Patuxent River Cruise

Forget breakfast at Tiffany's, how about a family reunion at Wal-Mart. Go figure, the first days of summer turned miserably cold and wet, just in time for a visit with Joyce's family including the new Florida transplants; Mike, Sherry, Lisa and Craig. While Marcy Herring had prepared a feast fit for the French-Hungarian Army, the weather would not cooperate. For two straight days, we had a cold rainy northeaster brewing. As they put it, the weather in Jacksonville wasn't this cold even in the winter!

This is where Wal-Mart comes in. It's the only place in Easton/Oxford area where we could get together out of the rain. I'm quite certain that Mr. Walton had no idea of this use for his store. We of course made the best of it and even did some much need shopping to boot. Many thanks to Mike and Sherry for the use of their car to get back from Salisbury and to catch up on our grocery shopping.

After Oxford and the rained out reunion, our destination was the Patuxent River and the Sabre Rendezvous and Regatta in Solomons Island during the weekend. Also, our friends Skip and Harriet Hardy and their dog "Honey" were out for a two week cruise beginning this week and we wanted to catch up with them for a few days.

Many boaters cruising to the Patuxent never get past Solomons Island with it's many restaurants, boutiques and boardwalk along the water. But for those who do, they discover an exceptionally pretty river with a variety of secluded anchorages. We had heard talk about a restaurant, Stoney's, up the river that serves 8 oz crabcakes. We just had to see for ourselves. And the rumors were right! Not only was it the biggest crabcake we've ever had but one of the best.

Before heading back to Solomons, we also paid a visit to Vera's White Sands legendary restaurant and marina in St. Leonard's creek. The mural painted on the outside might be a clue to the eccentric nature of what's inside. Vera, a rich onetime wannabe chorus girl, relocated here with her late husband more than 40 years ago. Known for its elaborate Kon Tiki decor, White Sands is Vera's fantasy of a South Seas movie set.

Back to the Solomons, we very much enjoyed the company of fellow Sabre owners. The weekend agenda included the fair share of eating, drinking and dancing under the tent to the sounds of a one man steel band. But the highlight is always the Sabre Regatta, especially as we were invited to crew on one of the finest boats there. And there's just something fun about crossing the finish line first! The owners, Vicki and Suzanne with their dog Tuckaho, were ecstatic at finishing with a corrected score that put them in second place in their fleet. And we still had the traditional Maine blueberry pancake breakfast to look forward to on Sunday.