by Phil Rowe
Prologue: Annapolis, Maryand is far more than just the home of the U.S. Naval Academy. It's a delightful waterfront city with lots of fascinating and historic places to see.
On Wednesday, June 5th, we "did" Annapolis. Maryland's capitol city is a charming place. It's quaint with narrow streets, many brick paved, and several radiate from the state house. That's the oldest continuously-used state house. We were duly impressed and found the architecture most appealing. The Senate and House chambers are second generation, as the older versions would be much too small for today's legislature.
The marble-lined hallways are most impressive, as are the numerous historic paintings. Some are classics and depict George Washington and other Revolutionary War heroes. We are pleased to have added Maryland as our 13th state capitol visited.
Next we walked down through the town, especially the waterfront streets and dock areas. It's really very nice. One recognizes quickly that this is a tourist area as there are lots of shops, eateries and art galleries.
Our morning coffee break was at a combination ice cream parlor and coffee house. When we arrived a large group of freshman high schoolers from St. Mary's Academy about filled the place. Those uniformed kids were delightful. They were courteous, respectful and very well-behaved. We were pleased to share the place with them. They were all eating ice cream and we had coffee with carrot cake muffins. Good.
After the necessary coffee break, we proceeded to the nearby US. Naval Academy. Our walking tour included much of the grounds, which are truly beautiful, and a few buildings. We saw the chapel, museum, faculty and officers' club, visitors' center and numerous monuments. Our navy is, after all, very tradition conscious.
I was especially impressed by the ship models in the museum, dozens of them. The level of detail is remarkable, particularly on the prisoner-made models carved from cattle bones. They look like ivory carvings and are exquisite. That part of the museum is called the gallery of ships. It alone is worth the trip to Annapolis.
Lunch was enjoyed at a waterfront area cafe, a crab and seafood place on the second floor of a corner building. Jean had a Philly cheese and beef sandwich. I had an open-faced Reuben. Our French fries were cut in the shape of dolphins. Cute.
After lunch we walked back up the three blocks to the capitol building. Again we were greeted crowds, microphones and television cameras. Here they were set upon the front steps. Many police were there too, some on horseback. The affair, we were told, would have included a talk by the Maryland Governor, but we did not wait to hear him. We did that in North Carolina and felt that hearing one governor speak was sufficient.
We caught the trolley-like bus back to our truck parked in the Naval Academic stadium parking lot. It cost 75 cents to ride the little bus and it's worth it. Parking and traffic in downtown Annapolis is a mess. It was better having someone else do the driving.
So, dear reader, if you ever find yourself in the Baltimore or Washington, D.C. areas, don't miss the chance to take the short side-trip to Annapolis. You will be rewarded with delights and memories to cherish.