Annapolis Visit July 27 to August 8, 2018

We drove north from North Carolina through Virginia to our next campsite, just outside Annapolis, MD at the Capitol KOA.  As campgrounds go, this one has many nice facilities, especially for kids, including a pool, nature trail, jumping "pillow", playground, jungle gym, basketball, ping pong, and even a large chess board the two players stand on and walk their pieces to their selected squares.
Karen and I mostly relaxed and visited some of our fun spots in Annapolis.  Saturday, Karen enjoyed her soft-shell crab sandwich at the Boatyard Grill in Eastport and I enjoyed my draught Smithwick's Irish Ale at Galway Bay Irish Pub.





A bike ride Sunday found us on the relatively new WB&A Trail in Odenton, MD. 

It was fun as the day was a beautiful, if hot, and the exercise was helpful, as we never get as much of a workout when we miss Charlotte's Aerobics Class at TGO.  The bike ride covered 13 miles, with elevation changes totalling 730 vertical feet.  As you know, Maryland isn't that hilly, but there was a significant hill as we descended a steep pitch to a point just above the Patuxent River, then turned around and climbed that hill back up to the ridge trail.

Alex enjoying his rented pedal kart at the KOA

Monday and Tuesday Karen and I hosted Karen's grandson, Alex who enjoyed the pool, chess, ping pong, the jumping pillow and especially the pedal karts.

USNA Band playing jazz on Tuesday evening

Karen and I found a favorite spot to "set a spell" after returning Alex to his mom.  Our spot is City Dock, downtown Annapolis on the Spa Creek waterfront enjoying the Naval Academy Bands who play every Tuesday for several weeks through the midsummer evenings.

Tina and Karen sailing aboard Kelly IV, July 2015

Tina is a great friend of Karen's and the two of them make it a point to lunch together whenever Karen visits Annapolis.  This year was no exception and the two ladies had a blast recounting stories of recent escapades.

That evening for dinner we met at Galway Bay Pub with friends, Noel and Kathy, who Murph met while sailing the Chesapeake on Troy's sailboat, Persistent, about 15 years ago.  Since then we've enjoyed each other's boats, drinks, culinary delights, paintings (Kathy's), and company!

Our campsite at the KOA was OK as there weren't any bad neighbors.  In fact, most weekdays we had No Neighbors!  :-)

Shirley, Narjes, Harry, waiter, Murph, Karen at Mike's Crabhouse

Our time in Annapolis is always rich with time enjoying friendships and the trend continued as we savored another evening with great friends.  Thursday we relished the hours and company with Harry, Narjes and Nar's Mom, Shirley.  The crabs were delicious and the conversation boisterous and fun.

Harry, Murph, Bobby ducking the rain on Friday, photo by Harry

What began as a one-day outing transitioned into a weekend event.  Bobby, Harry and I made plans to enjoy a baseball game on Friday with the Washington Nationals hosting the Cincinnati Reds. 

Bobby, Harry celebrating a completed baseball game, Saturday

After just a few innings the game was postponed due to rain, so we reconvened on Saturday for the make-up game and had a blast both days.

Don and Donna on their deck at home

Sunday was spent enjoying more friends, Don and Donna who have hosted Murph and other Pittsburgh sailors for fifteen years.  Karen had heard good things about the crabcakes at G&M Restaurant in Linthicum Heights so we suggested meeting Don and Donna there.  It turns out this is Donna's favorite local restaurant so we all had a terrific time together enjoying the marvelous company as well as the superb food.

As Alex seemed to enjoy his time camping with Karen and Murph, we collected him for another couple days to enjoy the facilities at the KOA.  Since he had enjoyed the pedalling so much the week before, Karen decided to present Alex with a brand new bicycle!  Although Alex had almost no experience keeping his balance riding a bicycle, he proved to be a quick study and was riding entirely on his own within half an hour!

Karen meets Billy Bob Thornton

We had plans to enjoy another session of the Naval Academy Band at City Dock on our last Tuesday evening, but the weather cancelled the event.  As we were walking through town deciding how to spend our last night in Annapolis, we noticed a poster promoting a performance by Billy Bob Thornton's rock and roll band.  And the event was NOW!  We stepped into the box office, found seats and enjoyed a wonderful show.  Karen impressed Billy Bob so much, he came into the audience to shake her hand!