By the summer, when I had a little time for visiting Maryland, I had been holed up in my house working from home for over three months. As comfortable (and exhausting) as that was, I knew I needed to push myself out to continue this journey, despite Covid. I found a place in Maryland that offered a number of kayaking trips in different parts of the state and those seemed like a great way to start exploring the state while keeping a social distance. My first trip started on a very hot afternoon at Lock 22, known as Pennyfield. I did not know much about the C&O before I started this state, and I enjoyed discovering it in a variety of trips. That afternoon’s paddle went upstream in the Canal to Lock 23, Violettes, where we stopped to admire the Potomac. Then we paddled downstream for a short stint before moving the kayaks across the C&O bike path and kayaking out into the Potomac back to Pennyfield. I was one of six, so we all had a chance to chat between sightings of bald eagles, cranes, and cormorants. We landed back at Pennyfield around six, and I had a long evening ahead to explore a little of the state.
I was covered in water and sweat, so I ditched my plan to visit a Civil War battlefield as it seemed disrespectful. Instead, I drove to Poolesville and took photos of things I may get to see again. The first was the Seneca Schoolhouse, a collectively-funded educational effort founded by locals in 1880.
I followed the Scenic Highway signs along the Canal until White’s Ferry, the last of one hundred ferries that used to cross the Potomac from Maryland to Virginia. There were people about, picking up take-out from favorite restaurants on the summer evening. I took the recommendation of one of my fellow kayakers and stopped in Frederick for the night, where I too ordered a takeout burger from Wags. Everything seemed like a risk at that point, the hotel, the town, the bar where I collected the burger. But I was glad I got out. The kayak was invigorating and the burger excellent. Both eased me to sleep.