Annapolis with the Mugs

April 27th - April 29th

What do these pictures have in common?

You may think nothing but all of these items were found in this AMAZING place we had the chance to stay in with the Mugs. Ok, let me back up a minute. Joe and Shauna sent us this amazing, awesome, super fun invitation a little while back for us to get together and spend some time together exploring an area together. We decided on Annapolis and then Jed and Shauna found this place...

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p151554

It was perfect for us. A ton of character, space and a good location. I would definitely recommend this place anytime someone is looking to stay near downtown Annapolis. It isn't walking distance but it didn't matter, it is worth it.



Jed, Shauna, Joe and I with our favorite items from the house

 Jed and I have never been to Annapolis before. It was a really fun city to explore. Friday night we just spent time catching up with Joe and Shauna and exploring all that this house had to offer. We laughed and laughed as we catch up on life and reminisced about days of old.

Saturday morning, we got up and made a fantastic breakfast before loading up the car and heading downtown. Our first stop was Bacon sail. Tell me that place doesn't sound amazing! Who doesn't love bacon. I was a little disappointed when we got there and it was a sailing store. It was a cool place but I didn't find any bacon so I was a little disappointed. Joe picked up some used sails to make some recycled bowties which is just super cool. I hope it works for him. Then we were off to the Naval Academy.

We were able to take a tour of the yard and I learned so much! It was so much fun to walk around and hear all about life in the Navy. The tour took us into Dahlgren Hall first. This building was huge with a ton of history. They have an old ship hanging from the ceiling on one side and the first airport purchased by the Navy from the Wright Brothers hanging from the ceiling on the other side of the building. 

Our next stop was Bancroft Hall. This is their ridiculously large dorm. Every student lives in this building for the entire time they are at the Academy. They say it is the largest dorm in the world! They would only let you in the main area and they had a mock dorm room so you could see there living quarters.



Bancroft Hall



After Bancroft Hall, we walked around the courtyard and stopped in front of the Chapel by Herndon Monument. We got a lesson in a graduation ritual involving Herndon Monument and getting the "dixie cap" off the top of the Monument. It really made me want to try and climb the Monument! Our last stop on the tour was The Crypt of John Paul Jones. He is considered the Father of the US Navy. He was actually buried in Paris and they went and got his remains and brought them back to the Naval Academy to give him a proper burial in honor of all he did for the US.



John Paul Jones Crypt

After our tour, it was time for a snack. So we headed back to the car and raided the cooler of veggies, hummus and fruit. It was the perfect light snack before hitting up the ice cream place and the cupcake place! First stop was the ice cream place, Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory. They make there own ice cream and it was AMAZING! We tried the Muddy Sneaker, it was really good. I also got a lemon cupcake to eat later from Sugar Buns in the Kitchen. The presentation was pretty bad but the cupcake was ok.

After our snack break, it was time to head to the boat show. We had so much fun exploring a ton of boats and day dreaming about owning boats and just sailing. The boat that Joe took on a sailing trip last summer was at the boat show so we got to walk around on it and have Joe tell us stories about what they did and where they went. It was really neat.

Jed & I lounging on "our" yacht

After the boat show, it was time for a light lunch and drinks. We found a place called Pusser's Caribbean Grille Restaurant on the dock and hung out, laughed and just watched the boats. It was really fun.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the shopping area checking out the stores and trying on silly hats & mustaches.

It wasn't long before we had to head back to our house to get changed and ready for the evening festivities. We were even able to squeeze in a few games of Ruckus before heading out to dinner. We had reservations at Aqua Terra. I really liked this place. It was right downtown, tiny little place with a ton of atmosphere. And the food was great! After dinner, the plan was to head to a jazz club we had read about, 49 West Coffeehouse but the crowds, live music and atmosphere of Stan & Joe's Saloon was too great for us to pass up. (That and Stan & Joe's didn't have a cover.) We had so much fun people watching, hanging out and we even whipped out the Ruckus cards for a few rounds!

After the first set of live music, we decided to call it a night but not before running into one last souvenir shop to just check it out.

On Sunday we spent the morning making breakfast and cleaning up our house and getting packed up for the drive back. Once we left the house, we thought we would explore other parts of Annapolis. We saw a cute little area called, West Annapolis with cute little shoppes. We thought we would go check it out. Unfortunately, West Annapolis was still sleeping when we got there. So we decided to head back down to downtown Annapolis. Downtown was packed with people. We decided that we would try and go back to the Naval Academy and go to the Naval Museum that we didn't have time to go to the day before.

I really like the museum. The staff of volunteers were so nice, helpful and knowledgeable. They were amazing. I learned a lot about boats, canon balls, the Don't Give Up The Ship flag and so much more. I think the most amazing thing there were the models of the boats. They were so detailed. They had to be since they were made to scale so they could build the actual based on these models. They were amazing but not as amazing as the models that were made from the bones left over from there meals! These models were tiny and extremely detailed. I still can't wrap my head around it but they were just so incredible.

The Original Flag

After a few hours in the museum it was time to start the drives home. But we tried to stall as much as we could so we stopped for a quick lunch at The Big Cheese. I love cheese and this was really good, pretty pricey but really good. We got a fancy sharp cheese and a fancy gouda with baguettes and headed over to the water to sit and enjoy each other and the view one last time.



Jed & Joe by the docks "learning" about Annapolis

 On our drive home we made a quick stop to hang out with Brian & Alayna before hitting the road. Our drive home took us really close to Fredericksburg and we got sucked into Carl's. I LOVE this place and it has recently opened for the season. Chocolate milkshakes are the BEST!

Our last stop before we got home was to pick up a quick dinner. We had seen the billboards for "The Best Dang BBQ in VA", so we decided, why not try it out. The restaurant is in Smiley's Fuel City building. This place is so cool. It is in a gas station and full of locals. It was a lot of fun to go and be a part of it. There wasn't much on the menu for me to eat but Jed did enjoy the brisket (I think). He says it is the Best Dang BBQ in a VA gas station.

We had an amazing time with friend hanging out and exploring a new city. I can't wait to see what our next adventure will be with Joe and Shauna.