MARYLAND: CHARMS OF ANNAPOLIS

By Lee Foster

Annapolis ranks as one of our more charming east coast cities to visit.  Moreover, the charm has a substance behind it.  Annapolis is a small city, but many important political events occurred here, such as George Washington resigning his commission as head of the Continental Army.  Annapolis residents have nurtured their historical story well, carefully preserving the town's buildings from the earliest eras.

The city also has few equals in the U.S. for its water resources, the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay. When visiting this self-described "Sailing Capital of the U.S. ," a visitor should get out on the bay in an excursion boat to see some of the thousands of pleasure sailing craft that dock here.  The Eastport section of Annapolis has a long boat-building tradition.

Annapolis also boasts a special institution, the U.S. Naval Academy, which welcomes visitors.  You can walk the grounds and see the midshipmen who will manage the U.S. naval fleet in the next generation.  Then tour the crypt in the basement of the Naval Academy Chapel and see the sarcophagus of America' s first naval hero, John Paul Jones, whose famous line, when nearly defeated, was "I have not yet begun to fight."

The people of Annapolis know they have something unusual to offer a visitor and have worked hard to preserve their heritage, especially their architecture.  Building codes carefully manage growth so that the shells of older structures are preserved, but put to modern use.  Lodging options range from modern hotels to cozy B&Bs.

ANNAPOLIS HISTORY

About 200 structures in Annapolis from 1696-1910 have historic plaques on them, color coded to indicate the 30-year period when they were built.

Be sure to take a guided tour, called the Three Centuries Walking Tour, which leaves at 10:30 each morning from the Visitor Center at 26 Main Street or at 1:30 p.m. from City Dock.  Costumed re-enactors, such as Lew Billups, lead these fascinating walks.

One major stop will be the State House, which is the oldest U.S. state house in continuous use.  You will need a photo ID and must pass through metal detectors to go inside.  Once inside, you can see the original old Senate Chambers, where George Washington resigned his commission as head of the army.  If Washington had wished, he probably could have taken the country in another direction rather than becoming a Republic.  A painting by Edwin White recalls this famous event.  The Treaty of Paris was ratified here, ending the Revolutionary War.  The Maryland State House was the country's first peacetime capital, briefly, in 1783-84.

Other places to see include St. Anne"s Episcopal Church, built in 1858, and several noted houses, such as the Chase-Lloyd House, built in 1763.  The solid brick architecture and symmetry of the Georgian style are impressive.

ANNAPOLIS FROM TH E WATER

A one-hour narrated boat trip by Watermark Cruises, boarding at the foot of City Dock, will tell you the story of the Chesapeake Bay and its huge sailing culture.  The cruise also gives you a good look, from the water, at the Naval Academy .  Several large yachts tied up at City Dock cause that stretch of bank to be named Ego Alley. 

If you walk over to the Spa Creek Bridge and beyond to Back Creek, you will see many of the moorings for the thousands of sailboat and yachts in this region.

Besides Watermark Cruises, there are private boats that do cruises. 

TH E NAVAL ACADEMY

Visitors are welcome on the U.S. Naval Academy grounds, but everyone needs to have a picture ID to show the guards at the entrance.

Some 4,000 midshipmen take their college training at the Naval Academy .  You can wander freely on the grounds, taking in their huge dorm, Bancroft Hall, said to be the largest dorm in the western hemisphere.  The Naval Academy Chapel has lovely Tiffany glass windows.  An appropriate theme in the stained glass over the altar is "Christ Walking on the Water."

Midshipmen can be seen walking around the campus.  On some days, at noon , they line up at attention for Noon Formation before marching into the mess hall to strains of Anchors Away for their mid-day meal.

Sobering memorials on the campus remind a visitor of the serious business these dedicated young men and women train to perform.  One sculpture of a small submarine honors the 4,000 U.S. sailors who have perished doing service on submarines.  Another memorial recalls the victorious naval Battle of Midway, the turning point in the WW II conflict against Japan .

AMENITIES OF ANNAPOLIS

Lodgings range from the modern Loews Annapolis Hotel to cozy B&B's such as Reynolds Tavern, where George Washington slept.

For dining, the local place not to miss is down-home good-value Chick & Ruth's, a town legend, which started in 1965.  The portions are large for a breakfast of western omelet or chipped beef on toast.  Owner Ted Levitt, Chick and Ruth's son, will personally assign you to a tight little booth.  This is a friendly place where the locals congregate.  Everyone stands for the Pledge of Allegiance at 8:30 a.m.   The walls are heavy with local memorabilia.

For fine dining, try a quiet evening at Reynolds Tavern, perhaps with a strawberry salad or jumbo shrimp as starters, followed by lamb cutlets or beef filet with gorgonzola, washed down with a glass of Merlot.  

Restaurant Breeze serves a delicious crab soup, followed perhaps by a grilled rockfish, the local striped bass from the Chesapeake .

There are plenty of places along the waterfront to pause outdoors for a drink and some people watching, such as Middleton Tavern.

To mix with the sail-boating crowd, stop in for a drink or meal at the lively Boatyard Bar and Grill, where the décor is sailing memorabilia.  Sailboat racing films run on big-screen videos.  Boatyard Bar and Grill is a popular spot after the weekly Wednesday Night Races of summer sailing.  The races are video photographed and then replayed on the big screens as a kind of instant replay, with the sailboat racers and fans providing exuberant commentary.

April through September are the best months to visit Annapolis . Then the weather is pleasant out on the Bay and all the major facilities, such as Watermark Cruises, are operating.

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ANNAPOLIS : IF YOU GO

The local tourism contact is the Annapolis & Anne Arundell County Conference & Visitors Bureau, 26 West Street , Annapolis , MD 21401 , 410/280-0445, www.visit-annapolis.org.

The overall state tourism contact is Maryland Office of Tourism, 217 E. Redwood Street , Baltimore , MD 21202 , 800/719-5900, www.mdwelcome.org.

This article was written by Lee Foster of Foster Travel Publishing.  Contact him at his website www.fostertravel.com, which publishes more than 200 of his worldwide coverages.  His direct email is lee@fostertravel.com.  Copyright Lee Foster .

Lee Foster's new literary book is Travels in an American Imagination: The Spiritual Geography of Our Time.

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