Day 229, "on the loop", 5/26/2023

Friday, May 19 - We enjoyed Annapolis! We toured the United States Naval Academy, very impressive.

*Information found via Google Search*

The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the second oldest of the five U.S. service academies and it educates midshipmen for service in the officer corps of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The 338-acre campus is located on the former grounds of Fort Severn at the confluence of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay. The entire campus, known colloquially as the Yard, is a National Historic Landmark and home to many historic sites, buildings, and monuments. It replaced Philadelphia Naval Asylum in Philadelphia that had served as the first United States Naval Academy from 1838 to 1845 when the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis.

There is no tuition at the Naval Academy. The Navy pays 100% of the tuition, room and board, medical and dental care costs of Naval Academy midshipmen. This means ALL students who attend the Naval Academy do so on a full scholarship in return for 5 years of active duty service upon graduation.

For every 100 applicants, only 9 are admitted. This means the school is extremely selective. Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation.

Notable people who attended US Naval Academy:

Jimmy Carter

John McCain

Fun Fact: We are traveling with fellow Looper, Arabella - Captain Capel English, the great nephew of Rear Admiral Robert Henry English who graduated from the USNA.

The USS English (DD-696) was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer. She was named for Rear Admiral Robert Henry English, a submariner who commanded the light cruiser Helena and had been awarded the Navy Cross and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. The USS English is on display in the US Naval Museum in Annapolis.

Additional Information:

Robert Henry English (16 January 1888 – 21 January 1943) was a United States Navy commissioned officer who commanded the U.S. Navy's submarine force in the Pacific Theater of Operations early in World War II. English was born in Warrenton, Georgia, and was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1911.

The display of the USS English:

The architecture is French influenced and absolutely astonishing (designed after The Palace of Versailles).

There are over 5 miles of dorm rooms; typically there are 2 beds to most dorm rooms. Men and Women share the same floor; but, do not share dorm rooms.

A typical dorm room is shared in the picture below. The plexiglass is for tours only to give perspective of what the closet looks like. Note: Unloaded Guns are kept in closets. Rooms are checked with a white glove and black sock. White glove for dust and Black sock for soap scum (in the bathrooms). Demerits are given if a room does not meet the standards (ie. must be able to bounce a quarter off the bed).

Side note: You work off demerits by walking, full uniform w/ (unloaded) gun in your spare time (there is NOT much spare time).

John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792), was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. Credited as being the "Father of the American Navy" a title also credited to John Barry, John Adams, and sometimes Joshua Humphreys, Jones is highly regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in the history of the United States.

Rank - Note the bottom is a PLEAD (first year of USNA)

History and Traditions of the Herndon Monument Climb

Each year the freshman class, known as 'Plebes,' climb the monument at the Naval Academy to retrieve the Plebian Sailor's hat and replace it with an officer's hat. The tradition is one step in marking the end of wearing freshman headgear and moving up to headgear more like a U.S. Naval officer.

This place is a MUST see. We really enjoyed our time here.

But if the above wasn't good enough, Joel and I was surprised by a visit from our DEAR friends, Terri and Dan Fulton. They drove over an hour to come see us in Annapolis. Their daughter Traci has a 2nd home nearby. We are very thankful they worked us in their schedule and they even treated us to lunch! Thank you, Dan & Terri for a wonderful afternoon & LUNCH! We hope to see them again during our travels.

Saturday, May 20: Happy Birthday to Ron Morgan and Danielle Fuchs Bauer - Hope you both had a great day.

A full day of touring around, started with breakfast at the well known "Chick & Ruth's Delly" (and bakery), took a trolly ride, toured the State Capital and topped the day off with Happy Hour with fellow loopers at the Ram's Head Tavern (another suggested spot to check out while in Annapolis).

Chick & Ruth's Delly:

The wait staff interacts with the guest. They start each day with the Pledge of Allegiance. If you make it known, they will sing Happy birthday to those celebrating! It is certainly a fun place to stop and the prices aren't bad either. You can get a biscuit with a meat for around 5 bucks!

Discover Annapolis Tours (Trolly):

We enjoy the historic trolly tour. Sometimes the tour guide shares some inside scoop of the area!

Similar to the Charleston, SC historic district, Annapolis historic housing district must follow similar guidelines to meet requirements of the area. All houses are marked with a colored coded historic symbol which symbolizes the style of house.

