We have been in Cambridge, MD for the past 3 full days waiting for better weather...
The southeastern U.S. has had days of rain, thunderstorms, tornados, etc. so we can hardly complain about strong winds and rain. It has rained regularly during the past three days, but according to the weather reports, the 3 day total is only around 3 inches. Cambridge is a pretty town with historic homes along the Choptank River, which is where our marina is located. The inner harbor is lined with many 4 story condos but the outer harbor has a more traditional look with waterfront restaurants and fishing boats. The picture to the right shows the entrance to the Cambridge Municipal Yacht Basin with a reproduction of a lighthouse. The lighthouse is elevated and sits on screw piles that are anchored in the muddy bottom. It has the look of many similar lighthouses on Chesapeake Bay. This particular reproduction has been used for meeting rooms and even as a bed and breakfast.
Cambridge has evolved into something of a regional commercial center, and unfortunately for us, that means that most of the businesses have long since moved out of the historic downtown to locations along the main highway. Thus getting around here had not been easy until we rented a car late Monday afternoon. Of course, one of the first things that we did was to go to a movie. We saw "Transcendence". I liked the movie, but I really felt that the ending was really lacking.
On Tuesday, we set out to do some shopping. We first went to Easton, MD about 20 miles north. We had needed new shore power cords for a while. Shore power cords is a fancy marine (read "expensive" here) term for the heavy duty 30 amp cords that we plug into the dock for electricity. We also need a "Y" adapter so that the two 30 amp cords could be plugged into one 50 amp shore power outlet. That store did not have the adapter in stock, but the next store 30 miles up the road did... Altogether, not counting the rent car this cost a little over $400.00 including tax. By this point we were only a few miles from Annapolis, MD across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Admiral had made an appointment at a bike shop since one of our scooters has more or less died. The good news is that she found exactly what she wanted, but...
Yes, there had to be a "but". I had forgotten that we are staying here for 3 or 4 days because of the bad winds and lot of (mainly light) rain. So, while the Admiral has a new toy she has only ridden it in the parking lot before she bought it. Every time that I suggest she go ride it, it seems to be raining. Those of you who know the Admiral know that little set backs like this DO NOT make her happy.
Today in more rain and wind we drove to Oxford, MD, about 15 miles northwest of Cambridge. We would have stopped here in the boat, but the weather delay for these past few days will probably eliminate that stop. Oxford has many pretty old homes along the waterfront of the Tred Avon River as well as at least 4 good marinas. It is a sleepy little town, which meant that most of the restaurants were closed for lunch until the Summer season starts.
There is a car ferry that crosses the Tred Avon, but this time we did not take it due to the rain. Too bad since the views are really pretty. We did finally find a nice waterfront restaurant that was open. It was 12:52 pm, and we were their first customers of the day. I guess that is why the other restaurants are just plain closed for lunch.
We got back to Lucky Us at about 2:30 pm, and then it was decision time... The options were to go see "Rio 2" or take a nap. Rather unbelievably the Admiral voted for the nap. By now, you know what my vote was for so we avoided a tie.
After the nap, we headed out to do grocery shopping before we were scheduled to turn in the rent car at 5:00 pm. As we were about to leave the boat, the Dockmaster called to notify us that he was about to turn off the electricity on the docks. As a function of the strong winds, there has been some storm surge the past 3 days. However, even though those tides were artificially higher, the bottom of the fixed docks were always slightly above water. You can see in the picture on the right that this afternoon the wooden planks are just above water... We are not in any danger, but if the next several high tides are much higher, we would probably be wise not to venture to shore...
Oh well, at least when the weather finally improves, we should be well rested. We plan to be "ready" to leave tomorrow, but my guess is that unless the weather forecast improves, we will be spending another day in Cambridge (and of course, eating well).
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