Solomon's Island is NOT an Island

posted by Ardys

Yesterday we motored 51 nm (“nautical miles”, for my non-salty friends and family) from St. Michael’s to Solomon’s Island; a beautiful day, but without any wind.   Since fall is here, we’ll  make headway south by motor when there’s not enough wind to sail.  I’d heard several people talk about going to “the Solomon Islands” which is technically, not an accurate term. The town of Solomon’s Island WAS originally on an island until a causeway was built to connect it to the mainland in 1870.  It is a now a long narrow peninsula with the southern border along the Patuxent River and the hook-like north shore forming a well disguised entrance to an inlet with two creeks feeding into it.  I thought that Annapolis had a market on the number of sailboats and powerboats per capita, but I was wrong. There seemed to be more boats than there are people living in Solomon’s Island.  NORTHERN STAR was right at home.  Several working oyster boats came in and out of the inlet at all hours of the day and evening—I like seeing the working boats.   These men provide us with oysters.  I really appreciate them.

The Calvert Marine Museum was a short dinghy ride from our anchored boat and was our first stop with Jax, eager to conduct some dog business on shore.   Unfortunately, as it was already late afternoon, we did not have time to visit the museum.  The floating dinghy dock is well marked “Dinghy Dock for Use of Museum Visitors,” however, we had a desperate canine looking longingly at the land, and it seemed cruel to not indulge him.  Thus, our co-conspirator threesome tied up at the dinghy dock, Jax made a few brief transactions and we couldn’t help but notice the outdoor part of the museum in the process.  It looks like a really interesting museum.

Oysters—mmmmmm, oysters.  There was no question about needing to find a place to have some oysters and we had several restaurants to choose from.  The most expensive one was closest to us by dinghy (naturally) and we chose to walk to the other side of the peninsula and eat at a restaurant that is built on a pier over the Rappahannock River, called Solomon’s Pier.  Aptly named.  We shared a half-dozen raw oysters.  Carl had an cod po’boy and I had an incredibly huge bowl of what they called Chesapeake Bay Stew—oysters and crab in a creamy broth and served over a mound of mashed potatoes.  Where has this dish been all my life?  Can’t wait to try making this myself.

This morning, as previously arranged, we met with a young marine researcher by the name of Nicole Trenholm of the Ocean Research Project (oceanresearchproject.org), who entrusted us with a piece of hydroacoustic fish tag monitoring equipment which we have agreed to deploy each time we anchor as we go down the Coast and into the Bahamas (more about that to follow later).  

From Solomon’s Island, we head off to cross over the mouth of the Potomac River and on to our next anchorage on our journey south.  Still looking for enough wind to sail.  Surely one of these days it’s bound to happen.