The Much Anticipated Entry

I am sorry to keep you waiting all this time. I just wanted to let you all know a few things about the blogging process, so that you know what caused this long delay. Each day we go on the boat I (Andrew) have an opportunity to post on the blog using Mildred Belle's Laptop. This is very convenient because it allows the kids to write what should be included in the blog before I write it and then I can spend a portion of the boat ride reading through everyones' journal entries before I copy down the final product. However, things do not always go as planned. Often times the area in the Chesapeake we are travelling through does not offer an adequate wireless internet connection. Such times make it very difficult to post an entry. Also, we have had trouble with weather. On days when rain is falling/will fall later it is very hard (yet again) to get a decent internet connection. We have had two such days. Our blogging is certainly not an exact science and this is the first year that we have had the opportunity to do so. You can rest assured, even on days when a post has not appeared, that your students are learning and having fun. Also, on a kayak trip we took a few days ago we lost the Mildred Belle's boat camera so most pictures of our trip have been lost (they might be able to be retrieved in time). Again, we apologize for the decline in amount of blog entries and for the lack of pictures.

On to bigger and better things...

After our stop at Point Lookout we made our way to historic Crisfield. We toured the town which is full of crabhouses and old buildings related to the crab and oyster industries. These were the businesses that built the town. A lot has changed in the town, but even more has stayed the same. After the tour and lunch we went on a kayaking trip searching for a beach. However, the beach proved elusive and we got into a kayaking battle instead. We saw a few great blue herron among other birds. After dinner that night we took our FIRST shower all trip. Derek kiddingly tried to convince us that the kids didn't need the showers, but they were very happy and refreshed to take them.
The kids learned a lot more about navigation on the way to Solomon's Island and started a project (more to come on the project in a later blog!) At Solomon's Island we were treated to a suprise... PIZZA AND SODA. Needless to say, the students devoured it. We then made our way to our campsite and pitched tents. It rained that night and we had a fun night full of card tricks and games. This morning we went down to a beach and looked for fossils and shells and old sharks teeth. Shells that are 250 million years old were almost as common as sand. Some of the good finds were made by Justin (fossilized horseshoe crab shell) and Rebekah (fossilized crab claw).
Tonight we will be going to St Michael's Island where we will be camping on the grounds of St Michael's museum (my personal favorite campsite). Tours of the museum will be taken in the morning. Tonight the students will be taken to Justine's Icecream Parlor. Justine's has been recognized by such organizations as the New York Times as a TOP Icecream place in the country.

Here are some callouts from the kids to the parents and loved ones!

Albert- CTY is great! I hope everything is great at home.
Anirudh- Hi everyone, I am having a great time, this is a wonderful experience.
George- I miss you guys a lot but I'm having a great time.
Melissa- Hey, I miss you all and I'm having a great time.
Rebekah- I miss you guys and I'm having so much fun, can't wait to see you.
Charles- I miss you guys. I'm hungry and I'm craving mom's cooking.
Joe- I miss you all. Mom, you cooking is so, so, so, so good!
Sean- I miss Pumpkin and Dash. Send me some cheese fries.
Arjun- Uh... Vikings rule. Say hi to everyone. I'm reading Harry Potter AGAIN.
Derek- I need food and soda and stuff. Miss you.
Justin- Miss you guys lots, I'm hungry and I am going to need a filet mignon when I get back.

Mildred Belle signing out!

And We're Off!

After the ride down to Solomon's Island we got to know the crew of the Mildred Belle. Each of us got a nickname... most of which were quickly forgotten, except for the nickname of our captain, "Joe the Jerk." (This of course does not reflect our actual opinions!) We boarded the boat and made our way to our first campsite. We learned a lot about the boat on the first day and learned that we will be in charge of navigating the boat all by ourselves! After setting up camp at beautiful Jefferson Patterson Park, we played frisbee and learned the essentials of our campsite. In the morning we hiked to a replica of an indian camp ground and looked at the architecture. Currently we are on our way to Point Lookout- the 2nd most haunted place in the USA (we don't know what #1 is). Everyone in the Port lookout is currently rotating shifts of manning the helm, navigating, and being on lookout. I will try to get pictures and more updates online shortly!
Mildred Belle signing out!

Day 9

Sorry this hasn't been updated in awhile. We arrived in Crisfield on Saturday and were supposed to leave yesterday; however, weather forced us to stay at Crisfield until today. (By the way, pardon any typos from the past few entries...the waves have been large, which can make it hard to type sometimes.)

On Sunday, we took a ferry from Crisfield to Tangier Island. It is a very small island, but everybody enjoyed going into the few gift shops, spending time on the beach, and eating a lot of food.

Yesterday we were supposed to travel to Solomon's, but instead we drove to Assateague island. There, we hiked along a few different trails and saw wild ponies all over the island. We also got to walk along the beach of the ocean, where we saw a ghost crab and some tiny hermit crabs. Last night, we went to a real restaurant and ate pizza. It tasted great!

Now we are almost to Solomon's. Once we get there, we will be taking a van back to Baltimore. We will be staying at the Living Classrooms Foundation campus tonight before heading back to the College of Notre Dame tomorrow morning.

It's been a fun trip, and I will close with a quote from the students. Maybe they can explain it to you next time you talk :)

"It's too bad we could never make it to the waterfowl artwork museum and the antique stores. We were really disappointed but we were sure glad they were closed."

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

"Once we docked at St. Michael's Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, we got a guided tour of the museum. We encountered many intriguing exhibits. The one that we found most appealing was THE PUNT GUN. The punt gun is extremely heavy and extremely large gun that was used to take out multiple ducks all at the same time. Its ammunition included lead shots, nails, or whatever ammunition that was available to them. The punt gun was mounted onto a small row boat. In order to load the punt gun, people needed a step ladder and a steady object to lean the punt gun up against because you had to load it through the end of the barrel. During the middle of the night, hunters would quietly paddle to a nesting area. The hunters did this at night because the ducks were, as the expression goes, "sitting ducks". They were, in other words, sleeping. he use of the punt gun was later outlawed because the shots that did not hit the ducks ended up going under water and the ducks would eat them and get lead posioning and die a slow and very painful death.

Another interesting fact we learned was why St. Michaels was called the town that fooled the British. During the War of 1812 the British were going to bomb St. Michaels to prevent the destruction of the city. The citizens of St. Michaels decided to turn off all the lights in the town. After all the lights were turned off, they put lights in trees down the coastline from the town so the town appeared to be down the coastline away from the actual town. This resulted in the British firing at nothing."

By: Starboard Watch
Picture of the punt gun drwan by Mike W.

Day 4

Today is day 4 and right now, we are docked at St. Michael's. Yesterday, we were at Wye Island. When we got there, the students gave a presentation about a food web from the organisms we have seen or caught while trawling. Then, we went canoeing and then headed back to set up camp. After dinner, the students presented their songs about the fish they found while trawling. We then kept up the singing by having a Song Battle. It was a lot of fun. Then the students decided they wanted to play students versus adutls. The students couldn't compete with the adult's amazing song knowledge.

This morning we woke up and went on a very long hike to get to a beach. On the way there, we stopped and saw a holly tree that was at least 275 years old. We also saw some neat bugs along the way. When we finally reached the beach, the students all went swimming for a little while, but jellyfish scared some of them out of the water.

Right now, all of the students are on a tour of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael's. After the tour, they will be going on a scavenger hunt to look for answers about history of the Bay.

Enjoy the pictures of canoeing, swimming, and presentations. Have a good day!