Lost in Annapolis

To tell the truth, most of our days start out with us being totally lost. However, today we knew we would be lost as we drove to Annapolis with no idea what was out there or really even where it was. I took meticulous directions which I left on my desk in the apartment. We still found it pretty easily but had a horrible time looking for parking. We were about to give up until some kind person pulled away from their parking meter with 45 minutes still left running. So, we were able to continue wandering aimlessly around Annapolis, but this time on foot.

It is not at all what we expected of the capitol city of Maryland. Instead it is a quaint little town with lots of shops and the coolest Starbucks ever. Charity loved this Starbucks which was in the cellar of the Maryland Inn which dates back to the 1700s. It was an old stone building that was later turned into a jazz club that Charlie Byrd used to play at. Now, it's a Starbucks, but the Maryland Historical Society would not let them touch the original building. So Starbucks instead put in all free standing shelves, walls, and equipment that does not affect the original structure. Pretty cool.

Annapolis is also home to the US Naval Academy. Therefore, every other person was in bright white dress uniforms and about 20 years old. The other people in Annapolis were the naval officers' parents in town for Labor Day. It's also home to the US Public Health Service but we couldn't see that one (sorry, Kenda).

Another nice find was our dinner. We heard good things about a restaurant called Cantlers Riverside Inn. I have been waiting for months to beat up a crab with a tiny hammer and this was my chance. We pulled in to the restaurant and only had to wait about 15 minutes . . . to park our car. This place was jumping. We then waited over an hour and a half to get seated. But it was worth it. The restaurant was on a river and while cars were waiting to park in the lot, boats were waiting to dock for dinner too. We had drinks by the docks and got to see a little crab museum where you could essentially meet your dinner before you ate it.

We kind of got to see a crab before, after, and after.

Once we were seated, the food was killer. They laid down some brown butcher paper on a picnic table and gave us our utensils - a knife and a mallet. I was afraid we were going to have to chase our food across the table. We were schooled in "picking crabs" and got most of the crab on our clothes and hands. It was a lot of fun and we both still smell like crab.

And then we had a me before, after and after.

Love, Aaron and Charity