We are really enjoying our cruise up the Hudson River! Again, we practically had the river to ourselves most of the way. We passed some smaller boats and a few big barges but no other Loopers. We enjoyed watching trains move along the bottom of the mountains at the waters edge and admiring homes perched on mountains above the river. Freight trains would move along the western side of the river and passenger trains would move along the eastern side. Having been on the beautiful Hudson River and out of New York City for several days, we are still amazed that it is only a short train ride from here to New York City! We did have to keep watch for large tree limbs and logs in the water as we traveled.
Walkway Over The Hudson is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge. The bridge is 212 feet high and 1.28 miles long. It was completed in 1889 and served as a railroad bridge until 1974 when it was damaged by a fire before being reopened in 2009 as a pedestrian bridge. We did not have time to walk across it because we had to return the rental car but we enjoyed the views of it from the river.
Walkway Over The Hudson
We also passed by the Culinary Institute of America which we had visited a few days earlier. The picture below is the main building but it is really quite a large campus.
Again, we passed several barges:
A highlight of the day was passing by several beautiful lighthouses on our way to New Baltimore.
Esopus Meadows Lighthouse was completed in 1871. It is the only surviving wooden lighthouse on the Hudson River and is only accessible by boat. There was once a meadow in the middle of the Hudson where cows could even graze at low tide. The lighthouse was installed to warn mariners of the mudflat during high tide and direct them around the shallow area. The lighthouse thus got the nickname “Maid of the Meadow”. The Coast Guard took over operation of the lighthouse from civilians in 1939 and the lighthouse was closed in 1965 when it was replaced with an automatic solar powered system.
Esopus Meadows Lighthouse
Saugerties Lighthouse was constructed in 1869 replacing an earlier 1838 lighthouse on the same site. It ceased being staffed in 1954 when the Coast Guard automated the light. It fell into disrepair, was restored and recommissioned in 1990. It is now a two-bedroom Bed & Breakfast which can be booked for $525 a night for the two bedrooms and breakfast.
Saugerties Lighthouse
Hudson Athens Lighthouse was constructed in 1874 to guide mariners around the Middle Ground Flats which would be submerged and not visible at high tide causing boats to run aground. The lighthouse was automated in 1949 and housed light keepers and their families until 1966.
Hudson Athens Lighthouse
Another really big barge we passed. The second photo is the tug pushing it.
There were about a dozen other Looper boats at the marina when we arrived. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the onsite restaurant overlooking the river, Boathouse Grille.
Marlboro was an unplanned stop as this is where we would have the boat hauled out for additional repairs such as repacking the stuffing boxes on the prop shafts, replacing the battery for the generator and replacing zincs. The wonderful mechanics that repaired our air conditioning in Croton-On-Hudson made arrangements for the haul out at the marina and drove there to meet us. We want to give a special shoutout to Brendon and Pat from On-Site Marine Service as they truely went above and beyond to get the necessary repairs made, working long hours while at the same time trying to save us as much money as they could but still do the job right (which included fixing previous mechanics’s work). Another shoutout goes to Dan, the dock master at the marina, who drove us to town so that we could eat lunch and explore the town and came back to get us once we were ready. Dan also took Brendon across the river in his boat to get supplies, saving precious time over what it would have taken him to drive in a car.
It was a short but beautiful trip to Marlboro. It was a little foggy when we first left Croton-On-Hudson but visibility was still good. We passed a few barges and enjoyed watching trains run along the bottom of the mountains.
We also passed West Point Military Academy which we had visited while we were in Croton-on-Hudson.
View of West Point from the Hudson River
Photos of the beautiful scenery on the Hudson River today:
After we got the boat hauled out, we had lunch at the Raccoon Saloon and walked around the small town, stopping at the bakery for some treats and walking through the market. Once Dan had picked us up in town, we sat on the porch overlooking the Hudson for the rest of the afternoon while the mechanics completed their work on the boat. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. It was such a peaceful afternoon!
The Raccoon Saloon overlooks a pretty stream and waterfall with the Hudson River in the distance and is much nicer than the exterior photo below shows! We glimpsed fellow Loopers on the Salty Peacock passing by below and took a picture.
