Day 119 - Annapolis, MD

I was happy to see that the rain was gone and the sun was out when I woke up.  It was still warm, but not as muggy and there was a breeze coming from the north.  We walked to the post office since Captain Randy had some envelopes to mail.  We left St. Michaels at 11:20am, headed across the Bay to Annapolis.  Going into the Eastern Bay was a little rough, but the waves soon settled down to one foot or less.  There seemed to be more boats out today, maybe because we were in one of the most popular parts of the Chesapeake.  We turned to the starboard around a large red marker, into the Chesapeake Bay.

The western shore was more built up now as we passed the Thomas Point Shoal Light on the port.  Ahead of us was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  We turned into the Severn River and then again to the port into Spa Creek about 1pm. Captain Randy did an outstanding job backing into our slip at the Yacht Basin Co.  There was very little turning room, but the captain managed it perfectly.  Our slip was right in front of the Annapolis Yacht Club.  Several megayachts were docked in the marina and later we would see Tsalta, the large yacht from St. Michaels docked there too.







Annapolis is a small city, but seemed like a big town to me after the last several days spent in much smaller places.  It is a boating town, known for the Naval Academy and sailing, as well as the Maryland State Capital.  The marina is only a couple blocks from town and we walked up Compromise Street to Market Square and Dock Street.  A narrow canal runs alongside Dock Street and it is known as “Ego Alley”.  We shopped our way up Main Street to Church Circle, where St. Anne’s Episcopal Church is located.  A block away is the State Circle, where the Maryland State House sits.  Technically, this was our first National Capital, as the Continental Congress met here when George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Army.  The front of the building is an annex to the original building in back with the wood dome.  The state is refurbishing the meeting rooms inside to more closely resemble their original furnishings.  A beautiful building inside and out.

We made our way over to West Street and the Visitors Center.  Across the street is the Ram’s Head Tavern, and we went inside for refreshment before heading back to the boat.

Since we were right next to the Annapolis Yacht Club, we decided to see if they would let us in.  Although we don’t have formal reciprocal privileges with them, we thought they might relax the rules as we were from out of town.  Wrong!  We walked across the bridge to Eastport and ended up at Carrol’s Creek Café for a delicious dinner of softshell crab and lobster and mushroom ravioli.  We talked with a woman who had been in Germany for the last 15 years and was very interested in hearing about the Loop.  There was a boom in the distance and we learned that the Naval Academy fires a canon and plays taps at dusk each night.