The mooring ball is held in place by a big piece of cement. A line is attached from the ball to the boat. It is more secure than an anchor. |
We have visited Annapolis many times by car, but this
was our first time by boat. We enjoyed
it so much! The academy, historical spots,
restaurants and shops are mixed together with wonderful homes and boats,
boats, boats. We were lucky enough to
get a mooring ball on Spa Creek surrounded by multi-million dollar homes. Five nights in this quiet sheltered spot gave
us easy access to the city.
As soon as we were secure, the dingy went
in the water and we were off to see town.
It was a short visit. Just enough
time to get the lay of the
land and then it was dark.
On Friday we took a tour of the Naval Academy
and went to their museum. The grounds
(known as the Yard) are like a beautiful city park with the addition of
historical buildings and monuments. The Naval School was first established in
1845 at Fort
Severn . The museum tells the story of our country and
the Navy in an easy self-guided tour. On
the top floor is a display of model ships made by French prisoners of war. Most of them have a thin veneer of bone on
their hull. They are extremely intricate
and exact. Midshipmen decide in their
senior year to become Navy ensigns or Marine Corp second lieutenants upon
graduation. After our tour, we wondered
the back streets and had lunch outside where we could watch
the world go by.
The tomb of John Paul Jones, a Revolutionary War hero. His remains were brought to America in 1905 after 113 years of obscurity in Paris. |
Famous quotes were explained in the museum Don't give up the ship Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead We have met the enemy and they are ours |
Cute shops and homes
The dingy dock |
Saturday we rented a car and set off to
resupply. It was an all day event. By the time we got back to the dingy, we had
five large canvass bags of groceries and a 30 can case of Coke. The wind had picked up and the water was very
choppy. Then it started to drizzle. We managed to get me and all of the bags on board
with nothing going overboard. As we
putted past the restaurants with outdoor seating, our picture was being taken
by the diners. They probably thought we
would be on the morning news – we were definitely pushing the limits
of our little craft. I can see the headline. Woman drowns clutching her case of Diet Coke!
We still had the rental car on Sunday so
we drove into Baltimore
to check out the marina that we wanted to use Labor Day week-end. While we were there, they had a rain storm
that dropped three inches of rain. It
was still pouring when we got back to the dingy in Annapolis . Brian had to bail four inches of water out of
it before we could head back to Gotta Smile.
Good-bye Annapolis |
Gotta Smile – we’re lovin the ride!
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