Today's Pic: We Got Crabs!

Finally!

There's a real shortage of Blue Crabs this year and almost no one is selling them.
Three years ago, when we last visited the Chesapeake, big crabs were abundant and we could buy a dozen steamed for $25.00.

Locally famous Crab House, Cantler's, has Crab. They're $95 per doz, large... $75 for medium.

We called our buddy, Josh, and the three of us drove to the other side of the Severn River and found Cantler's.

That's another story in itself.

Expensive as they were, they tasted even better. A few beers, a mess of crabs, and a lot of fun.
After digging through a dozen of these critters, you need a shower.
Cantler's does offer an outdoor wash-down sink with soap and towels for cleanup.
We used it.

Good stuff... Really good stuff and a good time.
Eating a dozen crabs is an adventure.


Cheers,

Istaboa

Todays Pics: Dinkin' to Downtown

We've been pushing water out of our way for pretty much 2 months now and I've become kinda wooly over that time.
So, like I do wherever we are and I need a haircut; I Google, "The best men's haircut", and use the  Zip Code of the town we're tied up in.
Yelp produced the most reviews and the highest rated was Capistrano's Barber Shop in Downtown Annapolis.
It's almost impossible to find a place to park a car in Downtown so — off I go in the dink; across the Severn River, into Spa Creek, down Ego Alley, and tie it up at the Downtown dingy dock.

Downtown Annapolis as I've said before... is very old and well preserved. And, overrun by tourist this time of year.

These places were frequented by our country's founding fathers... In my mind, I can see George Washington and Ben Franklin walking up Compromise St. and stopping at Middleton's for a brew or two.

Cut from the Middleton Tavern web site.

Middleton Tavern was host to a galaxy of the nation's most revered leaders during the period following the American Revolution. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were numbered among its prominent patrons.

More history here... History
Did you know Annapolis was the temporary Capital of the United States of America in 1783?

I ask Siri, directions to Capistrano's, and she gave me the scenic route... but she took me right to it.

An old school Barbershop.

And now, I'm not quite so shaggy... Neat place and the young barber proudly gave me the old school barbershop treatment. Hot lather on the neck and some manly smelling stuff that slicked my hair down. I walked out looking fresh and smellin' like I did when I was a kid after a 'Pre-Beatles' hair cut at Helm's barbershop in West Memphis. No bubble gum though.

Then I got back into the dink and blew it all away.

Nice haircut.... My big adventure for the day... It was fun.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pics

We've been admiring this old sailboat since arriving. It's just down the dock a way, we walk past it everyday.
The craftsmanship!
I would hate to be responsible for it's upkeep, but someone has kept it sweet.

Old school

It's a beauty for sure, I got a few more shots...

 Old hardware

It's been a while since I've paid attention to sailboats, but I think she's a ketch rig... though she could be a schooner. I bet some sailboater out there will inform me.

Wooden masts and booms... you don't see that much anymore.

Wooden cleats ... no self-tailing winches here.

She's for sale.

Would love to hear the stories this old boat could tell.

Ahhh... it's a rain day. Just another excuse to be lazy.


Adios,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

Annapolis — Chesapeake Harbor Marina... Home for a while.

It seems the thing we enjoy most is to cruise around until we find a place where we like to be...  then stay for a while and become acquainted.

We were adding up all the places we've called home last night; we've done this for many years, many times, and been many places.

Orange Beach, AL, Pensacola, Panama City, Apalachicola, Burnt Store, Fort Myers, Naples, Marathon, Key West, Key Largo, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Jupiter, Stuart, (Think we've covered the state of Florida?) Elbow Cay, Compass Cay, Gloucester Point.
We could go on...
We've lived several months in all of these port cities/islands and usually longer, we've always found the best in them.
That's the most fascinating part of this 'cruising around in a boat' thing.  Try to find the best—in every place you stop—in the time you have there. Everywhere we've stayed has great music, arts, food, parks, and folks... it's always there, you just have to look past where the crowds gather.
Sometimes you just have to be there and that's good enough. Think Compass Cay.

