Walking around town

Annapolis Naval Academy and Museum

Today we visited the Naval Academy and Museum. Its a very impressive campus, ocean front setting, with beautiful historic buildings. The museum has two floors of exhibits about the history of seapower, the development of the U.S. Navy, and the role of the U.S. Naval Academy in producing officers able to lead America's sailors and marines. The displays combine historical artifacts with video and audio technology to bring to life the stories of the men and women who have served their country at sea. We spent at least two hours touring the museum, and could have been there longer. There was so much information about U.S. Naval history, that we felt we would like to spend more than one day reading all the material. The upper floor of the museum was dedicated to ship models and their creation. The most interesting to me was a section of models created by POWs made of straw and ribbon. It was extraordinary how detailed these models were, with no proper tools available. div

Annapolis - Day 1

We arrived last night, and anchored right off the Naval Academy. With a NW wind, its very protected and flat. The Ordways were on a mooring nearby, and have heat, so we quickly dinghied over for a warm-up. We met the owners of Kismet, friends of the Ordways who have been cruising for 2 years. They are headed for the Bahamas as well, so we were glad to meet them and will see them along the way I'm sure. We left Cambia and headed into town for supplies and dinner. We went to a restaurant called 'Buddy's Crabs and Ribs'. John and I had crab cakes and Old Bay chips and crab dip. All SO good. The crab cakes are so different from ones I've had in NE, nearly all crab, and barely any stuffing. They were also the size of hamburgers! We will be in Annapolis until October 9th, because we're staying here to see our friends at the boat show. The kids are really looking forward to seeing their buddies, Caroline and Teddy Williams, who will be here on the 8th.

On the way to Annapolis

47 degrees with a wind chill of 44. Could it get any colder? John is wearing my fleece pocket liners on his hands, since we didn't think to pack gloves!

Last night in Georgetown

Its cold....59 degrees....brrrrrr......need to get south

Georgetown, MD

We had a spectacular sail down the Sassafras River to Georgetown yesterday. We sailed slowly at about 4 knots, meandering along the river for about 2 hours. It was sunny and quiet, and we all really enjoyed watching the shoreline go by. Beautiful houses, not overbuilt like many mansions we've seen along the way. All artfully set along the river, with paths cut thru the trees to private beaches. The wildlife is abundant, with herons, pelicans, ducks, geese, and apparently crabs, which we've yet to see. We secured a mooring for the night, cheap, buy two, get one free! (thanks to the Ordways for the insider info!) The marina is huge, with restaurant, pool, paddle boats, kayaks,bikes, ice-cream shop, ship store, small grocery. We slept well, and now are working on school. I did math and ELA, and John is now working a Social Studies (Free Enterprise!). Yesterday, Liza and I did a great Science project. The fruit flies were driving us crazy, so we looked them up online to find out why they like our fruit. Then we constructed a trap, out of vinegar, sugar, water, and a little soap detergent. Now we have a bowl full of dead flies, gross, but Liza is so proud of the project! After school we have promised we'll go paddle-boating and also ride bikes into town to get a few groceries and crabbing supplies.

Sunset over the Sassafrass River in Georgetown, MD