Day 260: Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Port to Port: Chesapeake City, Maryland
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: 0 Stayed At: Free Dock
Mile 0 to Mile 0: Chesapeake City is another old town with an interesting history. The C&D (Chesapeake & Delaware) Canal, which passes right through the center of the town, was key to the town’s early success. It used to have several locks along the waterway which provided employment and customers for town businesses. Ferries were also busy transporting travelers across the canal. The city thrived during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and many old building and homes survive from this period. Then the canal was modified to eliminate the locks – it is now a sea level canal – so ships can traverse it without stopping. Surprisingly, the C&D Canal was the third busiest canal in the world in the 1960’s. Ocean going ships from around the world still pass through on a daily basis. A major bridge was built to replace the ferries and now Chesapeake City has had to reinvent itself as a small, quaint tourist town on the waterfront of the historic C&D canal. It’s not big but they have tried very hard to make the most of what they have. We are glad we stopped to smell the roses.
Today was the first really hot and humid day we have had in a long time. We went to the Chesapeake Inn and Marina and shared a BBQ chicken pizza and smoothie for lunch. I spent some time at the library a little over a mile from downtown – partly for the AC and partly to get some projects done. By the time I left the temps had moderated and a nice breeze kept me cool. Cindy stayed on the boat to read and fix the bug screen for the forward hatch.
We lazed around the rest of the afternoon, had crackers and cheese for dinner and started watching a movie on Netflix. After a while we heard a noise and found out we had a new neighbor, David on Motley Crew – a 24’ O’day we had first met in Baltimore but hadn’t gotten to talk to for very long. He has traveled this area of the east coast extensively. We chatted across boats until the mosquitos drove us inside. Hopefully, he won’t leave tomorrow and we will be able to share some more stories.
