I know it's been a while, but we've been busy! Let's get you caught up....
We pulled into Baltimore Harbor Thursday evening. Unfortunately, I woke up on Friday with a cold. Again. Or maybe it was the same cold. Either way, it was super annoying. Anyway, I decided to fight the cold the only way I know how: lots and lots of whining. And I bought a bunch of orange juice and some more sweaters so I could feel cozy while pumping myself full of vitamin C.
Either the orange juice or the shopping worked, because I was feeling considerably better when we met up with our college roommates and current Baltimorians (Baltimorers? Baltimorites?) Michelle and Justin for a delicious dinner, ice cream, and wander around Baltimore. We had a ton of fun catching up and trying not to trip on all of the old-timey cobblestone roads.
As we meandered around, we couldn't help noticing people zipping all over the place on electric scooters with varying degrees of coordination. Apparently, Baltimore just got a ton of these rentable scooters, just like many cities let you rent bicycles, except these don't require any exercise.
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| A wild scooter in its natural habitat. |
The next day, Justin decided he had a new dream: to ride one of those scooters. I reluctantly agreed to give it a try. We managed to wrangle a pair and set off towards the National Aquarium. At least, we tried. Justin, (of course) was a born scooter speaker. His scooter scooted along obediently, speeding up and slowing down at his lightest touch. My scooter, however, was not as inclined to be ridden. I couldn't quite figure out how to get it to go one speed, I kept bouncing all over the place on the cobblestone streets, and the easiest way I could figure to stop was to fall off the thing. I did not enjoy it, which was unfortunate because I had accidentally pre-paid $20 worth of scooting in my snot-riddled overly-congested confusion.
But we made it to the aquarium, and I ditched my scooter on the side of the road as fast as I could. I had been to the aquarium before, since York College (where I went to school) is only a 45 minute drive away and I was a dork who went to aquariums on weekends instead of partying. But it was still a ton of fun to check out all of the sea critters again.
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| Blurry shark! Do do do, do do do... |
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| It's an anemenone...an amenone...in an anemenonony.... |
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| Let's go jellyfishing! I'm ready!!! |
We spent another day in Baltimore enjoying the safe harbor and grocery store within a few feet of our anchorage, then left Monday morning to head down the Chesapeake. We had a pretty uneventful sail, but we went under some really neat bridges.
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| This gives me some perspective. |
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| Sunshine! (Sparkle sparkle) |
After Breton Bay, we started back up the Potomac, and we were surprised by 30 knot winds and eight foot waves. Justin was driving and I was down below, doing my best to keep my lunch down. Normally, I don't have a problem with seasickness, but that day was nuts. Trying to get to the bathroom and dig around in the cabinet to find the Dramamine was not helping when all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and wait for my stomach to stop doing an unnecessarily exuberant interpretive dance.
The cats were also not having a great time. With so much movement from the waves, gravity was not staying where they normally expect it to be. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure water was moving in strange directions too, and I think water got into their safe hole somehow. I looked up, and suddenly saw two black and one orange and white blurs shoot out of their hole. Apollo ran under the sink and wedged himself in among the pipes and equipment. (Under the sink is an approved back-up Apollo hiding space; there's nothing in there that can hurt him, unlike inside the engine.) Sputnik however, jumped onto the bed and tried to burrow into the blankets.
As cute as Sputnik is, he's not very bright. On the bed is the worst place for a cat to be in rough weather (see
The Moistening, if it hasn't already been burned into your memory.) In order to prevent possible future poopy beds, I had to pull a very upset Sputnik out from the blankets. Now, of all our cats, Sputnik is the least likely to want to be cuddled. He likes to sit next to you, or on top of your foot, just far enough away that it's inconvenient for you to pet him. But that day, I grabbed him from the blanket, and the poor guy was shivering in terror. I held him on the couch for half an hour, muttering nice things and telling him we were all going to be okay. It's too bad he doesn't speak English and couldn't understand a word I said. (And that I couldn't pop him a Dramamine.)
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| Poor baby :( |
Once he calmed down and got back to his anti-social self, I made a nest for Sputnik to hide in on the couch. And that means you get to play a game of spot the cat!
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Can you find the cat in this picture?
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| Spot the cat: Level Expert |
After two hours of those rough waters, we pulled in behind Cobb Island, where the waves of the Potomac wouldn't bother us. We decided we had had enough stress for one day and didn't go any further that night. Instead, we treated ourselves to some yummy seafood at Captain John's Crabhouse.
The next day, all of our four and two-legged crew members were feeling back to normal. We planned on anchoring in a small cove about an hour away from Washington DC. We pulled in around 8:00, and I was baffled to find ourselves looking at a giant ferris wheel. I thought I was back at Atlantic City for a minute.
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| I don't know where this was. It could have been Narnia. |
Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay there for very long. It was seven feet deep where we were anchored, which isn't a problem for us normally. (We have a five foot draft, which means we can go through as little as five feet of water.) However, when we anchored it was high tide. In a few hours, that seven feet of water would become four, and our boat would become very stuck. So Justin went back up top around 10:00 at night and drove the last hour to Washington DC. I went to sleep.
The next morning I woke up, and we were in Washington DC! Stay tuned for Part 2 and our week in the capitol!
tl;dr: We enjoyed Baltimore and hit some rough weather on the way to Washington DC.
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