An old Middlesex friend is home for a short visit as the 120-foot Miss Ann is on the rails at Chesapeake Marine Railway in Deltaville for some bottom repairs. John H. French of Detroit commissioned the custom yacht as a gift for his wife in 1924. Upon its completion in 1926, it was among the fastest and most stable boats of its kind. In 1952, Ennolls Stephens had her restored. Four years later, she was brought to the Tides Inn in Irvington. She was used to entertain hotel guests and soon began making trips between Carter’s Creek and Urbanna, nicknamed “Whiskey Runs” since Lancaster County was dry at the time the ABC store in Urbanna was within strolling distance once the Miss Ann docked there. She left the Rappahannock on September 2008 to be worked as a luxury cruise ship on the Potomac River out of Colonial Beach. (Photo by Larry Chowning)