May 21: Chesapeake City, MD

On Wednesday it was a short ride up Back Creek to sleepy little Chesapeake City which is the western entry point to the Chesapeake and Delaware canal. This canal passage way changes the distance between Baltimore and Philadelphia by close to 300 miles for commercial ships headed north. It was dug by hand in 1824 and included 3 locks. It is safer in storms than the Atlantic and is the busiest canal in the world. We saw ocean going freighters, huge barges and pleasure craft all making way through the canal. We arrived at the free city docks in wonderful sunshine, and took our bikes out for a tour. We saw the Lock House that was built in 1894. It had a tall wooden waterwheel 38 feet in diameter that was driven by two steam boilers. The water wheel operated until 1927 when the canal was widened and deepened so as to no longer require the lock. After visiting the lock house, I had a 5 mile ride along the top of the levy and saw many blue herons (or maybe just the same one over and over!) as well as a huge orange freighter from Hong Kong.

We had a delicious dinner including perhaps our last taste of cream of crab soup at the Bayson House near the docks. This three story frame house, built in 1824, is the oldest house in town and overlooks the canal. It was a delight to walk through the house and imagine the lives of the people living there when the canal was new and it was a hub of activity. There were luscious blue purple butterfly flowers out front that made me miss mine at home.