Memorial Weekend is anticipated as the start of the summer boating season. Having been on our boat for almost a year, we still look forward to “spring boating” ! An advance reservation was made earlier at Annapolis Landing marina anticipating a crowd. Good plan as a few other friends found marinas were filling up.
Leaving Solomon’s Island on Saturday May 27th, we crossed our fingers for smooth waters to cover the 55 miles to Annapolis.
Our group enjoyed dinner at an Irish Pub- O’Brien’s. Voted one of the best meals on the loop!
ANNAPOLIS NAVAL ACADEMY CHAPEL
We attended Sunday service at the Naval Academy. The beautiful chapel was filled with music and the parishioners were so friendly.
We took a self guided walking tour around the campus before heading into downtown Annapolis.
Side Trip to Washington dc
Experiencing Washington DC in a day took some prior planning. The suggestions we received from Sanctuary crew was valuable in getting an idea of what to include.
Cathy and Colleen spent time browsing the internet and reading guidebooks to come up with a bus schedule and top picks at Washington DC.
Here is our itinerary : Note, we have passed this itinerary on to several other boaters so if you have any feedback or suggestions please send them my way!
Commuter bus from Annapolis (about $4.00 each way)
1.Bus stops near Library of Congress- visit Jefferson library, courtroom artist gallery)
note- Tips- the commuter bus dropped us near Library of Congress. Later I was told a Dunkin’ Donuts is in lower level of the Madison building. You can then access the tunnel system over to the Jefferson building. And go from Jefferson over to capital building. Wish we had checked out the tunnel.
Also self guided tour of Jefferson library building PDF is on line had good info. I missed the Gutenberg bible display! Here are a couple links.
www.loc.gov/portals/ static/visit/documents/ QuickGuide.pdf
untappedcities.com/ 2014/07/25/the-underground- city-beneath-the-u-s-capitol- and-library-of-congress/
2. Cross street to US Capitol. ( Take turns going into visitor center if you have food or beverage in backpacks- no food allowed). Be prepared for Security checks
(-option, rent a bike and ride to far end then work back-would be less traffic to ride in morning. We did not do this, it seemed a good idea by the end of the day of walking)
3. Walk past FBI, CIA towards Trump building. (It is oldest post office) and interesting tour to top is offered on certain days
We ate at a food court, others tried POV or Ebert’s.
4. White House visitor center then photos at Whitehouse
5. Smithsonian American history ( Archie bunker chair, original USA flag display)
6. Washington monument-
7. WW 2, Vietnam Memorial, nurses memorial
8. Lincoln Monument and reflecting pool (Take elevator to displays on lower level)
Walked toward bus stops about 5.
5. Arlington cemetery- Uber optional, we were not able to fit this in on the same day.
Board the bus at various stops. note that alternate buses go downtown Annapolis (some end at the park and ride) note- we found it filled up and we were glad we caught it early in the route- ).
First challenge of the day was to arrange a ride for six people to the bus stop at 5:30 am. Thanks to Steve for driving, and to Annapolis Landing Marina for letting us borrow the courtesy van! We are all aboard the Commuter bus by 7am and arrive at DC by 8:30.
The pictures tell the story; so I wont get into details about the history… of course there are many more Smithsonian museums, monuments and interesting architecture to see- but we are on a one day tour so this is the highlights:
Capitol Building
Good spot to practice a selfie!
White House
The perfect photo op with the White House in the background was a very popular spot. Our group spent a bit of time here! To add some variety to our history filled day, a stop at the History Smithsonian was in order. A couple featured exhibits included Archie Bunkers Chair, Apollo Ono’s ice skates, and early Muppets puppets. A few exhibits were cycled out- including Seinfeld’s puffy shirt and the Wizard of Oz Ruby slippers !
Monuments are awe inspiring, reverent, memorials . A steady flow of people pass by the Vietnam memorial with its reflective granite and lists of names.
The statistics represented by various war memorials is such an eye opener , appreciation the sacrifices of so many.
Being in the presence of the iconic monuments is breathtaking.
There were so many more memories from this day, and we could have spent several days here. Will return again.
To finish off the day, we hop on the bus, Steve picks us up at the bus stop (with the courtesy van); and we arrive at the marina just in time for a birthday dinner! Teresa serves up soup and bread with a few extra fixings to celebrate Steve’s birthday with a gathering of about a dozen boaters from various AGLCA looping boats.
When I started this blog, my intent was to refrain from focusing on restaurants and eating. Both topics are an integral part of our travels, so must be included from time to time!!
Annapolis is another must see town- ride the water taxi, explore the hilly streets, shop and eat in historical Annapolis. We haven’t even touched the other neighborhoods as we were so intent on getting to Washington DC and now its time to say goodbye and move across the bay to check out the east side. For instance , we got a photo but did not get a chance to experience this restaurant. They open each day with a pledge of allegiance!
Thanks to everyone who sent a suggestion for what to see and do; it really helps as there are so many choices . You might say we have a lot of time, and we like to say there is no schedule, yet we plan to get to back to the Minnesota by Fall, and must keep moving! Thanks for reading.
Filed under: A year on a boat, Monuments and Side trips, Moon Shadow Log Tagged: aglca, Annapolis, Bus, travel, Washington DC
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