St. Mary River, anchorage

The little blow passed us leaving smooth waters. We had a good bit of the Chesapeake Bay and the lower Potomac, which is very wide, so smooth waters was a must.

Not a long day, about 4 1/2 hours, but traveling a fair distance that, by land, was only a few miles away. Various books and websites recommended this anchorage due to it's mud, protection, and the college that provides a free dinghy dock. It is a bit out of the way, but we're taking our time, dragging our heals a bit before heading south. Letting those hurricanes do their thing.

Many sources said there were lots of walkways here. So we decided to get some exercise and check it out.

Good water today

From the dock you walk a short way to the college. It has quaint paving stone sidewalks. We followed one toward the water where we could talk good pics of the boats. Just beyond was a graveyard. Being from New Orleans, land of spooky graveyards everywhere, normally they don't appeal to us. But as we walked we realized some of the headstone were very old. Then it dawned on us what we were seeing. The original settlers. 

inQuest anchored where ships have anchored
for nearly 400 years.

St. Mary was the capitol city of Maryland (get it?). The settlers from England came here in 1634 on 2 vessels, the Dove and the Ark. Maryland was named Terra Maria, after Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of England's King Charles I. St. Mary was the first settlement, and once the capitol was moved to Annapolis, fell to abandonment. Within the last 50 years or so an effort to bring back the history put it back on the maps. Some buildings were rebuilt, others just framed to show location and scale. It is quite impressive.

Graveyard overlooks the river.

Just a dedication but still impressive

It wasn't good business to lock up a man for a crime, since
there was work to be done. So public humiliation was used instead.

Full scale replica of the Dove. It's the smaller of the two vessels
that came here, and it carried cargo mostly. The Ark carried passengers.
In all around 140 people came to settle here.

The four month boat ride started in England and took
a southerly route before heading north.