The Legacy of Grace

After the serenity of our Chesapeake Bay journey north, I was unprepared for the high octane energy of Annapolis. It hit me over the head and almost knocked me out. When we arrived on Friday late afternoon, there was a confluence of sailboats preparing for a race. Somewhat like the weekly Chicago races…only on steroids!  There were literally hundreds of forty five foot plus sailboats gearing up for the 6 pm race. There were also quite a lot of summertime tourists milling about the wharf side downtown area and cruising about in water taxis, as well as your weekend boater/party animal. Gets pretty pretty crazy in these here parts!!!!

The locals start training their lil' ones about as soon as they can walk. When we were at anchor schools of wee tots in tiny sailboats were constantly floating by all tied together with a rope, like lil' ducklings, and pulled by their instructor.

As they get older the kids graduate to slightly larger sailboats that they handle independently. This young lad looks like an avid racer in the making. 

 However, fun and games aside it’s fairly obvious that Annapolis is the home of all things marine. If you want to learn, fix, cruise, motor, race, buy, sell, store, dock, anchor or moor any marine vehicle, this is the place for you! And as it turns out it is here that we will be putting Grace in storage. But not quite yet. In a few days Jeff's cousin David and his wife Susan would be joining us for our last hurrah. In the meantime we decided to squeeze through this bridge to a quieter anchorage in the high rent district of Spa Creek.

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David and Susan arrived, and hailing from the grand yet land-bound state of Kansas, wanted to experience sailing for their very first time. We were honored to initiate them. At the same time it would be the last sail of our cruising adventure. Pretty pretty poignant across the board!

David looking pretty pretty excited to set out

Our main concern was to break in the newbies gently... didn't want to scare them off!!!! As it turns out, this was a non-issue. The seas and winds are fickle my friends. There was no heeling over for us. Alas, on their very first sail, and our very last,, we were either fighting to keep air in the sails or motoring. But it was all good. We still had a great time and no one was feeding the fish!

 

Osprey perched on water-based lighthouse

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is SPECTACULAR!!!

 

David noticed some workers on the bridge cables.

 

YIKES!!! Of course they couldn't look more relaxed balancing over gads of bone crushing steel and water.

 

 

Here we have NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) servicing a weather buoy. These buoys provide mariners with crucial wind, wave, current and tide information. Me thinks this is the first time we've seen them in action.

We headed back to port,

safe and sound, where we snuggled Grace up to the dock in preparation for her haul-out tomorrow.

Jeff and David woke up at the crack of dawn, as is their want, and hightailed it to the boatyard. I chose to sleep late in the luxurious king size bed and have a long hot shower at the hotel. (So much for the green thing;)) No really, now that we're back in Kansas I'm still very aware of trying to conserve our natural resources... it's seems to have become ingrained. Nevertheless, as we humans are a study in contradictions, I sure do love the occasional long hot shower! 

In the meantime, while I was pampering myself, Jeff was at the dock on top of the mast apparently fighting to take our foresail down. It was such a struggle that several boaters joined in to help. 

David lent a hand as well and became quickly aware that sailing isn't all about sunsets and Pina Coladas! He took this photo of Jeff perched on the very top of the mast.

The sail issue was finally resolved and Grace was successfully hauled out and transferred to her new home on the hard.

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Of course a trip to Annapolis wouldn't be complete without a visit to the United States Naval Academy. 

This was quite the impressive school!

It boasts state of the art athletic facilities...

All the students are required to jump off the high diving board. This simulates jumping off a ship.

And takes great pride in the athletic achievements of its students, known as Midshipmen, going way back through time...

all the way to 1890.

And here we have the notable Captain America, aka Roger Staubuck. 

He won the Heisman Trophy, then went on to serve in the U. S. Navy. (This a a requirement for all graduates). After his tour of duty, Captain America very successfully played for the Dallas Cowboys as starting quarterback and was honored with the achievement of becoming the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl V1.  

Ballroom

Various weaponry "adorning" the grounds...

Statue honoring those who serve on submarines...can't be easy.

The very opulent dormitory...one huge building.

