May 19, 2022
Whether you call it Athens of America, Providence or Annapolis, the beautiful capital city of Maryland is charming and welcomes more than four million visitors a year. The colonial architecture and baroque style street planning makes walking the city a delightful experience. As we've been making our way home on this adventure, Gord has often said that certain spots are his favourite. The last few he's really loved, but I think here in Annapolis, we may have reached his actual favourite.
As we cruised into the Annapolis Harbor, we headed over to Annapolis City Marina to fuel up and fill up with fresh water. We then made our way to the mooring field just outside of Susan Campbell Park. We caught our mooring with ease and tied up. It was almost Commissioning Week, which is one of the busiest and most exciting weeks in Annapolis. Commissioning Week is where approximately 1000 midshipmen from the local Navy Academy launch into life after the Academy as either an ensign in the US Navy or a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corps.
When we arrived, it was a hot day in Annapolis and we had four kids on the boat. We started the geny and turned on the air conditioning. As the kids entertained themselves, I settled in to do a grocery order and Gord worked and planned. In the late afternoon, Oh Henry pulled into the mooring field and caught a ball nearby. They buzzed over by dinghy, and since a huge Sam's Club order arrived, we all had burgers on the back deck before heading in to wander the town.
The evening had the city buzzing with activity. There were musicians in the streets, patios filled with patrons and people out for a stroll enjoying the lovely evening. There is a little canal in the city, called Ego Alley, and this is where boaters seem to cruise up the short distance, turn around and head back out to the harbour. It's comparable to souped up cars cruising the main drag of a town or the revving their engines along a beach side drive. Even the kids loved this city. There were so many interesting streets that lead to beautiful buildings and wonderful little shops to wander through. The city was buzzing with people and many of them were first and second year Navy Academy students who are required to wear their crisp white uniforms while in public. This is a tourist attraction to be sure. Brooklyn was fortunate enough to get a photo with a group of dashing young men and it will likely be a picture she will love in the years to come. As it turns out, looking back through our photos of our stay, we don't have many. I suppose we were too busy soaking it all in. I'm not sure pictures would do Annapolis any justice. It's a "must experience" kind of place.
The next day, Oh Henry needed fuel and water, so they cruised over to the city marina, where we had been the day before. We took their girls with us for another walk around the town and, of course, for some ice cream. We also took a dinghy ride through Spa Creek and Acton Cove to see what was beyond the harbour and mooring field.
We had an adult only dinner planned for that evening, which the kids were excited about. We ordered pizzas to the boat and the adults went to Pussers for a long overdue, kid free, night out. Holy Cow and Oh Henry were just a stone's throw from the restaurant and the kids had a cell phone and a dinghy. We told them to leave the boat only if it was sinking or on fire and that we could see them from the patio of the restaurant, so to behave. The four kids couldn't get rid of us quick enough.
Pussers is located at the entrance of Ego Alley, so dinner was as entertaining as it was delicious. Boats cruised in with their vessels lit up, music blasting, with happy passengers well into their evening cocktails. We had a nice dinner with some fellow Great Loopers and everyone had stories to share. With our plates empty and our tummies full, we went back to the boat to collect our kids and called it a night. We were going to be up at 6:00am to take the dogs to shore and prep Holy Cow for travel. The currents were very strong on the next leg of this trip and needed to be timed properly to have any kind of efficiency for travel. Gord had painstakingly planned the next two parts of this journey, and he had a good plan in place.
See the Selby Bay to Annapolis travel log here.
These little seaside towns and villages always seem to use vibrant paint on their shops and buildings which gives a heartwarming feel to the community. Nova Scotia,PEI,Maine could all be sisters to this delightful town. That’s a lot of geography on the water to cover in a short time. Love the blog.