1 May 2025
Depart: Magothy River, Dobbins Island anchorage in MD 8:10 a.m.
Arrive: Tidewater Marina, Havre de Grace, MD 2:00 p.m.
Distance: ~ 43 nm
The sun was shining brightly and nicely lit up a house as we exited the anchorage highlighting the lighthouse positioned there.
As we exited the anchorage into Chesapeake Bay, we had to contend with traps. The traps in this area are small in size but have flags attached to accentuate their location. Leaving the anchorage directly into the sun makes seeing the traps difficult - flags or not!
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Quick look back towards where we
anchored last night. |
Clark told me to wait before taking a picture until we had passed the Baltimore Light House located at the mouth of the Magothy River to be sure it was highlighted by the sun. The lighthouse was built in 1908 and was the last lighthouse constructed on the bay.
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| Baltimore Lighthouse |
Shortly thereafter, we spied a structure in the bay that neither Clark nor I knew its purpose. As far as I could tell, the birds have decided it was built for them. Several were unnerved as we approached and took off in a rush. Others were indifferent to our approach.
Continuing with the cataloging of Chesapeake Bay lighthouses, I snapped pictures of the Craig Hill Channel Range lighthouse
and the Pooles Island Bar lighthouse.
The Pooles Island Bar lighthouse was constructed in 1825 and is the oldest lighthouse in Maryland and fourth oldest on Chesapeake Bay.
We have never ventured into the northern waters of the bay that would take us to Havre de Grace, so as we traveled, Clark contacted an AGLCA harbor host located near here to get some local knowledge. We were told that we should try for a spot at the Tidewater Marina.
Doing some research on that marina, we noted that their size limits on overall length would preclude us from docking there. Even so, Clark decided to give the marina a call to see if they could accommodate us. We are so early in the boating season that the marina found space for us. The only caveat given was that we would need to back into the marina and up to the T-head dock as we would not have sufficient room to turn around in the basin. Since Clark backs up to our home dock for the same reason, this did not overly concern him.
I snapped some pictures as we approached the marina, though at the time, I had limited knowledge of the sights I saw.
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| Approaching Havre de Grace, MD |
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Railroad bridge with a moving freight train
passing by town |
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| Havre de Grace lighthouse |
Since we had been warned, we were prepared to back into the marina. However, we were somewhat surprised by the narrow width of the opening into the marina. This would be interested.
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| Narrow entry to Tidewater Marina |
Clark said I would need to stand at the stern in the cockpit with my headset on and talk him in given his inability to see well behind him. Of course he did an amazing job with my guidance. As we came through the entrance to the marina, I spied the dockhand coming out to the dock where we were to tie up which was directly back from where we entered. No maneuvering was required once we got in there other than to work our way over to the dock.
By just after 2:00, we were situated and anxious to set off to see what Havre de Grace had to offer for sights and entertainment. However, we had some tasks to take care of beforehand. Clark hooked up a hose to wash the caked-on salt off the boat. I took a bucket and sponge and went over the railings to be sure no salt remained and then washed all the windows so that we could see out of them. I collected up all the garbage we had accumulated and sent it off with Clark later when he went off to get an on-shore shower!
When Clark decided we should take this detour to see a place we had never visited before, he called a couple of folks that he knew lived not too far from this town. Fortunately, he managed to get in contact with our long-time friends Kenny and Jeannie Beach that own the boat "Day Break". Although it would be a bit of a long drive for them to meet with us, they readily agreed to come visit with us and make dinner reservations at a local restaurant for the four of us. They chose MacGregor's in town because that was the only place that said we could be seated before 8:00 at night. They made the dinner reservation for 6:15.
Given our friends would not be arriving for a couple of hours, we grabbed the map given to us by the dockhand and set off to explore the town. The marina was ideally located to access the main attractions happening today.
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Town map of
Havre de Grace, MD |
When Clark made the reservation, he was told that, with today being "First Friday", many vendors would be in town. Then, tomorrow would be "Defender's Day" with even more fun to be had.
We got no further than outside the marina's gate to be impressed by this amazing town. The block next to the marina was an artist's dream! Almost every square inch of every building was covered by murals depicting the history of the town.
We walked along the buildings snapping pictures as we went! Everyone of these depictions of the town's history was designed by the same person, Ezra Berger.
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| "The Four Fathers of Decoy Carving" |
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| "Elite Giants" baseball |
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| "An Ode to Midwives" |
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| "Honor All Who Served" |
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| "Thank you First Responders" |
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| "A Town Rich in Culture" |
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| Tribute to "Native Americans" |
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| "Wheelin & Dealin" |
I thought that would be the end of the artwork, but I could not have been more wrong had I tried!
Besides horse race murals,
structures and race horse statues stood at the entrance to a park-like setting.
We noticed that artists were setting up for "First Friday", wandered in for a closer look,
and found yet more murals with each one the height of the building it was "drawn" on.