Dormitory entranceway

Prominentlty displayed, lest the midshipmen suffer a memory lapse, is the U.S. Naval Academy Oath of Office. This is serious stuff. Naval Academy students are considered midshipmen on active duty in the U.S. Navy. The Navy pays 100% of the tuition, room and board, medical and dental care costs of the Naval Academy midshipment, 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.

At the end of this staircase is another impressively large room dedicated to those who have fallen in combat. 

The Dormitory Rooms. 

The rooms are in model in efficiency. I like how the desks and bed are one unit. AND each room has its own bathroom complete with a marble shower... Hey maybe this is worth committing to five years of active duty...???

And within easy view in the dormitory corridors are displayed some of the notable graduates of yor. No pressure there!!!!

We happened to arrive on the first weekend of the fall academic semester. These students below posing for their photo op are freshmen known around the academy as "Plebes". They are so named because they  just completed their "Plebe Summer" requirement. Plebe Summer  is a six week traing program required of all incoming freshmen that consists of rigorous physical and mentral training. The stated purpose of the training is "to turn civilians into midshipmen". These midshipmen all made it through the training, some don't...

We had a tour guide who was a fount of knowledge. 

Next we proceeded to the academy chapel.

This Missing in Action candle memorial somberly holds a perpetual pew reservation. 

If one looks closely at the stain glass and artwork you will note a seafaring theme throughout.

Below the chapel lies the crypt of John Paul Jones. He is considered the father of the US Navy. His remains were interred here in 1906 in a ceremony presided over by President Roosevelt.

This beautiful sculpture was rendered by Houdon.

From the time of his death in 1797 until 1906 John Paul Jones' remains were buried in an unmarked grave in a Paris, France. The cemetary was purchased by the French Revolutionary government and soon forgotten. I believe our guide told us that he was found buried under the floor of a French Bakery! That may be a myth...:) Certainly my idea of heaven... 

And lastly we walked by the stately residence of the US Naval Academy Superintendent whose role is like that of a college Dean.

That evening we headed out of town to enjoy the quiet of dusk on the water.

This man broke the mood. He unwittingly caught a sting ray and was unable to unhook it from his line.... poor thing :( Hopefully he cut it loose. 

The very next day we headed over by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, enjoying a different perspective.

Our destination was the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The museum sports an 18 acre working boatyard that covers the range of Chesapeake Bay Maritime history and culture including the historic Hooper Strait lighthouse,

navigation and oyster harvesting,

and the Bay's unique watercraft and and boatbuilding traditions. They had beautifully crafted and well maintained historical boats as well as current boats built on site meticulously hand-crafted using tradtional styles and methods.

We drove further south along the Maryland coast and ventured across a quaint seaside town where it was pretty pretty obvious that oystering was their mainstay.

We continued our whirlwind pace the following day and continued to Mt Vernon, the plantation home of  our first president.

We were prohibited from taking photos of the home interior. But I was able to capture the glorious view of the Potomac that was easily visible from the home's back porch as well as throughout the rear windows in most of the house.

David was in utter AWE of the Potomac.

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Last, but definitely not least, we did a Seqway tour in Washington, DC.

We had a blast! It takes some practice to get the hang of it, but Susan, who was hesitant at first, became a pro almost immediately!

Here on the other side of the street from the Whitehouse various and sundry protestors are camped out. Some are rather vocal walking about and ranting through megaphones.

Check out this video of Jeff, David and Susan in action in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

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Alas, David and Susan went home and we were left to face the inevitable...

Yes folks, our Cruising Adventure had officially come to an end. We went into high gear winding down mode…repairing, cleaning, dusting and polishing Grace inside and out to get her ready for winter storage on the hard. 

Grace is lookin' pretty darn good!

And then???... We don’t know exactly. For the past four years our main focus has been in preparing for this trip and then on the trip itself. There is such pressure in Western culture to have a “plan”. We prefer instead to have a fluid outline. We’ve experienced the exquisite joy and yes, sometimes the sheer agony in being one with the volatile flow of the winds and the seas. We have tested our limits and experienced wondrous beauty. We want to remain open to what life has to offer in all its myriad forms. Thank you our beloved “Grace” for allowing us to live the wisdom of letting our days unfold organically. You have granted us the “grace” of presence.

A wondrous journey to all,

Pam and Jeff