The markers are color-coded as follows:

• Dark Green markers : 17th century (1684-1700)

• Bronze markers: 18th-century buildings of national importance

• Brick Red markers : designate 18th century or Georgian Federal (1700-1784)

• Blue markers: Federal (1784-1840)

• Light Green markers: Greek Revival (1820-1860)

• Purple markers: Victorian Period (1837-1901)

• Grey markers: 19th/20th-century vernacular (1837-1930)

• Yellow markers :20th-century distinctive (1901- Present)

Anne's Episcopal Church is located in Church Circle, founded in 1692. An interesting fact, the royal governor, Francis Nicholas, laid out a street plan centered on two circles, the larger circle for the State House and the smaller one for the church, where St. Anne's stands to this day. It is said that these were the two most important locations of the town. This explains all the roundabouts and odd roadways in the historical district of Annapolis.

The Maryland Inn is the oldest Inn and is still operational today

The Maryland Inn was built in 1776 as private residence by Thomas Hyde, a respected merchant and civic leader. When he advertised it for sale in 1782, it was described as "an elegant brick house adjoining Church Circle in a dry and healthy part of the city. This house is one hundred-feet front, three-story height, has 20 fireplaces and is one of the first houses in the state for a house of entertainment."

In 1784, Sarah Ball, who had become this historic inn's manager

The inn remained a popular place for lodging throughout the 19th century. It was acquired by the Maryland Hotel Company in 1868 and remained the most prominent Annapolis hotel.

Maryland State Capital:

The Maryland General Assembly meets annually for 90 days beginning on the second Wednesday in January. There are 141 delegates, three from each of the state's 47 electoral districts and 47 senators, all of whom are elected for four-year terms.

*Pictures in no particular order*

The Acorn (at the top of the Capitol dome) is a five-foot-tall acorn, an ancient symbol of strength, wisdom and longevity. Acorns were common decorative elements in the late 18th century. In 1996 during restoration of the State House dome, it was discovered that the acorn had rotted so bad that it needed to be replaced. Side note: The original acorn is stored at the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in Calvert County. The new acorn was created from thirty-one pieces of cypress, clad in copper at the base and in 2011 was regarded in 24-karate gold leaf.

We didn't tour the Governor's mansion, but walked by and took a picture of this beautiful home. It is uncertain if the Governor lives at the location year round or not; however, we were told the previous Governor did live on this property.

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, located at the City Dock in historic Annapolis, portrays in word and symbol the triumph of the human spirit in very difficult times and conveys Alex Haley's vision for national racial reconciliation and healing.

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (1921 – 1992), was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family.ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. In the United States, the book and miniseries raised the public awareness of black American history and inspired a broad interest in genealogy and family history.

Ram's Head Tavern: Crab deviled eggs is a must at this place, pretzel sticks were good too!

Happy Hour with fellow Loopers: Arabella, Beach House, Sea Breeze, Summer Place & The Other Woman.

Ego Alley:

Ego Alley is not an alley in the traditional sense of the word; rather than a walkway, it's a narrow waterway that spills out into Spa Creek. The name "Ego Alley" comes from the queue of expensive boats that parade through the waterway on evenings and weekends.

See picture below, boats can tie up to the wall throughout the day; boats basically pass through this area to show off their large and unique boats!

In addition to a full day of touring, Joel assisted a fellow boater and pulled his bicycle out of the water, using a magnet. Look how happy this boater is!

Monday, May 21

Departed Annapolis and headed to St. Michael's. We back tracked on our route, it wasn't ideal; however, the reasoning / concern (for backtracking) was the US Naval Academy's yearly graduation is the 3rd week of May. There are a lot of families that come to town to celebrate not to mention general tourist spot. We wanted to get in and out of there before it got busy!

Map of Trip: Annapolis Basin Yacht Club (Annapolis, MD) to St. Michael's, MD (Anchored out, didn't stay at a marina)

We arrived in St. Michaels early enough to walk around the town, enjoy rum tasing at a #1 Rum Distillery (LYON'S), had afternoon drinks with fellow loopers at Foxy's (a bar at the end of town) and dinner at the Crab Claw.

The Crab Claw Restaurant is closing at the end of this year. The owner's passed away and the daughter sold the business; therefore, no more Crab Claw for 2024 loopers.

St. Michael's is the home port for Looper and St. Michael Harbor Host; Bryan (Boat Name: Hanusha). He traveled with Long Gone 2 for a while, so we along with Arabella and LG2 received a personal water taxi tour, narrated by Bryan. It was awesome! Bryan works a couple of days a week during tour season for the town water taxi. The tour was AMAZING!

Listed below are a few things we learned:

The historic town dates back to the mid-1600s when it served as a trading post for area tobacco farmers and trappers. In 1672 the Christ Episcopal Church of St Michael Archangel parish was founded and built at St. Mary's Square.

The church was built in the center of town because all waterways led to the center of town.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is home to a collection of Chesapeake Bay artifacts, exhibitions, and vessels. This 18-acre interactive museum was founded in 1965 on Navy Point, once a site of seafood packing houses, docks, and work boats. Today, the museum provides interactive exhibits in and around the 35 buildings which dot the campus. The museum also offers year-round educational seminars and workshops.

