Norfolk north through the Chesapeake Bay -- what not to miss?

This will be our first time cruising this area. I know many of you have spent time in the Chesapeake so I welcome your recommendations on any place one should not miss.

We have been enjoying South Carolina and North Carolina over the past few weeks. We are in Albemarle Sound now and may hit another town or two on the Albemarle or we may head straight to Elizabeth City in the next 2 days. We will likely take the Dismal Swamp (I know... watch for debris and hope we don't destroy any running gear) to Norfolk within the next week. From there, my research is pretty weak. We are working on a list of places to try not to miss, weather permitting. Do you have any favorites?

In more normal times, I think I would very much enjoy a trip up the Potomac River to Mt. Vernon and DC, but we may skip that long side trip this time and just stick to the Chesapeake.

All thoughts are welcome on towns to see, anchorages to enjoy, good marinas, etc. We typically enjoy walking and biking around towns, great historic places, beaches are always nice for us, but we've had a lot of that over the past few months in the south and don't expect that as we head north.

What have you guys enjoyed? Thanks!

See the posts on the top half of this page starting with "Chesapeake, the outside run."

And make sure to visit Tangier Island, it won't be there much longer!

2018 Posts | AtAnchor.com

If you enjoy the scenery of the Dismal Swamp, a cruise up the Pocomoke river on the Eastern shore is very nice. A bigger and deeper waterway that winds through mashes, forests, and farm lands. There are 2 small cities on the river, Pocomoke and Snow Hill. Pocomoke docking was free with electric last time I stopped. Snow Hill is $10 per night plus $12 for electric if running the air conditioning. Restaurants come and go, so best to Google search. From Crisfield, MD it's about 45 miles all the way to Snow Hill if you take the Broad creek cut. Nice place to explore tributaries with a dinghy or kayak. Usually do the trip a couple of times each year.

Ted

Good stuff, guys. Thanks for the info. Sonas' blog is a great resource for the area, so thanks for reminding me about that. OC Diver, thanks for your tip.


Is St. Mary's worth a stop? Sonas, I know you were there in your blog, and others have mentioned it. I'm just a little past that in reading you blog and will keep reading more.

Has anyone stopped in Wynne, MD? Another boater told me they liked to stop in there, but I have not heard anyone else mention it as worthwhile. Not much there, I think.

The Potomac up to DC is still on my mind, but it's a long way up there so it would come at the expense of skipping other things. We've both been to DC by land, but boating up the Potomac and going by Mt. Vernon sounds like something I would enjoy. However, there is so much to see in the rest of the Chesapeake that I am not sure we'll go far up the Potomac.

At this point, I'm still trying to decide what to do in Norfolk. Stay a few days or just pass through and enjoy the scenery on the way to parts farther north.

St Mary's is an nice secure anchorage. If you time it for one of the free concerts on the green at the college you can include that as well as visiting the Indian village, the chapel and the reproduction of the Maryland Dove.

Though COVID may have changed all that!

Get a hold of a copy of Chesapeake Magazine's Guide to Cruising Chesapeake Bay. It is superb. Also the Waterway Guide is based on the Chessie, and their guide is very good. There are just so many places to anchor and to see, you can spend years poking around and not see it all. Since it was easier for us to drive to various towns, we concentrated on finding cool anchorages, of which there are an almost unlimited supply.

It would be nice if you could let us know where you have been, what you did and what you thought, based on all the work people have done to supply you with ideas. That will get you more feedback and pay it forward to those who will come after you.

Also, there are a ton of threads on the Chesapeake here on TF so look those over for those of us who may not want to repeat ourselves for the umpteenth time.

For Chesapeake anchorages, get a copy of "Cruising the Chesapeake, a Gunkholer's Guide" (something like that) by Bill Shellenberger.