Racoon SaloonSalty Peacock cruising the Hudson as we watched from up above at the restaurant. They have the same boat we do so you can picture us cruising up the Hudson!
The marina is home to about 80 local boats and many of them were having a potluck dinner which they all invited us to attend but we graciously declined. This was the nicest group of people and many of them asked that we just let them know if we needed anything. This is not usually a place where Loopers stop but we highly recommend it, particularly if they are in need of service.
We enjoyed our final views of New York City as we started up the Hudson River. Our trip was only about 36 miles but we were going against the current so we went slower rather than burning up precious fuel. It was a great day for cruising and, after we got out of the New York City area, we practically had the river to ourselves. The scenery quickly changed from skyscrapers to tree covered mountains.
Empire State Building
The George Washington Bridge is the world’s busiest vehicle bridge and connects Manhattan with New Jersey. The bridge is 4,760 feet long and has two decks with 8 lanes on the upper deck and 6 lanes on the bottom deck. Just under the bridge on the Manhattan side is The Little Red Lighthouse which was built in 1880 and is one of the few surviving lighthouses in New York City. Hildegarde Swift wrote a children’s book in 1942, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, which teaches children that no matter how small they are, they can still make a difference.
George Washington BridgeGeorge Washington Bridge with The Little Red Lighthouse belowThe Little Red LighthouseView of New York City from the George Washington Bridge
Once docked at the marina, we stayed on the boat and waited for mechanics to come look at one of our air-conditioning units which had not worked for about two weeks. Thankfully, the one that cools the stateroom works great and it hasn’t been too terribly hot in the salon with the windows open. The mechanics were able to come back the next day and repair the unit without having to replace the fan. In the meantime, the mechanics and Kevin decided we should have the boat hauled out to repack the stuffing boxes on the prop shafts which we will do in a few days.
We later walked to the Croton Colonial Diner for dinner.
The next day we shared an Uber with new friends, Karen and Tony from Long Recess, and visited the beautiful Croton Dam which supplies water to New York City. Construction of the dam began in 1892 and was completed in 1906. This dam is actually the New Croton Dam which replaced the Old Croton Dam which was completed in 1842.
Croton Dam
We hiked up to the top of the dam and back down.
After our visit to the dam, we shared a rental car with Karen and Tony to run errands. We hit the T-Mobile store, CVS, and laundromat before having dinner at Los Abuelos Mexican restaurant followed by ice cream at The Blue Pig.
The Blue PigKaren and Tony from Long Recess
We went grocery shopping the next morning followed by a tour of West Point Military Academy and dinner at the Culinary Institute of America in Poughkeepsie, NY in one of three restaurants there, American Bounty, which features products of the Hudson Valley.
West Point was founded in 1802 and is built on the grounds of where Fort Clinton was constructed in 1778. The fort’s name was later changed to Fort Arnold, after Benedict Arnold, but changed back to Fort Clinton after he committed treason and defected to the British Army. Upon graduation from West Point, cadets serve 5 years of active duty as an Officer in the Army followed by three years in the Army Reserves.
The organ in the Chapel is the largest pipe organ in a religious institution in the world. It contains 23,511 pipes.
The Protestant Chapel at West Point
View of the barracks from the Chapel
The Culinary Institute of America’s prime campus is in Hyde Park, NY and is quite spectacular. Within the campus, there are four restaurants that are open to the public where the students prepare the food and serve the customers, The Apple Pie Bakery, American Bounty, The Bocuse Restaurant (French) and The Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici (Italian).
The main building which houses the American and French Restaurants
We chose to dine at the American Bounty as it features products of the Hudson Valley. We had a wonderful meal and received excellent service while being able to watch the student chefs prepare the food.
On our final full day in Croton-on-Hudson, we drove back to Hyde Park and toured Springwood, the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as Hyde Park, one of about 40 Vanderbilt mansions. Both homes are part of the National Park Service.
Roosevelt was born and raised in this beautiful home on the banks of the Hudson River and later lived here with his wife Eleanor where they raised their family. He visited the home over 200 times during his presidency and hosted many foreign dignitaries there, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the current Queen’s parents), who were the first British monarchs on American soil, and Winston Churchill. He and his wife, Eleanor, are buried on the property in his mother’s rose garden. The home already had a trunk lift to raise luggage to the second floor and, once Roosevelt became paralyzed from polio, he used this lift to get himself to the second floor where his bedroom was located as the lift was large enough to accommodate his wheelchair. The lift could have been electrified but Roosevelt was deathly afraid of fire and preferred to raise himself up using ropes contained in the lift. Roosevelt was an avid stamp collector from his childhood through his adulthood and amassed a collection of about 1.2 million stamps in his lifetime.
