Tour of the Chesapeake, Part 1

After completing our land-based excursions to Maryland, New York, Florida, and Connecticut, Steve and I were ready to free Starry Night from her Galesville mooring and start our tour of the Chesapeake. 

As always, we were at the mercy of the wind and so we started our journey by crossing from the western shore of Maryland, where Galesville is located, to the Eastern Shore at Rock Hall. We hoisted the mainsail with high hopes of sailing, but the winds were too light and we ended up motoring our way across. The trip was uneventful although Steve noticed white smoke or steam coming from our diesel engines' exhaust. We surmised that it was due to atmospheric conditions since air temperatures were beginning to drop but we ran the motors at lower speeds (where the steam stopped) until we could take a closer look.

Rock Hall was established in 1707 and was formerly called Rock Hall Crossroads. In the Colonial Era, it was a shipping point for tobacco, seafood and other agricultural goods and also a transfer point for travelers. It remains a fishing and seafood harvesting town, as well as a popular summer party spot for the boating community. By the time we arrived on September 18th, the summer crowds were nowhere to be seen and the town was very quiet.

We spent a couple of low-key days there, enjoying the scenery and starting the trouble-shooting process for our motors. Steve found a broken impeller in one of the motors and cleaned out the intake ports for the engines' cooling water to ensure sufficient flow. 

Statue Honoring Oystermen in Rock Hall, MD

Main Street, Rock Hall

From Rock Hall, we motored to the Middle River near Essex, MD, We were interested in checking out this spot as a potential home base for next summer since it is within a 20-minute drive from Jessie and Will's house. It also looked like a protected anchorage to ride out an approaching storm. We had hoped to celebrate Steve's birthday on Friday evening with them before the storm arrived, but the wind started gusting earlier than expected. We settled for lunch for two at the restaurant within view of the boat and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, in lieu of birthday cake.

Relaxed Arrival at Middle River, MD

Middle River, MD

Anchoring was a bit more challenging than usual due to a bottom of mixed clay and mud and, after five unsuccessful attempts, we abandoned the anchorage we had selected and moved to a new one where a few other boats were anchored. This time we anchored without issue and rode out the storm there. The storm was a non-event for us; the location was exceptionally protected and with an added bonus of being adjacent to a nice park for Jake-walking. 

We said our good-byes to Jess and Will after dinner that Sunday evening and prepared for our next stop on our tour:  Kent Narrows, back on the eastern Shore.

Based on the weather forecast, we decided not to leave the next day. We waited until Tuesday and were rewarded with a full day of sailing!! No motors needed :-)

We sailed to Kent Narrows, which we had chosen primarily as a convenient waypoint between Middle River and our next destination. We were pleasantly surprised to find a trail that transversed the island and took advantage of lovely weather to take a walk, followed by lunch.  Lunch turned out to be the highlight of our stop at Kent Narrows. We ate at the Harris Crab House, where I had Crab Imperial which was out of this world. Steve had the Local's Special, which he reported to also be amazing, and which had such generous portions that the meal provided his lunch for the next day as well.

Entry to Kent Narrows

Walking the Cross-Island Trail on Kent Island

Lunch at Harris Crab House

The next stop on our tour was Oxford, MD which is also on the eastern shore of Maryland.  Oxford is a small town comprised primarily of retirees and tourists, with no real infrastructure to speak of beyond an inn, the Highland Scottish Creamery, a small general store and a few restaurants. Even so, our gorgeous anchorage in Plaindealing Creek and Oxford's interesting history made it one of our favorite stops. 

Sunset at Plaindealing Creek Near Oxford

The name "Oxford" first appears on a map of Virginia and Maryland in 1670 and in 1673 the landowner, William Stephens, Jr. donates 100 acres of land for the establishment of the town of Oxford. Although it will take ten years for the commission to propose a plan for the town and twenty years for the first home to be built in Oxford, it is already building ships and engaging in commerce with England at this time. A ferry is also established that is arguably the oldest privately owned ferry still in operation in the U.S. 

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In 1738, Robert Morris, Sr. arrives in Oxford from Liverpool, England. He is a manager from the trading company Foster Cunliffe & Sons and oversees the trade of tobacco, pork, animal hides and lumber. During the next decade, African slaves and indentured Scottish prisoners from the Battle of Culloden are imported and Oxford becomes a major trading hub.

One of Oxford's gems is the Robert Morris Inn, which is the oldest full-service inn in the U.S and has been in operation since 1800. The building was originally constructed in 1710 and was known as the River View House. Some of the home's earliest guests include George Washington, Robert Morris and other dignitaries. More recently, Steve and Laura Holland were seen dining there. 

Robert Morris Inn, circa 1710

Oxford's prosperity wanes when trade with England comes to a halt during the American Revolution.  In 1793, there are only 93 residents and 13 homes. 

 Oystering, shipbuilding and farming fuel a resurgence in Oxford's economy in the late 1800's and the tourism industry grows as a result of steamboat and rail travel. In 1880, Oxford is dubbed the "Cape May of Maryland" and is a popular vacation destination. At its peak in 1900, Oxford's population is 1243 and, in addition to 9 seafood packing houses, the town offers the full range of necessary services including clothing and shoe stores, grocery stores and pharmacies, doctors and dentists, livery stables, carpenters and a bank. Unfortunately, this time period also marks the end of the oyster boom due to overfishing, pollution and lack of regulation. In the intervening years since 1900, the population of Oxford has fallen to its current level of approximately 650 but it remains a lovely vacation spot which is well worth a visit.

The Academy House Oxford 1848

Garden at the Oxford Museum

After a few days at Oxford, we were ready to move on and since there was no wind predicted in the foreseeable future we motored to Solomon's, MD.  Solomons is a repeat location for us and the draw was two-fold: 1. we needed a stop-over point between Oxford and St. Mary's City and 2. we knew that there was a mooring field we could use, with commensurate access to the dinghy dock and laundry facility. When we arrived, we learned that the mooring pricing had gone from a bit expensive to outrageous, so we skipped laundry and just settled for Happy Hour. 🍸

Drinks and Appetizers at Lighthouse Restaurant & Dockbar

Thus ended part 1 of our Tour of the Chesapeake.  You can see the path we took in the maps below. The first map is zoomed out to show the major cities in the vicinity, and the zoomed in view is numbered to show the locations of each of our stops. (The open circles are only used to create the approximate path of our journey and do not represent stops.)

Overview of the Chesapeake Bay

Stops on our Tour of the Chesapeake