Social Bonanza in the Bay

One of my favorite aspects of life on a boat, and there are many, is the social aspect. During covid our social life existed mainly on Zoom or from several feet away and even that felt threatening. Thank goodness, life is returning to normal. A boater’s life that is. Our life is typically filled with social activities centered around friends, family, and making new friends. We have frantically been making up for lost time and have enjoyed every minute.

Baltimore

While traveling in Scotland a few years ago a man in a store told me that they had a great summer there in Scotland…it was on a Wednesday in July! I felt like our summer was the first weekend in October when we pulled into Anchorage Marina, located in the outer harbor, where the sun shined and the highs were in the 80’s. We started out right with dinner and drinks with the Krogen gang. This huge marina is located in a safe neighborhood with a grocery store, West Marine, and restaurants within a short walk. After hearing so many negative comments about Baltimore we were pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed a dinghy ride into the inner harbor where we met our friend, Scott, on Miller Time, and toured the trawler fest. We walked several miles throughout the city including visits to the Fell’s Point Festival. We had a wonderful surprise visit from Scott’s nephew and his wife, Marc and Denise. However, the highlight of the weekend was renting the electric scooters with Tricia and Dave on Lauryl Anne. I had no idea this would such a fun and exciting way to explore a new city. This was a “Must Repeat” experience.

Annapolis

The extra large crabs from Cantler’s Riverside Inn on Mill Creek near Annapolis were calling me name. We anchored close by and met Privateer there to enjoy a yummy dinner. They were out of the extra large crabs which are easiest to “pick” but they had plenty of crab dip, crab pretzels and shrimp. Gratitude 58 showed up the next day so the 6 of us headed right back to Cantler’s for dinner. We have been blessed with great weather and have dined outdoors, in rooms with wall size open windows, or in private rooms

Solomon’s Island

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For the Kadey Krogen rendezvous we were required to show proof of vaccination and take 2 tests which gave us some confidence about socializing. Surprisingly, there were 85 people in attendance with fabulous presentations, fun, and even games. It’s quite a show watching the intricate dance of fitting the boats in like sardines and then releasing everyone safely.

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While in Solomon’s we took pleasure in spending time with daughter, Allegra, and her boy friend, Brandon. They surprised us with a visit to the largest pumpkin patch with the largest corn mazes I’ve ever seen. I guess I’m still a kid a heart because I love going to the pumpkin patch.

The final night of the rendezvous always concludes with a dance. This year it included a costume party, actually a surprise costume contest. Guess who won the award for the Most Incognito? I guess watching hours of mermaid make-up videos on Youtube paid off. Our make-up looked like scales if you looked closely with your glasses on! We walked around like a school of fish swimming and sang, “Just keep swimming.” It was shocking that so many people didn’t realize who we were! Guess who won the “Dancing Queen” award for just doing “my thing” on the dance floor which brings me great joy?

We were treated to an after-hours affair at the Calvert Marine Museum. I loved seeing the Lionfish which are delicious to eat. No need to feel guilty eating the lionfish as they are invasive and threaten the coral reef and other marine ecosystems. Their fins are packed with venom but if handled properly the meat is more healthy than commonly eaten fish. In fact, they are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids, and lower in saturated fats and heavy metals than other fish. We had some routine maintenance done while we were at Calvert’s marina and a part didn’t arrive so we had to stay an extra 2 nights. Surprise…the winds and waves were so high in the Chesapeake Bay that everyone was forced to stay. Therefore, we had an extra 2 nights of fun and games. During the game Telestrations we had 12 people packed into our saloon and laughed so hard we were crying! And of great importance to only me…I got my second professional hair cut since covid began and almost all of the old color is gone! I love my new color and heatlhy hair.

We had one evening alone onboard, the first in weeks, when we anchored near Deltaville as we finally headed south. However, the merry-making continued at Waterside Marina in lovely downtown Norfolk. We had delightful evenings with Lauryl Anne and Lady M (our dear friends Aimee and Marty). Marty is our inspiration since he still lives aboard Lady M at 92 years young! This town also deserves a repeat visit to explore the Nauticus Maritime Museum and to ride their electric scooters.

I never did so much fraternizing while living on land and I LOVE IT living on our boat! We missed it terribly over the past 1.5 years. Can we continue the social activities as we cruise the ICW for the 8th time for me and 9th for Scott? I certainly hope so! I cheer every time we get together with folks! In our old age we have become party animals.