Annapolis,MD

We left Anchorage Marina in Baltimore on Tuesday, October 1 at 9:15 for the four hour cruise to Annapolis passing by these ever-present Navy ships.

The first part of the trip was pretty uncomfortable due to rain and a northeast wind which made the bay somewhat choppy.  We spent time in the saloon until we crossed under the Bay Bridge.  And as often happens, the waters calmed down considerably and we were able to go up on the fly bridge for the remainder of the trip.

We arrived at the harbor in Annapolis and headed for the drawbridge to get into Spa Creek in search of a mooring.  Not surprising due to the Annapolis Boat Show, we found that all the moorings were taken but it was not a problem as this is an easy place to drop a hook. By 1:15, under Archie’s watchful eye, we were comfortably situated in a spot very close to shore where we had anchored before.

We love staying in Annapolis because it’s such a pretty and historic town. Staying here is very affordable and very easy with Archie. Here in Spa Creek the surrounding neighborhoods have attractive homes and the streets lead down to the water with many of them having small docks where we can tie up the dinghy. The landing closest to us also has a lovely little pocket park that is used by locals to walk their dogs and just sit by the water.  We get a kick out of the bronze duck statues scattered throughout the park.

Once we settled in we called the harbormaster who provides a very helpful pump-out service that we were glad to take advantage of.

We had a relaxing afternoon and evening on board as we knew we would be busy the next day. On Wednesday, Jonny met one of his fellow MTOA officers who was bringing him many boxes of MTOA Rendezvous materials that she had stored in the home that she and her husband were selling.  After Jonny found a place to store these items on our boat (!) we dinghied to the Eastport part of town to meet our friends Greg and Lynda Gallagher who had driven up from Alexandria for our annual lunch at Boatyard Grill.  We had a fun afternoon eating crab cakes and catching up on each other’s lives.

After lunch we took them for a ride on the dinghy to look at the ever-increasing gathering of boats in the harbor due to the upcoming boat show.  We headed over to our favorite ice cream parlor where we topped off our ample lunch with delicious ice cream cones.

After dropping them back at their car, we headed back to Zendo where we were able to skip dinner and have another relaxing evening onboard.

On Thursday we got tickets to go to the boat show’s preview day which was perfect because it wasn’t as crowded as it would be on subsequent days. It was also nice to be attendees instead of having to work the show as we do at Trawler Fest.  We spent the day looking at the exhibits and touring many of the boats for sale. Jonny is especially enamored with the Back Cove 37 which is a lobster style boat. We have been seriously considering selling Zendo because it is getting older and Jonny, especially, would like to get something that is newer, with fewer levels and one that can “get up and go” if needed. Going to boat shows reminds me of the guilty pleasure that Stephanie and I share which is visiting open houses that are for sale.

We decided to stay an extra day in Annapolis because we are nearing the end of this season’s cruise and are ready to slow down a bit, plus we really like Annapolis.  So on Friday we visited the Banneker-Douglass Museum which is dedicated to preserving Maryland’s African American heritage.  It’s a very small museum right in the center of town.  It is housed in the former Mt. Moriah AME Church which was originally built in 1874 by a congregation of free African Americans whose roots date back to 1799.  It was an interesting museum with an array of tableaus  illustrating the various aspects of the history and lives of African Americans.

Afterwards we strolled through town stopping at a popular book store where we browsed and drank coffee.

Did I say that we  really enjoy Annapolis?  It’s a beautiful town with lots of history and charm and we never tire of walking its cobblestone streets with its lovely homes and stately buildings.

From here we will return to Baltimore where we’ll stay for a few days. We have some much needed detail work scheduled to be done on Zendo while we are there.