Tues Sept 29: Potomac Creek to Colton's Pt Marina

 In which we are strafed by bugs ..

The carnage....oh lord, the carnage.  When we came out on deck there were bug carcasses and BRIGHT green bug poop/blood EVERYWHERE.... The best part about the poop is that is leaves a stain, even when the boat is sprayed down.  It's going to take SCRUBBING.  Remind me again, why are we doing this?

Even better - it was my turn on the anchor chain so, of course, EVERY SINGLE LINK came up muddy.  Grump grump grump .

We headed for Colton's Point Marina, because they can fix our dingy motor, our Meander friends are there, Rick wants to look at it for winter storage and the wind/rain  - - - she is a'comin... 

I was rolling my eyes about the storm that was coming, but then we headed out into the River and saw this:

Have you ever seen the movie, The Day After Tomorrow (I love disaster movies - they are so much more relaxing than day-to-day life right now).  This looked exactly like that, where once you move into the danger zone there is no hope for you:

 

Ack - here we go, under the edge - all blue sky left behind.

 

 It just looked ugly, but it wasn't.  Like a Pit Bull.  It was dark but calm, and we made it to Colton's Pt early, as the current was pushing us along.  There is amazing tide/current even up in DC, so far from the ocean.  Rick thinks that these bodies of water are so big they create their own tides, rather than being pushed by the ocean.  Since we are talking fascinating water facts, in case you were wondering where the VA/MD border line is, MD owns the Potomac to the high tide mark on the VA side.  So I suppose you could be standing on sand in VA at low tide and actually be in MD.  You will thank me someday when this comes up in Trivial Pursuit.

I must say I was proud of my docking at Colton's Marina. So smooth that we didn't need any help with the lines, which was good because the dockhands were all at lunch and not answering our radio call.  Unfortunately, we were in the wrong place and so Rick did a second docking so we could reach the 50 amp power. His was more complicated, yet still smooth, but I am taking points away because there were two dock hands to help by that time.

In the middle of nowhere (as we so often are), in a worn-down marina (ditto), there was lovely piano music issuing from somewhere.  I knew that meant our friends Carolyn and Lynn were around, and Carolyn was playing the piano!

It may be no-where, but the two marina owners were fully focused on customer service.  The second we docked a dingy motor expert was at hand, as they had heard our plea for marriage - saving mechanical skill.  Dirty carburetor - FIXED!!!!  Remember that I was pretty sure magic wasn't going to fix it.  Just sayin' ....

Off we went to drinks and snacks with our friends from Meander.  Gin and tonic was involved so I can't remember much more...

So I'm going to leave you with the boat name of the week.  This really makes me giggle...  Can you have a second swan song???  This is as good as the boat we say which was names Last Chance III.

Mon Sept 28: Mt Vernon anchorage to Potomac Creek anchorage

 In which we look forward to a break from the big city and schedules ...

The last few days have been fun but exhausting.  We are ready for fewer people and no scheduled events.

We pulled up the anchor after a calm night (Rick was on anchor duty so, OF COURSE, the chain was COMPLETELY CLEAN) and motored south out of the Washington DC area.  Mr Weather says 'rain is coming' (rain/wind is always either coming or going away so it's hard to muster any interest in this announcement)  so we want to get a bit further down the road than our original destination of Occoquan River and we set course for an anchorage in Potomac Creek (off the Potomac River - Really?  They couldn't think of literally any other name??). 

The trip back down the Potomac took us back past Quantico Marine base where we saw many funded-by-our-tax dollars helicopters, and even an a MV-22 Osprey tilt-wing airplane (Rick had to geek out a bit about that).   Further down the river we passed the Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay.  This is an area on the Maryland side of the river where they salvaged and the sunk about 30 wooden boats that had been made to help out in WWI.  We couldn't get close to the boats themselves but the wreckage was clear. 

  

Why don't we see this in more scary films?  We had never heard of it before.

