on the bow of the boat for months and hasn't been used for at least 2 months, maybe longer. Four pulls and it started right up. We motored across the cove and Jerry had me motor back. Another great day!
Monday - so Jerry is sitting on the sundeck today just taking in the morning. He notices an Osprey flying towards the boat with a stick in its talons.
The Osprey flew over the top of Wind Song.
Jerry then sees and hears the stick fall to the deck. He decides to see what's going on.
Lo and behold, the Osprey is starting to build a nest behind the radar arch. We had only been there 2 nights but must have looked much better than the current nest they have across the marina.
Pat and Mary Jo drove over to get the pick up they had loaned to us. We invited them on-board. It was great seeing them again. Wonderful folks. We then headed out cruising by their house on our way up the Potomac.
On up the Potomac, the weather was nice and the seas were relatively calm. We passed St. Clements Island. It has a huge cross structure that Jerry thinks is what he used to do turn about a point when he was learning to fly back in the day.
The Skipper Bob guide warned of possible military activity as we proceed up the Potomac. And true to form, we were notified via radio by Navy Range Patrol #4 to alter our course. He gave us time to get our chart ready then told us which buoys to follow off the channel. We heard loud BOOMS while we traveled through.
We used yellow buoys like this one as opposed to the usual green and red for our vector.
When we passed this house high off the water, the depth finder showed 100'.
We anchored today at Fairview Beach. Houses along the shore and trees would help with wind protection. The forecast was for winds tonight so hoping for some help.
Tuesday - Relatively short day traveling. We wanted to stop at Mount Vernon to do the tourist thing. Read that we could anchor close to the dock and dinghy over. Two tour boats come in there a few times a day so had to stay away from their path. We arrived about 11:45. Took the dinghy to the dock and had help from the dockmaster. He told us to head up the stairs and follow the signs to the entrance to buy our tickets. This was definitely an honor system. We could have easily seen everything without paying but we found our way, with a little help asking where we needed to go, twice. The docents are used to people coming from the tour boats having already paid so we were somewhat of an anomaly. Had lunch in the food court with a couple hundred kids. Then found the tickets and headed back to do the tour thing.
The Washington Mansion from the water.
Cruising over to the dock from our boat.
Wind Song from the backyard of the Washington Mansion
Waiting in line to see the Washington Mansion with the yellow ponchos. These kids were safety guards from somewhere in Florida.
Interesting story about the Washington estate. The estate was in the Washington family for many years before George bought it from his half-brother Lawrence's widow. George Washington was a farmer and raised tobacco then switched to wheat, corn and other grains. It was interesting that his home was a social inn. After his two terms as President there were only a few days when there weren't guests at the Mount Vernon home.
After Washington's death in 1799, the plantation ownership passed through a series of relatives who lacked either the will or the means to maintain the estate. It was offered for sale in 1848. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union acquired the mansion and a portion of the land from Washington's great-grandnephew. The Association mission statement derived from the founders original vision set out to keep this national treasure available for future generations to appreciate. "Ladies, the home of Washington is in your charge - see to it that you keep it the home of Washington. Let no irreverent hand change it; no vandal hands desecrate it with the fingers of progress. Those who go to the home in which he lived and died wish to see in what he lived and died. Let one spot in this grand country of ours be saved from change. Upon you rests this duty".
The non-profit Association still receives no federal or state financial aid and relies solely on admission fees, revenues from food and gift sales and donations from foundations, businesses and individuals.
Another fact that was new to me was that Martha was a widow with two children when George met her. He and Martha never had children together.
These ornery kids escaped their pin and found their way into the mansion. This caused quite a stir, I can imagine.
The replica of the 16-sided treading barn, designed by Washington, used animals to separate grain from stalk. It's a two story structure with the treading floor on the second level, which the horses could access via an earthen ramp. He conceived the innovation of leaving spaces between the floorboards so that the heads of grain, once separated from the straw, could fall through to a granary below. There they could be temporarily stored in a central octagonal structure, then winnowed and sent to the mill.
The tour boat dock with Wind Song in the distance. Our dinghy is on the far side of the dock.
Back to the boat, we decided to make our way to the other side of the Potomac to anchor for the night. Another great day!
Every year Tall Timbers celebrates Memorial Day with music, fireworks and a boat burning. This year, the wooden boat to the right will be the center of attention come Sunday evening. One big boat bonfire!
I'm cleaning bugs off the isinglass and the platform behind the helm.
It was cloudy and some sprinkles as we motored out.
This is a lighthouse that was relocated to the museum. We took a tour of this while we were at the museum
It's hard to go into a West Marine without leaving with something.
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