Up in our neck of the woods:
- Solomons Island
- Cambridge
- Oxford
- Knapp's Narrows
- St. Michaels
- the Wye and Wye East Rivers
- Kent Narrows
- Rock Hall/Swan Creek
- Chesapeake City
- Havre d'Grace
- Bal'mer (Baltimore)
- Annapolis
- Galeseville (and the Rhode River anchorage)
- Deale (maybe; the two Herrington Harbor marinas)

Some of these are pretty tiny (e.g., Galesville), maybe only a stop-off if nothing better presents itself or if weather or boatwork dictates. In any case, the situation in each may vary over time due to Covid-19 issues, but as I type this everything is open, with masks and social distancing often "required" (recommended, with varying enforcement).

-Chris

For something unusual and different take a look at the American Mariner.
From a safe distance.

Onancock is also worth a visit.

caltexflanc said:

....It would be nice if you could let us know where you have been, what you did and what you thought, based on all the work people have done to supply you with ideas. That will get you more feedback and pay it forward to those who will come after you. ...

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Certainly! Paying it forward is the intent. I have been trying to do that in my previous thread through the Carolinas with which you all have been so helpful. I will admit too many days have passed by since I last updated that thread and our most recent travels and what we thought/enjoyed/experienced. Hopefully it will work like other threads here and help others. I will get back to that thread and update it more, and will certainly do the same here after we go through the Chesapeake area.
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys, and by all means feel free to keep them coming. What a journey this is, and some of what has been shared here has made it even better than it would have been otherwise.

menzies said:

Onancock is also worth a visit.

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Sounds like it would be. I also read about it in your blog.

I would go up the James River..lots to see, especially if the weather outside of Hamton is too rough. Smooth water from Hampton north of York River will give you better memories. Weather week of 7/13 shows wind from SE.

BTW--O C Diver is excellent resource regarding the Chesapeake. He just came up the thru the Dismal in June and is generous with good info.

The Dismal Swamp was kind to us. Now in Portsmouth.

So many good suggestions. Thanks for the contributions. We are looking into each of them and will decide how many we can hit.

Current status: We left Albemarle Plantation headed for Elizabeth City to anchor before doing Dismal Swamp. We opted to cruise on through Elizabeth City (now a likely stop coming back in the fall) and enter the swamp. We overnighted at the visitor center. We were the only boat there. We completed the swamp the next day and stopped in Portsmouth, VA. We hope to tour the USS Wisconsin and Nauticus.

The swamp was kind to us. 2 gentle bumps, but that was all.

Top Rack had some extremely good diesel prices when I went through there in May.

I live on the St Mary's river right across from Tippity Witchity island. It's about a mile north of St Mary's City and as far as you can go up the St Mary's. The river has some nice scenery and anchorages. The anchorage at Horseshoe Bend is very nice and it is adjacent to St Mary's City. Historic St Mary's City just reopened and the museum and walking tour through the recreated city (Maryland's oldest) is worth doing.

Leatherneck said:

I live on the St Mary's river right across from Tippity Witchity island. It's about a mile north of St Mary's City and as far as you can go up the St Mary's. The river has some nice scenery and anchorages. The anchorage at Horseshoe Bend is very nice and it is adjacent to St Mary's City. Historic St Mary's City just reopened and the museum and walking tour through the recreated city (Maryland's oldest) is worth doing.

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George,
That looks like a very nice area for a 2 or 3 day getaway from Crisfield. Does St Mary's city have a dinghy dock?

Ted

O C Diver said:

George,
That looks like a very nice area for a 2 or 3 day getaway from Crisfield. Does St Mary's city have a dinghy dock?

Ted

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The college has an extensive sailing program and are very gracious about letting cruisers use their dock for dinghies.

This is one of our favorite places.

danderer said:

The college has an extensive sailing program and are very gracious about letting cruisers use their dock for dinghies.

This is one of our favorite places.

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Thanks!

Is that the James Muldoon River center? Does one need to contact them in advance or is there a designated dinghy section?