 

It was a quiet little anchorage and we had a relaxed afternoon, with Rick taking a quick bath in the now cold water off the back of the boat.  During much of the trip northward we had water temperatures in the 80's but not we are down at about 67 degrees so it was a chilly bath!  See Kim - we had down time!  (My boss is worried there is never any apparent down time - that's just because I don't write about it.  Too boring for my intrepid readers).

I used my down time trying to decide on a Biden yard sign.  I was raised to never force my opinions on others (clearly I got over that as a parent) - never put bumper stickers on the car, never put signs in the yard.  But I feel like we have arrived at pre-WWII Germany status and to say or do nothing now may be a horrible regret in the future.  A yard sign is the least we can do.  Lots of great options:

As the sun went down the moon came up and we had a wonderful sunrise/moonrise scenario!   

 

THEN (duh-duh-DUH) we heard the sound.   At first we couldn't figure out what it was and then the bugs started coming out.   There was a hatch of some sort, and there were so many little flying insects that the air hummed as though a big motor had been turned on in the distance.  We had to turn off the lights and screen-up in order not to be overwhelmed.  It was crazy how many millions of bugs swarmed around the boat..... in the end the screens held and we lived to tell this tale.  This is not a 'found narrative' kind of story. 

Sun Sept 27: DC to Mt Vernon anchorage

 In which we pay our respects to George ...

We talked Fabiana and Flavio into joining us for our trip down river to Mt. Vernon.   They were an excellent crew!  They even brought cupcakes from THE place...

 Fabiana was an exchange student from Brazil with Rick's family in 1982, and has been part of the family every since.  So I guess that makes her my sister-in-law...

It was a cloudy but nice morning for our 2-hour trip to anchor across the Potomac from George Washington's home.  It was mostly an uneventful trip - which is always what you hope for.   We had Flavio drive for a spell and at one point he said "I think something is wrong" - he had gotten out of the channel and was in 2 ft of water when Rick looked up from his phone. Yikes!  There was a hard left turn to get us back to the main channel between the buoys and we were quickly back in deep water. Crisis averted. Note to self:  stay off cell phone when supervising new drivers.

We dropped anchor across the river from Mt. Vernon and had a wonderful lunch.   After lowering the dinghy and coaxing the finicky outboard motor into reluctantly starting, we motored over to the Mt. Vernon dock for our tour of the Grist Mill and Distillery.   But, of course (because we dared say the word 'uneventful' earlier), the motor cut out about 150 feet from the dock - and I got an upper body workout with the oars while Rick whacked the motor.  Because whacking always solves things.  To impress our friends even further, the dock was in a a terrible state and we had to climb through cobwebs to get to dry land. 'Memorable', I am sure they will say later when they tell people about their boating adventure.

We had all planned to take the Grist Mill/Distillery tour at 3pm, and it was now 2:30pm so we hustled up through the grounds to the Education Center where we should have been able to take a shuttle - as the Grist Mill is 3 miles away from the main area.  But NO.  They weren't running shuttles to the Grist Mill at this point in the season/or due to Covid.  It was hard to tell.  They suggested we drive.  I got a little hot around the collar, but what could be done.  Mt. Vernon is in the middle of nowhere and Ubers there are like unicorns. 

We decided to salvage what we could and enjoy the main property - which is impressively restored:

 And I can appreciate that the Washington Family supports the idea of masks.  He was always an innovator.

As a, among other things, farm girl I was excited to see the 16-sided barn - our family barn is only regular-sided.  We need to step things up a notch.

 

 

After about 1 MILLION years of walking, we left Fabiana and Flavio to find their way back to DC (they were lucky and did get an Uber-corn) and headed back to the dinghy -with cautious optimism that it would start.  Get real - This is 2020.  It didn't.  I put my head down and started to row (while Rick, like a crazy person, continued to try to start the motor as though by magic). I am not going to lay odds on how our marriage would have fared - the anchorage spot is FAR AWAY from the dock.  But I was able to hail a lovely family on a passing boat and they gave us a tow. A cupcake seemed a small price to pay for a stable marriage so I was happy to part with one.

They were SO sweet, and cute!

