Southbound

Since the Sassafras is very near the "top" of the Bay an we have a wedding to get back to NC for we decided to begin making our way back south.  We had skipped the small, but well-known town of Rock Hall, MD on the way up so we decided to make that our next destination.  Rock Hall is a really neat little town on the Eastern Shore across the Bay from Baltimore (on the western side).  We spent a couple of days just walking around and exploring as well as taking the official tour on their town trolley.  Unfortunately, we experienced some very nasty thunderstorms two nights in a row and had problems with our anchor holding, which resulted in shortening our stay in Rock Hall.

With more stormy weather predicted for the next several days to a week we decided to revisit Annapolis where we could stay on a mooring ball, which is much more trustworthy than an anchor in heavy winds.  Once there we decided it would be a great place to be for Independence Day so we stayed all week.  We were told that the fireworks would be shot from a barge in the harbor and that hundreds of boats would come from all around and completely fill the harbor.  They did not lie!  I have never seen so many boats in one place before!  The 4th festivities begann in Annapolis with a parade at 6:30 followed by a patriotic concert by the Naval Academy on the waterfront and then the fireworks.  The parade was a little lackluster but the concert and the fireworks were very memorable!  The fireworks were so massive that the water all around our boat was completely lit up in one color after another from the reflection.  Once the fireworks were over and it was finally dark the harbor looked like Christmas with all the anchor lights glowing on the hundreds of boats in the harbor!  Awesome sight!

A "tall ship" that came into town for the 4th!

And a few yachts that came to join the fun!