Annapolis, MD

Annapolis is by far our favorite city so far on this trip. We had an uneventful trip form St. Michaels to Annapolis on Saturday, May 17. Our intention was to stay a few days, rent a car and tour Washington DC. The weather has a way of altering our plans and we stayed a full week. 

After docking, etc. we had a wonderful evening with Al and Marianne, friends who live in Annapolis and winter at Palm Harbor Club, our condo assn. First we had cocktails on our boat with them and Larry and Jan from Panacea. Then we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Annapolis Yacht Club with their friends John and Kathy. Larry and Jan from were invited to join us but had to decline as their dog, Chloe, was sick.

The beautiful sunrise woke us early by shining right into our bedroom. After the early start we attended Mass at St. Mary's Church only about a block from the marina. After Mass we walked though downtown and to our surprise the liquor store was open. As a joke I told Jan I would see if they had any Black Jack Cola. I enjoy a bottle on occasion and it is hard to find. They had two six packs and I purchased them both. This is only a minor reason to like Annapolis. We enjoyed walking around and took a trolley ride with Larry and Jan. The trolley rides are a good way to learn about the city we are in,  learn our way around and decide what we want to research further.

On my walk to pick up the rental car on Monday morning I saw the vacant corner lot with four decorated chickens. A little further I saw more in front of businesses. One was a jail bird in front of a bail bond store and another was a dalmatian in front of a fire house. We made a shopping trip by car with Larry and Jan and did some other errands. Being without a vehicle makes us be more resourceful  in keeping the boat stocked. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with Larry and Jan at Al and Marianne's house. They are sponsors for the midshipmen and it was very interesting learning about the life of a midshipman.

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, at Marianne's suggestion, we drove to New Carrollton and took the subway into Washington DC with Larry and Jan. Washington was amazingly interesting and I will do a separate post for it.

Thursday and Friday were not good travel days so we stayed in Annapolis. Mark and Jane from Average Looper were on a mooring ball and we met them for breakfast at Chuck and Ruth's Delly. Yes, I spelled Delly the way they spell it, look at the picture below. It was such an interesting, eclectic place that we returned another day for a light dinner with Larry and Jan. Legend has it that the state legislators meet there and they do have menu items named after them. 

Larry and I toured the Naval Academy. It was graduation week and a lot of activity. I was in awe of all the midshipmen, all in uniform, for their intelligence and physical fitness. They select less than 9% of their applicants. I will make a separate post for the Academy.

Since the rental car worked so well for Washington, we rented another car on Friday and drove to the inner harbor at Baltimore. Jan and I visited several years ago and chose not to go there by boat. The area has really been redeveloped and we are very glad we saw it so prosperous now. There are many upscale restaurants and tourist attractions. Again, we have enough pictures for a separate post.

After a full week we left Annapolis. It was great being there and in retrospect, the weather delay worked out very well.

Navigator and Panacea from the Yacht Club.

Navigator in the slip with the Naval Academy in the background.

How wonderful to wake up to this beautiful sunrise!

The Altar at St. Mary's Church, built in 1853.

Buying liquor after church on Sunday morning seemed weird.

Kind of reminds me when I was a kid when my Dad's first beer on Sunday 

was always called a "church beer". The story behind that isn't for here.

The state house plaque showing Annapolis to be the U.S. capital for a time.

The Capital Dome is visible from so many places around town

Here it is from an alley - walkway.

Unique shape of the Maryland Inn

1747 pub.

Beautiful well maintained home on the walking tour.

This is the oldest house in continuous use in Annapolis, built in 1681.

Middleton tavern built in 1750, a landmark at the waterfront.

A unique way to spell surgical.

The Admiral and Captain outside the Delly

Another cute shop - love the clever name.

Statue of Alex Haley reading to children.

The firehouse chicken.

Four other decorated chickens.

A classic boat. There are many more of these than I expected to see.

Docking a 127' boat looks easy for this Captain.

