A Week In Annapolis

It was past that time of year for us to visit Annapolis.  As noted in a previous entry, the usual Memorial Day weekend was taken up with other family celebrations so we decided to go in June...and for a week.  But instead of putting the burden on family to house and feed us, we decided to get a VRBO and we found the perfect one.  It was called Firefly Cottage and it was in the same neighborhood as our family.

It was a very cute one-bedroom cottage that had a pull-out sofa for extra guests.  We really liked this place and would consider staying here again.

The kitchen was very well stocked along with everything else.  If you look carefully, on the counter there are two cupcakes.  After the photo, there were no cupcakes.  They were delish!

That first day was a family trip to the Oriole's game (described in a separate entry).  Just know it was fun!

Dinner at The Point: This was a cool little restaurant that is nestled at the end of a neighborhood.  It's right on the water.  Word has it that Dave Grohl comes here for the crab cakes.  They were certainly good.  Unfortunately, Dave was not there.

Later, it was a walk to the beach.  This is such a cool area.  The beach was about 1/2 a mile from our cottage, if that.  It was a beautiful night for a stroll along the water.

The next day, we (me, John and Emily) went into DC to check out a couple of museums.  We took the metro, which was super cool.  It's way more sophisticated than the DART Rail but we'll get there.

This was the highlight of my trip into DC.  That's right.  It was Ben's Chili Bowl.  It's famous for the dogs and the people that have been there to partake.  According to the website, they opened at 11 and we were there at 11:05 only to find out they were opening at noon that day.  So close!  

But we came back.  I got the Original half smoke and they split it and grilled it.  Oh my gosh!  I was in gastric heaven.  I know what you're thinking: It's just a chili dog.  Correct but it's a Ben's Chili Bowl chili dog. This is the original location on U Street that opened up in 1958.  Bono from U2 has eaten here and so has Barak Obama.  I was in good company! 

After that meal, we needed to walk and so we did...to the next museum.  On the way, we passed by the White House.  One of these days I want to take a tour of that house.  Note to self!

First museum stop: The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art.  This place was built in 1874 and was designed by James Renwick Jr to hold the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  Back then it was called the American "Louvre".

The staircase up to the second floor is art in and of itself, no?  Prior to completion, the building was used by the US Army as a temporary military warehouse for records and uniforms. Then General Montgomery Meigs converted it into his headquarters.  He was the Quartermaster General and had already been using this place as the warehouse.

In the late 1800's, the are collection outgrew the building and it moved.  The Court of Claims was housed here for a while and then the building was slated for demolition. It was saved by Jacqueline Kennedy.  The museum is now part of the Smithsonian and admission is free.  It holds craft and design art.  This sign is one of the exhibits.  The words "present" and "unimaginable" go off so that it reads "this moment used to be the future".

Then we walked over to the Hirschhorn.  Along the way we saw this beautiful scene.  I love the Washington Monument.  It can be seen from most anywhere downtown.

On the metro go to home after a long day of museums.  A big thank you to Emily for planning the whole day.  What a blast!

The next day, everyone was working so we took a little road trip at Courtney's suggestion.  We drove to Assateague Island National Seashore where they have all these wild horses as evidenced by all the horse poop we saw.  It was about a 2 hour drive which was very relaxing and nice.

We drove across this bridge to see the horses along with about 200 other people with the same idea.  We turned down the street that would take us to the horses but we sat there for about 15 minutes and didn't move an inch so we turned around and stopped by the beach which was nice.  On the way back across the bridge, I saw one lone horse by himself off to the side of the road minding his own business.  I was so surprised that I wasn't able to get a photo.

Next stop: Ocean City!  This was a pretty cool little area.  We walked up and down the boardwalk, which had tons of shops.

At one end of the boardwalk they had rides and stuff.  We didn't go down there.  Instead we stopped for lunch at a place called Shenanigans.  With a name like that you have to stop.  

On the way home we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (and the Bay).  Those clouds look ominous, right?  They were!  It poured down rain as we got closer to home.  Still, a great day.

We spent the next day in DTA.  (That's what the kids call Downtown Annapolis).  

We took a tour of the Naval Academy which was so cool.  It was founded in 1845 under George Bancroft who was the Secretary of the Navy at the time.  (Little side note:  My dad was in the Navy and served on a submarine named after George Bancroft).  According to our tour guide, back in the day, boys as young as nine joined the Navy.  They would stand in the middle of the ship and repeat orders between sailors at the fore and aft of the ship.  They became known as midshipmen.

This is Dahlgren Hall.  My in-laws met here at a dance and the rest is history!

This is a memorial to the submarine sailors that are on eternal patrol.

Some notable graduates from the Naval Academy.  Not pictured is my father-in-law, Peter Chaney.  That first photo is of Jimmy Carter.  He's used as a trivia question for the plebes.  Which president spent the most time in Annapolis?  Carter, of course.  