The last time we were up here in the Chesapeake, it was so damn hot we turned and ran back to the southern part of the bay and tied up at Gloucester Point, VA just because it was less expensive. We flew back to Memphis. When it cooled off we returned and cruised around that area and made great friends. We stayed there for several months too... and we really liked it.

Now, home for a while appears to be Annapolis. The weather's been unbelievable for August, the marina's nice and reasonably priced, the locals are very friendly, many really nice boats around, the food's great, and... most importantly... we like it here, we like it a lot.

This year, as we look up north, the weather's not that good... as we look back south, the weather's not too good down there either. It's been a very hot/wet year both down south and up north. Oddly enough, we've managed to be in-between it all for our whole trip. This is probably the best summer we can remember while living aboard. The weather's been weird this year for sure, but we're not complaining, let it stay weird till we head back south. No blows, please.

I guess the best thing about remaining tied up at one place is... we allow ourselves to be lazy.
Sleep late in the mornings, not running means we don't salt up the boat then have to wash her down at the end of every day, no worrying about the weather and seas, no thoughts about where we'll be tomorrow.

For a while, we'll allow ourselves to be and reap the fruits of our indolence.

In short... life's good. Despite all the chaos that's going on around us, our life's good and we hope it stays that way. It seems like everyday something tries to muddle our existence, but for now we're keeping the crazy away and we're good.

Sorry, is that selfish? ... Sorry.

We hope life's good in your world also, we really do.

Speaking of good...
Our friends, Craig and Tracy, have just made the commitment and acquired their first live-aboard boat. They've been working toward this for a long time and they're excited about this next chapter of life. Their immediate plan is to live-aboard in Ft Lauderdale.
Craig's a very talented, capable, and hardworking Marine Electronics guy... They'll do well.

Okay...  I know...  most come here for the pictures...

Home's where Istaboa is.

Now, I'm closing this laptop and going back to sleep.
(I've edited since)

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pics

Nice day on the Bay...

When we take the boys out for a walk, we're fortunate to have a really nice view of the bridge as the light warms up.

Today's Pic

Is an old one.

Radar in Chattanooga 

Just a boy

I have a dream

Growing up in our time, in Memphis, and our situation...  this speech means a lot to us...
Wish you would click over and read for a moment...
Many won't, but maybe you will.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.#March_on_Washington.2C_1963

It's short.

adios,

istaboa

The Details

It's a rainy day in Annapolis, which gives me time to process some of the images I've captured. I started working on a few from the Naval Academy and was blown away by the intricate details that popped up on my screen.
They just don't make stuff like this anymore and if they did, it would be done on a 3D printer.

The Chapel is an amazing place... look at those pipes!

What drives all this.

The Naval Academy Chapel organ dates back to 1908. The Hutchins Organ Company of Boston, MA built the original instrument. In 1940, the Moeller Organ Company of Hagerstown, MD was contracted to build a larger instrument to support music in the newly enlarged chapel. Through the years, the organ has undergone several enhancements and renovations. Most of these enrichments to the instrument have been made possible through generous gifts of individuals and classes. The current instrument, comprised of both pipe and digital voices, totals 268 ranks and is controlled by two consoles.

As you walk around the campus you'll notice attention to detail everywhere you look. 

We never noticed the faces and the dolphin in the wake of this monument to the Submariners until I enlarged this photo.

The Academy is truly a national treasure and if you're ever in the area... spend some time here. It's worth it.

Thanks for checkin' on us.

Have a happy weekend.

Cheers,

Istaboa

Today's Pic

An old building in Eastport had this very cool mural painted on it's wall. Flaking off, but still nice.
A very bizarre encounter ensued as I used my phone to collect this visual... very bizarre, yet comical.
Had something to do with tourists, taxes, and politics. I didn't quite catch the whole rant, we ignored the fellows.

The malcontents caught up with us later down the street at the restaurant and... while one was trying to sell his boat broker services to me, the other was in Mel's and Josh's faces continuing his rant about politics and taxes. We had just finished our food and drinks so we, once again, ignored them and walked away.
People can be so strange sometimes... so angry with completely harmless strangers.

Never the less, we're still diggin' Annapolis.