Virginia to home

4/30/14 – We docked at Top Rack Marina in Norfolk.  You can stay there for free if you eat at the restaurant.  We met another one of John’s friends, Doug Chesworth, at the restaurant for drinks and a meal.  The food there is excellent and the drinks are made with a heavy pour.  It’s a little pricey, but getting a free dock and free electric makes it worth the price.  We stayed there for two nights due to weather.

5/2/14 – Anchored in Onancock Harbor at 6:10 p.m.  We took the dinghy to town and had one drink at Mallards.  We totally fell in love with this little Eastern Shore town and would definitely come back.  The Corner Bakery has donuts that are to die for and there is a farmer’s market in the town square every Saturday.  It was a little early in the season but we bought asparagus, mint, and pork BBQ.  There is also a really neat kitchen store that has unique things that I have never seen anywhere else.  They have dozens of types of oil that you can taste, as well as many different kinds of salts that are also available to taste.  We bought some Smoked Applewood Salt that is absolutely delicious.  I have used it many times in different dishes.

We happened to stumble upon a bar/restaurant called the Blarney Stone and they were having a Kentucky Derby party.  The place was packed.  It is a great bar and is right across from the Kitchen Store, so I could leave John at the bar and I could go shopping.  It’s a win-win situation.  There had a derby contest before the race went off.  The winner was based on who got the loudest applause from the crowd.  Several very pretty big hats and men in straw type hats.  A very, very cute... and very, very old... couple won the contest.  It just so happened that he was the mayor.  Do you think that was rigged?  Actually, it wasn't.  They really did have the best costumes.  They also had other contests going on and I won a flashlight for picking one of the top three horses.  We had a fun time.

On Sunday, 5/4/14, we went to the Market Street United Methodist church that was very pretty.  After all, we needed to repent after all the drinking we did the day before.  We talked to the minister for a long time about the town and its history.  It seems the church was built during and after the Civil War, oops, War of Northern Aggression, (sorry John) by Southern sympathizers when they withdrew from the older Methodist church named Cokesbury.  Apparently the Northern supporters continued to attend Cokesbury and the two churches functioned independently for over 150 years.  Eventually, Cokesbury's membership dwindled to the point that services were discontinued there is 1996.  The church still stands but is only used for special occasions.  It was a very interesting history as told by the minister.  The people in the church and town are the friendliest you will ever meet.  I would recommend everyone stop there if they get a chance. 

We left Onancock about 2:15 pm that day and headed to Crisfield.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same nice things about Crisfield.  Such a shame to see small town America like this.  We only spent one night in Crisfield as there wasn’t anything to do there.

5/5/14 – We were on our way to the South River, which is just south of Annapolis, to anchor for the night when we came upon a man and two dogs in a small bass boat that was broken down. 

Us being Good Samaritans

We towed him as close as we could to his shore and then continued on our way.  We thought “he has no business in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay in such a small boat.”  And, he only had one oar!  What an idiot!!

We will arrive home at Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbor tomorrow.

It has been a heck of a trip.