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Annapolis, Maryland
But keep driving like you stole it and don't slow down, I'll let the wheels fall off before I turn it around
Longtime readers of these slideshows may be noticing a trend. After a reasonably successful multi-day road trip last Fall to Newport, I am following up with another reasonably successful multi-day road trip this Spring, albeit one in (primarily) the opposite direction. That makes two reasonably successful multi-day road trips in two consecutive years, which sounds like a lot. But, if you pull back just a little, you might think such developments are really more of an aberration than a trend, since this was only my fourth road this Century (at least so far). It may be some time before we know one way or the other if we are witnessing a trend or just living through an aberration, so until then let’s instead just enjoy the moment for once and just try to appreciate where we are. This is Annapolis, Maryland, and, despite this being my 270th trip represented in these slideshows (at least so far), this was my very first time here.
I have a lot of good things to say about Annapolis. It’s small, real small, everything you (probably) came to see is all within just a few blocks of each other. It also has a bit of a Colonial Williamsburg feel to it, although it’s a far, far more dense and walkable and lived in. Truthfully Colonial Williamsburg may not be the best comparison, maybe underdeveloped Boston is a better, although honestly none of that matters because once you’re here, Annapolis really feels like its own thing.
The main attraction for me here in Annapolis was the Navy Yard, where my recently obtained New Jersey Real ID drivers license got me in- I was there on the very first day of Real ID enforcement and they actually denied entry because of it to the group behind me. Once In the Yard you can go anywhere you want, even inside some buildings. I ended up signing up for the guided tour- a real value- tickets are only $13 and the tours are 90 minutes long, or if you had my guide, 90 minutes ended up just over two hours. My guide was a former graduate who really enjoyed his job and had a lot of long and generally unverifiable stories to tell. This included a story about how the first Navy goat mascot was eaten, or that John Paul Jones was buried in alcohol but his embalmers drank some so his uncovered nose rotted off, or that the midshipmen are not allowed to walk on the grass, or that lost submarines are never actually lost but instead listed as “on patrol,” or how some of those ship models on display were carved by ship prisoners from human bones from other dead ship prisoners or, most suspiciously, that no one on the Yard really hates the army, despite the “beat army” signs all over the place. All good stories, whether completely true or not.
One of those buildings that visitors are allowed inside is Dahlgren Hall, designed by Ernest Flagg and part of the Teddy Roosevelt era campus, which (according to my guide) contains the largest collection of Beaux Arts buildings outside of Paris. The space today is primarily used for special events, and also used to impress visitors like me.
The star of the campus has to be the Naval Academy Chapel, the heart of Ernest Flagg’s Beaux Art campus, even though the nave was added later as an expansion. Here our guide did his best to talk right through a wonderful, full blast organ rehearsal, pointing out stained glass images of ships and the row kept empty for sailors missing in action, although once inside, it’s hard to keep your eye from looking up at that dome and wondering why all of the rest of them haven’t stolen the Naval Academy Chapel’s lighting design.
The tour guide (who had a lot of stories) told us that Teddy Roosevelt wanted the chapel to have an opening in the floor that looked down at the crypt below, although it was too late in construction to add. As for the person buried in that featured crypt, Roosevelt was looking for a hero and found one in John Paul Jones, a Revolutionary War Naval Captain who wasn’t especially well known before Roosevelt chose him to be reinterred in Annapolis. Jones today is possibly best know for the quote “I have not yet begun to fight,” which is admittedly a pretty good quote, and it may be best to stop there and not research further, as a quick check of his Wikipedia page gets pretty dark pretty quick.
The Navy Yard has its own museum and, while it was certainly interesting, it’s hard to beat just being there. After the tour, I revisited some of the buildings, stopped for an iced latte at the Naval Academy 1845 Gatehouse Coffee Shop, wandered about the campus and really enjoyed just being there. I honestly was a bit surprised how public and open the Navy Yard was. Sure there was full on airport security to get in, but once inside you could go anywhere with few restrictions. I had really only planned a day in Annapolis (there’s not really all that much to see in such a small town after all) and ended up spending close to five hours of it in the yard and, even after those five hours, I left feeling that I could have stayed even longer.
I can’t stay forever inside the Naval Academy Yard (I honestly don’t think I could survive an hour inside a submarine without going insane) and there are still things to see in Annapolis, so we’re headed back into town to the William Paca Gardens, a quite nice 18th Century garden that feels like a good fit for its (small) city. Much like the Navy Yard I was surprised by how much I liked it, but unlike the Navy Yard, it would be exceptionally difficult to spend five hours in.
Annapolis is Maryland’s State Capitol, which means that (of course), I’m going inside if given a chance. The building offered guided tours, but there wasn’t all that much to see on a non legislative weekday, so I wandered about freely and enjoyed all of the history one could expect on a self guided tour of such a historic building.
We may be finished up with the Annapolis photos, but we’re just getting started with the five page, seven day road trip. There are some really nice things about driving versus flying. First off, my trunk harbored a case of water and plenty of good car snacks, which were especially welcome if a hotel’s free breakfast seemed inedible. I could also take more things with me besides my carry on backpack, something which I have used to get me around the world but also really doesn’t hold as much as I’d like. And the drive was generally pleasant, despite some routing on the Beltway or on I-81 in Pennsylvania. On the first day, I even took the Cape May-Lewes Ferry- a nice experience that probably burned more time than it saved, and I ended up staying at Kent Island, where a nice sunset toward Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay was a great start for the trip.
