Cheryl’s Notes:

We sailed up to the Patuxent River Wednesday and motored into Solomons, MD. Our favorite spot to anchor was open, so we set up camp. It was another hot one. We spent the afternoon trying to get cool and only went ashore to get a bag of ice. We did find out that our friends Jackie and George of Sea Otter II are no longer here for the summer. We were told that George had a bad health scare while traveling on the boat, and they have decided that they need to give up cruising and have settled in Vero Beach. We wish them the best of luck, but will miss visiting with them.

Yesterday we had another one of our great adventures. Without Jackie to give us advice, we ventured out on our own to take a bus to a Walmart for provisions. There are two stores in opposite directions. We missed the bus heading south. A bus heading north stopped and we asked the driver if she was going to Walmart. Her response was yes, so we hopped on and paid our $.50 each (love the senior discount). It turns out that she was not the direct route to the various shopping areas in Prince Frederick. Instead, we had a great tour of the rural Maryland area. She finally dropped us off on the main drag in front of the store. After shopping, we caught the direct bus back. This one also stopped on various rural roads, complete with U-turns at dead end streets. We were so lost that I am not even sure where we were. However, we did pass a total of five different post offices, so I know that we were in five different zip code areas.

We have now figured out the bus schedule to head south across the bridge. Today we will try to take a bus to see the new Pirates movie. I can taste the popcorn already. It was really hot here yesterday and is again today. We try to think of things to do in air conditioning. We are going to wait and do our grocery run to Food Lion this weekend when it is cooler.

John’s Notes:

Having the “best” anchorage is always lots of fun. We get to watch everyone else scramble for their little bit of heaven. Some of it, however, might be in shallow water.

Five zip codes, several school districts and two area codes. All for about $50 worth of stuff at Walmart. The joys of cruising.

Had an email from our friends John and Jerry in Atlanta yesterday. Seems like we might not be the only ones that could be making the big switch to a trawler. Thanks John for reminding us of all the amenities that we are currently missing. For now though, we are enjoying the boat we have and really appreciate the upgrades that we have added. There is still something about an upright reefer and air conditioning for Cheryl that hold considerable appeal. She is really suffering with the heat. The thing is, if we back in New Bern, the heat would be the same. We might have air conditioning at the dock but not when we are cruising.

Pirates today. Three hours of uninterrupted air conditioning.