Oxford to St. Michaels

Go ahead. Laugh. We traveled over forty nautical miles to travel ten.

This isn't what we'd intended. We thought we'd stay another night in Oxford, or meet As You Wish up San Domingo Creek, which was kind of a back way to get to St. Michaels, just a 15 mile trip.

We got up this morning, took the dogs ashore, ate some breakfast, hung out a bit, then headed into town to take a walk. It had been recommended that we have lunch or dinner at the Robert Morris Inn. As we passed the place we saw folks seated outside, eating breakfast. I'm always up for a second breakfast.

The Robert Morris Inn is named after Robert Morris, who signed all three key documents to American history; The Declaration of Independance, The Articles of Confederations, and The Constitution. The inn was built in 1710, made from the ships that came over at that time. Walking into the building was truly like stepping back into time.

The Tavern at Robert Morris Inn

After looking the menus over we decided to stay. They seated us outside (perfect) then took our order. Right away we could tell that they weren't ready for the crowds. While not packed, there was a steady stream of folks coming to eat, and only three servers to handle them. So, while waiting for our food we did what all looper/mariners do... we checked the weather.

Today would be a beautiful day, calm waters, little wind. Tomorrow, however, the wind would come up and seas were projected to be 1 - 2 feet. Not bad. But not great, either. And Monday seemed to be a terrible day to travel. Still reeling from last Monday's trip we decided to get to St. Michaels today, then do the quick jaunt Sunday to get to a secluded and protected anchorage Sunday, and hang out there until Tuesday. By the time the food hit the table, we were headed out.

Sunset in Oxford with As You Wish

For the most part the trip was fine. We passed a number of fish traps, which look like fences in the middle of the water. It's incredibly difficult not to panic as you float by... are we close? Is there land there? Are we going to round aground? We didn't, by the way. That was all fine. 

Once we rounded the corner off the Eastern Bay onto Miles River, traffic picked up. That was the main reason we initially weren't going to travel -- gorgeous Saturday means everyone who owns a boat is in their boat. The run into St. Michaels was like a race between the weekenders, casting wakes everywhere.

Boats and tourist fill the little town. We get anchored (which was a bit more challenging this time), then took the dogs to shore. When we came back we weren't happy with the anchor job at all (we seemed pretty close to another anchored boat), so we tried again. After a few minutes, we weren't happy with that position, either. Unlike yesterday, when it all went smoothly, this time it was a frustration, largely out of our potential to swing into surrounding vessels (which there were none of last night). Eventually we got settled and joined some friends in town for dinner.

See? This doesn't look good, does it?!