Log Book: October 25th

Condition: 60degrees & sunny

Location: Annapolis, MD

Yesterday morning Dad and I dropped the hook in Annapolis, right off the Naval Academy breakwater. We spent the day tidying up the boat and planning our trip into town the following day, being too tired to attempt an escape to shore. Since the beginning of our trip Dad and I have observed the practice of Quaker Midnight, a term we picked up in Greenwich from Mark. Quaker Midnight is really 9pm, when most of Greenwich is in bed whether they're Quakers or not. I think Dad has been a closet Quaker all his life. We had no way of knowing that our stop in Annapolis would bring our curfew to shame.

Today we put our Dyer dingy in the water for the first time. Dad was afraid it would leak so he made me hop in first, but it was dry as a bone. We tested the outboard for the first time as well, which went swimmingly - two for two. Then we were off to Ego Alley, the heart of Annapolis which looked like miniature Newport, RI. While tying up at the dingy dock we met a couple sailing south from Montreal. We got breakfast at the famous diner, Chick & Ruth's Delly and met another couple who had sailed their boat down to Panama and were back in the states for a reunion. I'm convinced Dad has a special sonar that seeks these people out, not to mention they're all over the place. After breakfast we explored the downtown shops. The candy store smelled heavenly but the best place we found was a tea shop called The Spice & Tea Exchange. We picked out some good smelling cooking spices pretty quickly, but it took me about an hour to find the right tea. I love tea. The mint chai was my favorite, but we already had mint tea on the boat so we settled for mango instead. We went into all the boring old stores too, Sperry, Helly Hansen and stuff like that but my favorite clothing shop was called Hats in the Belfry. I tried on just about every hat they had. I finally decided that if we stopped in Annapolis on our way back I would buy a black French beret, because I wouldn't need a beret in Florida and I needed ample time to get used to the idea of myself in a beret. Dad sheepishly tried on a hat too but he looked extremely silly, he's a ball cap kinda guy.

We also stumbled into a museum on runaway slaves, which was interesting but the gift shop was better than the exhibits to tell you the truth.

Finally we were off to our last stop of the day, a marine hardware store. I asked Siri to find one for me but it was a no go so we stumbled around Annapolis for a bit finally deciding that the yacht club would certainly point us in the right direction. It did not, Dad and I had fun for awhile making jokes at their expense for their not so nautical condition. "We're just a waterfront restaurant," was our best one liner. We finally managed to walk to a West Marine and load up some supplies bumping into our Montreal friends while we were there. Back in Annapolis we met up with friends for dinner at McGarvey's. Then toured the bars; Ram's Head, Stan & Joes, and the Metropolitan. The Ram's Head was just like the Daniel Packer Inn of Annapolis, an old stone bar in the basement. I had the best stout beer there with a hint of espresso called, Old Dominion Morning Glory, and I don't even like stout beer. The next spot, Stan & Joes had a live band playing called The Bad Apples. We caught a few songs, the first one being Cake, Short Skirt Long Jacket an old favorite. Lastly we went to the Metropolitan which was really cool as well. I'd definitely recommend those three to anyone wishing to go there. The dingy ride back out seemed to sway more than usual, I guess that's how you know it was a good time.

What we ate: Mahi Mahi, shepherds pie

Spotted: antique spoons DIY chandelier