This is Bancroft Hall which is the world's largest dorm.  All 4,400 cadets stay in this dorm.  There are 1700 rooms and more than 4 miles of corridors.  In our tour group were two potential Plebes that were to be inducted the next day.  Our guide gave them a heads up on what to expect.  They would have to memorize the daily menus.  At anytime they could be stopped and asked to recite the menu of the day.  They won't be able to listen to music or watch tv or play video games.  Everything they do will need to be at a 90 degree angle.  The guide pointed out a curved walkway that we would be taking momentarily and noted that, as plebes, these fellas wouldn't be able to walk on that walkway until they became upperclassmen.

The chapel, called the Brigade of Midshipmen Chapel.  It was built in 1908.  Attendance at chapel is no longer a requirement.  The pew with the flowers always remains empty during the services here in memory of those sailors who were killed in action.  

In the crypt below the chapel is the tomb of John Paul Jones and I'm not talking about the bass player for Led Zeppelin.  John Paul Jones was the Father of the American Navy.  A Scottish-American, he was a Naval Commander in the Revolutionary War and is regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in US history.

Bill The Goat is the Naval Academy mascot.  The goat became the mascot for USNA in 1893.  It's a murky legend - something about a midshipman dressing up as a goat at an Army/Navy game and Navy winning.  The first goat was named El Cid.  He was named bill in the early 1900's.  Having been to West Point and heard them chanting "Beat Navy", I was curious if it was the same at the Naval Academy.  It is.  "Beat Army" could be heard around campus.

Apparently the kidnapping (or should I say goat-napping) of Bill is a thing as is the napping of the West Point Mule.  In 1995, a group of West Point seniors, goat-napped Bill and the Pentagon was notified.  Bill was returned without incident.  If you have the opportunity to tour the Naval Academy, you should.  The traditions and the stories are entertaining to say the least.

Next stop, The Maryland State House.  Fun Fact, Annapolis was the Capitol of the United States from 1783-1784.  It's also the oldest state house in America that is still being used today.  It was built in 1779.  

It was here in 1783 that George Washington resigned his commission in the Continental Army.  The Old Senate Chamber is laid out exactly as it was on that day.  The statue of George Washington represents where he would have sat to face the President of Congress.  The statue in the gallery above is of Molly Ridout.  Women were not allowed on the floor of the Senate.

The Government House is the official residence of the Governor and has been since 1870.

St. Anne's Parish.  This is actually the third version of this Protestant Church.  The original was built in 1704 and then dismantled in 1775 in anticipation of a new church being built on that spot.  Unfortunately, a little war broke out in 1776 and delayed construction.  The second church was finally built in 1792.  It burned down in 1858 on Valentine's Day.  This structure has been in place since 1858.  We didn't go inside but next time I hope to.

Trad night at Galway Bay, a tavern in DTA where they play traditional Irish music. The food is really good too!

Courtney and Dave always have great ideas of things to do and experience whenever we go.  This was no exception. 

I thought there was going to be a band and a stage but it's much more informal than that.  These musicians gather in a corner booth and just play.  It was a fun night.

We had time for one more DC day.  We chose to spend it at the Museum of American History.  The first exhibit that we went to was America at war where they documented the various wars that American has taken part in starting with the Revolutionary War.  Above is a photograph of Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan.  Lincoln is chastising McClellan for not chasing Robert E Lee after stopping Lee's army from advancing during the Battle of Antietam.

In an exhibit about the Presidents, they had this photo four living presidents at the time.

They also had Lincoln's stovepipe hat that the was wearing when he was shot at Ford's Theater.

And then, the famous Ruby Slippers worn by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

We could have spent much more time in the American History Museum but instead we hiked over to the National Portrait Gallery.  I love paintings!  I like this one.  It's the first four women Supreme Court Justices.

In the exhibit for JFK, there was this photo.  It looks like the weight of the presidency is on his shoulders.  Cool photo.

Then, of course, the presidential portrait of Barak Obama.

We didn't visit any of the monuments or the buildings but some of them you can see while walking around.  I've never been in the Capitol building but maybe next time if I plan ahead, I can schedule a visit.

Rams Head Tavern is a really cool place for dinner and drinks.  This where we saw Valerie June last year.

Crispy duck tacos.  Yum!  We don't have those here in Dallas.

Our last day there was very low key.  We spent some time playing fetch with Haggis the wonder dog.  He's a pretty good swimmer!  

Later we spent time at the pool hanging out with Maeve and Rowan.  We got to watch they take their swim test!  They had to swim two laps. I'm not sure I could have done that.  Next they had to tread water in the deep end for 60 seconds.  They both passed.  Now they can jump off the diving board and swim in the deep end by themselves.  Maeve jumped off the diving board but she was so quick all I have is a photo of an empty diving board.

Rowan chilling with a snack.

Maeve with her snack.  We were so excited and proud of these girls.

Whew!  What a week!  We did lots of stuff and got to hand out with our family.  We love going up there to hang out with them.  It's always a great time.  We got this rubber ducky from our host.  She left it for us as gift.  It was so cute I had to bring it home.

Thanks to our family for taking the time to hang out with us!  See you again next year.