We left beautiful St. Michaels to travel down the Chesapeake.  Our only agenda was to get our ballots which were mailed to a marina in Hampton, VA.

We had a very nice wind for a while, leaving St. Michaels, and then the wind lessened and we had to turn on the motor.   We arrived in Solomon’s Island and looked for the place to anchor, guided by the recommendations of Skipper Bob’s Anchoring book.   We found a really, really great spot in a cove, all alone on Mill Creek.

The Chesapeake has a lot of cool anchorages, and they are all on creeks.  Anchoring on the creeks is great.  What we learned as first-timers on the Chesapeake is that the anchorages are all about the mud.  Most of the Chesapeake is lined by thick black or gray mud.  Sticky mud.  Amazing holding mud.  Your boat just doesn’t move when on anchor.  When you raise an an anchor like ours it will come up looking like a shovel full of black, sticky mud!  A good sized bucket full of black slime must be washed away before you stow the anchor for traveling.

The next day, we set out to explore Solomon’s Island.   We docked the dinghy near the Tiki Hut, and walked to the Calvert Marine Museum.  What a great find.   They had great exhibits of different fossils, explaining the Chesapeake and even another screw pile lighthouse.  Most interesting was Solomon’s provided paddle boats to the 1938 World’s Fair in New York.   We met a carpenter who was making wooden paddle boats to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Calvert Marine Museum.

We made our way to Island Hideaway for lunch, recommended by Sue Morris who is from the area.  Great homemade food.  We had the best Key Lime Pie, made from fresh key limes.  Back to the dinghy, and a ride up Mill Creek.   Beautiful spot.

We left Solomon’s hoping to go back again when we visit the Chesapeake next time.