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| Underground Railroad |
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| "The War of 1812" |
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| "Moving Goods Upstream via Lock & Canal" |
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| "Marquis de Lafayette" |
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| "Women's Suffrage" |
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"The First Pirate of the Chesapeake"
"William Claiborne vs Maryland" |
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| "Frozen Susquehanna" |
Around every corner we found even more elaborate artwork. One whole wall was devoted to newspaper headlines.
Down an alleyway Clark grabbed some more pictures of the gorgeous murals.
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"The Red Onion"
"The Missing Chapter in our local history books" |
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| "Grist Mill" |
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| "The Cut" |
One mural was so large Clark took a video that spanned the length of the building! The mural looked so real that we almost mistook it as being the Susquehanna River which borders Havre de Grace!
I guess we walked the exhibits from last to first because as we exited the area, we passed a sign welcoming us to "Harmer's Town".
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| "Where the Past meets the Present" |
Earlier, when we tied up to the dock at the marina, the dockhand recommended that we take a walk through town around 4:00 / 4:30. He said that by 5:30 the streets would be packed with people. We took him at his word and walked through the streets as the vendors set up their wares in preparation for "First Friday" to commence at 5:00 or so.
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| Food Trucks arriving |
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| Street Chess Anyone? |
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| Vendors setting up |
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| Tents galore! |
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FUDGE
Chocolate Moonshine |
As we walked around town, we noticed other items of interest.
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Farmers Market - tomorrow
good to know |
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Rochambeau Plaza
named for a French General
who passed thru here in 1781 |
We found a road sign for points of interest. The one that caught our eye was for the ice cream shop in town.
We came upon an alleyway next to an obviously old building.
That claimed to be the "First National Bank"
but looking in the windows, one sees tables set with table cloths and silverware.
Another building in town that was originally the post office is now a health center with midwives. Apparently, these buildings have been repurposed over time.
On our town tour, we also passed some brightly decorated shops.
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| Florist |
We found some birdhouse-shaped structures with free items for anyone interested. I am used to these containing free books. However ...
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| "Little Free Art Gallery" |
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| "Free Little Seed Library" |
As time marched on, more and more people appeared for "First Friday". We knew our friends, Kenny and Jeannie, would be arriving soon, so we headed back towards the boat to meet up with them. As we walked along, I heard someone behind me say, "Do you know the way to San Jose?"
I ignored it thinking it had nothing to do with me, but then the person said it again. I turned to see who it was and, voila, it turned out to be Kenny walking right behind me. We did not expect to find each other walking through town. We continued on our way to the boat and sat and talked until it was closer to the dinner reservation time, and then we walked back through town towards the restaurant.
We passed a busy section where we saw that the Maryland Conservatory had an interesting fund raiser. They had a bin full of bongo drums. Drop in a donation, pick up a drum, and join in the beat!
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| Feel the beat! |
Clark took a video!
Later, we saw a couple of musicians performing,
and next door we found two young women standing outside a bridal boutique modeling wedding dresses.
What we found amazing was the way these two women were dressed did not at all match the weather. We had on long pants and jackets and were just barely comfortable. I asked Jeannie how much they would have to pay her to stand out in the cold in a sleeveless dress, and she basically said there was not enough money in the world to make her do that.
The blonde on the right in the picture said she got her wedding dress here, and she loved it. I quietly asked Jeannie if she thought the woman was paying off her gown. We saw them on our way to dinner at 6:15, and they were still standing in the same spot two hours later when we were walking around after finishing dinner. Brrrrr!
I was surprised to see that the couple below brought their snakes to the First Friday event to share with passers by. They just stood there and held them as people came up to gawk! Including me!
Eventually, we found MacGregor's Restaurant where we had reservations for dinner. Fortunately, we had indoor seating. The balcony had live entertainment (a guitarist). After Clark stuck his head out to hear what music was being played, he came back and said he was even happier to be inside.
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Ev, Kenny, & Jeannie
at MacGregor's Restaurant
Havre de Grace, MD |
After dinner Kenny and Jeannie had a place they wanted to visit - just to get a picture. Jeannie plays the French Horn. The first time she ever performed in front of an audience, a duet, was at a coffee shop here in Havre de Grace. She said she was really nervous!
Kenny remembered where it was located, and we walked there. The coffee shop is still there, had quite a number of customers, and had expanded to add more serving area.
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Kenny and Jeannie
Concord Point Coffee |
Because of "First Friday", Kenny had parked their car away from the busy section of town. Clark and I walked them back to their car to say goodbye. Then we headed back to the marina where I happened to catch a couple of sunset pictures before calling it a night. I wanted to work on the blog, but I was just too tired to pour through the pictures and make any sense out of what I had collected.
My Verizon health app said that we walked about 3 1/2 miles today. After days of no walking, it was good to get out and move.
