Steve and Laura's Excellent Adventure

Another month has passed quickly, and here we are at the end of August. We've spent most of our time since my last post on land. Our United States Capitol We started our land-based activities with a day trip to Washington, D.C., specifically to visit some of the Smithsonian museums.  We took the train to D.C.  from the town of Laurel, MD which allowed us to avoid city traffic and dropped us off right at the entrance of the National Museum of Asian Art, one of the places I wanted to visit. One of the things I learned while preparing for our trip was that the Smithsonian is named for the illegitimate son of an English Duke who bequeathed his estate - should his nephew die without heirs - to the United States for the establishment of an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge".  The Smithsonian Castle is shown in the background of the selfie below. It houses a visitor welcome center as well as James Smithsonian's crypt and information about his life. Unf

                    *Cover design and photo credit:  Wilbur Ryan  Our luck with the weather had finally turned! Our overnight trip from Manteo to the Chesapeake was beautiful and we operated with wind as our power source for this leg of the journey.  In fact, we made such good time that we traveled much further than planned, stopping at Point Lookout, Maryland on July 13th. We found a small anchorage which was just deep enough for us, and which had dinghy dock access to a State Park.  Anchorage at Point Lookout, Maryland During our explorations the next day, we learned that this location is notable from an historic perspective; John Smith landed here in 1608 during his survey of the Mid-Atlantic region, it was raided during the American Revolution due to its strategic location, it served as an important observation post during the War of 1812, and was the site of Union Fort Lincoln and  prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. A reconstruction of Fort Lincoln and som

Where were we....ah yes:  St. Augustine. Steve, Laura and Starry Night in St. Augustine We had planned to spend a few days in St. Augustine, visiting several friends who live there and nearby, and also exploring a bit since we hadn't taken the opportunity during our last stop. This also allowed us to try to wait out the severe weather patterns that had plagued our northward journey until this point.  Hanging Out with Ed and his son, Edmund Ed's lovely girl, Melly St. Augustine is, of course, the oldest city in the United States and is home to many historical sites.  It's beautifully maintained and - since my last visit - has turned into quite the party town! Our mooring field was located right in the middle of the tour boat path, and sometimes I felt like I was part of the tour.  Hanging out towels?  Wave back to thirty people taking pictures of you from their tour boat! Bachelorette party on the party barge?  Stand up and start dancing as they pass!! I have 20 new best fri