DAY 30 -- CRISFIELD, MD TO ST. MARYS, MD

                                    DAY 30 -- CRISFIELD, MD TO ST. MARYS CITY, MD 

            We were underway a bit after eleven after getting fuel and a pump-out at the marina. Our destination was St. Marys City (no apostrophe, which drives spellcheck crazy), which is reported to have a lovely anchorage and an interesting museum. It was a 45-mile run, heading west across the Bay into a light SW wind, and the seas were only about a foot, with just the occasional whitecap. We passed a number of interesting sights along the way, including a barge load of trash trucks, the Solomons Lump Light (what a great name), and the Hannibal bombing area. 

            The trash trucks were enroute from Smith Island to the mainland at Crisfield. Presumably the drivers are paid to sit in their trucks and enjoy the ride.

            The Solomons Lump Light is at the north end of Smith Island. It was built in 1895. The lighthouse was removed after the light was automated in 1950, which is why the remaining brick tower is off-center (so saith Wikipedia). 

            The Hannibal bombing area, which is about halfway across the Bay between Smith Island and Point Lookout at the mouth of the Potomac, is the Navy's only active live fire target in the Bay. The chart says "Bombing Area" and refers the mariner to section 334.200 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which explains in detail how the navy will let you know if they will be conducing live fire, and also says you can't get closer than 1,000 yards regardless of whether or not they are firing, and that you can't climb on the ship (kind of redundant, but I'm sure that teenagers do so anyhow). The old ship that is there now is the American Mariner -- an old WWII Liberty ship -- but they call it the Hannibal site after the name of the first ship that was positioned there at the end of WWII. It was kind of creepy driving past that rusty beat-up old girl. And despite the CFR 334.200 regulation, there was some local guy puttering around well within 1,000 yards of the target.

            We decided to stop for lunch along the way at a funky old place called Courtney's because it was convenient and had its own dock. It is at the mouth of Smith Creek (which empties into the Potomac about six miles upstream from Point Lookout). The place was started in 1955 and probably hasn't been updated or repaired in this century. But the waitress was friendly, their crab sandwiches were excellent, and we had a nice chat with an English couple who are doing the intracoastal in an old 42' Grand Banks. It was fun to compare notes with them. 

            The mouth of the St. Marys River is a few miles upstream of Smith Creek. We pulled into the dock for St. Marys College and walked a few blocks to Historic St. Marys City, which is a reconstruction of the settlement that was made here in 1634. It was the first European settlement in Maryland and just the fourth English settlement in the country. They had a nice reconstruction of the Dove, which was one of the two ships that brought over the first settlers.

            After our little tour we ran a short way up the St Marys River to anchor. It was well protected and very quiet. I cooked a steak in the little Magma grill that my friend Pete gave me from his old boat, and we had a lovely sunset. We always enjoy anchoring out.