Quick Trip to Bliss

Just some of the boats at the festival

I was sitting in my recliner, minding my own business, when I got an email from a photography group I subscribe to. They were offering a half day photo field trip entitled "Majestic Tall Ships". 

OK! Boats and photography? Sign me up!

The trip was the last Saturday in October, at the annual Chestertown Downrigging Festival on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I know about this festival, but I had never been. There are a couple of tall ships based in Chestertown, and for the festival more ships come to join them for an end of season party (it turns out they are most gregarious). I almost went to the festival last year - via my own true love, the Pride of Baltimore II - but the timing didn't work for me. 

A detail from the fancy replica Swedish ship, Kalmar Nichol

Chestertown is an old town on a long river that winds many miles through the flat Eastern Shore peninsula from the Chesapeake Bay just north of the Bay Bridge. I've sailed up the Chester River in my boat, anchored and spent the night, but not made it quite as far as Chestertown. I did drive to the town once, on a winter weekend. I wandered the cobblestone streets, admired the old buildings with rippled glass, and spent quite a bit of time in a used book store with an extensive maritime collection, and ate a crab cake with a beer. But that was years ago and I hadn't been back.

Once I signed up for the photo workshop, I contemplated logistics. Chestertown is about two hours away, if traffic on the Bay Bridge is reasonable. This is a very big "if". The workshop started early in the morning, and I would want to start early enough to enjoy a buffer to the start time. So I decided to check out the options to go the night before and stay in Chestertown.

I was sad to check out lodging options and discover that the few options not sold out were very expensive. Big city expensive. Except for one motel, absurdly cheap and by far the closest location to the waterfront. I'm a penny pincher but not a completely stupid, so I read reviews. Generally, they said "clean enough but really run down". I went with the cheapo option.  And, because I would be on my feet all day (I signed up for a boat ride in the afternoon after the workshop) I thought I would look at staying the two nights. I really wasn't sure what my stamina would be like. I might want a crab cake and a beer after my day on my feet, and driving home in the dark might not be great. El Cheapo was so cheap I could sign up for two nights for less than one in any other option.

The one on the left is my girl, the Pride
The one on the right is the Lynx

I headed out Friday night in the late afternoon, with camera equipment, some snack foods, and a sleeping bag liner and my own pillow. Oh, and a door stop in case I didn't like the lock on the door. I came into Chestertown just a few minutes after sundown, along the waterfront, and the silhouettes of masts and rigging teasing the delights in store for me the next day. The GPS took me to the motel, which was good because there was no sign visible from the road. I had to be buzzed into the office, where a perfectly pleasant young man checked me in and handed me my key. My room was just down from the office in a well-lit location, and I checked out the room. Remembering my "avoid bedbugs" advice I didn't bring in my stuff at first, but reviewed the situation. I pulled up the sheets and looked at the mattress - it looked new, as did the bed linens and pillows. The tiny bathroom had cheerful colorful tile the same vintage and pattern as mine at home and showed its age. But it and the towels were acceptably clean. There was a standard motel heating and cooling unit in the wall under the window, and I got it going. The door had a solid deadbolt that went into a metal frame on the door. I decided that compared to car camping in a state park, (I actually had one spotted as backup) this motel with new sheets was luxury, and it would be fine for the night.

I headed into town to check out the rendezvous for the morning, and to see what could be seen. Things were jumping! Traffic and pedestrians crowds everywhere. After getting orientated, I headed back to the motel. Despite its location across a parking lot from a large liquor store, it was quiet and I felt safe. It was late enough I went to bed with a book and then had a fine night's sleep. The one thing really wrong with the room was, though it had a microwave and little refrigerator, there was no way to make coffee. I had brought instant coffee with me, (part of my travel kit) but there was no cup to hold water in the microwave! I ended up driving a half mile to a McDonalds, maybe the first time in a decade I've been to one. But I do still like a sausage mcmuffin.

My girl
(There was actually very little wind, so the sails are for show)

I made the rendezvous with no problem. The early start meant good free parking. There were about a half dozen photographers there with the instructor, easily identified by their big cameras and backpacks full of lenses and other equipment. (I have a single all in camera because I decided a few years ago I was done with the schlep. It's still a very good camera, with many bells and whistles for adjustments that I am still learning how to use. But it's comparatively light and small.)

We had a fabulous, unseasonably warm, bright and cloudless day. There was a forest of masts from the tall ships. There were also many smaller classic craft, both sailboats and classic motor boats, some of which reminded me of the boats that were common on Bellport Bay in my youth. The big boats were available for deck tours, with crew providing answers to questions. Mid morning, the boats all went out for sails, and we got pictures of them underway from shore. In the afternoon, our workshop was done but most of us stayed and took afternoon sails. It was so fun to all head down the river and back up in company. Many of the smaller craft came with us. I was aboard a smaller schooner that is the official tall ship of the state of New Jersey, the AJ Meerwald. I was purely deck cargo, shifting out of the way of the crew working the ship, and gazing all around. And taking lots and lots of pictures!

The big one is the Kalmar Nichol.
She is a replica of a ship that came to Delaware Bay
in the early 1600s.

I figure I've actually spent cumulatively about six weeks aboard Pride of Baltimore II. I have a gazillion photos of her, all taken from aboard. I enjoy staring up the mast and with my camera capturing patterns and rhythm from the sails and rigging. But it was so fun to see the Pride from another ship, and to be able to get the whole ship in a single photo!

When we got back to the dock in the evening, I was done. It had been very hot, in the 80s, and I was fatigued in every muscle in my body. I strolled slowly into town, and fulfilled my quest for ice cream, which I ate while sauntering back to the car. I went back to El Cheapo Motel, and I took the world's quickest shower, checked out, and drove home in the dark. It was worth the extra night's charge just to have that shower. I was thrilled to get back home with the Cult de Sac party still underway, so I had a chance to chat with some neighbors and drink a beer before tumbling into bed. 

I did absolutely nothing the following day. I was wiped. But it was fabulous and worth it.