Hooper Strait Light is one of four surviving Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses in the U.S. State of Maryland. Originally located in Hooper Strait, between Hooper and Bloodsworth Islands in Dorchester County and at the entrance to Tangier Sound, it is now an exhibit at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland.

Inn at Perry Cabin

https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/inn-at-perry-cabin/history.php

Located on 26 acres of forest and farmland, off the Miles River. Samuel Hambleton constructed this spectacular facility more than three centuries ago. Hambleton had made a name for himself by serving as aide-de-camp to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry during the War of 1812. The naval officer specifically provided much needed consul to Commodore Perry, as he attempted to prevent the British from completely seizing the Great Lakes. Check out the website above for more details.

Apparently, it's $1200 per night and they do not offer any discounts. The property is a hotspot for weddings.

The houses to the left are located in the St. Michael's historic district. The blue house was built in 2000, while the brown house is from the 1800's. New houses can be built as long as they meet the historic district's requirements.

Bryan stated the population for St. Michael's is approx. 1000 (year round residents).

Our Challenge and "New to our loop experience": We rafted with Long Gone 2 (LG2) during our stay at St. Michael's. While anchored and due to tide swings, our lines / anchor got crossed (they wrapped 2 times). This is not unusual in water systems with currents. Earlier, we saw two other boats (Razor's Edge & Odyssey) untangle their crossed lines! Side note: These two Loopers anchor out A-LOT and are pros at untangling their lines. We observed Razors Edge and Odyssey unwrap their lines and knew what to do. I think Arabella took pictures, if she forwards, I will share on my Facebook page (Tracy Carr Boisselle)

The house (with the blue crab decor) will be on the market for $1.5Million. Comes with the little water shed and boat slip.

Map of Trip: St. Michael's, MD (Anchored out) to Chestertown, MD (Chestertown Marina)

We arrived in Chestertown, MD. There wasn't much to do/see considering most everything was closed. They have winter store hours until Memorial weekend, missed it by a week! We did make it to a deli (Modern Stone Age Kitchen) just before they closed at 3pm.

Side note: When walking through the town, we noticed pictures of highschool seniors, this is a VERY small town. If you look at this door, you can see two senior pictures.

Before having dinner on the boat, I took a quick walk while Joel checked the engines for our next trip to (Harve de Grace, MD). While on my walk, I passed a huge field with 100+ people playing Bocce ball. Yes! I stopped, talked, and took a couple of pictures.

Apparently, there are two leagues. One group plays on Tuesday nights and the other league plays on Thursday nights. I chatted with a local couple that were super nice!

Pic 1 - We could see the Bocce ball players from our boat :-)

A little bit about Chestertown, MD (Population approx. 5200):

Founded in 1706, Chestertown rose in stature when it was named one of the English colony of Maryland's six Royal Ports of Entry. The shipping boom that followed this designation made the town at the navigable head of the Chester River wealthy. In the mid-eighteenth century, Chestertown trailed only Annapolis and was considered Maryland's second leading port.

Has an adorable historic downtown area, a park called Aunt Sarah's park (which is where Bocce ball leagues meet 2 times a week to play).

Marker was placed as a point of reference to show where Worrell's tavern once was. I thought it was the house nearby but that was not the case.

Map of Trip: Chestertown, MD (Chesterton Town Marina) to Havre de Grace, MD (Havre de Grace City Marina)

Friday, May 26:

Map of Trip: Harve de Grace, MD (Havre de Grace City Marina) to Delaware City, DE (Delaware City Marina)

Havre de Grace is a city in Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which in full was once Le Havre de Grâce (French meaning, "Harbor of Grace"). The population was 12,952 at the 2010 U.S. census.

In the 19th century, Havre de Grace became known for duck hunting, and was a seasonal destination for hunters. Hunters stayed at the town hotels and hired local guides to escort them hunting on the river and along the bay. Local artisans became known for making high quality decoys, which they carved and painted. Prime examples are displayed today at the Decoy Museum.

We walked around the town, had dinner at Tidewater Restaurant on the waterfront. We had the pleasure of eating with R&R (Rick's spouse, Ruth Ann had returned home to take care of stuff). Marcie, Rick's sister, is taking her spot for this leg of the trip.

Per a Facebook post, we were held up in Harve de Grace, MD. Here's the scoop on what happened, I will try to make the long story, short!

