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As we entered the Block Island Sound from Long Island we were encompassed in fog for the next few hours.  There was a fair amount of traffic on the Sound so we both watched the radar and drove slow.  As we entered the Great Salt Pond at Block Island the fog disappeared and it was a beautiful day.  We anchored there for 3 nights as the winds blew.  The island is quaint, New England-y, and a unique culture.  The Great Salt Pond is a huge anchorage/mooring field which can hold several hundred boats.  

The island is full of rock walls dividing all homes and along roads.  The architecture is strictly New England cedar shakes and historic buildings. There are 2 historic lighthouses, lots of classic old hotels and miles of hiking and beaches.  We rented a moped and toured the entire island, inside and out. Great food at outdoor restaurants and wonderful sunset where the several hundred boats in the anchorage all honk their horns at sunset.  Oh... and the sunsets are amazing!

Our 2nd night in the Shelter Island area we stopped in Greenport and then anchored in the bay by Orient, NY.  Greenport is another charming town on Long Island with local Breweries, good food and super friendly people.  

We came across the Long Island Sound to enter the east end of Long Island and headed toward a tour around Shelter Island, landing at Sag Harbor.  The bays around Shelter Island have many great anchorages which are full of small boats to large mega yachts all enjoying the water.  Sag Harbor, part of the Hamptons, is a vintage town. We enjoyed touring the town and the harbor with all the large yachts packed in.  

A short stop at a great family run marina where we took delivery of new dinghy. We really like this small town, with fabulous lobster rolls and friendly people.  

We drove for about 5 hours in the rain and looked for a place to throw out the hook and stumbled upon the Thimble Islands.  They are a very beautiful and interesting set of rock islands just off the coast at Stony Creek, CT.  There are about 81 houses on about 40 islands and we understand that most have been in the same family for generations. Only a few have electricity and water but use services brought by boat to their island.  Super calm night for a nice tour of the islands and a grilled dinner sunset.  

A charming stop on Long Island for provisioning and good dining. 

Liberty Landing in Jersey City, NJ was our home for 3 nights while we explored the City, from the outside, of course.  Central Park, the Central Park Zoo, and views, views, views. 

Arriving in New York Harbor is everything you'd expect.  Seeing the Statute, Ellis Island, Manhattan, all of it.  We ate lunch while cruising past the Statute of Liberty and Manhattan and then pulled into Liberty Landing Marina, in NJ just across from the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan.  The Suntex Marina is a great location and unbelievable views of the City.  Here we are hanging out by the Statute of Liberty, photo compliments of our friend Herb.  
By mid afternoon we took the ferry across to the City and spent until later in the evening wandering around the 911 Memorial, walking to Times Square, dinner in Hell's Kitchen area and drinks in lower Manhattan.  

C&D Canal is one of the oldest in the country, 14 miles long and lots of cool looking bridges.  At the end of the canal, the trip down the Delaware River to round Cape May is 55 miles and for the most part not the prettiest place.  The river is very wide (20-30 miles) and has lots of shallow and marshy areas.  We found a deep river called the Cahonsey River and anchored in what looked like a big grassy marsh.  The flies thought is was a nice place also.  

We finished our way down the Delaware River, took the cut into Cape May and headed out on the Atlantic to stop at Atlantic City.  Since we are not gamblers we took in the boardwalk and ran some errands.  The town is suffering from the lack of tourism (and was before Covid hit).  Marina was a good stop though with the glittering skyline and we met some fellow loopers.  

After a 3 week trip home, we arrived back to Pleasure Cove Marina in Pasadena.  The Curry family joined us for a weekend trip across the bay to Rock Hall, MD.  Known as the "Pearl of the Chesapeake", it is a pretty quiet town with a long fishing history.  George Washington and others passed through here numerous times.  Great sunsets from Haven Harbour South Marina. 

Just a quick stop in Annapolis for lunch and we plan to return to really see the sites.  

Solomons or Solomons Island is another boating mecca on the Chesapeake.  Loaded with marinas, it is what Joe calls Disney for adults, or at least adults who love boats. Fun place to dinghy around.  We stayed at the friendly Solomons Yacht Club where dockage comes with a HH each evening.  

Last port before heading home for a few weeks was Herrington Harbor South, 
Deale, MD.  

We were surprised by the size and beauty of the Potomac River, which you travel 100 miles upstream from the Chesapeake Bay to reach Washington DC.  We had 2 wonderful and tranquil anchorages on the St. Mary's River and Tobacco River as they flow into the Potomac.  We spent one night at the Alexandria Yacht Club in the historic district of Alexandria.  This is a wonderful quaint old town to visit and even with Covid restrictions we had a wonderful time and some great food at Vole' on the Waterfront. 

Alexandria to Wash. DC

Washington DC. July 4th weekend 2020.  We stayed at Capital Yacht Club, which is part of the Wharf area and right in the heart of Washington DC. The District was partially shut down with the Corona virus regs which apparently kept most tourists away.  On one morning we visited all the monument sites and a few we were alone at and the maximum number of people we encountered at any site was 20.  Definitely a good time to see the sites in DC, although the heat was pretty bad for a couple from MN.  
James & Andrea Curry (our niece) joined us for the weekend.  With the heat we spent time on the water anchored in front of Mount Vernon and on day visited the Bible Museum, which we highly recommend.  
The grand finale to the weekend was the fly over and the best fireworks display which we had a great view of from our back deck.  

Deltaville is a unique old fishing town with about a dozen marinas (mostly of which are stuck in time from the 1960's or 70's) and a few eating establishments. Due to covid most restaurants were not open so we cooked on the boat each for our 2 night stay.. We were able to use the marina pickup to go to West Marine and get seafood from their local market. Grilled a nice anniversary seafood dinner at the marina.
Next stop was just up the creek where we spent a couple night of quiet and beautiful anchorage in Irvington where we anchored by the well known beautiful resort Tides Inn,

We  met up with Leslie and Glen Carter (related by our son-in-law) and spent a couple of lovely days fishing the Chesapeake Bay out of Windmill Point and visiting Tangier Island.  

Tangier Island
One of the most unique places in the Chesapeake Bay area, the island has a dwindling population of 'waterman' who historically depended on crabbing the local blue crabs for a living.  Today tourism is one of the main industries and the  locals meet you in their golf carts as you park your boat or get off a ferry and bring you on a tour, to eat and shop. There are still crabbing boats but there many of the boats and processing operations are abandoned.  
The locals have a distinctive Elizabethan dialect developed on the island and attributed to the isolation from the mainland and most of the locals have families that have been there for generations.  We were met at the Parks Marina by Mr. Parks, an 80 some year old whose family has owned and operated many of the local businesses for a generations. 
This island is disappearing slowly into the bay. Since the mid 1800's the island's landmass has been reduced by 67% and it is expected that the remaining land will be lost in the next 50 years and the town/island will likely need to be abandoned.

Mobjack Bay.  June 2020
Absotutely wonderful anchorage on the East River off Mobjack Bay.  Dinghy rides around the many inlets for a couple days, enjoyed great food, sunsets, paddle boarding and sunshine.