Still at Rock Hall

Visitors' Centre at Rock Hall

Main Street, Rock Hall

Saturday, October 4th: Rock Hall

Another sunny day at Rock Hall with temperatures in the low 70s by early afternoon. The weather has been mild for most of the trip - other than during our storm days in Cape May - and even then it was never really cold. For the last 2 nights (and for the first time this trip) we closed up our boat after dinner and ran the heater for a while before we went to bed.

Yesterday, we walked to the grocery store and loaded up. We filled 2 reusable grocery bags (big ones) and our backpacks and set off down the road back to the marina. For the third time since we've left home, someone offered us a ride. There are lots of kindly souls who dare to be helpful in the smaller cities and towns.

Loading up the dinghy with our groceries.

Once back, I had the job of making all our groceries fit in the fridge and the 3 lockers we use to store our non perishables. I have become more organized and have taken to keeping a list of what's in the 2 lockers under the seat cushions. It's so much easier to check the list than to lift the cushions and locker covers and root around in first one and then the other especially when it's for something I thought was still there but isn't (or never was!).

We also added a net pouch that we have strung from one hand hold to the next; it's handy for storing bread, potatoes, onions, carrots and even other more perishable vegetables. Our fridge has so much moisture in it that vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, and beans seem to do better out of it - and that frees up space for salad greens, tomatoes, milk, cheese, etc. Also, with careful arranging I can keep meat for several meals in our tiny tiny freezer. When I made the pressure cooker stew, I managed to put half of it in a zip lock bag (takes less space) and freeze it for a long sailing day when we didn't feel like cooking. Yesterday I cooked up a few meatballs and froze them for the same purpose.

After all that buying, carrying and storing food and then writing about food efficiency, I didn't feel much like cooking :-) ---- so I suggested a cheese omelet for dinner and then Bob suggested steamed crabs at the Waterman's Crab House - ---

Before: Six Large Steamed Crabs (to share)
After

Sunday, October 5th: Rock Hall

We spent the day here doing chores - the laundry - Bob changed the engine oil - and then we spent a little time sitting in the cockpit reading and the day is gone!

Tomorrow we are sailing almost straight across the bay (not far) to anchor somewhere off of the Patapsco River for the night (on Stony Creek or Rock Creek) and then we'll continue on up to Baltimore.

We may anchor on the outskirts of the city for a night before we go to the marina where we are leaving our boat for the week. We're flying home on Thursday afternoon for Thanksgiving - to see the kids and the cats.