We woke up and noticed the sailboat that was anchored close to us was now in a different spot in front of us, and now he was sitting pretty much right over our anchor. Hmmm… He must have moved overnight. Our destination today is Annapolis, Maryland which is only about twelve miles away. We seem to be working our way up the Chesapeake at a good clip but were not trying to. I took Frank to shore and returned. On the way back I saw our neighbor sitting out on his boat enjoying his coffee. I asked why he had moved and he explained he felt a log under his boat and he was really close to shore so he moved around midnight. I am surprised I didn’t hear him. He asked if we were leaving right now as he realized he was over our anchor. I told him we weren’t in a hurry and was going to make our coffee now too, so we’d wait for him to leave first. We had our coffee and waited. And waited. He didn’t get going until almost 10am; We weren’t in a hurry, but it was a little frustrating having to wait. Oh well- it’s not like we have anywhere we have to be! We finally pulled our anchor up around 10:15am and followed him out to the bay. We followed the coast up and around and soon had Annapolis in our sights.
Annapolis is Maryland’s capital city. Its historic district includes 18th-century brick houses and the domed 1700s Maryland State House. On Church Circle, the Romanesque-style St. Anne’s Episcopal Church has Tiffany glass windows and a historic cemetery. The sprawling waterfront grounds of the United States Naval Academy feature beaux arts architecture, monuments and a naval history museum and a lot of this is seen upon entering the harbor. Our research showed us that the city mooring balls are located in several areas through the harbor and up Spa Creek. We continued through the harbor and up the creek for more protection from the winds and waves. We passed two mooring fields and decided to take a ball at the third one we came to, which only had one boat at the seven moorings available. We tied up and called the office to check in. Once that was completed, it was time to go explore the city. The beautiful thing about Annapolis is they have dinghy docks at the end of every street that ends at the water. Our first trip to shore we took the dinghy over to what is called ‘Ego Alley’. This is the best description of this area: “Ego Alley is not an alley in the traditional sense of the word; rather than a walkway, it’s a narrow waterway that spills out into Spa Creek. The name “Ego Alley” comes from the queue of expensive boats that parade through the waterway on evenings and weekends. But it does make for an interesting place to meander. Recent visitors described it as a must-see; the benches along Dock Street are the perfect place to sit, relax and watch the boats and people go by.” We walked around town with Frank and checked out the sights. We walked down Main Street which has a ton of shops and restaurants, so we stopped and had a late lunch at Chick and Ruth’s which is known for their crab cakes. We shared a crab cake sandwich and crab Mac and cheese with a local brew to wash it down. We then walked around the Statehouse grounds and worked our way around some neighborhoods and finally back to the dinghy for our return. We hung out on the boat for a while before we went back to town to check out what was happening on Main Street again. Earlier they were blocking off the road so it would be pedestrian only and restaurants were putting tables out in the street. We thought it looked like it would be cool to check out, so we did. Our first stop was at Dry 85 which is a bourbon bar. We got some bourbon to go and sat at a table in the street and listened to a band that was playing while people kept coming up to pet Frank. Definitely a cool atmosphere after being locked down for so long. We enjoyed our beverages and walked around some more before returning and retiring for the evening.
Day 2- We wanted to see if we could get into the Naval Academy to tour the grounds, but first we stopped for lunch. We ate at Reynolds Tavern and 1747 Pub which had their beer garden open for outdoor seating. We enjoyed our lunch and walked over to the Academy. We were able to walk into the grounds, but at the check in checkpoint they told us they were still closed to visitors. Damn. We walked around town some more and returned to the boat. As I was sitting on the back deck a dinghy pulled up with a guy who had noticed our Great Loop flag. We introduced ourselves and he told me he has completed The Loop four times! He does it unintentionally he said, but he likes the route and prefers to go south for the winter down the rivers instead of fighting the Atlantic currents , then comes north up the coast for the summer. We continued chatting for a bit and Mick told us we really have to check out Long Island Sound and all it has to offer. He told me about stops in Connecticut and even told me he was going to email me his log from last year so I could look at his stops. He too is trying to get through the Erie Canal and knows we have time to kill. He made a good case for us to go there, including all of the free anchorages. He left and I told Lauren about our conversation about Long Island Sound, which she seemed a little intrigued by. Lauren wanted to take the dinghy farther up Spa Creek to see what was back there. We loaded up and headed out. At the end of the creek was a park: Truxton Park. We walked around there a bit and figured we needed to get back before the rain came. We made a short detour so I could grab a lobster roll from Masons Famous Lobster Rolls. I had a craving for this since we passed the shop the day before. Lauren and Frank waited while I ran and picked one up and we finally got back to the boat just as the wind was picking up. The rain soon followed and we were happy we were secured to the mooring ball. The storm rolled through and we stayed tucked inside for the night.
Tomorrow we plan on crossing the Chesapeake Bay again- this is the fourth time we have criss crossed (and not the last time!)- heading to Rock Hall, Maryland…