Fun and Laughs with Old Friends

We are having an absolute ball in Cambridge, MD on the Eastern shore not so much because Cambridge is a hip, exciting spot (it's so not) but because of the wonderful company!!! We met back up with the September Song crew as well as Norm, Vicki and Vicki's mom on Tide Hiker and are having a reunion of old friends and cruising buddies!!

We pulled into the Cambridge free dock on Monday afternoon after a beautiful steam down and across the Bay from Baltimore - and found a couple friendly faces alongside to grab our lines - thanks Stephanie and Bob!! September Song was across the way at the marina taking on some water after being out on anchor for awhile but they walked over to meet us - it's always great to see friends at the dock when you pull in!! We knew Tide Hiker wasn't far behind us as we had heard Captain Norm on the VHF radio informing the coast guard of the location of a floating tree (I'd say that was a hazard to navigation!) - the funniest part of eavesdropping on the exchange was the coast guard's and then Norm's inability to get the name of his boat right (High Tiker, Tide Hiker - what's the difference?? - we actually got called Guppies in Paradise the other day so we know how it goes.....) Anyways, soon enough Tide Hiker was pulling in and we were there to catch their lines along with another couple they had just met at an MTOA rendezvous who offered them the use of their car (which we are going to take advantage of today!) - aren't cruisers great!!

No sooner were lines secured and the chaff guard on (we're against a cement wall so we need to protect our lines from rubbing against the rough cement), when it seemed we were all aboard High Tiker meeting Vicki's mom, catching up and with adult libations in hand munching on apps up on the flybridge.

Appetizers and Dinner on High Tiker

What a great reunion - other then Big Boat Bob's birthday party down in Williamsburg, the last time we had seen Norm and Vicki was down in the Exumas in the Bahamas where we all had cruised for awhile!!! It was as if no time had gone by - we picked up where we left off - having tons of fun!! We had a great meal up under the stars as laughter rang out across the water - good thing there was no one else around (oops forgot about the sailboat that was tied up between our two boats that we probably kept awake for a little while - but we wanted them to leave the next morning anyways to make room for September Song to come over!!! we succeeded!!)

The next day we were all there to catch September Song's lines after saving their spot from a little tug that wanted to join us on the wall!

Three Beautiful Boats in Cambridge

We all meandered into the town of Cambridge to explore and to try to find the restaurant that Norm had years ago eaten the best linguine in clam sauce in his life (he couldn't remember its name or location, but.....we were on a mission). Sadly it appears that the restaurant no longer exists along with many of the businesses in the town - unfortunately the town seems to have fallen on some hard times and many of the storefronts were boarded up or for rent. The running joke is that even the police have moved out of town - they built a new police building in the next town over!!

Former Cambridge Police Station

We did find a gourmet food store that had some good shit (literally - there were some spices called Good Shit, Aw Shit, Special Shit and then you could get a box of all of them called "Get Your Sh*t Together" produced by Big Cock Ranch out of Austin Texas - no you really can't make this stuff up!!!! they also had Dip Shit for fruit and Dip Shit for vegetables - seriously their website is www.specialshit.com. Outside of the rundown downtown area, Cambridge has some beautiful old churches, stately homes and cute historic buildings - Cambridge which is located in Dorchester County was the home of Harriet Tubman who played such a major role in the Underground Railroad that helped slaves travel to freedom in the north during the mid-1800s.

Church in Cambridge

Another Church in Cambridge

Doug and I decided to try out the local watering hole across the bridge called Portsides - pretty tasty nachos and draft beers for $1.75 (and it wasn't even happy hour yet - at happy hour which we plan to hit today, beers are $1 - have I mentioned I love the south?? I know, I know - technically we're not in the south anymore but we sure as heck aren't in Boston anymore!)

Doug Sitting on the Deck at Portsides

Last night we descended on September Song for a crab feast - we started with hot crab dip out on the front deck and some amazing cheese Stephanie had gotten that day at the Good Shit store. Yum!!

Appetizers on the Foredeck of September Song

Godiva Finds a New Friend

And Bob, remember that Vicki doesn't have to eat things your way even though your way was really, really good! Dinner last night was such a treat - amazing crab cakes that Stephanie made out of fresh Chesapeake Bay crab that Bob had caught and picked himself!! We even had little crab claws dipped in...you guessed it...Good Shit!!

The Crab Feast

Out on the front deck again for dessert we passed around a coconut cream pie and mango squares Bahamian style - grab a fork and pass the sweets!!

Pass the Dessert

Vicki's mom was hip to the whole scene enjoying the pie especially with Bob feeding it to her - she was a great sport!!!

Help with the Pie

Bob even donned the shower cap (actually the pie covering) to try and commune with Todd from Life's2Short (who's been known to don a pink cap with a fork stuck in it on occasion) but Todd must not have had his hat on - either that or the vibes weren't right since Bob didn't have a plastic fork sticking out of his cap!!

Communing with Todd

We just got back from grabbing some Good Shit (it was so good last night that we couldn't resist!) and some Wickles (wickedly delicious pickles) - no I'm not kidding and if you haven't tried them yet, you really need to!! We are going shopping in a little bit - we always like to take advantage of a car when we have the opportunity. Tonight we plan to hit happy hour and then we are off to Bella Luna, an Italian restaurant in town that is famous for the mural in its woman's restroom (yet again I'm not kidding - we stopped in yesterday to look at the menu and all the waiter could talk about was the mural which he made us go see in the restroom - sorry guys, guess you don't get to see it!!) The fun just never stops.....

Click here to see a Google map of our location in Cambridge.