Day 294
Miles Traveled: 0
Total Miles Traveled: 4001
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!
What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than with a Memorial Day Parade in Annapolis.
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| Beginning of Annapolis Memorial Day Parade |
After watching most of the parade, we took a trolley tour of Annapolis with Dan & Jacque on "Horizon Chaser". The tour was mostly focused on the historical buildings and architecture of Annapolis. Annapolis has more 18th century structures than any other town in the country. Lasting an hour, it provided us with a good overview of the city.
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| on the Annapolis Trolley Tour |
For lunch we went to a well know spot called Chick and Ruth's Delly (yes it is spelled D-E-L-L-Y). They serve scrumptious homemade pies and we just couldn't refuse. We all tried a bite of each pie. They were all very delicious.
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| Homemade pies at Chick and Ruth's Delly Caramel Walnut Apple, Nestle Crunch, and Banana Split |
Continuing the Memorial Day celebration, we toured the United States Naval Academy. Established as a Naval School in 1845, there were 50 midshipmen and 7 professors with 10 acres of grounds. In 1850, it became the U.S. Naval Academy. Over time, both the grounds and the student body expanded. Currently sitting on A 338 acre complex, it now houses approximately 4,400 midshipmen and 600 faculty members. The grounds are beautiful with lots of grass, flowers, and trees. Bancroft Hall, the largest dormitory in the United States, has some great architectural features.
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| Bancroft Hall |
Within Bancroft Hall is an amazing Rotunda and Memorial Hall. Memorial Hall has many memorials to fallen navy men and women. There are beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and painted murals of ship battles on the upper part of the walls.
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| Rotunda inside Bancroft Hall |
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| Memorial Hall inside Bancroft Hall |
Another building with great architectural detail is the Main Chapel. Unfortunately, since it was a holiday, this building was not open. We could only enjoy it from the outside.
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| Main Chapel at US Naval Academy |
After walking around the beautiful grounds, we stopped at the US Naval Academy Museum. One of the more interesting exhibits was the bone model ships. During the wars of the French Revolution and English Empire thousands of French sailors and soldiers were captured, taken to England, and incarcerated. To pass the time, they began making hand-crafted items from simple materials such as wood, straw, and bones from beef rations. One item many of the French POW's made was ship models. Often made of bone and very intricate, they would be sold at the local market. The prison could use the profits to buy food and clothing. The one pictured below is of the flagship "Victory". Built in the early 1800's, it is said to have taken fifteen French POW's two years to make.
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| Bone Model Ship "Victory" |
For more information about the U.S. Naval Academy go to: http://www.usna.edu/About/
We enjoyed this Memorial Day exploring the beauty and history of Annapolis and we would like to give Dan's Uncle Joe Dougherty recognition for his ultimate sacrifice as a Naval Aviator defending our freedom.
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