Our First Night At Anchor

Wednesday, May 21, we decided not to try and get all the way to Solomons, Maryland. The winds have been fierce here on the Chesapeake every day, and they seem to really kick up at noon. So the 3 of us boats left Deltaville early Wednesday morning and got as far as Reedville, Virginia. When we pulled into their harbor in anticipation of anchoring out, we saw the largest osprey nest we've ever seen--about 4 feet wide by 5 feet tall! With a little head (a "peep" as we call them) just sticking out of the nest, I thought, "What a special welcoming sight!" And indeed it was, because all around us were these large nests--either with peeps in them, or the adult birds were building them. Ospreys were everywhere we looked, and they didn't seem to mind that we were invading their peaceful little spot.

Once we got the anchor set (our first!), we launched the dinghy (our first!), loaded Buddy dog (his first!), and off we went to explore the town. But first Louis had to see if our dinghy would outrun the other two boats' dinghies that we've been traveling along with. Of course his did!

Reedville was, at one time, the third largest menhaden fish processing plant in the world. Now it is still processing, but at a limited pace. It is a pretty, quiet, peaceful little coastal town. All the yards along the main street have beautiful gardens, and all the dogs just roam free. There is a nice museum focusing on the fishing/menhaden industry too. We stopped--first things first--at the local ice cream shop, also the local gossip corner. Homemade amaretto almond--yum!

After riding around some more in the dinghy, we rode back to our boat, dropped off the dog, and headed back over to town for dinner. The Crazy Crab--overlooking the water--has probably some of the best crab cakes we've ever had. We love the Chesapeake! We had a delightful evening--all 7 of us.

After a wonderful, peaceful night at anchor, we awoke to a fantastic Bella Luna still in the early morning sky. What a perfect way to end our first night "on the hook"! We're off to Solomons, Maryland today. We've decided that these 45-50 miles a day are just right!