Annapolis and College Football

We finally got the boat back! We finally got the boat back!

So, she was out of the water for many weeks. We usually plan repairs for winter months but sometimes the boat has other ideas. It should never have taken as long as it did to replace the bellows but there was an earthquake, and a hurricane, and a tropical storm, and rain, and rain, and rain, and rain... you get the idea.

Doug picked her up last Friday afternoon and we left for Annapolis early Saturday morning. The Chesapeake Bay is still a bit of a mess. We kept our eyes open for debris and slalomed a bit during the hour trip. With an iffy weather forecast and knowledge about the bay conditions, the only other boats on the water were die-hard fishermen. The result -- water that was like glass.

We scored a prime docking spot in Ego Alley at the very end. I love people watching from the boat, especially in Ego Alley. One small issue with this particular spot in Ego Alley - the ducks! What? Is Julie really complaining about an animal? Well, a bit, yes. The ducks are cute and everyone wants to feed them. That's great. But when your boat is right next to their dinner zone, the ducks seem to think that your swim platform is a great place to hang out. Even that isn't all that bad. The issue - ducks doing what ducks do after they eat - on your swim platform.

But we couldn't sit on the boat all day. We had come to Annapolis to watch college football. We walked to one of our favorite outdoor bars, Pusser's, and settled in for a good game. I realize that "College Football" is part of the title of this post but the game was so bad I simply can't discuss it. At least the Lime Pepper Barramundi Wrap was completely worth it. We also had a couple friends drive down to spend the day so we had a great time (even if the Terrapins threw the game away).

After dinner at Middleton Tavern (a little pricey but great location), we walked to one of our other favorite places in Annapolis - Aromi d'Italia. This place has some of the best gelato we have ever found. We were completely unprepared to see this:

an eviction notice! We've been coming here for years! I peeked in the windows and the gelato coolers were completely empty. I don't think there is any hope that this is a mistake. Maybe someone else will buy the space and open another gelato place? Please?

One final thought on our trip - As we were walking around the docks, we came across these two boats:

Do you think one was purchased during a bull market and the other during a bear market?

Tourists in Our Hometown and the Baltimore Grand Prix

This past weekend we moved our boat to BMC Harborview for the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix. My parents came into town and bought tickets for the four of us for the three day "Festival of Speed." Sure, we could have stayed in our own marina, but this marina was easy walking distance to the Inner Harbor (less than a mile). We felt like tourists in our own town. We rarely go to the Inner Harbor anymore. Don't get me wrong, I highly recommend that any visitor to Baltimore go there. It's beautiful; the city has done a great job revitalizing this important area. We just normally stay closer to home and less packed restaurants.

The walk to and from the marina was like a dream. There is a well-lit, safe-feeling walkway along the water between the marina and the harbor. I wish I had taken a picture of this walkway. I think there are (hopefully) still plans to extend the walkway further around into Harbor East, Fell's Point, and Canton.

We were definitely placed on the right pier at Harborview. The boats on E pier were rockin! Everyone was out being social and we had a great time. Plus, how can you go wrong with a Baltimore icon as a nightlight:Another plus for Harborview, it's walking distance from Little Havana. When I say walking distance, I mean 2 blocks. For those of you who don't know, part of The Replacements was filmed in this bar/restaurant. For non-movie people, the cuban inspired food is good and the atmosphere is delightfully unsophisticated. We went for dinner one night and snagged a prime outdoor table. Try this locals joint next time you are in town.

A highlight of the weekend was a stop at the BMC Inner Harbor. We noticed a Maritimo docked there and decided to show my parents our dream boat. The owners were sitting outside on the boat so I walked over to explain why the four of us were standing there pointing at their boat. Debbie and her husband were so kind; they invited us onto the boat so I could show my parents the inside. It turns out that they spend half of the year in Annapolis near the Chart House restaurant. If I ever see their boat again I'll bring them a bottle of wine for being so gracious. As I often tell people "once you have a boat you are in the club," yet this was an above and beyond kindness from strangers.

