Technically, we left the Chesapeake when we passed Turkey Point and entered the Elk River, but we didn't really feel like we'd left the Bay until we entered the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) canal. We'd had a great sail up from Rogue's Harbor on Elk Neck and were reluctant to quit when we entered the canal, but sailboats are required to transit under engine power, so we compromised by dropping the jib and motorsailing with engine and mainsail. We'd been a little nervous about the prospect of sharing a narrow waterway with huge ships, but the 450-foot-wide canal had plenty of room for everyone. I wouldn't call it scenic, particularly, but it was pleasant, and some of the bridges were really spectacular.
At Chesapeake City (where we got hit by a big storm while at anchor, described in the previous log entry) we visited the canal museum, which is in the old pumphouse which used to supply water for operating the lock that was there. Originally, there were three locking points on the C&D, but it was re-dredged to a sea level canal as part of one of its improvement phases. Built in the early 1800s, it was quite a feat of engineering for its time.
We sped through the eastern section of the canal with a favorable current, and entered the Delaware River around noon. We decided to go upstream to New Castle so we could buy a cruising guide; "upstream" turned out to be down-current, since the tide was coming in. The river was wide enough, and deep enough outside the ship channel, that we were able to sail the whole way, tacking into a moderate breeze from the north.
New Castle turned out to be a great stop, even though there were no real facilities for boaters and our anchorage was just a spot in the river. The town was settled by the Dutch in 1651 and became the capital of the new colony of Delaware in 1704. It remained a prosperous town through the early 19th century, and many of the homes and other buildings from this early period still stand. The cemetery at Immanuel Church holds the graves of many historical figures, including governors, senators, and signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. When rail lines were laid in 1840 connecting Philadelphia and Baltimore, they bypassed New Castle, and the town fell into decline until the 1920s when it was "rediscovered". There are a few antique shoppes and such, but most of the historic homes are still private homes and museums rather than tourist traps.
We'd come through the C&D canal with plans to go to Cape May, but the cruising guide we'd bought said, "Philadelphia is an exciting port for cruising boats," and we were already north of the canal anyway, so we decided to continue upriver. It was an absolutely windless day, so we motored up what turned out to be the maritime equivalent of the New Jersey Turnpike. Industrial buildings and equipment lined both shores: refineries, barge-loading terminals, ship drydocks, and huge installations whose function we could only guess at. To add to the industrial ambiance, jets approach and depart Philadelphia International Airport right over the river, and of course we saw several container ships and tugs pushing barges. We made good time, as we'd chosen our departure to coincide with the upriver flood tide, which added 2 knots to our speed.
Philadelphia
is not the easiest of cruising destinations since there's nowhere to
anchor, and there are few marinas. We stayed at the Penn's Landing
municipal marina, which was $1/foot/night and offered no services
other than water, electricity, and security. On the other hand, the
waterfront is a convenient and fun place to stay, and Philadelphia is
a terrific place to be a tourist. The few places not within walking
distance can be gotten to on the tourist bus, the PHLASH, which goes
by every 10 or so minutes, with drivers who reel off facts and
stories about each building they drive by. The Independence Seaport
Museum, where we spent our first day, is right at Penn's Landing. The
seaport museum has two historic vessels open for tours, the WWII
submarine Becuna and Admiral Dewey's 1892 cruiser Olympia, which are
berthed on the opposite side of the marina basin from us. There are
also several other historic and lovely boats on the waterfront.
We spent another interesting day visiting the historic sites of
Independence National Historic Park. Of course we had to see
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell; we also toured many other
park buildings, including the Todd House, an 18th-century home
furnished with original and period furnishings, and the Second Bank
of the US, which is now a portrait gallery. 
It
seemed that Benjamin Franklin had something to do with practically
every historic site we visited; by the time we got to the museum
about his life, at Franklin Court, we felt like we already knew him
pretty well. (Benjamin Franklin is clearly Philadelphia's favorite
son.) We also spent a day at the science museum (unsurprisingly,
called the Franklin Institute, with an enormous statue of Ben in the
entrance rotunda). We enjoyed the many hands-on exhibits, as well as
displays of historic machines and scientific items, and of course the
obligatory hall devoted to Mr. Franklin's experiments and inventions.
Somehow we also found time to stroll South Street (where we spent a
lot of time and money at a great used books store), eat dinner in
Chinatown (yum), and dance to a free big-band concert at the outdoor
amphitheater on the waterfront (alas, to be torn down for
construction of a huge "entertainment complex").
Ken, the former owner of our boat, lives near Philadelphia, so we phoned him and arranged to get together one evening with him and his wife Grace. We had a great time showing off all the new things we've added; he was clearly pleased we were taking good care of "his baby"! (And if you're reading this, Ken and Grace, we're going to hold you to your promise to come down and visit us in the islands!)
We had a lot of fun being tourists in Philadelphia, but we're ready to get out of the big city. It's time to head back down the Delaware River and into the Delaware Bay, where we plan to visit Cape Henlopen on the corner of Delaware before our brief trip into the big bad Atlantic and back into Cape May, New Jersey.