Busy Day in Annapolis

Sunday, October 10

Happy Birthday to my brother Glenn!

Today we started out the day gathering together the laundry, putting it in the dinghy and going to the local laundromat to wash clothes on Maryland St.  We used the folding crate, and it worked great!  Don't think that we would have gone there if we didn't have this crate.  After starting the wash, we went across the street to get coffee and hot tea.  Then while the clothes were drying, Vic went shopping to see if she could get something for the boys.  We walked back and when we got to the street that had Re-Sail bags, Phil took the clothes and crates to the dinghy and Vic and I looked in the stores there.  It was at this point that Phil and I realized that we both had left our cell phones on the boat, so we were lucky to meet up with him without any problems.

We then walked to the Naval Academy and started their 1 1/2hr walking guided tour at 1pm on the dot!  Our tour guide was "Chip" Harry Shephard who is a graduate of the Naval Academy in 1966 and has been a lifer in the Navy.  He was the Dean of Admission and is now retired and giving tours.  He is a great tour guide and very good with the younger kids in our tour group, emphasizing good grades, extracurricular activities and sports in high school.  They have 17,000 young men and women apply to attend the Academy and only about 1200 spots available in each class.  They have a total of 4400 midshipmen, as they are called and about 900 of them are women.  The Freshman are called Phlebes, the Sophmores are called "Youngsters" and they can opt out at any time without penalty.  The Juniors are called "Second Class"  and they have to signup at this point to finish and then give 5 years to the Navy.  The Seniors are called "First Class".  They are part of the Navy and the Marines and get paid $970/mo out of which their uniforms and books and any other needs come out of that leaving them about $100 of spending money.  They have a special program in that Annapolis families are sponsor families for the Phlebes who they get to see on Sunday 12noon to 12am if they pass room inspection on Saturday.  This program is suppose to be for just the first year to aid in adjustment and retention, but in actuality it last all four years and usually are friends for life.  Their day starts at 630am with breakfast at 7am.  They get 45min for meals, but usually eat in 15 min so they have the extra 30 min for free time. BTW, all 4400 eat at the same time in the same room! They have 4 classes in the morning, lunch, 2 1/2 hr athletics and 2 more classes in the afternoon.  With studying and other activities they go to bed at 12 midnight.  Also "C's" are perfectly adequate grades as this is a rigorous program. The Phlebes get to go to bed at 11pm and everyone else goes to bed at 12am to start all over the next day.  Pretty rigorous!  They wear uniforms all the time, except for 1st and 2nd class.  And they don't have to pay for this education, they serve their country as payment.  After the tour was completed, we ate lunch at the campus restaurant and then went to the 2nd floor of the Naval Museum to see the models of sailing vessels made from the 1700's to 1800's.  There are even ships made out of bones made by POW's.  I would recommend you taking the tour if you're in Annapolis.

bras on the seat - Phil being helpful

After a little more shopping, we all were tired and had aching feet (I forgot to put on my walking shoes) and we took the dinghy back to the boat.  When we came to the dinghy dock, what do I see on the seat of the dinghy, but my bras laid out to dry - for everyone to see!  Vic was laughing, Phil was sheepish and I was mortified!  I don't put them through the dryer and he was just trying to get them dried.  Good things that they are nice Victoria Secret bras and not old ratty looking ones.  Vic had to take a photo to remember the day.

Once back on Changes, I needed to relax and put up my feet, and then took a nap while Phil and Vic had a glass of red wine in the cockpit.  Then we had a water taxi come up to Changes asking Phil if he was Phil Dolsen.  They had his cell phone!  He didn't even know it was not on our boat!  Turns out that it fell off his belt in the water taxi while on our way back from the Tartan and C&C Yachts 50th Celebration.  He had a few free whiskeys and didn't realize that he didn't have it.  I had forgotten my cell phone on Changes for the day also, so no one could reach us.  They were trying to reach my cell phone, text the last person he had texted.  We are famous or is that infamous with the Water Taxi company as the Red C&C Sailboat that had lost their cell phone.   After a while, we decided to go out to dinner at the Boatyard Restaurant which was recommended by the water taxi driver Dean last night.  So when I called to request the water taxi, they knew immediately who we were and where we were!  Vic had crab legs, Phil had crab cake dinner, and I had a Dreadlock Rasta Pork Chop with red beans and rice.  We all enjoyed our meals and took the water taxi back to Changes, where we were once again known for the lost cell phone.

Tomorrow Vic goes back home.  She has decided to take a taxi rather than the super shuttle so gives her 1.5 more hours here instead of in transit.  We have really enjoyed having her and look forward to when Nick and she visit us in February in the Bahamas.  I know that Vic has enjoyed her short time away from home as mothers of young children can understand and is now ready to take up the reins of motherhood once again. We hope to take a taxi to a local knitting/yarn shop as she would like me to knit mittens or hats for the boys and a pair of socks for her. It's 3.5 miles away and we can't find any companies that rent bikes and the electric bike rental company is only open from Tues to Sat.  Darn.

Tomorrow morning a Yanmar diesel engine company dealer is to come and look at the engine mounts and we will go from there.  We don't know how long we will be in Annapolis and plan to take a more leisurely pace in our travels until Nov 1 when we can start moving South of North Carolina.  I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the town.