And now, a posting from a guest blogger (my husband) with more information about the Grand Prix:

The Inagural Baltimore Grand Prix was a huge success in my point of view. It gave the racing fans and those just interested in the hype a first class view into Grand Prix racing. Friday started out a bit slow due to delays in getting the fencing up and finalized but gave the first glimpses into what we were about to expect in the following days. The drivers were a bit cautious on the new course but all seemed to indicate by the end of the day that they liked the course. We even got to see one wreck of a Porche that backed itself into one of the retaining walls.

One of the neat things about the Baltimore set-up was that the prep area for the crews was inside within the convention center. You could walk through and see all of the car preps and even some of the drivers if they were out helping with the cars or signing autographs.

On Saturday the qualifying and racing really started and so with it came more fans. The first highlight of Sat was walking around finding the car club section where there were hundreds of high performance cars on display.

The second highlight was the American LeMans Series race. It was very cool to see the different style cars (porsche, corvette, BMW, lamborghini, and prototypes) all racing at different speeds and in different classes. It was difficult to determine who was leading each class but we really enjoyed the race. I know my favorites were the two corvettes and patron sponsored lamborghinis.

On Sunday the races were on. Our day started out by watching the Indy Lights race where only about 1/2 of the field finished the race. Three of the cars were pushed behind the wall on the hair pin turn by the end of the race. It seemed like no one wanted to win the race as the 4 drivers who were in the lead near the end of the race all wrecked on their own and gave the win to the #2 car that spun out early in the race. Goes to show that you should never give up.

The day wrapped up with the IZOD IndyCar race which showed how truly skilled drivers can drive a difficult track without wrecking since the first 30+ laps were completed with no issues....then the 10 car back-up occurred right in front of us. I was so focused on what was happening that I forgot to take a live picture so had to settle for a photo of the replay TV display in front of us. The race ended with the favorite (Powers) winning and Patrick showing that if you stay out of trouble you can turn a horrid qualifying session into a decent finish.

If this has perked your interest and you are trying to decide on seats for next year...I highly recommend the hair-pin turn. You see the most action and the higher up you are the better. Our seats even allowed us to stand at the top some which gave some fresh air through a nice breeze along with a great view of the city being attacked by the local pirates.

Bottom line...if you have any interest in the amazing thought of cars going 200+ miles per hour through a city...then plan on a weekend next year to go to the race and enjoy what Baltimore has to offer.

We Survived Irene

The boat, the zodiac, and the house all made it through Irene unscathed. We went to check the boat this morning and found this "damage": Who is going to clean up this mess? Shouldn't the marina have hired someone to remove leaves from boats as they fell from the trees? (Of course, I'm completely joking.)

In all seriousness, we are so happy that we didn't have any issues. We visited our home marina and found a couple minor problems:

This tree is located outside of the marina. Looks like it fell in the "right" direction and didn't cause any harm.This guy should probably bail out his dinghy. I'm not sure it will make it through any more rain.The canvas on this boat didn't weather the storm too well.
Then again, the canvas is just fine. Looks like the wood was the weak link.

Preparing for Irene

Hurricane Irene is on her way. I really don't think Baltimore is going to have too many issues but it's always good to have a healthy respect for these storms.

We were planning on having the boat ride out the storm at our marina. Anchorage Marina has floating piers and they aren't predicting a bad storm surge. Our plans have changed based on work being done on the outdrives. AM/PM Marine has been busy pulling boats out all week and they haven't had a chance to complete the work on our boat (you may notice that we only have one prop right now). Therefore, she is still out of the water. We went to check on her early this morning. Here is the before picture:We took down all the strataglass and put up the cockpit cover. On a positive note, this cover will get a good cleaning: She has already survived an extremely rare East Coast earthquake this week. This is just another test in a miserable weather August. Good luck boat!

