A Day in Georgetown/Fredericksburg July 12, 2011

The day began as a lazy lay around time to clean and arrange the boat.  When we dropped the boat into the water, we threw a lot of stuff into the boat just to get going so we needed time to arrange it all to make it more comfortable.  We finally got underway sometime around 10:30, something that we had never done before.  This trip seems to be more relaxed than any that we have taken in the past.  In fact, just after breakfast, we both lay down and took about a 30 minute nap.  We had no plan as to where we were headed even this day.  We dug out some cruising books and decided to head up the Sassafras River to Georgetown where it was reported to have an ice cream stand that served outstanding treats.  There was also to be a restored Granary that provided an outstanding lunch. 

We motored out of our little cove into the main channel of the Sassafras River.  The wind was blowing from the west so it was a perfect setup for a running sail up the river to Georgetown.  The trip was about 5 miles long and we sailed a good portion “wung out” or “wing and wing” i.e. with the wind directly behind and the main sail out to port (left) and the huge Genoa jib to starboard (right).  This is not the fastest point of sail, believe it or not, but it is one of the easiest.  It was a pleasant ride through some pristine country.  Now and then, we would see a huge mansion recently built with fancy docks and too big power yachts or sailing yachts parked outside.  As we approached the marinas in Georgetown, we called the Granary for permission to dock for lunch.  She informed us that the Granary opened for evening meals during the week, however, we were welcome to dock and have lunch at the Kitty Knight House.  We accepted the invitation and received instructions on where to dock. 

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by an attractive young dockhand who was most helpful and friendly.  She offered that we could stay docked as long as we needed and offered that we could use their showers and pool after dining at the Kitty Knight House. She also offered that they had free wireless internet service that was strong enough to be used on our boat from where we were tied. 

A bit of history about the Kitty Wright House.  It seems that the town of Georgetown was used to supply rebel troops during the war of 1812 so a British Admiral named George Cockburn proceeded to burn all of the buildings in the town.  The red headed Kitty Wright who was married to a Maryland Assembly member was “renowned for both her beauty and determination.”  When Admiral Cockburn came to burn her house and the one next door, which housed a bedridden neighbor, Kitty confronted him.  He warned her to leave.  She refused saying “if you burn this house, you burn me with it.”  Struck by her bravery and beauty, he spared both houses. 

The two homes have been joined and are the foundation for a really neat restaurant.  We enjoyed an oyster “po boy” sandwich and spicy fries.   It was fine eating!

After lunch we went to the pool and enjoyed a wonderfully refreshing swim in their pool.  While there we met several members of a family who were originally from Cincinnati, one daughter of which still resides there.  They were interesting folks and we enjoyed the visit. 

After the swim, we returned to the boat and I set up my blog posting and by now you know that it didn’t go through.  It was really hot, temperature in the high 90’s, but there was still a fine westerly breeze blowing.  We headed back down the Sassafras towards the main bay.  Our plan was to travel south to an area known as still pond.  The time was already 4:30 and we figured that by the time we got there it would be late so we decided to return to Back Creek for one more night.  Since the wind was moving directly down the river, we opted to motor back to our evening mooring. 

Once back in Back Creek, we heated up some barbeque ribs that we had frozen and brought along.  We made up some blob garlic mashed potatoes to round out our meal.  I had a Killians.  After dinner, we drug the cushions onto the for deck, leaned back against the front of the cabin and watched the daylight fade and the pleasant night come on with its full moon as we listened to a book on CD.  A wonderful way to end a really great day.  To bed at 9:45 (in a really hot cave in a hot boat)!

etermination.”  When Admiral Cockburn came to burn her ho