Last Stop Before ICW

We really enjoyed our weekend in St. Mary's. It is well off the path of the southbound cruisers, so we had the place to ourselves. We stopped in at the college and, while there, bought some groceries at a small store in one of the campus buildings. We considered lunch in their cafeteria, but our appetites weren't ready for the all-you-can-eat pricing plan. The selection looked great, though. The weather did not permit touring St. Mary's City, which is a reconstruction of the original settlement. We have put this on our list of places to return to. They held small sailboat races both weekend days, with St. Mary's hosting Salisbury University.

Leaving St. Mary's, we saw our first pelicans on the Potomac River. There were actually several, and they were busy feeding. We hadn't realized that they were this far north. We stopped in Deltaville after leaving St. Mary's. We are not so sure we will return there.  We ran aground going in, which was my fault. I was desperately trying to locate the next red buoy when we came to a stop. At least it gave me time to get my bearings. We went so slow in these situations that it was just a nudge, and we were able to back off. The next morning, we left at low tide and ran aground in the channel. We took a guess and moved to the left a little and proceeded out in very shallow water. Traveling to Hampton, we were in company with at least 20 other sailboats and a few trawlers. We are now anchored in the downtown area in Hampton and plan to stay a few days, as high winds are predicted later in the week. It is very close quarters as it is packed to capacity in the anchorage. We are using this time to do laundry and shop for groceries.