When the boat was pulled for maintenance, we left the zodiac behind in the slip. The zodiac was simply sitting on the dock:We've strapped it down as well:People in Baltimore have strong memories of Isabel. The city was hit by a 9 foot storm surge. Many parts of Fell's Point and the Inner Harbor were under water. We were docked at the Inner Harbor Marina during that storm and our piers floated above the pylons. It was a scary situation and we were very lucky to be left without damage to our boat. Home and business owners are getting ready for Irene (what is it with "I" name hurricanes and Baltimore?):
This real estate office seems to be prepared to an extreme. Better safe than sorry, but, seriously? Are their windows made of plastic wrap?Be safe everyone! Time to take a nap so I can stay up through the storm.

Kaleigh's Beach

I'm a bit behind in posting. Our last boat trip was a week and a half ago. We rafted up with friends at a small beach across from Parkside Marina. A couple of our boat friends call it "Kaleigh's Beach" because their young granddaughter loves to go there.

If you've never been there, it's so nice and calm. We backed in toward the beach and could stand on sandy ground right off the swim platform. The tides were high during this visit so the beach was almost non-existent. Plus, Doug made Kaleigh mad by riding off in the dinghy that had her beach toys. It's a good thing kids seem to have a short memory for things like that. The weekend was relaxation at its best. Although after the last few weeks of HOT weather, the water was almost chilly.

We coordinated dinner with our friends and had quite the feast. Doug made pulled pork (hint: cook it at home the night before then heat it up in the skillet with some vegetable broth) and grilled corn on the cob. Debby and Jenn made two types of slaw and peach pie. FYI - Angry cole slaw rocks!

On Saturday we saw an odd site. Yes, that is a Tow Boat assisting a sailboat. How often do you see a sailboat getting towed? Especially on a breezy day? Can't they operate under wind power? Isn't that the point of a sailboat?

We skipped boating last weekend in order to clean the house. I finally have a basement again. I don't know how we lucked out but I sure am glad we weren't boating. Anyone who lives remotely near Baltimore knows about the torrential rain we had all weekend. I was starting to wonder if Noah was building another Ark. We've been out in rain before but this was nonstop, drenching, party-stopping rain. There are plenty more weeks to go and I'm sure we'll be out again soon.

Nabb's Creek

A ski chalet on the water?No, just a restaurant.

We visited Nabb's Creek Dock Bar and Grill for lunch with some friends last Sunday. The visit started a little strange: We pulled into a slip and an employee came out to ask the length of our boat. We told him the length and he told us to move because we were in a slip reserved for 40 feet plus. He also told us he would help us get into the new slip. Okay, no big deal, we'll move. We pulled over to the new slip and started to back in but the current messed up the first try and we had to pull out and try again. The employee walked back up the dock and left. At this point I'm thinking, "I'm sorry, what just happened? Didn't you just offer to help? Where are you going? I guess you didn't want a tip." Again, not a huge deal, we were able to get into the slip ourselves, it was just weird.

Then the second odd thing happened: We walked into the restaurant and it was dead. There were maybe six people at the bar and I couldn't get any employees to make eye contact. Finally someone asked if we would like a table. We seated ourselves outside and proceeded to have a very nice lunch. Still, 12:30 on a gorgeous Sunday? Where was everyone? A few people did show up as we were leaving. While the food was good, it wasn't anything to write home about. So, now I'm wondering if we should go back? Nabb's Creek is a pretty ride and the restaurant is in a cool spot, but it lacks people. Anyone been there. Is Saturday different?

We had great friends with us on the boat so we anchored in Stoney Creek for a few hours after lunch. Sunny day, warm water, good tunes. This was the icing on the cake for the day (actually, I guess it was the whole cake too).

Please Be Safe

I don't typically make public service announcements but the number of tragic boating accidents in the Maryland/Virginia area recently is shocking. A high school classmate recently died during 4th of July festivities on the Potomac River. There were three separate accidents in Anne Arundel County alone this past weekend. We were on Stoney Creek this weekend and saw the boats searching for the man who mysteriously jumped off a moving vessel. We all want to have fun in the sun, but please be careful.