Springwood – Home of Franklin D. RooseveltThe Dresden Room. The room was decorated this way in preparation for a visit from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The photos now displayed on the piano are of foreign dignitaries that visited Springwood.Half of the massive Library where Roosevelt worked, entertained and reviewed his stamp collection.
About 2 miles down the road from Springwood is the Vanderbilt Mansion known as Hyde Park. This was the spring and fall country home of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt. Frederick Vanderbilt was the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, America’s first multi-millionaire, who built the Vanderbilt fortune from a $100 loan from his mother to start a ferry operation between Staten Island and Manhattan. The mansion was built over two years by 300 European craftsmen and was completed in 1898. With 57 rooms covering 50,000 square feet, it is the smallest of all of the Vanderbilt mansions, most notably the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. As Frederick and Louis had no children, the mansion was left to his niece upon their deaths. She did not need the mansion as she had one of own and put the entire estate up for sale for $350K and reduced the price to $250K a year later. As she was still not able to sell the estate due to the Great Depression, Roosevelt approached her and asked if she would be willing to donate it to the National Park Service as he planned to do with his home. She agreed and this is the only Gilded Age mansion in the National Park Service. Frederick and Louise were well known for their tremendous generosity. The would allow the school children to play on their grounds, they paid their servants much higher wages than anyone else in the area, they bought Christmas presents for the children in the town and, when Frederick died, there were 57 people named in his will, 37 of which were his servants.
Vanderbilt Mansion – Hyde ParkReception RoomLiving RoomDining RoomEntrance Hall and informal Living RoomDenGrand StaircaseMrs. Vanderbilt’s BedroomKitchenServant’s Dining RoomHalf Moon Bay Marina. Perfect Match is up in front of the seawall and had wonderful views of the river and the mountains.
10 hours 4 minutes (including time spent at the Statue of Liberty for photos with our buddy boats)
10.4 mph average speed
4-10 mph winds
We left early (about 6:00am) with buddy boats Happy Daze and Clean Cut and again traveled on the outside. It was pretty foggy when we first left Atlantic City. The fog soon dissipated but then reappeared and we could no longer see our buddy boats. Thank goodness for radar and AIS which enabled us to know exactly where they were as well as any other traffic we may have encountered. We also had to keep a keen watch out for crab pots. For a while, we could only see about an eighth of a mile in front of us.
We had planned to stop in Brielle, NJ which is about halfway between Atlantic City and New York but it turned out to be such a nice day that we all decided to make the full run to NYC. It was a long 10 hour day but we were happy to take advantage of the good weather and to have two other boats to travel with.
Buddy boats Happy Daze and Clean Cut passing under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.Perfect Match on her way to New York
We stopped in front of the Statue of Liberty with our buddy boats and took photos of each other.
It was so exciting cruising up the harbor and into New York!
Once we were docked, we Ubered to White Star restaurant in Jersey City and had wonderful burgers. Later, we walked to the end of the marina for nighttime photos of the NY skyline before retiring after our long but magical day.
The border between New Jersey and New York actually runs down the center of the harbor and the marina is actually in New Jersey so we are able to see both the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline from the boat. To top it all off, there was a full moon!
The marina has a ferry which takes passengers across the harbor to New York. On our first full day in New York we visited the World Trade Center Memorial, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and strolled through Central Park. Of course, we stopped at a street vendor in front of the museum for hot dogs!
The World Trade Center Memorial consists of two pools that sit on the footprints of the former North and South Towers. The pools are surrounded by bronze parapets that list the names of the 2,983 victims of the 9/11/2001 attacks as well as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The pools are the largest manmade waterfalls in North America.
One of the two memorial pools
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) first opened in 1871. It is the largest art museum in the Western Hemisphere and contains over two million works.
