Fri. 9/28/07 ~ Anchors Away ... Go Navy!

For our last day in the Washington, DC area we decided to go to Annapolis, MD to visit the United States Naval Academy. It took just over an hour to get there and we checked in at the Visitor Center and waited just a few minutes to take the free guided tour. The tour covered the field house with two Olympic sized pools and a huge wrestling room. All cadets are required to take boxing, wrestling, judo and self-defense. They also have significant swimming requirements that increase every year of their enrollment. We saw Bancroft Hall which houses all 4000 cadets at the Academy. At the entrance to the parade ground is a statue of Tecumseh that was painted and decorated for the Navy-Air Force game on Saturday. The guide took us into the Academy Chapel which is quite beautiful with large stained glass windows. The chapel is a very popular place for weddings and is booked solid every Saturday for over a year. Under the chapel lies the tomb of John Paul Jones. At the end of the tour we visited the Academy Museum that covers naval history and has a large collection of beautiful model ships. When we left we stopped at a little boutique and I talked to the owner about her jewelry and she gave me lots of good information about gem and jewelry shows and wholesale sources for my jewelry supplies. We asked her for advice on a place for lunch and she directed us to McGarvery’s Tavern where all the locals go to eat. We stopped in and the food was very good. While we were eating we decided that we would like to try to attend the Navy-Air Force game and after lunch we walked back to the ticket office but unfortunately the game was sold out and even their online ticket resale site had no tickets. We got home and went in the Jacuzzi for a while and then went to the market to get a few grocery items.