Oxford

Goose Creek
N 38 45.032 W 076 15.711

Everybody said we should see Oxford, the charming little historic town off the Choptank River. This morning we went over there. We tied off at the town dock and walked around the town. It was very old and very quaint, but I got the impression that it was pretentious and snooty. My suspicions were reinforced when we found that the biggest business in town was The Hinkley Yacht Company. Hinkley makes wonderful yachts whose main purpose is to allow the owner to announce to the world that they have
a lot of money. In my mind, Hinkley Yachts are like Rolls Royce cars.

We ate lunch on the waterfront, and as we were sitting a sport fisherman came back in. The captain held up an enormous fish, it must have weighed more than 50 pounds, as he went by. All the diners at the restaurant gave him a hearty applause. After lunch, we walked over to the fisherman's slip. He actually caught two of those monsters, they were Black Drums; "Biggest thing in the Chesapeake" said the skipper. He also had a fine catch of Rock Fish. The best part though was that there were two
small boys with him, one about 9 and the other about 112, who had caught the fish. They were busy posing as tourists on shore took their pictures holding the fish. It must have been a great day for those two boys.

It was another hot day and we decided that the most appealing thing to do for the rest of the day was to return to Goose Creek to the same spot we anchored yesterday.

When we got here and dropped the hook, we wasted no time getting in to our bathing suits and jumped in for a swim. The water felt wonderful. It cooled one off instantly, but it was warm enough to stay in the water for an hour without getting cold. I call the act of jumping into the water on the afternoons of oppressively hot days, my "instant attitude adjustment maneuver." It sure works, and the attitude adjustment is truly instantaneous. Libby is an old fuddy duddy. She lowers herself into
the water one millimeter at a time. Me? I just jump.

I forgot to mention something yesterday. On this cove there is one residence -- a typical monstrous Chesapeake house with side additions on each flank and miscellaneous out buildings and guest houses. Next to it is a farm with a chicken coop. The farm also had something quite unexpected -- it has a railroad caboose sitting on two rails, not far from the water. The caboose says "Central of Georgia" on the side. Well, a caboose is quite a prize for collectors. I'm sure that they must be rare
and this one appears to be in mint condition. The mystery though is that there is no sign of a railroad line nearby that could have transported the caboose here. How else would one transport a caboose?

Right now it is twilight once again. The heron is back, the swans are still here and tonight there are three mourning doves competing with their calls. A few minutes ago something big swam underneath us. The depth sounder reading went from 8 feet to 3 feet, tripping the audible alarm, it lasted for about 4 seconds then went back to normal. Unfortunately, the water is too turbid to see what monsters might lurk in the deep.