From Baltimore to Annapolis. Under the Annapolis Bay Bridge
sightseeing at the old buildings of Annapolis
more sightseeing in the old shops!
Finally, a view of the capital building through a narrow alley.
On Sunday morning, off to St. Michaels, MD. Leaving Annapolis, we passed Thomas Point Light, the only remaining screwpile light house in the Chesapeake that is still in the water. A few have been turned into museums. This one is maintained by an Annapolis based conservation group.
The Bloody Point Light, at the head of the Eastern River (towards St. Michaels) is nothing in comparison, but has an interesting history. Near this point, back in the 1800's, it is reputed that unscrupulous Skipjak skippers would literally dump overboard their impressed, immigrant crews, that they had worked all season without pay. The boat laborers were kept on board, working full time, with promises of pay when the ship went to port with it's load after several months in the Chesapeake. The technique was to stand the crew on deck, gybe the mainsail, causing the low boom to sweep the deck - cleaning off the unpaid crew from the deck into the 40-ish foot waters. For landsmen - gybing occurs when the boom (long pole at the bottom of the back sail) is on one side of the boat, the boat is then turned quickly away from the wind, causing the sail and boom to get swept rapidly to the other side as the wind angle changes. Quite a nasty hit, enough to knock a man out until he drowns. http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=427
We did a quick dinghy ride around the harbor in St. Michaels to find the dinghy landing for tomorrow. We'll "do the town" tomorrow - that would consist of 2 maritime museums, a grocery store, and lotsa shops and restaurants. This big heron was on one of the docks as we drifted along in the dinghy. Just beautiful!
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