In which it is a good day ...
I must say we do eat pretty well on this boat - this morning it is Salmon Eggs Benedict!
We had thought not to move until Tues, but we could see the Potomac from our berth and the white caps didn't look so bad, so we decided to go for it. We anticipated some bounce, but we've been through worse. Just then a little fishing boat came in for fuel and we asked them for their opinion. That was the right move because we learned that things were calmer on the MD side where there was less 'fetch' for the wind, so we knew to beeline straight across. Knowing the bounce will only last 1 hour is really key to a good determined attitude.
The wind was fierce and cold, even on the MD side, but calmed as we turned up the Breton Bay River; by the time we got to the Leonardtown free town dock it was peaceful! We really enjoyed this stop. The town is cute and lively, and besides a new town dock (which brings boater revenue into a town) there is a lovely new waterfront promenade and park. It's a great use of what is usually in these towns unsightly and abandoned old ports. They've done a good job educating people about the area's past.
I didn't know floating theaters (theatres?) were a thing, but I guess they were an important part of the waterfront life at the time. This traveling theater served as the inspiration for Edna Ferber's best-selling book Show Boat. She was later approached about turning it into a musical, which were, at the time, light and trivial. She refused until they explained that they wanted to create a new type of musical - something more with more serious storytelling as well as spectacle. And we all remember Old Man River and Can't Help Lovin Dat Man! I loved hearing this background...
As usual, because we are traveling out of season, we were the only boat - and so an object of great curiosity and we had several nice conversations with townspeople. I have to admit to feeling a little prideful - I'm happy to show off our little boat. I hope I will be forgiven for that...
Once Blue Horizon was tied up safely at the end of the dock we put on our walking shoes, grabbed our masks and headed into town to find some lunch. Unlike other towns we have visited that were mostly closed for the season, Leonardtown was alive and well. This may be because it was Saturday, but in any case there were restaurants open, people walking around and plenty of activity. We looked at a couple of places to eat and settled on pizza. The menu was limited to one size only with just a few toppings. We ordered and very soon afterward had gigantic our sausage, olive and mushroom pizza. Looks like left over pizza for breakfast tomorrow.
This is a curious town motto, if you ask me:
But the Biden signs make up for it!
We have noticed more and more Biden/Harris signs as we move northward. Still some Trump flags and signs around but certainly fewer.
We walked over to take a look at the only real 'visitor attraction' - the Tudor House, built in 1798. The website says "A fine example of Georgian architecture" and for being so old the house was in great shape. It currently serves as the head office and library for the St. Mary's County Historical Society (the area is in St. Mary's county). The picture below shows the interesting architectural part of the house - an inset porch.
We slowly wended our way back down the hill on main street back to the waterfront and met a nice couple who are also on a boat: "Bliss". We had seen the boat at the Reedville anchorage and had a very nice chat with Luis and Kim. Boaters love to exchange information on all sorts of things (boats, anchorages, restaurants, marinas, etc), and we had a nice chance to ask them about their lives, their boat and to ask for recommendations. We anticipated that a large part of our journey would be the social interactions with other boaters, but unfortunately this year with COVID we have had very little chance for interaction. So we practically FELL on them - but I think they felt the same - that a socially distanced chat is the next best thing to docktails.
Kim and Luis motoring back to their boat after their afternoon run....it makes us feel kind of lazy!
Making the day even better, there was a cute little wedding down at the waterfront, followed by an absolutely wonderful sunset. YES, I know we see them most every day, but this one was really spectacular. The sky was intensely blue and we wondered if the smoke from the west coast was somehow blocking the red light wavelengths with the result a deeper blue sky than normal.
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