 

Possibly the universe felt a little badly about the rowing and the lack of shuttles (and the political dumpster fire, actual fires, upcoming 'debate', hurricanes, brain-eating amoeba, etc) because it gave us an amazing end to the day.

 

 

Sat Sept 26: Day 3 DC and Alexandria, VA

In which we make our butts sore by exploring the area by bike ...

We had planned to meet our old Dunwoody friends, the Greenbergs for lunch, but due to some concern about COVID and delayed testing that didn't work out.  We were sad not to see them but we will be back through here in a month or so after we put the boat up for the winter, so maybe we can see them then. 

Speaking of Covid - why doesn't every door in the US have one of these foot/open plates?!

 

We found a place to rent bikes - Bike and Roll - and took off on our nice Trek hybrid bikes.  Yes - we do have bikes on the boat.  That we did not use, for some reason.  The DC area has a huge number of bike paths and Melanie had found the Mt. Vernon river trail that allowed us to ride from Washington to the wonderfully picturesque city of Alexandria.   We had one main goal: get haircuts!   We found a Supercuts and were triumphant in our efforts.  And to top it off, there was a hardware store right next door where I could get some screws that I needed.  And to top THAT off there was a restaurant next door where Mel finally tried chicken and waffles.

 

An artery stopper for sure.

We then rode off to explore the old town:

The 'Painted Ladies' and the 'Spite House' - said to have been built to keep people from walking between the houses.  One of the narrowest houses in the US.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was overcast, but the temperatures were great and we enjoyed the ride back to DC.

 

 

The main activity seemed to be families picnicking at the park by Regan Airport.  The runways end/begin just beyond the park and people were out in force to watch.  Sadly, not too much air traffic right now.

 

Everyone was out for fresh air!

Leaves are beginning to change.

We took the long way back into DC and ended up on the outskirts of Georgetown.  This is the lovely Kennedy Center.

 We tried to ride back by the White House so Mel could get some better pix of the protest signs, but all the Evangelicals in the US were in DC for some prayer event and it was too hard to get through the crowds.  Too many people and it was also hard for me to keep Mel from engaging in spirited conversation about how being anti-abortion is not necessarily being pro-life, and how we are all  pro-life since, obviously, being pro-women's reproductive health does not = pro-death.

 

A rainy night but the Washington Monument is still a stirring beacon...

 

Fri Sept 25: DC Museums

 In which we get museum fatigue ...

Second full day in DC and we are already a bit tired.  We walked over 6 miles yesterday.  AND - we aren't used to so many PEOPLE. That, plus the walking has made us feel tired quickly. Luckily I have a fab husband and he brought me a chai this morning from a local stop!

We had a few hours of Big Bus transport ticket left so we got on the bus and went back to the memorial area. We visited the memorials at a walking pace - Lincoln, FDR (a  memorial that Rick doesn't remember seeing when he was 12 and visited), Vietnam War, Korean War, MLK (new since I was last here) ...

 Bless the people who fight for us - like my dad, in WWII.

 

Then on to China Town for a quick lunch before our appointed ticket time for the National Gallery.

The Smithsonian and most museums have been closed but recently opened for limited crowds and I scored tickets to the National Gallery.   Upon arrival we learned that only about 1/16 of the museum is open, and the one thing we wanted to see - a Degas exhibit - had a 2 hour line.   What's the point of having a time stamped ticket if, when you get there, you still have to wait 2 hours   We looked at the other open areas - a display of old furniture and some very nice "practice" paintings of landscapes, clouds, water, etc.  Ever young painter needs to practice painting to become a master.  One of the exhibits referred to sky painting as 'skying', which I'm going to use for when I take pix of the sunset.

We did enjoy the Sculpture Gallery:

How creepy is this!!!

 

I love this - you can see it pop either in or out.

 

This cheered me up!

 

 

Next up - the Native American Cultural Center - we were pretty tired by then, but Rick enjoyed the Inca Trail exhibit, and I enjoyed sitting on a bench!  

