ANNAPOLIS, FAIRLEE CREEK, AND CHESAPEAKE CITY, MARYLAND

Annapolis is a very nice town.  We came here after an extended visit to places on the Potomac River and found it refreshingly modern and beautiful.  We anchored in the Naval Anchorage right in front of the Naval Academy.  It was a little bumpy due to the south wind and due to the hundreds of boats moving about.  As the fourth of July holiday weekend was in full swing, this was a very boat-busy weekend, and hundreds, if not thousands of boats were out and about.  The anchorage was also quite noisy.  Every morning at 0600, over a thousand incoming Naval Adademy students performed morning exercises noisily on the grass in front of the anchorage.

Annapolis is the capital of Maryland.  It was originally called "Providence" when settled by the Puritans, and was later called "Anne Arundel's Towne" after the wife of Lord Baltimore.  In 1708, however, Royal Governor, Sir Francis Nicholson, moved the capital here from St. Mary's City, and chose to honor Princess Anne, heir to the throne of England.  She then chartered her colonial namesake as a city.  In fact, her royal badge, with a crown over the entwined thistle of Scotland and Tudor rose of England, is depicted on the Annapolis flag.

Nicholson certainly designed a beautiful city. Instead of using a customary grid, he constructed a baroque plan similar to many capitals in Europe using circles with radiating streets to create focal points, and to give importance to certain structures such as St Anne's, the Episcopal Church and the government buildings.  The Maryland State House, in one of these circles, is the oldest such capital building in continuous use in the United States.

In the other circle, rising over the harbor, is the State House, the seat of government. This urban design was admired by frequent visitor George Washington, who later had Pierre L'Enfant incorporate it into the nation's capital.

Shipping created great wealth in Annapolis.  Prosperous merchants and "planters" sought to duplicate the amenities of their homeland, and built enormous mansions. These homes entertained many of our founding fathers and have ballrooms and formal gardens.

Government has always played a major part in Annapolis. The same State House where George Washington tendered his resignation as General of the Continental Army following the Revolutionary War is still where the Maryland General Assembly meets in its chambers. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor have their offices there, and it is used for a number of state functions throughout the year.
The capital of Maryland was the country's capital when the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was signed here. All four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence had homes in Annapolis, which still stand today.

For many, Annapolis is synonymous with the United States Naval Academy. However, this world famous institution isn't even the oldest college in town. That distinction belongs to St. John's College, founded in 1696 as King William's School. It is the third oldest college in the United States (after Harvard and William and Mary). Its liberal arts curriculum is based upon study of the Great Books.

The Chesapeake still plays a major role in commerce, even though Annapolis eventually lost out on the shipping trade to a much deeper harbor in Baltimore. Recreational boating, fishing, sailing and racing are activities that take place year round in Annapolis and are responsible for a vigorous maritime industry. Supply and service establishments dot the shoreline and comprise a major part of the local economy.

Annapolis is a very popular port of call for international sailors and in its anchorage one sees transoms from all over the world. Four years ago, the Whitbread competitors stopped here, and this spring the Volvo fleet returned.  In the fall, the largest in the water boat shows in the world are held on successive weekends for sail and power enthusiasts respectively.

Annapolis - the Naval Academy

The Naval Academy was founded in 1845. It is said here that, every day, as the undergraduate college of the naval service, the United States Naval Academy strives to accomplish its mission to develop midshipmen “morally, mentally, and physically.”  As future officers in the Navy or Marine Corps, midshipmen will someday be responsible for the lives of many and very expensive and complex equipment. From Plebe Summer through graduation, four years later, there is an extensive focus on integrity, honor, and mutual respect.

Just as the Naval Academy promotes the moral and mental development of midshipmen, there is a huge emphasis on physical development.  Athletic teams are an integral part of the overall education since they provide leadership opportunities and the experiences of team play, cooperative effort, commitment and individual sacrifice. In the academy's program everyone has a wide variety of athletic choices, as well as the required physical education curriculum.

