February

Feb. 27th 2006, Well we have been doing a lot and having a ball sight seeing with Dana and Laurie. Where to start.. The first night they were here we went to North Beach, Maryland and had dinner. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived at the resort so that was about all we could accomplish that day. Next day, Sunday, we drove into Washington D.C. and parked at Nancy's office and took the metro to the Smithsonian stop and went to the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum. There we saw Old Glory and the flag that flew over the pentagon on 9/11, the hope diamond, jewels and precious and rare stones from all over the world, stunning collection. The dinosaurs were huge.

After lunch we went to the World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial

After that we went to the Seafood Market next to the Potomac River and selected dinner for the evening aboard Solitaire.

We got some the the biggest shrimp that I have ever seen. HHHHMMMM good. Those along with Grouper, new potatoes, salad and wine finished off the evening.

Today we went into Annapolis and did some shopping and sightseeing. Nancy just had to stop and her favorite grocery store, Trapper Joes and stock up. After that we went to the historic district of Annapolis and started walking and walking and..... We toured the Naval Academy - including the Chapel, which was wonderful.

Below the Chapel is the crypt of John Paul Jones. It was amazing to see. A huge black and white marble Sarcophagus guarded by Naval personnel in dress uniform. A guide told us that the body was perfectly preserved by alcohol and when the crypt was opened in years past he was completely recognizable. After the Academy, we went to the Rams Head for dinner. The girls had Maine Lobster and I settled for Rock Fish. All wonderful. Although Dana wouldn't let go of her lobster after dinner. The waitress had cleaned the table except for THE LOBSTER and stopped by several times to collect it, but Dana would not give it up that easily. She kept playing with it.

Feb. 25th 2006, Just been a normal week. Nothing happening. Warm one day, cold the next. Got Maryland plates for both the cars and the state drivers license along with voter registration. I guess you could say we are Maryland residents now. Snow is gone and the bay is ice free. The water temperature has increased from 39 degrees to 41.5, so spring is on the way. Our friends Dana and Laurie from Oklahoma City, OK/Sherwood Shores, TX will be arriving today for a visit. We will be picking them up at the Airport in Washington D.C. One of my favorite trips into the city. We have found out that the fastest way to the airport is not the shortest. We drive right into downtown past the Capital and then out to the airport. Keeps us out of slow neighborhood traffic that way. They will be with us for 3 days before Laurie has to head home and Dana has to start a class in D.C. One of our neighbors just stopped by and dropped off some fresh apple turnovers. MMM good. Its hard to eat and type at the same time. Last night we went to our local riverside cafe with them and had dinner and then to the music store a couple blocks away for the Friday night bluegrass jam fest. There must have been about 40 people there playing banjos, guitars, bass fiddle, wash board and what ever else that has strings on it. Fun being in a small community.

When we first heard the winter storm warnings yesterday, we headed out for the grocery store, liquor store, post office and video store. Back on Solitaire, loaded up with food, wine and movies, there was nothing left to do, but wait for the snow flakes to start falling. Then the phone rang - - - our neighbors, Jay and Nicky (and furry companion, Duke), were trying to return home from a trip to Oklahoma. Their flight was diverting to National Airport, their car was a Baltimore Airport and would we mind picking them up? Of course not! The rescue mission was uneventful - although the snow was starting to accumulate on the return trip. Jay and Nicky graciously treated us to a wonderful dinner at Skipper's Pier (just across the River from our Marina). By bedtime last night, the snowfall was still light and it appeared that there had been much ado about nothing. However, sometime during the night, somewhere around 8-10 inches of wet, heavy snow blanketed the Marina. Jim got up bright and early - and along with a couple of our neighbors, got the dock shoveled off. As we write this, the temperature is hovering just about the freezing mark and a very light snow is still falling. Another storm is expected by next weekend. Oh well, we figured that we'd have to pay for the mild December and January.

Feb. 5th, 2006, Well we had our first visitor from Oklahoma City yesterday. Our good friend, Danny had been in Washington D.C. for business last week and drove out Saturday to spend the day with us. He got to stay at our other marina's resort on the shore of the Chesapeake Saturday night.

As you can see from the picture it was a foggy day. We tried to do some sightseeing along the bay, but the fog really cut the visibility down so he couldn't see much. Because of the short time that he was here, we couldn't do a lot - but Danny did get the grand tour of Deale MD. So what is included on the grand tour of Deale, you ask?? Well, you get to go to the IGA grocery store, stop by the vintage 1950's Cafe on the river and have lunch, go to the coffee shop for a afternoon Latte and drive past the volunteer fire department. Oh, and I can't forget the liquor store to see the great and endless selections of very fine wines. We visited with a few of our marina neighbors, cooked up a big pot of chili and some Maryland-style corn bread, and toasted old friends with some good wine.

On another fog day, our neighbor Mike took a picture of Solitaire and our Texas live aboard neighbors' boat, Walkabout.

There are a lot of days with fog compared to Oklahoma but there are nice days also. This picture was taken at 7:00 am the day that Danny arrived. In the background is the little town of Deale and after I had taken this picture, I saw that I had left the anchor light on all night.