Last weekend, Juan and I took the orange line metro towards New Carrolton, and from there, a 30 minute ride on the 921 shuttle driven by Raymond, who dropped us just outside the post office in the tiny town of Annapolis, Maryland.
Home to less than 45,000 people, Annapolis, the capital of the Maryland state, is a small port town which houses the famous United States Naval Academy, and is also known affectionately known as America’s sailing capital.
Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the south of the Severn River, Annapolis is around 25 miles (40 km) south of Baltimore, and 30 miles (50 km) east of Washington DC, which makes it a great destination for a day trip for those staying in DC or Baltimore.
We’d decided to visit Annapolis during the Columbus Day long weekend since we were going to be staying in town and didn’t have any out-station trip planned. Upon recommendations from Juan’s colleagues, we took advantage of the sunny Saturday afternoon to have a change of scenery.
Like most small towns, Annapolis is made of small roads, quaint buildings and a bustling town center whose shops and businesses are the highlight of the town.
As we walked along Main Street, there was an unending flow of weekend traffic, particularly busy with both locals and nearby tourists because of the special boat fair that was being held at the harbor that particular long weekend.
We also passed by the famed Chick & Ruth’s Delly, whose crab cakes were highly recommended by our driver, but unfortunately didn’t manage to try this time.
Well, at least there’s a reason to return to Annapolis now: crab cakes!
We snuck into the busy boat show and were treated to a huge array of yachts, boats, boating accessories. I mean, seriously, anything and everything you could put on a boat was on exhibition – from sailboat kitchen burners to pools to be installed, it was a sailboat lover’s heaven.
Unfortunately, neither Juan and I could afford (nor did we really want to buy) a sailboat and the dizzying amount of people was starting to make us giddy. So we ran for the exit. Phew.
Venturing away from Main Street, we strolled aimlessly around the town center. It was a sunny, gorgeous fall afternoon, and the town looked so pretty in the sunshine.
Hungry from walking, we headed over to the Galway Bay Irish pub which offered gluten-free options for Juan.
After an extremely filling lunch (I had a very hearty Irish platter of sausages, black and white pudding, eggs and fries), we strolled on the street we were on and found a charming little bookstore with an antique, rustic feel and a gorgeous backyard patio, where we browsed around a bit before we headed to explore Annapolis a little more.
When we passed by a park that looked so serene and calming, and where we watched two boys playing cricket, we entered, upon which we eventually realised that it was the original St. John’s College campus grounds.
It was beautiful to be among so much greenery and red-brick campus buildings; the feeling of being momentarily transported back to student days was purely intoxicating (particularly since we both hit the big 3-0 this year).
Juan couldn’t stop telling me how much he wanted to do a Masters someday soon and be a student again.
When we’d covered most of the campus grounds, returned to reality and finally stopped daydreaming about our student days, we trudged our way back to Main Street where our driver Raymond was supposed to pick us up at 7pm.
Annapolis was nice for a short day trip; and I think it might warrant just another visit for us to try the famous crab cakes that we’d missed out on.
But for now, it’s goodbye and see you soon!
Grace Lim says
Hi Felicia,
Many thanks once again for showing us around – this time is Annapolis – which is really so beautiful š
You have this innate ability to transform the town into such a beautiful place that causes your readers like me to fall in love with it without any hesitation.
Love you lots ļ
Mum