St. Michaels
St. Michaels is a quaint little town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We had traveled here a few years ago over fourth of July with friends, but had never been by water. It’s a destination we’ve been meaning to check off of our list.
We left in the late in the morning from the Rhode River. The wind was blowing 10-15 knots out of the south, so we had to beat into it and tack a few times to get across The Bay. It was a beautiful sail down the opening of the Miles River, but we had to turn the engine on once we turned the corner.
Anchoring was a bit of a challenge. We are still learning the tips and tricks. There are a few anchorage options in St. Michaels. You can anchor in front of the Inn at Perry Cabin, Parrott Bay which is the closest you can get to the free dinghy dock next to the Crab Claw Restaurant, or you can anchor out past the markers, marking the entrance to St. Michaels.
The Inn at Perry Cabin aka the Wedding Crashers House
To avoid the newly installed channel to the Inn at Perry Cabin and the multiple boats anchored in that area, we decided to anchor in the middle of Parrott Cove, which turned out to be a great option.
Samba anchored in Parrott Cove in St. Michael’s, MD
Once anchored, we took the dinghy to the public dock. After sailing in a 95+ degree day we decided to treat ourselves to some raspberry sorbet and lemonade at JoJos Ice Cream. It was delicious and hit the spot! On the way back, we drove the dinghy through the most sea nettles we’ve ever seen, and settled in to watch the heat lightning over the Bay.
Rumpus (our dinghy) tied up at the public dock, next to Patriot (available for tours)
The next day’s goal was to avoid the heat. With a heat index of over 104, it was not fun (or safe) to be outside. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is every boater’s idea of a cool place. We stopped by to check out a bit of the Bay’s history, the new wooden sailboat they are building, and the lighthouse.
When we anchored at the most primo spot in St. Michaels, we realized we were either really lucky, or there wasn’t much going on that day. When we went into town we realized that most of the shops and restaurants are not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. For lunch we went to Ava’s Pizza which was amazing. Coming from the Detroit area, it’s hard to impress this Michigander with a Detroit style pizza, but Ava’s certainly impressed. From there we went to grab drinks at Eastern Shore Brewing Company (their purple Zoda is delicious on a hot summer day). From there, we decided to keep the party going and find some more AC.
We stopped in at the Carpenter Street Saloon, where the Baltimore Yacht Club had gone to continue their day drinking. We met some cool people (shout out to Pam and Don) and got to chat about liveaboard life. We finished off the night at the Crab Claw with the best crab dip we have ever tasted. Also, Smith Island Cake is the bomb, if you’ve never tried it, please do.
The crab dip at the Crab Claw Restaurant is incredible
The next day we left early after filling up the diesel tanks at St. Michael’s Marine Store. Their pump out machine only works about 40% of the time, but the Chesapeake Maritime Museum has free pump outs, so if you need one, go there first. We left to go further north, in the hopes of making it to New England, but that’s a story for another day.
