continued… Once Kosmos was situated, we quickly took showers and go ready to go out. After three days onboard, we were excited to walk around onshore, especially in a new town. It could be tricky to get on and off the boat with fixed docks, so Eric had set up a line to give us extra leverage.
The marina seemed to be small.
Sunday, October 5, 2025
Since we were in no rush, we slept until our normal time and had a leisurely breakfast. Interestingly, when we first got up, there was no fog, and as the morning progressed we watched it slowly and steadily roll in on shore.
Saturday, October 4 — Our plan was to leave as soon as it was light enough to safely navigate. The days were getting shorter, and the sun was rising later, so we didn’t untie until 0650.
It was calm and peaceful on the water, though there was patchy fog here and there. There were also a lot of rowing (crew) boats out on the water that we needed to be wary of.
Wednesday, October 1 — We were not surprised to hear that the federal shutdown happened. Some of the yacht club members had told us that few agencies would actually shut down today; that many had squirreled away some funds to keep operating — at least for a little while — in case the shut down occurred. We found out that the museums would be open for a few more days, so we hadn’t needed to force ourselves to go to the Natural History Museum and Hirshhorn Museum yesterday, after all.
Our plan for today had been to finish seeing the outdoor monuments, but we were tired and needed to take care of some “life chores.” We decided to take the day off of sightseeing. After Keith and Christi finished school, all three of us washed the boat. We don’t think we’ve washed the whole boat with soap and a brush since Panama! It has rained enough – and hard enough – that it just hasn’t been necessary. In Baltimore, we’d had some air pollution settle on the boat, but that had been easily rinsed away with just the hose. But here in DC, under the flight path of Reagan International airport, we had a layer of jet fuel building up on the deck. And jet fuel didn’t rinse away — it needed to be scrubbed with a brush and hand wiped off with rags.
After boat washing, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Kinfolk, which was right near us on The Wharf (where the police car often sat).
It was southern food, and we hadn’t gone in earlier because we were dubious that they could accommodate Christi’s food allergy. But they actually had a lot of pepper-free choices, and the food was incredible. We wished we’d eaten there sooner!
Saturday, Sept 27 — First thing this morning, Eric went to move car. His plan was to move the car out of the lot and then park right back in it. However, the lot was closed – cars could only leave, they couldn’t enter. Since it was so early in the morning, he decided to see if he could find street parking along The Wharf. He found a spot, but the tire popped when he bumped into the curb while parallel parking. Then he noticed the sign said 10-minute parking. Argh!
He changed the tire with the donut in the trunk, then went to the car rental agency at the airport to exchange cars. The staff in the office told him they couldn’t help him until after he called into the customer service line. He was very frustrated about being on hold for 7-minutes while the staff at the counter were twiddling their thumbs. Fortunately, the agency exchanged the car with no issues, though they did charge $100 for the tire. And he’d forgotten to fill the tank up before returning the car, and we are still waiting to find out what they’re going to charge us for the gas.
Meanwhile, on The Wharf, there was a big event. Christi and Keith watched a giant crowd of people congregate on the pier to the west of the marina, with loud music playing. The music stopped and the whole crowd moved to the boardwalk and started walking east. They thought it may have been a fundraiser walk, but weren’t sure. Here was a photo of the pier after the crowd cleared out.
Once Eric had the replacement car, he headed back to The Wharf. He drove around for a solid half-hour and couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere. Much to his frustration, many of the lots and garages were closed on the weekends. He gave up and finally parked at the outrageously expensive Wharf parking garage. We tried to hurry, but since we hadn’t realized there would be a rush to leave, none of us had really gotten going on the day yet. By the time each of us showered, ate breakfast and got everything ready to go out for the day, almost two hours had passed. The parking fee was $24.00.
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