Bike and Kayak Tour – Day 10: Our U-Haul was stolen overnight, along with everything in it – the kayak, both bicycles, tools, tire pumps, spare wheels, other spare parts, three boxes of W3R T-shirts, a box of Sal’s book, food, receipts, proclamations and business cards, among other things. In other words, anything we had not brought into the hotel with us last night was gone. Fortunately, our computers, clothes and paperwork – the items that mattered most – were in the hotel, thank God. The police told us that ours was one of three U-Hauls stolen in the area overnight, most likely for parts and scrap metal while the contents were fenced to pawn shops. Determined to continue with the Tour, Sal called Kim Burdick (thank you for giving up your morning to help us), who drove us to Trek Bicycle in Newark, Delaware, to get a new bike and a car rental agency to get a Chevy Sparkfor a support vehicle.
Sal and I were on the road at 1:05 p.m., a bit behind schedule but still pressing forward. Our first stop was the site of the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, the only Revolutionary War battle in Delaware.
The brief but intense engagement between Continental and British troops, on Sept. 3, 1777, was the opening chapter of the Philadelphia campaign, which included the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown and the British seizure of the U.S. capital.
Our next stop was Elkton Landing/Head of Elk in Maryland, the embarkation point for many French and Continental soldiers, followed by the Rodgers Tavern in Perryville, Maryland.
Without our own vessel, and it being too late in the day to rent one, Sal had to forgo kayaking across the Susquehanna River from Perryville to Havre de Grace, instead cycling across the U.S. Route 40 bridge and pausing at a rack of vessels when he arrived.
Havre de Grace has plazas honoring Rochambeau and Lafayette.
We are spending the night in a motel in Aberdeen and return to Havre de Grace in the morning before embarking for Baltimore and Annapolis.
Jeff