Day 7: A Cone Jelly Buffet

After waking up on day seven, we walked to see the Wye holly tree, one of the oldest holly trees on the East Coast. It's gnarled branches and burly trunk seemed a bit anticlimatic at first, but upon further meditation we learned to appreciate the tree; to see its age as a testament against the deforestation that has so altered the surrounding landscape over the years. We left the tree to set off on our transit to Rock Hall with a hot sun on our backs, but we were able to escape the heat for a bit when we anchored the Mildred Belle and got to swim off the boat. Even in the middle of the Bay, jellyfish were still a bit of a concern to many, but no one got stung and everyone had a good time. Earlier in the transit, we also had a harrowing experience going under the drawbridge at Kent Narrows, as it is quite the tight squeeze for the Belle to get through; but Captain Joe brought us through without a scratch. We also tried using the trawl net again, with hopes for some fish. We pulled up the net with another load of pure cone jellies, but this time was more exciting because everyone got up the courage to eat one. These deceptively slimy-looking jellies are non-stinging and actually quite edible, and some of us developed quite the taste for them. We arrived at Rock Hall in time to eat dinner before watching a beatiful golden-pink sunset at the nearby beach, and then got a special surprise and privilege in getting to take our SECOND (!) showers of the trip. After reaching new realms of cleanliness, we went to bed looking forward to an early morning and our first chance to go crabbing.