We stayed for two nights at Port Annapolis marina. We like this marina, friendly and great onsite bakery, but we were a bit disappointed to learn that the pool was closed for the season. It has been over 80 degrees and muggy this week. We were looking forward to a swim in a pool because the bay is swarming with mini white jellyfish with long tentacles.
Our second afternoon at the marina, we watched a sailboat leave one of six town mooring directly in front of us in Back Creek. We both silently debated….. Do we give up our electric hook up and our dock fee and move there? I had to finish more laundry and Scott still had to replace the anchor light at the top of the mast. After almost 2 hours, another boat grabbed it. Opportunity missed? Hard to say. We did not really want to be in the same spot for the next 3 weeks, but this is a very quiet spot just outside Annapolis.
The next morning we had thought we might sail to Saint Micheal’s on the Eastern shore, but then changed our minds and decided to stay closer to Annapolis. We were lucky enough to get a mooring in front of “Ego Alley” at the end of main street in downtown Annapolis. Unfortunately, this “#6” is one of fifteen moorings that was to be commandeered by the Harbor Master on Sunday, as part of set up for the upcoming boat shows. Meaning that we could only stay for 3 days. That’s okay.
I wanted to do something in Annapolis that we had never done before, specifically, go to the U.S. Naval Academy. After showing our IDs at the main gate, we watched an introductory video at the visitor’s center, about the “Call to serve”, on the cadet experience from plebe to graduate and then we walked through their beautiful campus with map in hand a.k.a: a self guided tour. We stopped briefly at the U.S. Naval Academy museum. We did not enough time planned for this museum. There was so much to see inside with over 100 ship models, which we find fascinating. We promised ourselves that we would return another day.
My main goal was to see the parade. Advice online suggested to grab seats early. These parades do not occur every week, only certain Friday afternoons. We followed the crowds of civilians and military personal headed north across campus. To our surprise, today’s parade would begin with parachute team members landing center field. A small plane passed overhead and four jumpers soared down with blue and gold parachutes from the sky. These team members had experienced more than 3000 jumps. Circling each other in the sky and gracefully landing one at a time.
Their demonstration was followed by the U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Team performing complex rifle drills without verbal commands.
Even before the drill team was finished, we could hear the band approaching in the distance. From the back right corner of the field, the drum line marched diagonally across the field, followed by the bagpipe team and then hundreds and hundreds of cadets. It felt like we were seeing >3000. Each class is 1200 students. They started at the opposite side of the field and quickly ran forward in unison. On the bay, beyond the field, rowing teams pulled past and bright yellow and blue Navy Spinnakers flew down wind. It was all orchestrated as part of the event and very impressive!
The battalion and regimen leaders directed the cadets through a series of precision movements. The Star Spangle Banner was played by the Marine band. Each troop leader that contributed to the parade was acknowledged with their name, state, rank and troop number. Finally, retired submarine captains were presented with the colors and cadets saluted as the brigade departed the field. Amazing! We would highly recommend this during your next visit.
P.S.: PT drills begin at 6 AM on Saturday mornings on the football field next to the Spa creek moorings, our home for the night. Normally, I am up this early, but we had not slept well the night before. Three-minute planks anyone?
FYI: There are no PT this Sunday morning.