Chesapeake Chase Days 34-35: Rock Hall

July 15, 2022: Exploring Rock Hall

Today was explore and fun day, mostly.  We took the morning to do some chores such as laundry–we always go through sheets, towels, and clothing faster when the weather is so hot.  The laundry was nice.  There was only one washer and one dryer, but they were both in excellent condition.  Two loads were done more quickly than I can do at home.

Rock Hall is a small town on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland nicknamed “Pearl of the Chesapeake”.  It is also known as a waterman’s town.  Watermen in the Chesapeake Bay are the folks who make their living by fishing, crabbing, and oystering.  The term came from England, but in the eleventh century England the term was applied to smugglers using small boats.  The meaning changed when the English settled in the Chesapeake.   Watermen are now more prevalent on the east side of the bay than the west, where there is more shipping.

There were sure plenty of marinas with lots of boats in all of them.  It seemed to be an escape destination for people living in Baltimore and Annapolis, especially on the weekends. 

Originally, we were only going to stay two nights in this marina and two nights in St. Michaels.  We were really enjoying our time here, and it was less expensive than St. Michaels, so we asked to stay one more night, and that allowed us the time to explore today and do some chores tomorrow.

We decided to use the marina bikes instead of ours to go exploring.  Our route took us out past a large play area both for adults and children at the marina.  We stopped to take pictures of the large chess set and a bean bag toss. 

Next stop was to check out the Fresh Start Food and Garden.  There were two options for buying the few groceries we needed.  Having checked out Bayside Foods (a more typical grocery store) the night before, we decided we would come back to Fresh Start Food tomorrow.  We continued riding around the town, making sure we went down by the water where there were some restaurants, a boat yard (Fred will tell you more), and we found the town beach – very small but a great place for families to enjoy a swim. 

Our last stop before returning to the marina was a restaurant that had only been open for five weeks called the Blue Heron.  I liked it before we even checked menus or prices.  I love blue herons!  It didn’t open until 5:00 PM for dinner, but a man who was there did let us see a menu.  They didn’t take reservations and his recommendation was to come back no later than 6:00 PM or we would be taking our chances.  After comparing menus and prices, we decided Blue Heron was the best deal and only a short walk from the marina. 

Back at the marina we returned the bikes, took some time to cool off before taking a dip in the pool, showering, and walking back to the Blue Heron. 

The walk to the restaurant was pleasant and short.  The parking lot was already full, and cars were parking on the road.  There was a large outside eating area, but we opted for the cooler option inside and were seated right away.  The menu was limited, which was good.  This allows the chef to really focus on quality instead of quantity.  There seemed to be plenty of wait staff and clean up staff.  Our waiter was able to answer all our questions without having to ask someone else. 

While we waited for our meal to be served, we were intrigued by all the activity.  All the staff were busy and bustling, and dinner guests continued to come in.  When our meals finally arrived, they were picture worthy.  The meals were delicious and worth the wait!  We even chose to share a dessert – a piece of carrot made locally that was big enough for three people.  The chef owned the restaurant, and he was personally helping to deliver meals to diners.  We were very impressed by the whole experience.

On the walk back we encountered a group of folks walking toward us.  We correctly guessed they were coming from the marina and were on their way to the Blue Heron for dinner.  We stopped for a few minutes and chatted.  They had come from across the bay just for a weekend getaway.

It had been another wonderful day ending with another beautiful sunset. [Sorry–no picture this time…]

July 16, 2022

The forecast for this afternoon was rain.  It was chore day, so we had to plan accordingly.  You can guess chore days by the lack of pictures.  Late morning, we took borrowed bikes to go get groceries, but on the way, we stopped again at “Get the Scoop”.  This time we had refreshing, delicious milkshakes which we enjoyed while sitting in the shade. 

Grocery shopping at Fresh Start was next, where a great selection of fresh, local items tempted us to buy more than we could carry. The bikes had nice baskets on front, and Fred took his backpack.  My bike riding skills were still iffy, but I managed a bag in the basket on the way back.

The remainder of the day was spent cleaning.  The one picture I did take was of an older gentleman on the sailboat across from us who was up on his mast doing some task.  I had seen him walking earlier, so I was in awe that he managed to be up so high.  He was harnessed, but it still made me nervous.  After he was safely down, I had to reassess my thoughts about what we seniors can and cannot do.  We do need to be sensible, but this man may have been doing this for years and was very sure of himself.  His wife seemed to be calm and unconcerned.

The rain did come, and the evening was quiet and relaxed.  Not everything got done, but it was okay.

Captain’s Comments:

Two whole days without moving Betty Lou. For much of this trip, we’ve moved every day, so staying put for these two days was a treat.

It was also a treat to be at Haven Harbour. I already mentioned that they get the awards for best marina landscaping and ship’s store, but they also had a nice pool (actually two pools, one just for adults–with shade), decent loaner bikes, good showers/laundry, and friendly locals.

Our bike tour of Rock Hall was interesting–a bit like a bike tour of any small, rural community, except this one was close to the water.

The marina was on a long, straight road (see previous post) that, in one direction, led to town (ice cream), and, in the other direction, ended abruptly at the water.

Except for the extra barriers, it vaguely reminded me of a similar dead end in Hope Town, Bahamas, that we took a picture of in 2007:

The Rock Hall Marine Railway used some innovative (old) technology which was still in active use (but they also had a Travelift). Note the lateral rail switching facility to shift boats to multiple sheds.

Our second morning started off foggy and peaceful, but we had enough sun for ice cream and grocery shopping before the rain came in the afternoon.