We were traveling in a pack of 3 (us w/Arabella and LG2). Thursday evening, we decided on a 10am / 10:15am departure; however, Friday morning, the captain's were eager to leave earlier (9am). Because we were tucked in a little canal, we departed single file (following one another). Dan was the first boat, we were the second, leaving Arabella last. We needed a pump out, so we told the others to go ahead and we would catch up (we wanted to arrive at Delaware City before the afternoon tide change).

As we pulled out of the small canal, we noticed and assumed LG2 was waiting (we thought for Arabella as they were the last boat to leave the canal). We pull into the fuel dock (for the pump out) and learned that LG2 was caught on a Mooring ball (boater / looper nightmare).

As you can imagine, this is not good. LG2 had to make some decisions 1) Bring in a diver OR 2) cut the line and pull the boat out of the water. Dan decided to have the boat pulled out of the water. Summer Place & Arabella was still docked at the fuel dock with the plan we would stay until 11am or until another boat stopped for fuel. At 10:45am, a 50 ft boat needed fuel which meant we needed to leave the Havre de Grace marina.

We said our goodbyes to LG2 and started our track to Delaware City.

The marina staff and dockhands were amazing! Dan (LG2) was out of the water and was probably off the lift within 30/45 minutes after we left. Dan stated since he had the boat out of the water, he took advantage to have the bottom scraped and zincs checked AND by the Grace of God, there was no damage to the props.

Pictures below are in no particular order! Picture 4 & 5 you can see the line that is wrapped around the prop.

We arrived at Delaware City, DE around 2:30pm and docking was a different and unique experience. The dockhands took our stern line from the opposite side (from the dock) and used the current of the water to make a 180 degree turn. See Facebook page, I recorded Arabella being docked (that is how everyone gets docked). I will share more on Delaware City next week (as this log is already late and probably longer than most of you would like to read :-).

Random Information & Other Stuff:

Maryland and Bird hunting:

Bordered by the Chesapeake Bay, the Eastern Shore of Maryland is known for having some of the best hunting opportunities in the U.S. While geese are a major draw for most folks, Kent County boasts a variety of waterfowl including ducks, wild turkey, dove, pheasant, quail, and woodcock, to name a few.

Maryland Regular Duck Season- Eastern Zone: November - January.

Best counties for hunting:

Anne Arundel, Kent and Queen Anne's counties are among the best of the best for trophies in bow season. But in reality, anywhere you find cropland and woods lying in close proximity to each other, a P&Y whitetail is a distinct possibility.

Fishing in Maryland:

Maryland is home to some of the best fishing spots. These prime fishing locations are full of perch, croakers, catfish, best, and other diverse fish species. If you want to catch a trophy-sized bass or just have fun at a catch-and-release river, this article is for you.

Duck Hunting in the Chesapeake:

There are no shortage of duck blinds in this area, Havre de Grace is known for their wood carvings (duck decoy's).

Body Booting

Originated in Maryland, this style of duck hunting is second to none. Shooters are equipped with full body survival suits and hidden behind large silhouette decoys putting them right in the center of the action .

Body booting ranks high on the “extreme ways to hunt waterfowl list,” if there ever was one. Devised by hardy Chesapeake Bay watermen, this style of water-fowling involves wearing a pair of chest waders or a diving suit and hunkering down among a large spread of decoys in knee-to-chest-deep water. Body Booting first started on the Susquehanna Flats back in the early 1950s. It was later adapted for goose hunting when the flats became a major wintering area for Canada geese. Body booting is widely popular among the locals in this area.

Fun Fact:

Havre de Grace, Md is known as the Decoy Capital of the World located on the banks of the historic Susquehanna Flats.

Elmer Crowell, who some collectors consider the all-time finest carver of any region. Crowell's carvings are undoubtedly among the most sought-after by modern decoy collectors. A commercial carver, he created representations of every duck, goose, and shorebird species.

Joel saw ducks in Havre de Grace at a store called "Vincenti Decoy's". Pat Vincenti is a decoy carver. His wife Jeannie runs the store in Havre de Grace town. She is super nice and explained that although most of their decoys are new; they have several that come back to them from estate sales, etc. These are also on display and for sale!

If you are interested, here'e more: https://vincentidecoys.com

Fun Fact: Pat is a dedicated member of the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum’s Board of Directors where he currently holds the position of President of the Board. His enthusiasm and appreciation for the Decoy Museum’s mission has brought world wide visibility to the “Decoy Capital of the World”. In addition to the full time decoy carving business and running their decoy shop in Havre de Grace, Patrick and Jeannie both serve as officers on the board of directors of the R. Madison Mitchell Trust. Through their untiring efforts the Mitchell Trust has been enabled to support the Decoy Museum’s mission and ongoing improvement program.

Pic 1 - We found the Decoy Museum :-)

Pic 2 - Waterfront condos (bldg previously used for duck hunting guests, for a fee)