Of the collections that we saw, one of our favorites was the Egyptian Art collection and its focal point is the Temple of Dendur. The Temple of Dendur was built around 15 B.C. and was commissioned by the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar. The Temple was gifted to the US by the Egyptian government in 1965.
The Temple of DendurArms and Armor Collection
Some of the other collections we viewed were Musical Instruments (from 300 B.C. to the present), European Paintings, 1250-1800, and Greek and Roman Art. I’m sure we are leaving some things out and we did not come close to seeing all there is to see but what we did see was absolutely amazing!
Next, we strolled through Central Park and sat on a bench for a while to “people watch”.
The next day we had lunch with Kevin’s daughter, Emma, whose office is at 7 World Trade Center. After Lunch we took the subway to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum which is home to the aircraft carrier, USS Intrepid, the space shuttle, Enterprise, and the submarine, USS Growler. Later, we walked around Times Square and enjoyed a New York pizza for dinner on the boat.
The USS Intrepid was launched in 1943 and fought in World War II, the Cold War and the Vietnam War. During World War II it survived five kamikaze attacks and one torpedo strike. It also served as a NASA recovery vessel in the 1960’s.
The space shuttle Enterprise was NASA’s first space shuttle and was flown five times in 1977. It was built to be a test vehicle but not built to travel into space.
Space Shuttle Enterprise
The USS Growler was launched in 1958 and is now the only American guided missile submarine open to the public. Its purpose was to be a nuclear deterrent off the coast of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
USS GrowlerTimes Square
Day three was spent doing some boat cleaning and planning for the next several legs of our trip. That evening we took the subway and had a delicious dinner at the Hourglass Tavern on Restaurant Row (46th Street) in Hell’s Kitchen before attending the fabulous Broadway show Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre.
Hourglass Tavern
In addition to becoming what we think are pretty good subway riders, we walked over 30,000 steps over those two days! We spent the next day taking it easy and doing some more cleaning before Kevin took off to spend the weekend with his daughter, Emma, son in law, Andrew, and precious granddaughter, Margaret in Brooklyn. Ellen stayed on the boat and went to visit them for several hours on Saturday. She was quite proud of herself for navigating from Jersey City to New York via the PATH train and then the subway to Brooklyn all by herself!
Brooklyn is a charming town with block after block of stunning Brownstones surrounded by beautiful trees. Emma and Andrew’s lovely apartment is in a Brownstone and they have a wonderful garden area in the back where they grow vegetables and flowers. While Ellen was visiting, we had delicious burgers and beer at Brooklyn Burgers and Beer and walked around the Park Slope neighborhood and through Prospect Park. We went back to the apartment so Margaret could take a nap and then went for an ice cream before Ellen headed back to the boat.
Our final day before departing New York was Father’s Day and Emma, Andrew and Margaret came back from Brooklyn with Kevin to see our boat. We had Father’s Day Brunch at one of the restaurants at the marina and then walked around Liberty State Park. We walked through the historic Central Railroad Station and viewed Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Emma, Andrew and MargaretBrunch at Maritime Parc with Perfect Match in the backgroundGrandpa and Margaret
We decided to leave Cape May a day earlier than planned in order to have a better weather day for our trip to Atlantic City since we would be traveling outside (in the ocean) versus the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (NJICW). There is much debate among Loopers regarding traveling via the NJICW. Some say it is too shallow in some areas and others, most of whom are more familiar with the area, say it is beautiful and not to be of concern. We opted to take what we thought would be a safer route given that we had a good weather window to travel on the outside. We traveled with two other Looper boats, Happy Daze and Clean Cut.
We saw a lot of dolphin as we were approaching Atlantic City, probably the most we had ever seen at one time. It is just not as exciting as it was on the west coast of Florida where they would follow along with us in our wake!
Partial view of the Atlantic City skyline.
There were several other Loopers at the marina which is part of a the Golden Nugget Casino. Ellen had emailed our friends Zuby and Ilyas, Non-Loopers whom we had met in Brunswick and Charleston, who live in Atlantic City to see if we could get together with them while we were there before we noticed that we were in a slip across the fairway from their boat, Rehmat. We made plans to get together Monday evening but we ended up leaving Atlantic City a day early and were disappointed we did not get to see them. They had made a nonstop run on the outside from Charleston to Atlantic City in THREE days! We traveled from Charleston to Atlantic City making 17 stops in 32 days!
