Cauldrons on the Chesapeake: Good Morning Baltimore!

As we pulled out of Bodkin Creek the next morning, we were met with a pretty awesome sight:

Schooners!

Yup, it was the starting day for the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, a yearly adventure on the bay.  All the boats were headed out to the starting line.  It was pretty nifty to feel like we were back in the 19th century for an hour or so as we watched them sail by.

Ahoy there!

We zipped along up the river toward Baltimore Harbor, and Bosley wedged himself in down below.

Bosley practicing his Detroit lean. 

We crossed under Francis Scott Key bridge, and spotted the buoy that marks the spot where he was supposedly sitting on a boat when he penned The Star Spangled Banner.

Key Bridge

The famous buoy. 

Baltimore was a beautiful harbor to sail into - and there were boats everywhere!

A forest of masts greeting us.

Fort McHenry

Quaintly beautiful!

We tied up at our final destination, a marina just to the south of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and went off looking for more adventures.  A friend had suggested the American Visionary Art Museum, which turned out to be a 10 minute walk from our marina, so we ventured over.  It was pretty cool - all devoted to self-taught artists, so there were some pretty unique exhibits.  No photos allowed inside, but you should check it out if you are ever nearby.

American Visionary Art Museum courtyard

That night, we met up with P, a friend from a previous sailing adventure, for dinner and drinks in Federal Hill. We enjoyed some oysters at Ryleigh's, then some homemade brews and bar pies at our new favorite Baltimore spot, Pub Dog.  P gave us some suggestions for the following day, too - he really made our time in Baltimore rock!

Reunion with our friend P, who made our time in Baltimore really fun!

The next morning we hit the National Aquarium - I knew Mr. C would totally dig it.

National Aquarium

Jellyfish!

Eel!

Scorpion fish!

We had a great time at the aquarium - there was so much to see and the exhibits were all really awesome - we highly recommend it.  We hoofed it back past our marina to check out a local bbq spot, HarborQue (their hush puppies were awesome!) and then made our way back to Osprey.

Some city views from the south shore

Sunset in the marina

Osprey, our cozy home!

On our friend P's recommendations, we hit Fells Point for our last night out - fish tacos at Woody's Rum Bar, a couple of pints at The Cat's Eye, some canned beer at Bar (creative, no?), and whiskey creations at Rye.  We definitely wrapped our honeymoon adventure up in style!

The last night of bad decisions...starting at Woody's Rum Bar.

Our sailing honeymoon was perfectly us, and we had a blast.  I hope you've enjoyed following along!

If you missed an installment, here's the whole rundown...

Getting started in Rock Hall
Anchored in Eastport
Exploring Annapolis
Heading South to Solomons
Off to St. Michael's
Rainy Day Adventures
Oxford Bound
Braving the Narrows
Bodkin Creek Anchorage