The Navy pays for the tuition, room and board, and medical and dental care of Naval Academy midshipmen. Midshipmen also enjoy regular active-duty benefits including access to military commissaries and exchanges, commercial transportation and lodging discounts and the ability to fly space-available in military aircraft around the world. Midshipmen pay is $764 monthly, from which laundry, barber, cobbler, activities fees, yearbook and other service charges are deducted. Actual cash pay is $75 to $100 per month during the first year, increasing each year to $400 per month in the fourth year.

Every midshipman's academic program begins with a core curriculum that includes courses in engineering, science, mathematics, humanities and social science designed to provide a broad-based education that will qualify the midshipmen for practically any career field in the Navy or Marine Corps.

We visited the USNA at the very beginning of Plebe Summer.  All midshipmen begin the four-year program with Plebe Summer, a period designed to turn civilians into midshipmen. According to the Academy, Plebe Summer is no gentle easing into the military routine. Soon after entering the gate on Induction Day, new students are put into uniform and taught how to salute by the first class midshipmen and officers who lead the plebe indoctrination program. For the next seven weeks, they start their days at dawn with an hour of rigorous exercise and end them long after sunset. Forget television, leisure time or movies.  Plebes will have barely enough hours in the day to finish their assigned plebe tasks.

Naval Academy Chapel is a focal point of the Academy and the city of Annapolis as the dome can be seen from miles away.

While the chapel is quite beautiful, it is also the place to visit the crypt of legenday American sailor, John Paul Jones.

John Paul was born in Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, and went to sea as a youth  He was a merchant shipmaster by the age of twenty-one. Having taken up residence in Virginia, he volunteered early in the War of Independence to serve in his adopted country's infant navy.  His claim to fame is that he took the war to the enemy's homeland with daring raids along the British coast and the famous victory of the Bonhomme Richard over HMS Serapis. After the Bonhomme Richard began taking on water and fires broke out on board, the British commander asked Jones if he had struck his flag. Jones replied, "I have not yet begun to fight!" In the end, it was the British commander who surrendered.

FAIRLEE CREEK -

We surrendered to the rolly Annapolis anchorage after two nights and moved on to a place called Fairlee Creek, Maryland, where we enjoyed the 4th of July holiday.

Fairlee Creek is a small, but extremely well-protected and beautiful piece of water located on Maryland’s upper Eastern Shore. Fairlee Creek is 15 miles northwest of the mouth of the Patapsco River and 21 miles south-southeast of the C&D Canal’s western entrance near Chesapeake City.  The charts showed the water depths to be rather shallow, but the cruising guides said something different, and up to date blogs of recent passers-by said something else.  So, if you averaged out all the information, then we had enough water to get in and anchor.  In actuality, the mouth of the bay was the only hairy part with a tough current moving across the mouth striving to put you on the beach.  We made it in and out without any problem.  While we were there, we had a nice time.

No 4th of July would be complete without cocktails by the pool.  Barry and Jodie got Brenda a pool for her birthday and we just had to try it out.  Rum drink anyone?  The finger you see in the foreground is Barry playing in the fountain.....silly kid.

So, after a couple days in Fairlee Creek, it was on to Chesapeake City just a couple miles up the C&D Canal.

CHESAPEAKE CITY

The mouth of the C&D Canal

As early as the 17th century, local settlers recognized the possibility of connecting the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River.  In the mid 1760s, possible canal routes were surveyed, but in 1824, construction began at the Chesapeake City location.  The canal was completed in October of 1829.  At that time, there were reported to have been two structures standing in what was then known as Bohemia Village: a pre-revolutionary building known as Chick's Tavern House and a lock house for collecting tolls. The town subsequently grew in response to the needs of the canal operations and commerce. In 1839, the town changed it's name to Chesapeake City and the population reached 400.

Today, Chesapeake City's historic area is on the National Historic Registry, as well as Maryland's Historic Registry. The town has many restored historic homes, shops and galleries. Additional sights include the Canal Museum, art galleries, summer concerts, boat tours, and tours of the nearby horse country. There are also many fine restaurants and bed and breakfasts. Chesapeake City has a lot of  Victorian charm and has actually been featured in several national magazines. 

And, you're not going to believe this, but we found yet another.........


Wait for it...................


Yes.................

ANOTHER TIKI BAR!!!!

We stayed one night in Chesapeake City as it was a logical stopping point on our trek to Philadelphia where we are now.  More later from Philadelphia.

Bye now.