A lot has happened in the three weeks we have been in Annapolis. We have exciting news to share; our 32 ft. Nordic Tug LeeLoo has found a new home! We were fortunate to find new owners who we know will appreciate her as much as we did for 10 years. LeeLoo will always remain dear to us since she was our first boat. A lot of wonderful memories were created on LeeLoo during weekends and vacations. Thank you to John Peterson from United Yacht Sales of the Carolina's for all the work he did in finding us a good home for LeeLoo. We would also like to congratulate the new owners. You purchased a wonderful boat!
Also, equally exciting news is that our good friends (Hal and Wendy) flew in and joined us for 6 nights on Tug LeeLoo over the Labor Day weekend! We had a fabulous visit with them, as we always do. Captain Carey had an aggressive cruising plan scheduled, but unfortunately mother nature did not agree. With Hurricane Hermine raging offshore, the Chesapeake Bay was too stirred up to venture out. Fortunately, all the rain from Hermine went around Annapolis. Our weather in Annapolis was beautiful except for one storm the first night that Hal and Wendy were with us. After that, the temperature dropped to the low 80's and the humidity lessened. But, interestingly, the tides were very high, perhaps because of all of the rain that fell elsewhere on the bay. For a while is was hard to get on and off the boat. We ended up just taking a day cruise on Tug LeeLoo up the Severn River, and then spending all our nights at the Annapolis City Marina. We also took a lot of dinghy rides which was fun. It was great walking around the city.
We made 3 or 4 trips to the Naval Academy. We took a tour, watched a military parade, and then wandering around on our own. The "parade" turned out to be a full dress review parade with 4000 midshipmen marching past a review stand with Admirals and other dignitaries. There were two bands plus a 21 gun (canon) salute! The Naval Academy is definitely a must see while in Annapolis - a beautiful campus and very welcoming to visitors.
style and they only have 20 minutes to eat it
We did find a neat diner downtown with a bakery; it's called Chick & Ruth's Deli that has great food. At 8:30 every morning the diner quiets down and everyone stands and recites the Pledge of Allegiance. Daily trips (by Hal) were made to the bakery for glazed donuts and apple fritters! After all, when Hal and Wendy arrived, we considered ourselves on vacation, too!
We ate lunch at Chick & Ruth's Deli one day and the table next to us was full of young adults who were taking on the Man vs. Food Colossal Shake Challenge which requires a person to drink a 6 pound milkshake in an hour! The waitress made the shakes, then read the rules of the challenge, which included that if you feel sick, you need to leave the restaurant immediately (for obvious reasons). We left shortly after the hour time limit started. We did not want to be there if anyone did get sick!
We took the water taxi from our marina to Ego Alley a few times to save some steps. Over the Labor Day Weekend, there was a farmer's market and arts festival that we went to. We also just enjoyed relaxing on the boat, sitting on the bow and people watching, and playing cards every evening. We played a card game called 3-13 that we played the last time Hal and Wendy visited us when we were on the west coast of Florida. Of course, it had been so long since we played this game that Wendy had to Google for the rules!
As we have said many times, everything breaks on a boat. Actually, a more accurate phrase is, "Something on your boat is broken, you just don't know it." Well, while Hal and Wendy were with us, our fresh water pump broke so we had no running water. At first, we could coax a little water out of the faucets, but soon there was no water flow at all. Having no running water is very inconvenient. We ended up filling 1/2 gallon milk jugs with water from the marina bathrooms and bringing them onto Tug LeeLoo. A new fresh water pump was ordered and installed today - and, thankfully, we now have running water! Hal and Wendy need to come back to experience it!
We also now have a working bow thruster! The motor had to rebuilt and was sent back in working order. We have taken Tug LeeLoo out of our slip and onto the Severn River for a cruise so we know the bow thruster is in good working order! Finally! Let's hope this is the end of our quest to have a working bow thruster.
While we were sad to see Hal and Wendy leave, we are happy that we are spending another week or two in Annapolis. Hopefully we can get the final task on our maintenance and repair list completed, the installation of a new satellite TV system.
We hope to meet up with some Loopers (Tom and Julie Van Hall on Sum Escape) who are on their way to Annapolis. we'll visit with them for a few days and then perhaps we can both move south together.
Yesterday, we took a dinghy ride to Ego Alley for ice cream. Downtown Annapolis has as many ice cream shops as they do bars!
We loved our time in Annapolis and on Tug LeeLoo. As always so much fun and laughter when we get together with Nancy and Carey (maybe not so much when the water pump finally gave up the ghost:-) seriously, what an incredibly relaxing get away. See Nancy and Carey, you can boat, but you cannot hide from us!
ReplyDeleteWe loved our time in Annapolis and on Tug LeeLoo. As always so much fun and laughter when we get together with Nancy and Carey (maybe not so much when the water pump finally gave up the ghost:-) seriously, what an incredibly relaxing get away. See Nancy and Carey, you can boat, but you cannot hide from us!
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