While Delaware may be just barely south, it’s where we first encounter a little bit of southern hospitality.  As if by magic, most people tend to be a little friendlier, they may remember you the 2nd time you go into their store, they’re not glued to their phone, suddenly your new name at many restaurants is “hon” & “what is it y’all like to try today?”.

Delaware “City” (1,600 people), was especially memorable our first time in 2010.  We were completely wiped out & sleep deprived upon arrival after our long, challenging 170 mile overnight sail from NYC to Delaware City, so a bit of southern hospitality at the marina & throughout town was never forgotten.

Delaware City is also where we can begin to relax a bit, after the always busy departure from Connecticut, our nerve-racking (but fascinating) trip thru NYC, challenging offshore conditions off New Jersey & then often boisterous trip up the Delaware River.  Now with our faster powercat, we can make Cape May, NJ during daylight, before heading up the Delaware River the next day, avoiding an overnight voyage. Leaving Delaware City, we transit the C&D Canal, which brings us into the upper Chesapeake where we can proceed at any pace with literally a hundred possible places to explore, making more casual 5 – 50 miles days.

That George Washington really got around!

While we enjoy most of the larger towns & cities we stop at, it’s the smaller towns which truly make our trips enjoyable.  All along the way in towns such as Belhaven, Oriental, & Beaufort in North Carolina, for example, you really get a taste of very small town America.  Perhaps the restaurant owner sits down with you to chat a bit (well – before COVID), or a clerk will want to (really) know what brings you to their town.  It’s common for people to wave driving by or offer to pick you up if carrying bags of groceries.  I recall our first year cruising walking back to our marina at dusk when a passing car screeched to a stop, then backed up towards us – we must have had an alarmed look on our faces as they laughed & said, “no … no … we just wanted to offer you a ride … we used to be boaters too & know how heavy those bags get walking back”.  In another example, a marina owner threw us the keys to his brand-new $50,000 truck – we hadn’t even asked.

The sad aspect of some of these little towns is how they are aging out.  In too many cases, the young people don’t stay, industry slowly moves out & Main Street begin to shutter as the Walmarts & chains open up outside of town.  Progress, they say, but very sad nevertheless.

The continuous cool rainy weather was a bit of a disappointment, as for all 3 weeks in Maine, we failed to have even one really sunny, warm day.  Of course, as soon as we reached Connecticut, bam! we were greeted with days of very hot & humid weather featuring a heat index of 100+!

Sunset over Sandwich Marina

All in all, a good trip.  We were able to achieve most of our “must-do’s”:

• Newburyport, MA  One of our favorite towns to spend a few days.
• Rockland, ME  Lots of great, lobster restaurants.
• Belfast, ME  Although the famous French bakery had closed down, but we found a new favorite, The Only Donut, only a short bike ride away.
• Rackliff Island  Finally anchored next to “my” island & enjoyed (very) local lobsters.
• Boothbay, ME Tourist central, but still a fun place.
• Five Islands  A calm, free mooring with a great lobster stand within sight.
• Dolphin Marina, Harpswell, ME  A nice marina with a great restaurant!  Joined some cruising friends for a fantastic meal.  Known for bringing blueberry muffins to your table in place of dinner rolls, plus delivering blueberry muffins to your boat every morning with coffee!
• Harpswell Harbor  We returned twice in attempt to visit our favorite restaurant Morse’s Cribstone Grill located by the famous cribstone bridge linking Bailey Island with Orr’s Island. Unfortunately, due to COVID staffing issues, their hours/days were so severely restricted, we just couldn’t make it happen.  Each time we stopped, the weather was too rainy & windy for the dinghy ride to their dock.
• Portland, ME  We weren’t able to get a slip at a protected, downtown marina, so plan B: we rented a mooring at nearby Falmouth Foreside & took an Uber into Portland for the day.
• York, ME  A peaceful mooring in a tiny harbor.  Memorable as our first overnite stop on our sailing cat in 2010.
• Rockport, MA  A tough spot to stop, as you’re pretty much anchoring on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean with little protection, but our timing was good for a fairly calm night.  Used to have a restaurant which made the best ever lobster pizza!
• Sandwich, MA  At the eastern end of the Cape Cod Canal.  Our first time stopping here – officially on Cape Cod.  A nice little ice cream shop a short walk away.
• Hadley Harbor  A peaceful, protected harbor with free moorings courtesy of the Forbes family who have several family compounds on Naushon Island.
• Cuttyhunk, MA  A favorite for over 25 years.  Timing … timing … we missed great pizza sold from a resident’s house (he was off-island for the night) and missed their big fireworks (the next night).
• Lake Tashmoo, Martha Vineyard  A great dinner at the lovely house (with a dock!) of friends from the Bahamas – great to catch up!
• Block Island  What to say … always crazy busy, but crazy fun.
• Hamburg Cove, CT  Nice & quiet on weekdays.  Been going there for about 55 years!

Portland offered us 2 great donuts shops, The Holy Donut & HIFI Donuts. The Holy Donut was opening a closer in-town shop, but not until the next week.

It’s not all fun & donuts folks … sometimes you have to pump your own … waste.

We’ll be in Deep River, CT for a month preparing for our trip south this fall, driving up to visit Benj in Vermont for his birthday & other fun stuff.  Keeping all eyes on any east coast  hurricanes & of course the continuing COVID concerns.