May 28-June 10 - Annapolis, MD

After an overnight in the Solomons, MD, we arrived in Annapolis. This is a very, very busy harbor with boats of all sizes coming and going. Many boats are anchored right off the channel, plus there are scores of teeny sail boats bobbing about for lessons. We had reservations at The Yacht Basin marina. Robert told the marina crew we wanted to dock in such a way that we could launch our dingy. The crew instructed him to pull up to the fuel dock. We love side tie dockings and this one was the easiest ever. We were very pleased with our docking expertise and skill set. Then we learned we are only at the fuel dock long enough to lauch the dingy. Our permanent slip was going to be down a skinny fairway, in between two huge, expensive boats, with a current, with wind and with 65 people out on their boats watching. I thought "oh this is going to be good!" Captain Robert rose to the challenge and did a masterful job parking the boat. It was extremely helpful that the dock hands were knowledgable and gave him continuous feedback as to where the boat was in conjunction with all the various impediments. This also made my job easier because I could concentrate on the ropes and fenders.

Annapolis is a beautiful little city...very historic with lovely streets and buildings. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures. I have found a couple of web sites with pictures, virtual maps and history: site 1 and site 2.

Cousin Joe really wanted to visit the Washington DC area. Last summer we took Grand Fromage up the Potomac for a one month stay in DC. However, this year it made more sense to make Annapolis our home port and rent a car to visit the capital area. The first day we drove the rental car to Mt Vernon. The second day we drove the car to the last DC metro stop and took the train in for the megatour of DC. We were so exhausted that Robert hailed a cab for our last two stops.


After Joe left, we enjoyed several relaxing site seeing days in Annapolis, including a very interesting tour of the Naval Academy.


It seems natural when visiting an area to reflect on the posibility of living there some day. Although Annapolis was so pretty, clean and historic, we couldn't imagine living there. It was certainly the most yuppy, upscale place we have visited so far. The people were not as friendly and it was EXPENSIVE. On the other hand, we can both imagine ourselves spending more time in Norfolk, VA.