Monday morning, we left the quiet anchorage in Little Harbor and headed north. We were not sure where we would spend the night just yet. but there were several locations that would make for a nice over night stop. The wind was out of the North so we would have to motor with no help from the sails. The wind was around ten to fifteen knots, not bad but enough to kick up a two-to-three-foot chop in the bay. Along the way we decided we would anchor behind St George’s Island. This was a small island about eight miles up the Potamic River. As we approached the river entrance the winds dropped and the seas fell mostly flat. We arrived at around five o’clock in the afternoon and dropped anchor for the night.

The next day the weather was not going to be good for pushing further north. Stronger winds of fifteen to twenty knots from the north and north east were predicted. This would make for a bumpy slow slog, so we decided to just stay put for one more day before heading on to the Solomons as we had planned. We had heard Solomons was a must stop in the Chesapeake so we thought we would check it out.

On Wednesday, with a more favorable weather forecast, we left to head the 30 miles up to the Solomons. We had reserved a mooring ball there for a couple of nights as we heard the only anchorage areas were small and often filled with boats. The mooring balls were a bit expensive but the marina renting them had some nice amenities such as a pool and free use of bicycles. The trip up the bay was easy with south winds of around five to ten knots. We arrived around three thirty and had an easy time picking up the mooring as the wind was light and there was no real current. We were glad conditions were good as the moorings were very closely spaced and picking up the mooring in high winds would have been a challenge. We remained aboard for the afternoon and planned to go ashore in the morning.

The next morning, we got an early start and used the free bikes provided by the marina to run up to the grocery store. This took a bit longer than hoped and it got hot fast that day. The bikes were rather tall and Teresa had a hard time riding hers. We ended up having to walk part of the distance back after she had a mishap and fell (no picture only a blood stained shoe), causing her to no longer feel comfortable riding the bikes filled with groceries. After lunch we went ashore again to visit the local maritime museum. The entrance price was not high and the museum was larger than we expected with many interesting exhibits. We particularly enjoyed the lighthouse that had been relocated to the museum property. We had seen many of these iconic Chesapeake lighthouses from the outside but here we were able to go inside to see how the keepers would live. Later that afternoon we took advantage of the pool at the marina to cool off some before heading back to the boat for the evening.

The next day we left the Solomons heading north again. The winds were very light and the temps in the upper 90’s. Our original plan was to anchor in the Little Choptank River on the eastern shore. As we approached this area I decided it was not a great place to anchor as there was little protection should the winds pick up. I decided to go a bit further up the Choptank to Oxford instead. The anchorage there was much better protected and we could take some time to explore Oxford. This turned out to be a good decision as I found out an old friend was returning to his home in Easton from the West coast. Easton was an easy 6 mile trip up the Tred-Avon River where we could stay at his private dock. It was a pleasant and unexpected opportunity to get to see him again.

As he was flying in on Saturday morning, we decided to go ashore in the morning to explore Oxford before heading up river to Easton. Oxford is a nice little town and an easy walk to places of interest. There was not a lot to do there but we did enjoy looking at all the old houses. There were several small shops and restaurants as well. After walking around for a couple of hours we headed back to the boat for lunch before heading up river to visit our old friend John.

We decided to stay at John’s dock for a few days to visit and take a break from the heat. As we had shore power while at John’s we could run the air conditioner all day for a change. The weather for the following few days was predicted to be very hot so we decided to stay at least through mid week.