Thanks for the birthday wishes. The senior discounts are still iffy, but I’m getting more and more of them. We’ve been visiting friends, eating wonderful food, scouring used book stores ( though I do now have a Kindle, but still can’t resist,) and making library visits. I’ve gone from being the only B hat around to being lost in the crowd of Red Sox hat, shirts, sweatshirts, etc here in Massachusetts. And here everyone sounds like me! Or like I used to sound before I added You’ll to my vocabulary. And I went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean in October! We’ve been as far east as you can go in Massachusetts and will go as far west as you can go on our way to Lake Shabot, Ontario to visit friends. We’ve had New Jersey lobster and Massachusetts lobster. Maybe they all came from Maine…who knows; they were all great and really fun to eat. I’ve been slow to post emails because we’ve been too busy doing stuff. Eventually I’ll catch up. This email finds us in Annapolis though in reality, at this time, we are in "Boston" visiting our friend Martha and her daughter Jessica. Martha and I worked together at the Roanoke County Public Library and channeled Lucy and Ethel as we went off on our bicycles on trips to Ireland, England, and Japan and hiked the coastal path of Wales. We had some USA adventures too. Lots of good memories. Now we’re making more.
Ru
DoraMac
Annapolis visit to a Diesel Duck 2011
Annapolis is another of our favorite places. We stopped this time to visit folks who own a diesel trawler named Diesel Duck. We also spent some time walking around Annapolis harbor and visiting a favorite used book shop. The Naval Academy is located in Annapolis and every shop in town sells something to remind visitors Annapolis is the home of the Academy.
Caps, hats, shirts, cups, you name it…..
A statue of Alex Haley reading from his book Roots to children of Annapolis.
“According to research done by Alex Haley, Kunta Kinte was an African from The Gambian town of Jufferee. According to Haley family history he was sold into slavery in a town called "Naplis." Haley’s research identified a slave ship, the Lord Ligonier, which sailed from Gambia River, July 5, 1767, with 140 captured Gambians. It arrived in Annapolis, Maryland on September 29, 1767, with only 98 survivors. Haley believed one of those survivors was a seventeen-year-old Kunta Kinte. The Africans were sold into slavery on October 7, according to an advertisement in the Maryland Gazette newspaper.” http://www.kintehaley.org/memorialelements.html
I visited this book shop last year and the lovely owner was nice enough to remember me. It was Randal’s first visit and we had a nice chat with a local sail boater who wasn’t supposed to know about his surprise birthday party that night. I told him to blame it on me. Randal didn’t find the book he was looking for, but I didn’t walk away empty handed. The following is from their website. Wish I could click my heels and visit more that once a year!
A Different Kind of Bookstore
“As a small-town independent bookstore, we know and value our community. At The Annapolis Bookstore we’ll know your name and where your children go to school. Yes, we’ll buy your girl scout cookies or help you find that book of poetry to woo a special someone. We’ll probably know that special someone. We’ve seen marriage proposals, birthday surprises, and first steps. Our passion for stories extends beyond the brilliant work of the authors that grace our shelves to the many tales that walk in our door, tales of where you’ve been and who you are. The heart of The Annapolis Bookstore is people and the books that open the world to all of us. We are your community bookstore but we can’t do it without you. Keep the heart beating. Become a member.”
http://annapolisbookstore.com/
The next day we visited a diesel duck trawler actually called Diesel Duck. Marlene and Benno Klopfer invited us to spend the day with them on their trawler which was moored in Weems Creek. http://www.sailblogs.com/member/dieselduck/?xjMsgID=192210
Weems Creek, Annapolis
It was a beautiful, warm calm day. We called ahead and Benno came to shore with the dinghy to collect us.
Marlene made a wonderful lunch of chicken, baked apples, rice pilaf and zucchini; and an amazing dessert. Marlene and Benno had been sailors for years and their boat interior was similar to our friends Jamie and Dave Fritsch who had also been sailors before deciding to own a Diesel Duck trawler. Our interior is a different design as is the outside. But ours was built many years after and the design had been modified. And never having been sailors we opted more for a trawler design rather than a sailboat layout.
We have some mutual cruising friends and we spent the day swapping stories. And all Diesel Duck trawlers trace their origins back to George Buehler, the designer of the design.
A crow’s nest offers them a great view when necessary. Our boat has a pilot house so we can see from up high but a crow’s nest is a great idea…just like the days of yore. I don’t mind climbing ladders, I just mind climbing down.
Marlene
Benno transported us from shore to ship to shore on their dinghy.
We had a lovely day and a heartbreaking evening as I followed the Red Sox lose and the Rays win and the season end for the Sox. It certainly is making for an interesting off-season.
From Annapolis it we were off to Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey to visit our friend Carol, a Yankees fan.