Up the Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis...
May 18, 2023

 

We finally left Solomons following our delays.  Good weather and no issues while traveling except for one large log which we escaped!  Lighthouses we passed were Cove Point and Thomas Point Light which is above.  Once we got tied up and straight at Annapolis Yacht Basin, we walked over to the US Naval Academy for our tour.  The grounds and buildings were absolutely beautiful.  The tour was great.  We arrived one day after the plebes (1st year midshipmen) raced to the top of the Herndon Monument.  The plebes work as a group to climb a well greased obelisk to replace the plebe hat with a upper class midshipmen's hat.  This event marks the end of their plebe year.  We saw Bancroft Hall and a sample room.  The building is massive and the largest dormitory in the world. 

                                 

The docent explained to us that the USNA was founded in 1845 on land given to the Navy by the Army.  The population is usually 4500 midshipmen who upon graduation 75% go to the Navy and 25% to the Marine Corps.  He reminded us that the Marines are under the Department of the Navy.  Another interesting point is they have teams for 35 NCAA sport teams, second only to Ohio State that has 36 teams.  Women were admitted in 1976 and comprise about 30% of the school population.  The Navy Chapel was beautiful as well.  The glee club was practicing for graduation events when we were there.  The Tiffany windows were gorgeous with the sun coming through the glass.  

Below the chapel is the large marble crypt of John Paul Jones, the naval hero of the American Revolution and the one to state, "I have not even begun to fight."  What I found interesting was after the revolution, the Continental Congress saw no need to have a navy.  He went to Russia to help Catherine the Great fight the Ottoman Empire and then ended up in Paris where he passed away.  Friends buried him in a metal coffin with straw soaked in alcohol- assumed to be cognac!  When he was brought back to the US to be buried, they verified the body(not sure how since DNA was not available) was indeed Jones.  The docent had a picture of him from the grave and it appeared to me, the alcohol has done a very good job in preservation.

              

An important reason I wanted to go to the Naval Academy was to go to the cemetery.  John McCain is buried there next to his best friend, Chuck Larson.  They attended the Academy together and Larson served as the head of the Naval Academy twice- once as a 2 star and again as a 3 star Admiral.  You can appreciate some of the items people have left at his grave.  I will also note both his father and grandfather are also buried there.  I also found the headstone of James "Jim" Lovell, the astronaut of Apollo 13 fame.  While he is still with us, I was told he wanted it to be ready for him.......

             

We walked around Eastport, the small town next to Annapolis and tried to go to the art museum at St John's College but they were on a limited schedule.  Our last stop was at the state capital which is on the highest point in Annapolis.  

                                   

This building in use since 1772 has a great deal of history associated with it.  The following events occurred in this building:

1.  General George Washington resigned his commission before the Continental Congress in 1783.

2. Congress met here to ratify the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War in 1784.

3. The Annapolis convention called the states that led to the Constitutional Convention.

4. Served as the Capitol of the United States from November 26, 1783 - August 13, 1784.

I enjoyed crab cakes of course.  Danny and I also stopped by and enjoyed Pusser's down at the water not far from our boat.  And yes, we enjoyed both the Painkiller and the Rum Punch!

Next stop- Delaware City, Delaware

TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED   2799.60 miles
TOTAL DAYS 188




 

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