Tues Oct 13: Baltimore to Rock Hall, Eastern Shore Maryland

 In which we cruise under ominous skies ...

 

The morning greeted us with heavy gray skies and it looked like rain but the weather apps urged us to take a chance.   We followed our usual morning routine with Melanie working and me drinking coffee - she's happy that we have found this routine, rather than starting off at the crack (an unreasonable hour, as far as she is concerned).  It worked out well today as we wanted to get to our destination on a rising tide, so we didn't need to leave until 11am.  Mel got bored about 10:30am so we started 'early'!

 

We said good bye to the jellies - they were pretending to be clouds.

 We cruised out of the enormous Baltimore harbor almost completely by ourselves. We were headed to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake for the first time (other than in a car to Cape Charles) - to Rock Hall.  The visibility was so low halfway across the Chesapeake that we could see no land in front or behind us, and it was as though we were alone on the water.  Spooky.

The industrial complex of the western shore fades from view - looks like something from a post-apocalyptic movie.

 

The skies remained leaden and we watched the radar screen to make sure we could see everything around us.  Fortunately the sky began to lighten as we arrived and entered the harbor between two rock jetties that would keep us safe from waves during the night.  We docked at the Rock Harbor Landing Marina, tied up and walked up to the office to check in.  We were greeted by Naomi in the office and found out that she had lived previously in Georgia - go Dawgs! We reminisced a bit about the Peach State and then took off for a walk around town.   By this time it had turned into a lovely fall day - the gray skies of Baltimore far behind. Rock Hall has a wonderful, if small, center (centre?) and we visited some of the shops.  

 

Poor stores - it's so confusing during this Covid time. We always have to ck websites and then take the precaution of calling if we really want to be sure a place is open.

It was quiet now, but there were locals at the shops and it is clear that on weekends during the summer this is a hoping town.

After our walk we sat on our back "porch" and watched a magnificent sunset.   We have been so lucky to see wonderful sunrises (okay, just a few) and many beautiful sunsets.   But this one was special.  It is one of the few times we have been on able to see the sun go down into the water.  And maybe it is extra special as we are in our last few days of boating for 2020.