Navigator in our slip.

Sunrise on the day of departure.

It wasn't our intention to get up early and leave.

For some reason I wake up with the daylight.

St. Michaels

Jan and I visited St. Michaels several years ago by car when we attended the Annapolis Power Boat Show. While we really enjoyed the area on that visit. I never thought we would be there on our own boat. We truly are living the dream!

St. Michaels is definitely a tourist town. We were lucky to be just ahead of tourist season. Again our bicycles got a good workout. We have biked over 100 miles total so far on the trip. The downtown area was within walking distance but we wanted the exercise and to explore beyond downtown. We enjoyed several meals in various restaurants, all good. We stayed two extra days because of weather.

St. Michaels is know as the town that fooled the British. The story goes that the towns people were attacked at night and by hanging lanterns in the trees they fooled the British into shooting their cannons over the rooftops. Who knows how much truth there is in that story. But, there are a lot of really old houses there and most are very well maintained. Again, for us Minnesotans, a 100 year old house is really old and there are houses here at least twice that old.

The Maritime Museum is extremely well done and as the pictures below show, they actually restore and build boats there. The lighthouse tour was very informative regarding the important aids to navigation they served and the life of the keepers. It was a very lonesome and dangerous job.

This is one of our most favorite stops so far, but Annapolis is luring us to move on.

Larry from Panacea took this picture of Navigator on the way to St. Michaels

We were going around 10 mph here. Fuel is much less costly at this slower speed.

Our first view of St. Michaels was American Glory, a cruise ship.

We were concerned that the city would be overrun with tourists.

It turned out to not be an issue. Maybe the ship was not carrying passengers at that time.

American Glory

Yes, that is the Nina and Pinta behind the big boat on our dock.

We will lose them soon as they are going up to New England.

The marina flies both US and British Flags.

Elegante is a wood 1964 Whiticar boat that just celebrated it's 50th birthday at the factory in Stuart FL.

A 104 year old man was there to help celebrate. He still works every day and worked on this boat.

The stern of Elegante.

What a beautiful boat in great condition!

This cute boat came in one afternoon. There isn't much protection for the crew and they were all bundled up like it was winter in Minnesota. They looked really cold too!

The next day they left to get a trailer and vehicle as it was too windy and rough for them to continue.

We didn't get to talk to them but the boat license was from Wyoming.

Spring is a great time of year.

I counted 14 ducklings in this group.

Here is Navigator in our slip at St. Michaels.

This lighthouse was relocated to the Maritime Museum.

They did a fantastic job of displaying the life of a keeper.

The Nina and Pinta from the lighthouse.

Our marina is in the background.

This boat under construction has a June 15 delivery date. 

Chop Chop!

Another boat being built in the Maritime Museum shop.

The gal on the left is the head of the wood shop.

She appeared to be very talented and skilled.

More boats in various stages of completion.

Some of their equipment.

This boat gives narrated tours of the area.

This ships figure head was at the Naval Academy before being donated to the museum.

St. Michaels Church, built in 1672

St. Michaels Church plaque.

A head stone from the graveyard a St. Michael's. Little Ruth was only 1 yr. old when she died in 1869.

This graveyard was very well maintained.

A cute shop.

This home turned into a store is called "A Wish Called Wanda"

This was in a pub on main street where we had lunch.

A beautiful B & B

All streets are marked with these beautiful signs.

On a bicycle ride we came across this covered bridge.

Obviously the sailboat in the foreground dragged its anchor.

Even high tide wasn't going to re-float this one.

It rained 3" in three hours. The water was over the dock for a while.

The next morning dawned clear and bright.

It was a good day to head for Annapolis.

While the sun was coming up the moon was still over Panacea.

There was a sailboat race to St. Michaels while we traveled to Annapolis.

All sizes of sailboats were participating.

It was nice to see sailboats actually sailing rather than motoring all the time.

They sure like to assert their right of way over power boats!