Patuxent River – Solomon’s Island and Vera’s White Sands

6/21 – 6/25 – We departed Washington, D.C. a little after 8:00 in the morning. It was a pleasant day on the Potomac and we had a push from the tides and ended up traveling to Canoe Neck Creek off St. Clement Bay arriving a little after 5:00. It was a quiet anchorage with very few houses and no boat traffic. The next day we had a much shorter trip to Solomon’s Island where we anchored in Back Creek. After settling in, we went in search of our friends Sterling and Judy on Sterling Lady. We found them, not surprisingly, at the Tiki Bar. We first met Sterling and Judy in New York when we were doing the Great Loop. We’d seen them several times along the Loop, but not since Key Largo (their homeport) over a year ago. We had a few drinks and then dinner at a local restaurant. The next day we did some provisioning and had happy hour aboard Ashton Gray, a 65 footer owned by Dwight and Carolyn.

On Friday we headed up the Patuxent River to St. Leonard Creek where we docked at Vera’s White Sands for an MTOA Rendezvous. We had been to Vera’s several years ago when she was still alive. She had lived in Hollywood before meeting her husband and had hopes of becoming a star. However, after her marriage, she and her husband traveled extensively and eventually bought a huge parcel of property on St. Leonard Creek and built a restaurant and marina. By the time she passed away, the property was quite run down, but it was bought by people that renovated the marina and restaurant and are currently turning her home into a Bed and Breakfast. We were given a tour of her home – very interesting. We had an enjoyable rendezvous with lots of socializing, food and, of course, drinks. There was even a wedding on our dock while we were there. On Sunday morning we headed back to Solomons.

Entering St. Clement Bay

Our anchorage in Canoe Neck Creek

Solomon's Island Anchorage - Back Creek

After settling in - we met our new neighbors --

-- and then found Sterling and Judy at the Tiki Bar

We had a nice sunset in the anchorage

Happy Hour aboard Ashton Gray

Our hosts, Dwight and Carolyn

Gerry checking out the good food

Arriving at Vera's White Sands
(left to right - restaurant, marina, Vera's home)

Vera's home -- every livingroom should have a swimming pool

Dining Room

Unique bathroom fixtures

This is Vera in her younger days

Even the bar had a bit of her "personnality"

Happy hour at the MTOA rendezvous



Tiki Bar on the beach



Gerry checking out the bar

Judy and Sterling on the
dinghy trip

Heads poking above the grass

Dinghies up the creek

Wedding on the dock
bride and groom

Wedding party

Wedding guests - very casual wedding



Reception at the tiki bar



Last morning of rendezvous -- don't be fooled by the coffeepot
Everyone's drinking Mimosas