6/16/25 Another day in St Michaels

Erik has crabs 🦀!
….or actually just A crab

Erik was up early and shoved off in the dinghy to try to catch some crabs!  Only slightly successful as he had a couple on the string with chicken tied to it but wasn’t able to get them all the way in 🤨.   He was trying to use one of our bike baskets as a net because our only net is a nylon fishing net and would be a real PITA to get the crabs out.   Finally right at the back of the boat as he came in he caught one and got it in the basket (yes that’s our bike basket🤪).  We decided to move the boat closer to the dinghy dock as it was a pretty good haul to get Riva into shore.  After a bit of a struggle with a very well set, or hung up anchor, we managed to get the anchor up and move on up the creek.   It got fairly shallow but we had no problems and pretty quickly got the anchor re-set and took Riva to the park for a walk.  

Selfie from the top of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse
Circa 1879
The lighthouse….not Erik and Renee

We decided to leave Riva on the boat while we headed back into town to explore the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum more.  Erik decided to release his lonely crab as cooking a single crab seemed like a lot of effort.  Walking through town we stopped at several shops looking for old bay seasoning, vinegar, and a single beer just in case Erik was able to catch a mess of crabs to cook up this evening.  The maritime museum was very well done and informative.  It sits on a huge (probably 6-8 acre) ‘campus’.  There were many early skiffs used for oystering and crabbing, the main occupation of most of the early settlers of the area.  Lots of displays including one on the Underground Railroad that included the history of Frederick Douglas who grew up and was enslaved in the town before becoming a well known abolitionist.  A lighthouse and several other buildings (about 8-9 total) held so much history and information.  There is a working boat building/repair yard where there were several people working on old wooden boats.  One was getting a completely new hull from the waterline down.  This one had been started 3 years ago and they are hoping to have it done by the end of summer.  Finally exhausted from the overload of history and lots of walking….. ice cream was needed 🍦😋

The working boatyard
Pretty impressive the time and dedication put into building restoring, and maintains these boats

Interesting and informative stories were told about the histories of these vessels and their owners some dating back to the 1700’s

Back to the boat to rest our feet a bit then grab some dinner of left over pork chops and sweet potatoes.  After taking Riva for a walk in the park and playing some ball with her Erik headed back out on the dinghy to get crabs 🦀…hopefully.  Unfortunately those hopes were again dashed as his haul consisted of just one small crab that was released to see yet another day.   He will try again at one of our upcoming stops; got to use the beer, vinegar, and Old Bay somehow!  

And one more feisty little guy who was returned to the bay to grow big and strong….
And delicious!