Ready! Set! Go! And we're off! We set out at first light to stick our bow into the Chesapeake. The captain gets nervous upon entering new bodies of water, especially big ones like the Chesapeake Bay. There were some slight rollers as we got started, and then it turned into calm seas, like glass as we headed east towards the eastern shore. We dodged crab pots along the way and saw a few other looper boats, none arriving in Crisfield with us.
We cruised by Tangier Island with hopes of visiting later that day via a ferry boat. We tried every day while we were in Crisfield to get a ferry to Tangier Island. Finally on Thursday, there was a boat that would take us and a boat that would bring us back on the same day. But the tide was so high that we would have needed waders to get from the dock to the boat. So we opted to go to Smith Island for the afternoon instead. We enjoyed lunch, a crabcake of course, and then a walk around the town, a stop into the museum to watch a film about life on Smith Island, and a trip to the Smith Island Bakery for Smith Island layer cake. We opted for banana flavored cake! Yum!
We arrived in Crisfield before noon and were greeted with a piece of the famous Smith Island cake. We put the two pieces into our backpack, a treat for later, and set off looking for a ferry to take us to Tangier. At the city docks, we found a boat full of passengers and provisions heading in that direction. The captain explained that there we no room for us due to prom and graduation this weekend on Tangier. Down the docks, we found boats headed to Smith Island, but not heading back until morning. So instead, we headed into a restaurant, Water's Edge, for a local bite to eat. Karen had her first soft shell crab sandwich. She didn't love it and would order a crab cake sandwich the next day for lunch. Tony enjoyed his Philly Steak sandwich. We walked the town, in and out of a few shops, and chatted with the woman at the visitors center. She provided us with a few ideas of other places to visit over the next few days as we wait out the wind.
On Saturday, we visited the opening of the local museum that talked about the life of the waterman, the oyster and crabbing industry, the history of the town, and the art of carving water fowl decoys. We were so impressed with the art of carving that we set out for the workshop of the Ward brothers, world famous wood carvers. Since it was too far to walk, we accepted a ride from Maria, a volunteer at the museum. At the workshop, we met local carvers and had a tour of the Ward brother's workshop. We also shopped for a treat to share with the high school teachers for teacher appreciation on Monday morning. We stopped in at the local library and picked up some children's books to stock inside the little free library in town.
On Sunday, we had breakfast at From Scratch in town and returned to the boat to do some planning. The wind continued and the temps were cold.
On Monday, we were up early to go to the local high school to share a teacher appreciation treat with the staff there. We'd met one of the high school teachers at the museum on Saturday and he helped us with logistics. We met the principal, assistant principal, dean of students, as well as some other support staff and shared our appreciation of their work in education. We walked back to the boat and stopped in at a few stores along the way.
On Tuesday, we rented a van and took five other loopers from the marina with us to visit the Ward Brothers Waterfowl Museum in Salsibury. WOW! There are some unbelievable examples of water fowl made of wood in that museum! Afterwards, we headed to Chincoteague to see the wild horses on the island. First we stopped at AJ's on the Creek for lunch. Delish! Fried green tomatoes with avocado and crab! 3 of my favorite things! We spotted some while horses on the island, but more impressive was the wind and waves that we found on the Atlantic! WOW! We all decided that it was smart for us to stay put for a few days! When we got back that evening, the crew of Lark invited us to docktails on their boat that included some guitar playing and singing. Good times!
On Wednesday, we finally found the boat to Smith Island that would return in the afternoon! When we returned to the boat after our trip to Smith Island, we get up with Lisbeth and Hubert from Tinn, our new friends from Holland, and set out for the local high school for the band concert. It was a fun concert of student selected pieces with lots of fun percussion. Afterwards, we stopped off at a pizza restaurant and had a yummy stromboli! We laughed a lot and looked forward to hopefully seeing one another again in Annapolis.
On Thursday, it was boat work day followed by docktails on Tinn with Hubert and Lisbeth. We laughed a lot again. Drank too much. And laughed some more. Said good-bye as we discussed departure times the next morning.
With plans to leave at first light, we woke up early to the patter of rain and then thunder and lightening. We waited for the storms to passed and were on our way by 8:15, headed to Oxford!