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Trip's Log
Date: Aug 5 to Sep 2
Total Distance: 120 nm
Route: Potomac River (Colonial Beach, Va), Chesapeake Bay (Solomons
Island, Md)
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| Aug 5 It was sweltering in the
nation's capital. Apparently, a heat wave would be in store for us the
rest of the week. Lo and behold, our electrical system to the shore
power broke down and fried all our appliances - microwave, TV, direct TV
and VCR. And we thought this only happens to someone else... Luckily, we
were able to run the generator to get the a/c going for the night, and
to find an electrician at our marina to look into it the next day.
Aug 6 A/C is now all restored, but the
mercury keeps climbing. At one point, when we got into our car - black
color exterior, mind you - the temperature gauge read 107! Holy molly,
it's even hotter than Malaysia! We will be in D.C. until the end of the
month. We can hardly wait to explore all the museums, memorials and
monuments. We are excited just thinking about it!
Aug 10 A fellow live-aboard boater at our marina, who
works in the U.S. Senate, offered to show us the U.S. Capitol. We took
upon his kind offer. We had the privilege of visiting his work
area which is off limits to the general public. And we were also
thankful for not having to wait in line under the scorching sun to enter
the Capitol!
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We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the nation's capital. The
museums are exceptional, and best of all, free. It is unbelievable. Our
family, Phan and ChinVin, came to visit us the second week we were here.
We visited Arlington National Cemetery, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorial,
most of the Smithsonian museums, the FBI, and the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing. On the weekends, we cruised to Georgetown and
Alexandria with family friend Jacqueline and her family. We feasted on
blue crabs and raw oysters, and good Vietnamese and Chinese food, which
we haven't had in months.
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Washington
Monument in the background
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Sep 1 It is time to leave Washington, D.C. We are glad
because the spiders and their webs at the marina are really getting to
us. Jacqueline and her daughters, Vivien and Yenni, joined us for
our trip to Solomons Island, Md, a 2 days cruise. The kids had a
ball - they learned to navigate and steer the boat. We anchored
off of Colonial Beach for the night, after cruising 62nms. It was
a nice calm evening. We had a beautiful sunset while enjoying a
fancy dinner. Thanks to Jackie, we had steak au poivre, ceasar
salad, Starbucks ice-cream with bananas. C'est si bon!
Earlier, Eileen had told our guests how tranquil and peaceful
anchoring can be. At about 2 in the morning, we woke up to some
serious rocking and banging. We thought some crazy fishermen were
out there, but after checking around to make sure that our anchor wasn't
dragging, we discovered that the winds had picked up considerably; this
was what we get for anchoring out in the open waters! Fortunately,
some people (ok, just Yenni) enjoyed that. All through the
night, the water pump was coming on and off. It turned out that we
also had a leak in the pipes somewhere, because the next day, there was
no more water in the tank! Oh well, these things happen,
especially in boating...
Sep 2 The weather was much cooler, and the seas a little
rougher, but no one got seasick. As we got close to Solomons
Island, the wind blew away Eileen's hat. Sophal wanted to take the
opportunity to practice a "man-overboard" drill, so we tried
to rescue it. It was not an easy feat, but we got the hat back.
We arrived at Town Center Marina around 2pm. After tying up
and washing down the boat, we immediately asked around for a place for
good crabs, which the Chesapeake Bay is abundant with. A fellow
boater recommended an excellent crab house called Sandgates Inn right on
the Patuxent River, about half hour away. The crabs (at $28/doz)
were out of this world! And the softshell crabs were the best we've
ever had. Yum. (We went back 5 more times during our stay at
Solomons Island)
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