I have a friend who always schedules a Chesapeake cruise for the week after the opening of the sailboat show. He has very seldom had anything but excellent weather. We always schedule our visit on the first day (Thursday) because although the ticket price is higher there is little crowding. Spa Creek is always full of interesting boats during the show, and the Truxtun Park ramp is, indeed, free after Labor Day. I might be tempted to find parking in a more, um... socio-economically developed neighborhood, though. The creek is one of my favorite anchorages, although the holding is truly lousy -- I've dragged two anchors all the way across and felt foolish about it until hearing that many anchors have been so dragged. I've never tried anchoring in Back Creek, but that might work well, too. Giles Morris