We took a jitney to the Boardwalk and walked around, had lunch and saw the beach before meeting up with the other Loopers for docktails.
6 hours 56 minutes (includes about 45 minutes of waiting for marina to respond to us)
8.9 mph average speed
Thanks to Tim’s advice at Delaware City Marina, we had a great day to travel to Cape May and traveled with several other Loopers. We passed a lot of large ships and barges along the way:
Once we arrived in Cape May, we had a terrible time getting the marina to respond to both radio and phone calls. Once they finally responded and gave us our slip assignment, we began to pull into the marina only to meet another Looper boat, Clean Cut, heading to the same slip from the fuel dock. Kevin had to maintain our boat in the fairway with another boat behind us and strong cross winds while they figured out where to put the two boats and docked Clean Cut. It was quite a mess but we were both finally docked.
We walked to the town and passed a lot of beautiful houses before ending up at the Washington Street Mall which is several pedestrian only blocks of shops and restaurants in the heart of Cape May.
Washington Street Mall
We stopped in a Five & Dime which had a soda fountain in the back.
After walking through Washington Street Mall, we walked to the Jersey Shore.
We then walked to see the famous “Painted Lady” houses although they were not near as pretty as all of the homes we passed earlier in our walk.
We ended the day with dinner at the Lobster House restaurant and decided the weather was favorable the next day for our trip to Atlantic City.
We crossed the Chesapeake a final time before entering the 14 mile long C&D Canal which connects the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River. It was another calm and beautiful day!
Some sights along the C&D Canal:
Delaware City is a popular stop for Loopers as the marina owner, Tim, offers a daily weather briefing for the Delaware Bay which we will transit to Cape May. Delaware Bay is another body of water where boaters benefit from a good weather window and, during the briefing, Tim thoroughly explains his criteria for a “go” or “no go” day taking the wind and currents for the entire trip to Cape May into consideration. We stayed two nights in Delaware City as travel was not recommended after the first night.
Tim’s Weather Briefing
The marina is a long dock alongside a canal which was the original end of the C&D Canal.
Delaware City is a 5 block by 8 block town with a very small waterfront downtown area. Once we had docked, we walked around town, had an ice cream and cooked dinner on the boat.
The trip to Havre de Grace could not have been more calm on the Chesapeake. We followed Off Leash most of the way until they turned off for a different destination. We hope to meet up with Karen and Rob again along the way.
After docking, we walked along the promenade and had lunch before heading back to the boat to rest. We were able to get our generator fixed which had not worked since we were in Belhaven and had the oil changed and the engines serviced. The self proclaimed “expert” in Belhaven assured us that it was nothing they had done and that we needed a new fuel pump for the generator. He also said they don’t usually just quit working like ours had. Kevin ordered a new pump and we were able to find someone here that could replace it. It turns out, however, that rather than needing a new fuel pump, the previous worker had disconnected the fuel supply during the service and failed to reconnect it. Needless to say, Kevin was livid and sent a scathing email to the “expert”. At any rate, we are glad to once again have a working generator.
Havre de Grace is a lovely town but, as we’ve noticed with some of the other smaller towns we have visited, many of the sites and restaurants are closed during the week. The one thing that was open was the Decoy Museum. Who knew that Havre de Grace is the decoy capital of the world?!
We had a delicious birthday breakfast for Kevin at Vintage Cafe and scrumptious birthday burgers for dinner at Abbey Burger.
One of the interesting things we learned while visiting the Decoy Museum was that hunters used to use a type of blind called a Sinkbox Boat. A Sinkbox is a flat, wooden, weighted structure that enables the hunter to hide at water level among decoys that are placed on the Sinkbox. Due to the success of the use of Sinkboxes and the subsequent decline in the duck population, Sinkboxes became illegal in 1935.
Sinkbox
Concord Point Lighthouse was built in 1827 and decommissioned in 1975 as. the oldest lighthouse on the Chesapeake in continuous service. The first light keeper was John O’Neil who served from the age of 58 until his death at age 70 in 1838. O’Neil is known for his bravery during the War of 1812 when the British attacked Havre de Grace and he single handedly defended the town until he was injured and captured before subsequently being released. Four generations of the O’Neil family maintained the lighthouse until 1920 when it became automated.
