ANNAPOLIS - FINAL DAYS

He Said:  Hello Everybody. Since our last blog ended up with our Saturday nite concert with Michael Utley not too much has happened.  At the concert we received 8 drink coupons instead of 4, nice touch!  The bad part is at one time in the evening we had 8 umbrella-looking, fruit punch-type drinks.  On Sunday morning I quickly remembered why I am a beer drinker.  Of course, between the football game earlier and the boat drinks prior to the concert I earned my hangover.  Not  bad, but not as much fun as the concert.

 

The following week was spent trying to get our stinking anchor repaired.  We thought that Mike the Mechanic had it all figured out - we figured wrong.  We still have no windlass but will have it looked at in Deltaville in about 5 days. We spent a day in DC and had a great time.  Of course there was tons of history, tons of walking, and lots of pretty cool pictures. We rolled out of bed before 6AM to catch the bus.  It was about an hour ride and got back to the boat about 6 that evening.  It was a long day for us lazy retired folks.



The White House



The Capitol



View from the Capitol looking out onto the National Mall and the Washington Monument.  The Monument is being repaired following earthquake damage in 2011.

 We had a chance to get together for one last evening with the Bryants, our Phoenix friends, and had a little dinner and drinks at Davis’ Pub. The rest of the week we sort of just hung out at the boat doing little boat things which really does consume a lot of our time, but most of it is fun stuff.  Our slip is rented on Oct. 1, the big time boat show starts on the 4^th and the town is already starting to pack them in. We will miss all of the people from the marina.  After 30 days you get to know them.  Take care Ray, and thank you for everything. 

We plan on departing from Annapolis on Tuesday and heading south towards Virginia. We will spend about 6 to 8 days doing the 150 miles then regrouping in Norfolk where mile marker uno starts in the Intra Coastal Waterway. It’s only 1245 miles to Key West -  should be there in no time. We actually hope to travel thru the Carolinas and Georgia and then arrive in Northern Florida sometime early/mid December.

Annapolis Naval Academy Campus
 

We’re planning on being in Solomons Island by this coming Saturday.  I will be searching for a sports bar for the 8PM Buckeye kick-off.  We won this past Saturday against Wisconsin, but the Badgers made it exciting.  This Saturday it’s against Northwestern.  I always thought they were way too brainy to play football.  Guess what?  They’re ranked and undefeated.  The game is on the road for us so we better be ready or the A Students will whip our ass.

Not much more to report for now.  Hope all is going well for everybody.

Take Care, Jack

She Said:  The last week has been pretty busy.  As we approached the end of our stay in Annapolis there were many things on our to do list that we hadn’t done, and many that we wanted to repeat.  We finished up the boat repairs – the new windows were installed and they look great.  The windlass didn’t get fixed – I think the mechanic just didn’t want to mess with it any more.  The problem is either the control box or a solenoid.  Either way, we’ve got a mechanic lined up in Deltaville, VA who will hopefully get the job done – finally.

We started the week with a trip to DC.  We caught a 6:00am commuter bus; it took a good hour because of the infamous DC traffic.  There’s only so much you can do in a day; we opted for the monuments on the National Mall and the Smithsonian.  It’s a good thing we did it when we did – if we waited a week we wouldn’t have been able to do any of if because of the government shutdown.  We walked all day and saw just about everything we hoped to see.  There’s a group called HonorsFlight that brings WW2 vets to the National Mall to view the memorial  There was a big group there the day we were there.  We didn’t get inside either the Capitol or the White House, but we did see each.  I can’t remember the last time I was in DC and Jack thinks he was there as a kid.  I don’t remember the National Mall being as big as it is.  It was a long, tiring, but enjoyable day!

 

View of the Lincoln Memorial from the World War II Memorial
 



Here I am with Abe - both of us from the fine state of Illinois!

One night at Davis’ Pub we met the executive chef from the restaurant Vin 909.  Several people had recommended it, and it was on our short list of places to dine.  He told us that the major inspirations for the restaurant were Phoenix restaurants Postinos and Pizzaria Bianco (what a small world).  It was great!  We sat at the seats overlooking the kitchen and it was really fun watching the kitchen staff work.  We met a really nice couple from New Jersey (Bill & Jane).  They are members of the Annapolis Yacht Club and they invited us to join them for cocktails there.   That was a unique experience and included the traditional cannon shot at sunset.

 

Annapolis Yacht Club - check out the boat on the right side!
 

We also made it back to Carrol’s Creek for their wonderful scallops.  We also tried Adam’s Rib for BBQ babybacks – it was a nice departure from seafood in general and crab in particular. Having had quite a bit of both crab and lobster in the last several months (and enjoying both), I’ve decided that I prefer lobster.  Not just because it’s easier to eat, but because of its texture and flavor.  And although I cook with Old Bay, I’m a little tired of it.  They put it in everything in Annapolis.  We tried the Old Bay potato chips and that was just too much.  From an eating perspective, it’s been nice being in the same place for a month.  We’ve eaten in more often.  I cook very differently on the boat than I did in Phoenix.  Everything is simpler and I have tried very few new recipes.   We’ve really enjoyed all the fresh produce.

 

One of the things we talked about doing since we arrived in Annapolis was to take the dinghy into downtown and cruise Ego Alley.  We finally did it.  Ego Alley is a small canal where boaters show off their boats.  It’s narrow and they bring some really big boats down there.  At the end of Ego Alley there’s a dinghy dock.  The day we went in they were preparing for the Power Boat Show, and Ego Alley was being transformed into a bunch of floating docks.  It was really interesting watching them bring in all the docks – it completely transformed the area.  We were lucky enough to grab a docking spot in front of Pusser’s Restaurant where we enjoyed the house specialty – a Painkiller.

View looking down Ego Alley.  There are normally huge boats here, but it's being prepared for the Power Boat Show.

Pusser's - a cute restaurant at the Annapolis Hyatt on Ego Alley
 

I took the bus one last time to the shopping mall.  I’m not a big mall shopper, but there’s a Joann’s Fabric Store there, and I needed some supplies for some projects I’m working on.  There’s also a Trader Joe’s, and I stocked up on some of our favorite foods.  We can count the number of chain stores and restaurants we’ve been in since starting our trip.  Since leaving Boston I think Jack’s had fast food only once.  I have been in Dunkin Donuts to use the internet.  It’s a very different life and we really enjoy all the new places we’ve been to. 

 
The hardest thing about leaving Annapolis will be missing the people.  Eastport – the Annapolis neighborhood where we stayed – is small and friendly.  We got to know quite a few nice, interesting people.  I enjoyed running into people walking around or going out for a bite to eat.  I can’t believe how many people have helped us out with their time and knowledge.  We’ll especially miss Ray who helped us out so much and made us laugh almost every day.

But it’s time for our new adventures – which I’m eager to start.  But I know that along with the adventures will come some mis-adventures which have me wanting to stay put awhile longer.  I’ve got my books and charts out as we plot our journey down the Chesapeake.  The weather for the next week looks great – winds at 5 knots and seas under 1 foot and temps around 80.  As we near Virginia the Bay will get rougher, but hopefully winds will stay under 10 knots and seas under 3 feet.  We won’t be connected to power, so hopefully what we’ve learned about our batteries will make life easier.  We still have a couple of weeks before we have to start worrying about the depths of the ICW so we plan to enjoy cruising the Chesapeake.  Look out boaters – here we come!   A special shout out to my dad who turns 80!  Happy birthday!!!