We left the marina at 10:00am for the final leg of our trip to Annapolis. It was a cloudy and rainy day but the water was reasonably calm. We decided that we would stay in the shipping lanes for the whole trip. There appeared to be a shorter way to cut across the Chesapeake, but since it was our first trip we did not want to take any chances.
There were very few other boats on the water, due to weather, so we pretty much had the bay to ourselves. This was the furthest we had ever been from land and it was very exciting. The boat was running perfectly, and at 10 knots we were getting good mileage.
By the time we arrived in Annapolis the weather had cleared and the sun was peaking out. We hailed Annapolis City Marina and they instructed us to pull up to the fuel dock to check-in and get a slip assignment. They have a nice dock store, with all the basic supplies and the the staff was very nice. After helping us tie up, they walked us over to the slip that we were assigned to. I now understood why they asked us to stop at the fuel dock first.
The slip was in the back corner of the marina, next to a parking garage. It required us to sail through a narrow 150 yard long channel and pull, bow first, into the slip. The marina was much tighter than the marinas we had been in so far, and it was very intimidating for novices like us. Getting in was a breeze, but with almost no room to turn the boat around, I had no idea how we were going to get out.
No matter – for now. We planned to stay for two days and explore the city, so we could worry about it later. Annapolis is a great town, with plenty of things to do. We had been here for the boat show back in October and already had a few favorite restaurants we wanted to re-visit.
First on the list was Middleton Tavern for oyster shooters! Apparently this is an Annapolis tradition – at least at Middletons. They put an oyster in a large shot glass with cocktail sauce, and with every one that you order you receive a large beer shot. First you suck down the oyster, slam the glass down and then chug the beer shot. We had about two dozen of them before moving on!
We spent the better part our trip restaurant and bar hopping on Main Street near the Naval Academy. We had such a good time we decided to extend our stay another day!