Concord Point Lighthouse
The Keepers House was also built in 1827 and had several additions added over the years. The restored building shows the outline of the original house on the side.
There were about a dozen or so ships anchored just outside of Annapolis.
Vehicle Carrier
There is a 753 mile sailboat race from Annapolis to Bermuda which would start the day after we arrived. To mark the beginning of the race, the sailboats participate in a parade around Annapolis Harbor. We arrived at the harbor just after the parade had ended but there were still a good many sailboats in the area which we had to maneuver around as sailboats that are under sail have the right of way.
As we made the turn into the channel for the marina, we passed the US Naval Academy.
The first evening that we were in Annapolis, Karen and Ellen contacted the other Loopers at the marina to meet for docktails. We have attended or hosted several docktails but this was the first time we actually got together on a DOCK! There were about 20 of us at one point and it was great fun talking with everyone who are in various stages of completing their Loop.
After cocktails, Karen and Ellen walked to town for much needed pedicures and the boys met us afterwards. Karen and Rob had already had dinner so they went for an ice cream while we went to dinner. Annapolis is a beautiful, bustling town and is much larger than the small fishing towns we have been in lately. There are SO many restaurants.
Just down from our marina and off the Annapolis Harbor is an area known as Ego Alley. This is a small, narrow waterway with boats docked on each side with the basin right at the heart of historic downtown Annapolis. Boats like to parade in and out of Ego Alley and spectators enjoy watching. We watched a big Fleming come down and turn around at the basin and go back out and decided this was NOT something we will do in our boat! It was really spectacular to be right in the hub of downtown and see boats traveling.
We had an amazing tour of the Naval Academy with Karen and Rob and attended church at the Naval Academy Chapel on Sunday. The US Naval Academy was founded in 1845 which prepares midshipmen to become officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. Upon graduation from the Academy, graduates serve a. minimum of five years in the Name or Marine Corps.
Bancroft Hall which houses all 4,500 students. and is the largest dormitory in the country.Inside the entrance to Bancroft Hall.Model of a dormitory room.One side of Bancroft Hall.Top: Upperclassman hat. Bottom: “Dixie Cup” plebe hat.
Below is a photo of the Herndon Monument. First year Naval Academy students are called plebes. At the end of the first year, the monument is covered with vegetable shortening with a “Dixie Cup” hat placed at the top. The class must work together and form a human pyramid until someone reaches the hat at the top of the monument, 21 feet high. The “Dixie Cup” hat is replaced with an upperclassman’s hat signifying that they are no longer plebes but fourth class midshipmen.
Herndon Monument
It was really interesting to hear the reasons for all of the things that plebes are required to do their first year and that it is not a form of hazing but rather teaching them necessary skills.
US Naval Academy ChapelCrypt of John Paul Jones, “Father of the American Navy”. Jones’ remains were in an abandoned grave in France from his death in 1792 until they were recovered and brought here in 1906.One of the officer’s houses on Officers Row on Porter Road.
Another very calm day on the Chesapeake for which we were very grateful.
Ellen spent some time in the pool with Karen and Rob from Off Leash and Caroline and Todd from Sweet Dreams (whom we had first met way back in Key West) while Kevin relaxed on the boat. That evening, the six of us piled into Karen and Rob’s dingy for a short trip over to the restaurant.
The next day we walked around town, went in several shops and had lunch with Karen and Rob. That evening Karen and Rob invited us to their boat for dinner.
We have made it to Maryland! We have been spoiled thus far with wonderful weather and calm water for our first two days on the Chesapeake and it looks like it is going to continue to be good for us. After we docked, the dock master took us to the grocery, liquor and drug stores. Thankfully, we had some leftover Mushroom Risotto for dinner because we were wiped out after three days of travel.
Solomon’s Island was established in 1867. We visited the Calvert Marine Museum and the Drum Point Lighthouse which was built in 1883, decommissioned in 1962 and moved to the Calvert Museum in 1975. One of the lighthouse keepers raised five children in the tiny house!
News flash – Kevin has officially retired and will no longer be working from the boat!
