Day 50 a little late Mo and Kevin in Annapolis

This blog is a little late since Morgan and Kevin got here yesterday and we ended up staying out past midnight. Wwwhhaaat?! That's crazy talk! But we did. However, we are up this morning and the youngins are still snoozing. Had some visitors on our dingy this morning. (Pic 1) Yesterday we did laundry in the morning in preparation of our guests' arrival. It was nuts around town by 11am. We hear it's that way every Saturday. The poor kids had to drive around for 45 minutes trying to find a parking space. We had lunch and dinner at old historic inns. Gave them an abbreviated tour of the Naval Academy. Then Mo and I did some grocery shopping in anticipation of her spending a week with us on board. Spent the rest of the evening talking, eating, drinking, laughing, and wandering the streets of old Annapolis. One highlight was a street performer violinist who played Celtic music beautifully. Finished the evening drinking painkillers at Pusser's.  Shoving off today to head towards the C & D Canal. Unfortunately, Kev has to go back to PA for his job. Aahhh, the working class - we feel bad for them! The two bottom pics are from the 4th. The third is of the Yacht Club - boats as far as you could see. The second is the aftermath of the strange parade. Everyone is heading for the waterfront. 

Day 49 The 4th of July in Annapolis

I don't think we could have picked a better place to be in on the 4th of July. Arthur is no threat - didn't even get any rain this morning - it's blustery and cool. Annapolis is all a flutter with anticipation. Boats have been circling all day like sharks looking for moorings or anchorages. Headed into town for a late lunch. There are bronze statues near the docks of Alex Haley reading to children. We heard him speak years ago and he was a riveting storyteller. However, I didn't realize this is where his ancestor, Kunta Kinte was first brought to America in chains. The plebes were out running again this morning. They don't even get off for the 4th.  We walked around Eastport which is like a suburb of historic Annapolis. Had lunch at Factor Row, a restaurant suggested by Greg and Lynn whom we met on the Dismal Swamp. Their son, Keith, is the chef. After we introduced ourselves, he sent out a delicious complimentary appetizer of  bar-b-qued oysters topped with cheese and bacon bits. Oh yum. Waited around for the parade which was quite unusual. It was more like a string of political campaigners and fire trucks. Very odd. There was one band that tried really hard to entertain. Headed back to the boat amid thousands of people who were on their way to find seating for the fireworks. Hundreds of boats lay in wait out in front of our mooring area. All their navigational lights were on right before dark which made for a really neat scene. This is the first time I have been under a blanket and drinking hot chocolate while watching fireworks on the 4th, but better than sweating our brains out.Where Annapolis lacks in parades, they make up for in fireworks displays. The finale was unbelievable. And as for Jack, well, he hated it especially boaters blowing horns. Hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe 4th - God bless our America. 

Day 48 Pt 2

The church is another beautiful structure on campus. (Pic 1) John Paul Jones' tomb is housed in the basement. Despite the popular belief that he is the "father of the Navy" - he wasn't - George Washington is. However, the Navy reveres him for his courage and conquests. (Pic 2) A Naval graduate retrieved his body from Paris and brought it to the Academy in the early 1900's. After we were done with the tour, we visited the museum, which is a source of great pride to the school. It's not there just to display artifacts or tell the history of the Navy, it is there to inspire students to become leaders - great leaders like the ones immortalized in the museum. There is so much, it's impossible to relate all that we saw. They have the largest collection of model ships in the world - an entire floor is dedicated to them. One area is reserved for "bone ships". These were carved by French POW's during the Napoleonic Wars. The prisoners would save the bones from their meager meals and carve these amazing sailing vessels. (Pic 3) The detail is phenomenal. The English would let them sell them on the streets outside of the prison. We ended our visit with a delectable lunch at the Officer's Club - very quiet and dignified. (Pic 4) We had the best crab cakes and crab soup since we hit Maryland. Tomorrow is the parade and fireworks. Hoping Arthur and the storms steer clear of us. 