We finally dragged ourselves home (7+ miles today) and found our constant companions, helicopters, still on the go.   This must be the the helicopter highway - we probably saw 40 helicopters each day including the big ones used to fly the president around.

 

 

Boat name of the day:

It was Friday so we had big plans for the night.  We did laundry and took showers!  Dinner on the boat and off to bed.

Thurs Sept 24: DC

 In which we hop-on and hop-off the SHIT out of that bus ...

Speaking of poop - pumpout happened at 9am sharp - so Rick was a happy camper for the day!  I mean, we left our poop in Washington DC, what better place is there to do that???  He gets so stressed when our poop remains on the boat (huge eye roll).

This is by far the nicest marina we've stayed in.  In fact, we wouldn't be staying here normally, but it's only $3/foot due to off season - usually it's $6.  They gave us electronic key cards to get into and out of the marina and the facilities.   CYC, as it is known, was founded in 1892 so there are some really old boats here...no really, it is a place with lots of tradition and history, but mostly they have really nice showers and bath rooms.

Below the entry door which was located right in the newly renovated "Wharf" district in DC.  I'm ashamed to admit it, but I always act really important when I flash the key to get onto the docks.  Yeah - I'm a celebrity.  I have a VIP card...

Look how close we are to everything!

We decided that since our wallets were already on fire from paying for this nice marina that we would brunch! We stopped at a cuban place for coffee, a cuban breakfast sandwich and a wonderful concoction of eggs, garbanzos and chorizo. Very tasty.

 

 

The we went off to the Big Bus tour bus pick up site where were waited and waited and waited for a bus.  I had an online fight with the customer service bot to figure out what was going on but eventually a bus showed and we hopped on.  We like to take a tour bus the first day to get the lay of the land and figure out what we want to see close up.  We have previously seen a lot of Washington, but thought this might help us narrow things down.  The problem with Washington is that there is too much to see.

The bus stop is right next to the International Spy Museum with the James Bond car!   See what I mean by too much to see! I wasn't all that into seeing this museum, but then we coincidentally heard an interview with Jonna Mendez, who was, I am not making this up, Chief of Disguises for the CIA. CHIEF OF DISGUISES!!!  Once she went into a meeting with Bush (who had been CIA and knew what they could do) and then PEELED OFF HER FACE.  She invented that move, which Tom Cruise copied in Mission Impossible.  I need to immediately go see her YouTube Videos.  And I need to come back and see this museum when we have more time ...

The tour took us past the principal monuments - Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, MLK, Roosevelt, Vietnam, Korea, WWI, WWII.  And then towards the Capitol:

But our real goal was to get to the Supreme Court building so we could honor RBG.   We jumped off the bus, walked around the Capital and found a huge gathering of people paying their respects. Of course there were some crazies shouting out to repent, but overall it was a wonderful coincidence that we were here at this time...and we were glad to be able to pay our respects.  Mostly I cried and Rick hugged me.

Black Lives Matter Plaza...need we say more?

There are other things in DC that make us less inspired....  Like the Dump Hotel.  Where the Grifter-In-Chief is making money from the office of President.

This should be an inspiring sight - but, right now, it is not.  It scares and makes me feel embarrassed.  We somehow became a second world country with a dictatorship.  And look how far away they need to keep people.  Shouldn't that be a sign that something is not right...

Our Big Bus tickets included the Night Bus - a tour on the same bus to the same places (more or less) but in the evening with the lights on.   This was great, as I had never done a night tour of DC.  And Mr Weather called it right that tonight was the best night.  We stopped at the Lincoln Monument and had a wonderful view back down the Capital Mall.  

 

I know this is blurry - but I thought it really captured our country.  In the background rich (usually old white guys) people tell lies.  In the foreground people try to effect change.

Sorry to get so worked up - it's been an emotional day.  Thinking that a man who has been accused by 20 women of assault could presume to 'replace' RBG.... The reason Amy Coney Barrett can step through this door is because women like RBG opened it for her.  And her goal (and the Republican Party's) is to close that and other doors for women for generations to come.