The Dismal Swamp Canal is a 22 mile canal that was hand dug by slaves starting in 1793. The canal opened in 1805 and is the oldest operating man made waterway in the US. There is a lock at the top (in Virginia) and bottom (in North Carolina) of the canal. The Cypress, Gum, Red Maple and Juniper trees release tannins into the water which prohibit the growth of bacteria. As a result, the water is very pure and the color is very dark which makes the surface very reflective. It is often hard to tell where the surface meets the water. The canal is 50 feet wide except in two areas where it is 25 feet wide.
This was our first time transiting through a lock and, by the time we have completed our Loop, we will have transited about 150 more of various types and sizes. Stay tuned as these first two locks are very basic. and a few of the locks are not to be missed! Once we had pulled in to the first lock, told the lock master we had never been through a lock before and gotten instruction from him, he told us a sailboat was coming in and would tie up to our boat. WHAT? We don’t even know what we’re doing! No worries though, everything worked out just fine. Kevin held the bow line that was wrapped around a post and Ellen held the stern line so that we would be up next to the wall of the lock while the sailboat was tied up to Perfect Match.
We often joke with each other about not remembering things – like what city we were in the day before – but we hope to never forget the absolutely breathtaking beauty of our trip through The Dismal Swamp Canal. This is a route that not all Loopers take but we are so glad we decided to take this route!
We stopped at the Welcome Center and toured the museum. A lot of Loopers choose to tie up here overnight but we went on through.Tying up to the lock wall in Virginia.Getting ready to exit the lock.
Once we exited the second lock in Virginia, we were on our way to Norfolk. We passed by a lot of large ships!
We decided to only stay one night in Norfolk since we have been there a couple of times for AGLCA Rendezvous.
We had planned to leave Alligator River Marina early for our Albermarle Sound crossing but there was quite a lot of fog so we delayed our departure about an hour. It was still very foggy (our first time traveling in foggy conditions) but we decided to leave and travel with a couple of other boats, one of which did not have radar so they really needed to follow someone who did! We all kept about a quarter of a mile between us and there was only one time that we could not see the boat in front of or behind us for a short distance. Crossing the Albermarle Sound definitely needs to be done on a good weather day as it can get quite rough. Our crossing was very smooth but there were a lot of crab pots to dodge. It was so much better than our trip on the Alligator River the day before.
We got directions to the grocery store and set off on our bikes. It ended up being about twice as far as we had thought and bike lanes and sidewalks would just randomly end in places and leave us on a highway. That ride was a lot more dangerous than any of our boat trips thus far!
We had planned to only stay one night at Lamb’s Marina but decided to stay an extra day so we would have a better weather day for transiting The Dismal Swamp Canal. Two other Looper boats arrived, Four Pikes and Nowhere Fast, and we hosted cocktails on our flybridge. We had the best time exchanging stories and the other couples did not leave until 9:00!
We were up and out of the marina by 6:00 am in order to make the first bridge opening and lock for the Dismal Swamp Canal. After we had left we realized we had not paid for the extra night we stayed there. This was by far the least expensive marina where we have stayed at $35 a night, including electricity. Ellen called the owner later to make payment and his wife answered and said, “Oh, don’t worry about it.” Ellen insisted that we wanted to make payment to which Mrs. Lamb replied, “Honey, one time I walked out of Belk’s with a blouse on my arm because I couldn’t find pants to match”. So the cheapest marina just became even cheaper at $17.50 a night!
We saw a beautiful rainbow followed by a gorgeous sunset.
Alligator River Marina is just a stop before crossing the Albermarle Sound. Our trip to Alligator River Marina started out so calm in the Pungo Alligator Canal which was about 21 miles. Once we got to the Alligator River, it we had about 2 hours of pretty rough waters before making it to the marina.
The marina is nothing but some docks behind a gas station with a convenience store. The convenience store is known for their fried chicken so most Loopers will place an order, which we did and it was good!
After docking, we took one of the marina’s golf carts to town. While in town, we ran into Becky and Keith from Cat Bottomed Girl whom we had met when we were leaving Oriental and invited them to join us for dinner. While we were talking at the dinner table, another couple who were sitting at the bar, Daniel and Donna from Syzygy, overheard that we were Loopers and we invited them to join us. They have done the Loop twice (Gold Loopers) and are on their third time around! We all had the most wonderful time and closed the place down at 8:00 with plans to all meet again for dinner the next night.
