Wed/Thurs Oct 7-8: Scavenger Hunt in Annapolis

 In which we are on the hunt, of one kind of another ...

 

Rick has said, for a year I might add, that he was looking forward to having his coffee on the back and relaxing in the morning.  Do you think that has happened yet?  No...  So I forced him into it this morning while I worked.

 

Rick here: One of our goals while in the Chesapeake Bay area:  get Smith Island Cake.   Melanie had heard about the Maryland State Cake a year ago from our training captains, and had been looking forward to it ever since.  This famous multi-layer cake with chocolate frosting was originally made only on Smith Island and we (she) HAD TO HAVE a piece. We had originally planned to cruise over to the eastern shore of Maryland for a visit to Tangier Island, Crisfield and Smith Island but due to time constraints we won't get to that until next year.  This meant that we had to find another source for the holy grail of cakes.

With the help of google we found a restaurant in the self-named Maritime Republic Eastport (the neighborhood across the river from Annapolis).  We boarded the dingy and with a our perfectly working outboard motor, sped across for lunch and cake.  We found a wonderful restaurant, the Boatyard Bar and Grill.    Given all the seafood in the area, I decided to have a 100% shellfish lunch, first bravely ordering 3 oysters and then a plate of steamed mussels.   Melanie wanted to go right to dessert but finally was convinced to order a Rockfish (stripped bass) BLT which was wonderful.  With  trembling with excitement we ordered the cake.....

 

Hunt for Smith Cake - complete!

After lunch we strolled around the lovely and quiet town of Eastport.   The town is very picturesque and, of course, filled with boats and boat related business - North Sails, Weems & Platt (nautical equipment), sailing schools, etc.    

 

Good to know - they are used to support new oyster beds.

This made us giggle - how does a virtual tasting work exactly?!

With a warm sun and full stomachs we decided to go back to the boat and have a relaxing afternoon.   The mooring field is located right off the US Naval Academy and each morning and evening we heard bugle calls from the academy - In the evening call to colors and retire the colors, and in the morning we hear the call to assemble followed by the National Anthem.   There are about 4000 cadets at the academy working towards becoming trained officers in the Navy and Marines. 

Relaxing puzzle time for Mel - with her beloved lensball!

 

After a good nights sleep we woke the next morning and decided to go out for breakfast at a small diner up main street, Chick & Ruth's Delly.   We weren't up to the challenge of finishing what turned out to be huge breakfasts, and the leftovers ended up feeding us for three days of breakfasts.  Very good corned beef hash. 

The activity for the day was a scavenger hunt.  Melanie had found an app, Let's Roam, that offers self guided tours in the guise of a scavenger hunt (it would be the most fun with a family, or friends, but we used it as a way to see the area).   We bought a ticket for the Red, White and Blue historic Annapolis tour and got started learning about the history of the city!  I won't go into the history here but it is a city with a storied past.   Three signers of the Declaration of Independence lived here including the only Catholic signer of that document: Charles Carroll.  We walked for about 2 hours looking at the old houses and inns including the Middleton Tavern, one of the oldest continuously operating inns founded in 1750 on the Annapolis waterfront.  The inn was frequented by colonial leaders including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. 

SO many cute houses for different styles for Mel to take pictures of.

 

A great aspect of this town is that the historic houses are marked with different colors and a plaque, indicating what kind of architectural style is represented. Mel is enchanted!

We finished our scavenger hunt, exhausted from walking all over, and stopped for some refreshment and hit a couple of stores.  Neither one of us are shoppers, but we try to support the local economy (mostly with sweet carbos for Mel).   Heading back to the dinghy we decided to take a ride up Spa Creek - the body of water that runs in front of Annapolis - to take in some of the sites from the water side.   Half hour later we cruised back to the boat and called it a day.   With the sounds of the Naval Academy evening bugle call to lower the colors we ended a beautiful visit and a nice stay in a wonderful small city.