Travels of Rob and Cat: Monday, 6 November; Annapolis, Maryland

It is still gray and overcast here, but the view of the river is nice. Bella went out on her own this morning and apparently we left one of the gates open. I got ready to go out to walk her for her morning pee and saw her running back into her "yard" and into the rig. I guess I don't need to take her out. I just went out and closed the gate.
I spent the morning reading through the news on my iPad. Such a horrible thing, the shooting in the church in Texas. They there was an article listing all the mass shootings over the years. I either didn't know about some of them or have forgotten, but there are so many. It's horrible. Certainly makes you want to stay away from any places where people gather.
Next I got on the phone with Lexus of Alexandria. I gave them the part number for my Engine Oil Level sensor and asked them to order it for me. They said they could have it by Wednesday and made an appointment for me to come in on that day. Next I called the Lexus Customer Satisfaction center and related my story about my recent experience with Lexus of Watertown. They were very nice. They may discount my upcoming service for me, will contact Alexandria and make sure they take good care of me and will contact Watertown and look into their lack of Quality control.
Our plan for the day is to go and visit Annapolis!
Unfortunately we did not get an especially early start. The time got away from me as I was working on the blog.
We first went out of our way to go check out an RV park. We need a place to put the RV, where we can plug in for the refrigerator, where we can leave it for the 17 days while we are going to be in California. This place is $50. a day and that is too expensive.. But, the park we looked at was horrible. It is only about 25 min from the airport which is good since we have to be there at 8:00 in the morning, but it is still $30 and a dump.
We finally got to Annapolis at around 2pm. There is sooo much to see.
The town of Annapolis is darling. We stopped in at the Visitor Center first to get a map and find out the "must-sees". The first was St Anne's Parish; the Church in the Circle. People have been worshiping at St. Anne's Church in the Circle for over 300 years. In 1694, the new Governor, Francis Nicholson, laid out a City plan that included a pair of circles placed on the highest ground. One was for the State House and one for St. Anne's Church. This is the 3rd church on this spot. The first one was built in 1704 but it was soon outgrown. The second church burned to the ground on Valentine's Day in 1858. The King William silver, Bible and Prayer Book were rescued and are still used every Sunday. It was lovely.

After that we walked down Main Street which has cute shops and places to eat.

We went in to Chick and Ruth's Delly which is famous for their Matzo Ball soup and Crab cakes. They had a soup and half sandwich deal so that is what we got. The matzo ball was huge, cut into quarters. I could only eat one quarter of it. I at the Crab Cake sandwich. Honestly, it wasn't that great.
From there we walked on down the street toward the water. It is a cute harbor.

And down there we found the entrance to Annapolis Naval Academy.

We had to go through the Visitor Center. There they checked our ID. Since we had Military IDs they didn't search our stuff. Interesting.

Inside they had a lot of information on display. The exhibit includes current-day photos and videos of the academy life; and interactive touch screen wall map, a USNA featured Graduates screen; interactive videos and an Alumni Association Directory.

They also have an indoor track with an astroturf football/soccer field and a pretty awesome climbing wall. Before leaving at the end of the day we watched a group in a physical training class work out.
We walked on campus and headed to the Chapel

Lejeune Hall is a Physical Education Center. The Athletic Hall of Fame, and Olympic-size pool and a wrestling arena are located here.
We walked past this very interesting monument.

We walked down a street where Officers and Senior NCOs live.

The Superintendents Quarters

And then we got to the Main Chapel. It was dedicated in 1908 and conducts Catholic and Protestant services which are open to the Public. Beautiful stained glass windows were designed by Tiffany and Gotham Studios.

Below it is the Crypt of John Paul Jones, one of the greatest Revolutionary War. Johns is enshrined beneath the chapel. His remains, brought to America in 1905 after 113 years of obscurity in a Parisian cemetery, were found by General Horace Porter, US Ambassador to France.

We continued walking around campus. It is beautiful. We went by the

We continued walking. The Academy is surrounded by water on three sides. As it should be.

This bridge leads to an amazing sports field. The midshipmen were out there engaged in various athletic activities.

All the buildings are so beautiful. If I had it to do over again I would go through Annapolis and become a Naval Officer. I would have loved to go into the Medical field through Annapolis.

We continued walking until we came to the Statue of Tecumse and Tecumse Court. Tecumseh is the Indian warrior who stands watch over the site of noon meal formations for the Brigade of Midshipmen, normally held at 12:05 pm weekdays during the academic year, schedule and weather permitting. The students paint the statue with different themes for every home game. This is a home game this weekend, so the students were painting it.

We went into the square and then.......

Entered Bancroft Hall. Bancroft Hall is the largest dormitory in the U.S.

The rotunda and a sample midshipman room are open to the public (We did not see it; didn't find it!), as well as Memorial Hall and a copy of the famous "Don't Give Up The Ship" flag.

We left the Hall and headed off toward the visitor center. It was getting late and things were closing. We did pass the goat named Billy which was stolen from the Army way back in the 1800s and became Annapolis's mascot.