We all met at Belhaven Marina for drinks and were also joined by another couple, Katja and Sven from Rykher. We then went to the Mexican restaurant, El Mariachi. The marina had called ahead to make sure they were open so, when we got there, a server announced very loudly in the very crowded restaurant, “Are you the boat people?” The city manager was eating at a table nearby and came over to welcome us and tell us that they loved having “boat people” come through town. As we were leaving after our meal, we announced to the restaurant that “the boat people” were leaving!
The beautiful manor at the marina which is used for private functions such as weddings.
Today was a nice short trip to Oriental. We had to tie up on the face dock which made for quite a bumpy day/evening with fenders galore set out. Thankfully, neither of us are prone to sea sickness! We have not used the bikes as much lately since we’ve been docking close to the towns but we got the bikes out and went for a nice ride to the Dollar Store and the Piggly Wiggly – Woo Hoo! The Piggly Wiggly actually has a shuttle van back and forth to all of the docks but we enjoyed the bike ride.
We were making good time on our way to Beaufort and arrived at a bridge that needed to be opened for us 10 minutes before the next scheduled opening. We were told that the opening would not occur due to an emergency on the beach and ended up waiting about an hour and a half in 14 mph winds. Luckily, the wind was pushing us one way and the current was pushing us the other way but Kevin still had to work to keep us in the channel. We were also listening to the training shots being fired from nearby Camp Lejeune.
Beaufort is the third oldest town in North Carolina. There are about 150 beautifully restored homes which have plaques with the original owner’s names and year that they were built. In order to be approved for a plaque, the front facade of the home must be true to the original architecture but additions may be made that don’t affect the front view. The homes along the waterfront were absolutely stunning!
The Sloo Home on the right. See story below under the Old Burying Ground photo.
While walking along the downtown waterfront, we were fortunate to spot a couple of wild horses across the creek at the Rachel Carson Reserve.
We visited the NC Maritime Museum which had many wonderful exhibits including artifacts from Blackbeard’s flagship “Queen Anne’s Revenge” which ran aground in Beaufort in 1718.
There is a Watercraft Center where wooden boats are built and restored. The center of the building had been cleared out for an upcoming event so there were no boats in the process of being built but it was still a spectacular area.
We took a bus tour aboard a 1967 English double decker bus and then toured the Beaufort Historic Site which is a collection of six wonderfully restored buildings which depict the Coastal Carolina lifestyle of the 18th and 19th centuries including three homes depicting different levels of wealth, a courthouse, jail and apothecary.
Leffers Cottage, c.1778. Once home to Samuel Leffers, a schoolmaster, merchant and clerk of the court.John C. Manson House, c.1825John C. Manson House, c.1825.Cateret County Courthouse, c.1796The Old Jail, c.1829 and in use until 1954. The jail is currently being restored but we were still able to tour the inside. The jailer and his family lived with the prisoners. Apothecary & Doctor’s Office, c. 1859.
Ellen took the marina loaner car to the Piggly Wiggly for provisions.
The Old Burying Ground established in the early 1700’s. There was a family, The Sloo family, who came to Beaufort from England in the mid 1700’s and became very prosperous. The daughter had always longed to go back to England when her father traveled back there. The father finally gave in to his daughter’s pleas and the mother agreed under one condition – that he would bring their daughter back to Beaufort no matter what. Unfortunately, the daughter became sick on the voyage back to Beaufort and died. The custom for those who perished on a ship was for them to be buried at sea but the father could not break his promise to his wife of bringing their daughter back no matter what. He placed his daughter in a barrel of rum to preserve her and brought her home. She is buried here with the barrel of tum as her casket. Townspeople and visitors still leave toys and stuffed animals at her gravesite.
We had delicious dinner at Clawson’s 1905 Restaurant which was originally a grocery store from 1905 to 1934. The building was home to several shops before being renovated to a restaurant in 1977 and is filled with memorabilia from the grocery store.
The Beaufort Music Festival was across the bay from our marina and Ellen enjoyed sitting on the flybridge and listening to the music our last night in Beaufort.
Before we left for Oriental, we walked around the Olde Beaufort Farmer’s Market which is held every Saturday on the courthouse grounds.
