Corners of Annapolis

This stay at Adventure Bound Camping Resort - Washington D.C. is a repeat stay at this campground.  In prior years, it was known as Duncan's Family Campground, and can still be found on Google Maps in Lothian, Maryland by that name.  We stayed here in February 2012 when we visited Matt and Weina and helped with infant William while Matt was taking his initial language training courses for the State Department.  On the few days we had off from playing grandma and grandpa, we explored the area, and our explorations took us to Annapolis at least two times.  This trip, we wanted to revisit the city and just enjoy a leisurely walk around town without having to play tourist too much.

On Friday, August 7, 2020, we drove up to Annapolis in our Jeep.  It was easy to find a parking spot -- partly because it was not the weekend, partly because tourism is reduced in this time of Covid, and partly because we were driving a little Jeep rather than that huge Freightliner diesel truck we had been prowling around in when we were here in prior years.

We parked at the City Dock and strolled along the wharf to watch sailboats and other vessels in the harbor, lit in unusual colors in the light of clouds and sun:

Further out in the harbor, some sunfish appeared to be running through their paces on a technical course:

We left the City Dock and walked, past the Naval Academy, into the neighborhood between King George and Prince George Streets, where we encountered the house and gardens of William Paca, Maryland's third Governor and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  He built this five-part Georgian mansion in the 1760's.  A National Historic Landmark, it was carefully restored by Historic Annapolis beginning in 1965, and is recognized as one of the finest 18th-century homes in the country:

We were in luck that the gardens were open when we passed by, and we decided to tour them.  This is the view from the house, out over the Chesapeake Garden, toward the reconstruction of the original summer house that Paca had constructed on the grounds:

The gardens are divided into six formal spaces.  One is a flower garden, and it boasted some impressive seasonal blossoms:

Here were some other beautiful late summer bloomers:

Parts of the garden demonstrate medicinal plants, and vegetables for the kitchen table:

The arbor adds a graceful touch to one section of the gardens.  We were lucky to encounter the gardener who designed, planted and maintains the gardens.  He was quite willing to share information with us:

Some flowery sections of the gardens had also attracted visitors of the pollinating persuasion:

Box hedges graced another section of the gardens:

Our favorite section boasted the summer house, a small pedestrian bridge, lily pond, and bricked watercourses which were rediscovered under the remains of buildings that had been constructed on this land after the house and gardens had been sold by Paca:

On either side of the summer house were twin, reconstructed buildings -- one had been a bath house, and another a spring house.  This was the spring house:

We didn't want to leave the William Paca gardens, but continued on our way, over to Main Street, which now is graced with a variety of restaurants, wine and beer shops, a distillery, and various shops designed to separate tourists from their money, but all in good Colonial fun:

One shop, The Clay Bakery, attracted our attention because it sells clay and pottery projects for children of all ages.  We were eager to find a pottery project for Young William as we strive to keep him entertained at Grandma-Grandpa Day Care before he starts school in September.

Our amble up Main Street was not without an ultimate purpose, however.  We were seeking the Maryland Inn, where we had participated in an historic pub crawl, guided by the Annapolis Town Crier, who is none other than a cousin of our good friend Ginny LaJuene.

Hi, Eric and Ginny, we're thinking of you!

We worked our way back down Main Street and grabbed lunch at Pusser's Caribbean Grill, located on Compromise Street.  The food did not disappoint us, AND the water introduced us to our new favorite beer, Heavy Seas' "TropiCannon," an extremely well-balanced citrus IPA.  After lunch, we rushed back up Main Street to pick up a six-pack of the TropiCannon, as well as some great crab cakes to have for dinner (and a second dinner sometime later).

It was great to be able to come back and spend our time with some special little gifts of Annapolis, rather than having to spend our time in a tourist overview.

Cheers!