8/13/15 Annapolis, MD - Dunns

Thursday, 8/13/15

Lots of boats call Baltimore home

We awoke to a clear and calm day on Thursday. We dropped our lines in downtown Baltimore and headed out into the Chesapeake for our 30 mile trip to Annapolis.
Heading into the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore

The view behind us as we left the Baltimore inner harbor

Fort McHenry originally had a healthy
grove of Poplar trees around it to
camouflage it from the British

The Francis Scott Key Bridge with the Stars & Stripes buoy in the foreground.
It is the only buoy in the U.S. that is not red, green or white and marks where
the Star Spangled Banner was written after the horrendous night of firing
on Fort McHenry when the British tried to capture Baltimore.

Tom Dunn took over the helm as we
headed into the Chesapeake Bay

Carol & Tina enjoying the pleasant trip

1 of several lighthouses we passed

Every 8 to 10 hours of slow cruising, we have to open up Samba
& push her to her WOT limit (wide open throttle) to keep the
cylinders from glazing over. This was a good day for that!

Tina enjoying the view as we pass under
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

The slip wasn't quite ready so we picked up
a mooring ball until after lunch. Jim drove
from the back of the boat while Tom &
Carol grabbed the mooring ball line.

Annapolis, MD

Our first view of the Naval Academy chapel on our way
into the Annapolis harbor

Successfully moored

 The US Naval Academy
One of Tom & Tina's very close friends is a history professor at the Naval Academy. Lieutenant Commander Joe Slaughter met us at the Barry gate and provided an exceptional tour of the academy. It truly was an amazing and educational morning.

Our tour guide, Lieutenant Commander Joe Slaughter

The Naval Academy chapel

What luck - the Academy organist
was practicing!

...and he was a friend of Joe's!
Over 5,000 pipes & the 2nd largest
organ of its kind in the US!

Joe gave us the background on many of the
stunning stained glass windows in the chapel

The chapel dome

John Paul Jones crypt & memorial in the chapel basement

John Paul Jones

The famous flag from the War of 1812
battle on Lake Erie at Put-In Bay

Following the tour of the chapel, Joe took us to the Academy museum where they have the largest display of miniature, replica ships in the world.

Scale models of all large ships were built at the same time
the ship was built. They were accurate inside & out &
many times took years to complete.

As a professor of history, Joe's museum tour was
exceptional and enlightening.
What a blessing!

This was Plebe Weekend at the academy when their parents get a chance to come and meet their sons & daughters. We had the good fortune to be there for their dress assembly before lunch.

The first group of Plebes marching our way

They happened to pass by us. All of them gave Joe their
required salute since he was a senior officer

They all looked great in their dress whites

Lots of family & friends gathered
for the dress parade

Joe took us to the lunchroom to watch the gathering & prayer

Part of the dining hall's
amazing architecture

Typical plebe room

Some of the officers' quarters

We had lunch with Joe at the officer's club and then moved Samba from our ball in the mooring field to our slip right downtown at the end of "Ego Ally". They call it that because boaters like to parade their boats down to the dead end, turn & head back out for everyone to see. We had a great place to watch the parade.

For dinner, Joe, his wife Casey & their 3 year old daughter, Wren came by in their Penn Yan boat (which they had gotten from Tom). They took us by boat to a great little, local crab house for some excellent seafood.

The Penn Yan tied up behind Samba. Our taxi to dinner.

Horseing around in Ego Alley

Our slip downtown Annapolis at the end of Ego Alley

Early morning on Ego Alley