Day 48 The Naval Academy pt 1

Annapolis Naval Academy is freaking amazing. We took the earliest walking tour this morning (9:30) and did not leave till 2pm. There's so much to see and so much history - it's overwhelming. Jack, our guide, took us all over campus. We started at the Olympic pool where Michael Phelps once practiced. - little surprise, he holds all the pool records. Athletics is very important to the Academy especially when they play Army. The school focuses on academics, sports, and military. During the Civil War, the school was moved and the facility was used for a base and a hospital - most of it was destroyed and neglected. When the Naval Academy returned, they rebuilt a lot. One building was like a giant quonset hut. This was an all purpose structure that was used over the years as a cafeteria, gym, dance hall and even a skating rink. (Pic 1) Bancroft Hall is the largest stone building in the US. (Pic 2) It houses the midshipmen and a magnificent ballroom. Engraved on one wall are all the names of graduates, who have lost their lives in combat. On another wall, they record all Naval Medal of Honor recipients. These two areas are very sacred to the Academy. The massive ballroom is a work of art. (Pic 3) The non-denominational church was the last thing on the tour. They hold 2 different religious services each Sunday and it's also used for funerals. One row is reserved for the "missing" Naval graduates. It is marked with a fresh bouquet of flowers - no one can sit there. (Pic 4) Since I can only do 4 pictures, I'll continue this in part 2. 

Day 47 Correction

I'm going to blame this on the painkiller, but the picture of Pusser's was actually the marina boathouse. Oops. This is the actual Pusser's Bar next to the Marriott - right in the middle next to the big tour boat. You can also see the spire to St Mary's in the mast. Also some clarification on the St. Mary's organist who wrote "Anchors Away" - his name was Hart, a midshipman in the Academy - he wrote the lyrics.  Zimmerman, who was the bandleader at the Academy, composed the music. It was originally the football fight song for the Army - Navy game in 1906. The Navy made some changes in later years and now they are trying to make it the official song of the US Navy. And to quote Paul Harvey - and that's the rest of the story.

Day 47 More Annapolis

All I can say at this moment is - oh, my aching feet! We walked the city of Annapolis from 9am to 4:30pm. We started with the Capital Building. It was imposing with all it's stone and marble and the original capital building of the US. It's where Washington resigned his commission after the Revolutionary War. The original final draft of his speech is on display. It was very impressive to be separated from something "the father of our country" wrote by a piece of glass. You can visit the old original chambers and the new ones. Next we were on to the William Paca House built in 1763. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a Maryland governor. The house is a great example of Federalist architecture, but the spectacular part is the 2 acre garden out back. Most of the houses here are so close together, you couldn't squeeze a piece of spaghetti between them, and here's this guy with 2 acres of land. Also impressive. We ate lunch in an 1800's Irish pub, then proceeded to explore St. Mary's Catholic Church. (Pic is from brochure - you cannot photograph church) It is a huge complex of social organizations and schools. The church, built in 1859 after the original 1700's church was destroyed,  is magnificent and most of the interior is white. The guy responsible for building the church was the only Catholic to sign the D of I. Another fun fact, the organist of this church in the early 1900's wrote the Navy theme song, Anchor's Away. We spent hours walking around just gawking at historic houses and snooping in shops. When we got back to dockside, we had to stop at Pusser's Bar in the Marriott (3rd pic - bar in very center) and have a painkiller. Ironically, John had his Soggy Dollar BVI hat on - the home of the original painkiller. So far, no bad weather. There was lots of crazy wind and waves last night which made for sporadic rest, but it settled down by like 4am and we finally dozed off to a deep sleep. However at 6:15am, the Academy, which is a stone's throw from us, started their morning drills...with a megaphone. At 7am the yelling stopped and then we hear someone shouting about "picking up those oars" - crew practice started around the mooring balls. (Academy behind crew team) Oh hell, we gave up and made coffee. Tonight should be calmer and we are touring the Naval Academy tomorrow since just we ran out of gas today. 

Day 46 Annapolis Harbor

When we checked the weather last night, we discovered there was some storms and winds moving in later today, so we made the decision to leave at 5:30 this morning to beat the weather and get into a safe mooring...and we did. The seas were pretty rough at first and at the end of our ride, but for most of the morning, it was not bad. Jack didn't even get sick. As a matter of fact, he was begging for food as we moored. As we entered the harbor, we encountered more boats than I've ever seen in one place. The harbor master said lots more will be here by Friday. John brought us in dodging sailboats, gunboats, a large school of prams, power boats and tour boats. The two pictures are of either side of our mooring as of noon. There were tons of prams and 420's doing a summer sailing program. Our first stop after the dingy dock was an old pub where we watched the disappointing soccer game. Then we hiked to Eastport for some seafood. We are in for a bumpy night on the mooring ball until this wind subsides. Keeping an eye on Arthur, too, down in Florida. Tomorrow we explore Annapolis, the Naval Academy.