Ted

I'm sure there is somewhere to dock your dinghy there. The recreated sailing ship Maryland Dove is docked just before Church's Point and there are some docks just around Church's Point that I think belong to St Mary's college. Folks are pretty friendly and I'm sure they would be OK with leaving your dinghy there while ashore. I just called and was told to use the college docks. Need to wear masks while touring historic St Mary's city per their website. Open Wed thru Sunday from 1000 to 1600.

Ted, that is the James Muldoon River center at the college. Don't think you need to call first.
It is also the destination for the annual Governor's Cup yacht race although cancelled this year. One year I forgot about the race and came south around Horseshoe Bend in my powerboat and saw a wall of sailboats all beating toward the finish line <LOL>. Quick U-turn and back home.

Looks like it is the Muldoon center. We've used the end of their dock or the adjacent beach. Haven't contacted them beforehand and no one has ever said anything other than a friendly greeting.

We used the college's dock both times we visited. They have inside docks for the sail boats and a long finger pier on one side with a floating dock at the end. We tied up to the finger pier cleats and we're able to easily walk to the historic town and college green from there.

danderer said:

Looks like it is the Muldoon center. We've used the end of their dock or the adjacent beach. Haven't contacted them beforehand and no one has ever said anything other than a friendly greeting.

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Yep, we tied to the left side of that fixed pier. No issues and there were plenty of people from the college around coaching etc.

We were just talking about that area this morning, including anchoring in Horseshoe Bend and the St. Mary's area in general. The area is for sure on our short list and we'll likely be anchoring there sometime within the next couple of weeks.

Solly said:

For something unusual and different take a look at the American Mariner.
From a safe distance.

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Solly, do you by any chance mean the American Rover, the big green sailing schooner touring Norfolk with the red sails? If so, we saw it and enjoyed it as it cruised around Norfolk in the evenings. We did not go aboard, but liked seeing it cruising around.

Rappahannock River! It's a bit of a run up to where the good part begins but you will then pass through some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen on the east coast south of New England. Longer untouched looking stretches than we have found almost anywhere and you might see up to 100 eagles. Anchor just below the first bridge at Fredericksburg and take the short dinghy ride up to the town dock.

If you should have boat problems, Yankee Point Marina in Lancaster did some major emergency work on our boat and was the best boatyard experience I have had in over 30,000 miles of cruising.

Roger Long, interesting timing on your post. We'll likely find ourselves in the Rappahannock before the end of the day today. We are anchored in Mobjack Bay now, letting a little rainstorm do its thing. I had planned on going up to at least Urbanna, but will give some consideration to going further up, too. Thanks for your info!

stroutmail said:

I would go up the James River..lots to see, especially if the weather outside of Hamton is too rough. Smooth water from Hampton north of York River will give you better memories. Weather week of 7/13 shows wind from SE.

BTW--O C Diver is excellent resource regarding the Chesapeake. He just came up the thru the Dismal in June and is generous with good info.

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stroutmail, thanks for that. I had the St. James in mind if it was too bumpy when we headed north form Norfolk. It was really smooth, though, so we kept going north rather than detouring on the St. James.

I'm interested in the St. James, though, and may hit it on our return trip. I do want to see Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, etc. I think a lot of people rent a car to do that from other locations rather than from the St. James, but it looks like you can get to shore around Jamestown, too and see some sights.
Has that been your experience or what else do you enjoy up the St. James?

AZ2Loop said:

I had planned on going up to at least Urbanna, but will give some consideration to going further up, too.

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Don't give up until you go under the bridge at Port Royal. You may wonder what I'm talking about until you get that far but then you'll want to go all the way. Best side trip we've done between NJ and FL.

FYI, it is the James River, sans the beatification. We lived in Richmond all through the 80's and saw a lot of the upper James and tributaries on friends day boats. The James is a deepwater shipping channel serving the Port of Richmond.

The Rappahannock was something we never got around to on our boat, and wish we had. We've seen a lot of it by car though and much of it is indeed very pretty. I am not sure about going all the way up to Fredericksburg though, that's a long trip and IMO not that rewarding a destination, having spent quite a bit of time there by land. Urbanna is a very nice town stop, by the way.