Trips Down Memory Lane

What a great time we have had over the past few days! We arrived at "Stella's Stern and Keel" marina in the Annapolis neighborhood of Eastport on Friday (May 30). The marina is tiny, consisting of 12 slips just off the backyards of local houses.  But what a find! It's quiet and lovely here and within easy walking and/or biking distance of the busyness that is downtown Annapolis. There are also very good restaurants in the immediate neighborhood (dinner at funky Davis Pub and an amazing breakfast at the Boatyard Bar & Grill) and a bakery (Bakers and Co.) with delicious croissants and scones.

Back Creek as seen from our slip in "Stella's"

The joys of modern-day Annapolis aside, this was an opportunity for Lon to revisit the US Naval Academy, which he attended from 1974-76. The last time we were there was in 1978 to attend the wedding of Lon's USNA roommate. We spent a couple of hours on Sunday (June 1) strolling around the campus. Dahlgren Hall no longer contained the hockey rink that he used to play on, but it was nostalgic just the same, as it was to see Bancroft Hall (dorms), the Chapel, Captain's Row, the parade ground (Worden Field), various monuments, and numerous classroom buildings.

Lon in Dahlgren Hall

Entryway in Bancroft Hall,
 leading to Memorial Hall

Crypt of John Paul Jones in chapel basement

Pat by statue of Tecumseh
 (figurehead from USS Delaware)

The city of Annapolis is interesting in its own right. It was the first--albeit temporary--capitol of the US in 1783-84 and the Maryland State House dates to that time. The historic downtown is the epitome of "Colonial quaint." And it was crazy-full of people. When we walked by the busy City Marina we were so thankful that we weren't staying there with the boat.

Maryland State House

The best parts of the weekend involved visits with two of our nephews, Evan and Andy Wojtowicz, sons of Lon's younger brother Guy and his wife Jody. Andy is a civilian employee of the Navy and Evan is on active duty in the Army. We haven't seen them in quite some time, so it was fun to reconnect. On Saturday (May 31) Lon was invited to play hockey with Evan and Andy's hockey team at the Fairfax Ice Arena in Fairfax, VA. The arena was about 3 miles from the house that Lon and I bought after we were married in 1979 (Andy drove us by the house), and in 1978 and 1979 Lon coached high school-age hockey teams that were based out of the same arena. Most of our memories of the arena were pretty fuzzy, but Lon had a great time playing hockey and held his own with his significantly younger teammates.

Wojtowicz "triple threat"--Andy, Lon, Evan

Afterwards we had a nice dinner with the boys and Evan's girlfriend Katie at "The Auld Shebeen" in historic downtown Fairfax.

Andy, Lon, Pat, Katie, Evan

On Sunday we were happy to welcome Evan, Katie, and Andy to dinner aboard CARIB II in Annapolis.

Andy, Katie, and Evan go "dinghying" (is that a word?)

Andy, Lon, Katie, Evan at the dinner table

We had originally planned to continue cruising today (Monday, June 2), but Evan offered to give us a tour inside the Pentagon, and that was an opportunity that we just couldn't refuse. We lived in the Washington, DC area from 1977-1980, so we spent a couple of hours in the morning connecting with our memories of the city. A quick stop at the Air & Space Museum was followed by a walk down the Mall before heading to the Pentagon. It felt so familiar that it's hard to believe we've been away from the city for so long.

Pat with US Capitol in background

Original 1903 Wright flyer

The Pentagon has corridor upon corridor, many with some kind of interesting historical display. For a building that has approximately 24,000 workers, it seemed surprisingly uncrowded and low-key. We were able to get a behind-the-scenes look at the office of Evan's boss.

Lon and Evan in a Pentagon office

Pentagon Memorial Chapel at site of plane strike in 2001

After we left Evan we walked outside to the Pentagon Memorial. It is dedicated to the memory of the 184 people whose lives were lost at the Pentagon and on American Airlines Flight 77 on 9-11-2001. The memorial is designed to serve as a timeline of the ages of each of the victims. The Memorial Units are laid out on "birth year" age lines, and consist of a bench over a lighted pool of water; the end of each bench is inscribed with the name of a victim. The Memorial Units are oriented differently, depending upon whether the victim was in the Pentagon or on the flight. It was all very well done.  

Memorial Units in the Pentagon Memorial

And now it's time to get moving again. Weather permitting--and it looks promising--we will traverse the last leg of the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow.