Anchors Aweigh

Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. The past few days have seen the full moon in all its bright glory

Tomorrow will mark the two-week point in Mandarin training, and already the grind has set in. Five days a week, five hours of class a day (two hours devoted to reading, three to speaking), plus homework - this will be my job for the next two years. So far I've been doing better in reading (despite the focus on simplified characters, rather than the traditional ones with which I'm more familiar) than in conversation, which isn't surprising considering I'm not the outgoing type who enjoys talking with strangers. When it comes to speaking in class (or online, as training has been virtual so far), some days are better than others. 有的时候 the ideas spew freely from the mouth; 有的时候 the brain is enveloped in a thick fog. Health concerns also appear with worrisome regularity - this morning I felt a strange sensation on the right side of my body, had difficulty getting words out at times during class, and then at lunchtime when I went out to get something to drink, I found myself trying to open someone's front door instead of using the door that opens onto the staircase - a temporary blackout that left me momentarily confused as to my surroundings. Dementia is making an early appearance it would seem - I should schedule an appointment with a specialist of some kind once our car finally arrives here (early next month according to the latest word on the progress of the container ship). 

Weekends here been low-key affairs for the most part, but this past Friday-Sunday we were able to get out of town for a couple of days, utilizing the temporary freedom that comes with renting a Chevy Malibu from the nearest car rental agency (just a few minutes on foot from our apartment building). So after classes had finished on Friday afternoon for both me and my daughter, the family and I made the short drive from Falls Church to Annapolis, Maryland, and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn Annapolis Downtown. For those of you who don't know (and that includes Amber and Shu-E), Annapolis is the capital of Maryland. It was also the temporary national capital of the United States in 1783-1784, and is best known nowadays as the home of the U.S. Naval Academy, a recreation of an old map of which graced the wall of our hotel room:

After checking in, the three of us headed out the door to find something to eat, venturing just a couple of minutes along the street to Lemongrass, a Thai restaurant where I had the chicken Khoa Soi:

Following dinner we took a stroll down Main Street to the City Dock. Being a warm Friday evening in a city with many historic buildings, not to mention two universities (the aforementioned Naval Academy, plus St. John's College), the bars and restaurants were busy, with not many face masks in sight:

There were many couples taking in the sight of the full moon over the waterfront:

Soon after breakfast on Saturday morning, it was time for another walkabout. The Hilton is located in an arts district, and here our daughter poses in front of a work of art (with the Lemongrass Thai restaurant in the background):

Of course there were lots of explanatory signs to educate visitors on the role played by Annapolis in the formation of the U.S.A. (for example, all four Marylanders who signed the Declaration of Independence lived in Annapolis, and their homes can be visited):

The city makes an effort to have franchises blend in with the more historical architecture:

Facing the Maryland State House as we made our way back to the City Dock:

Main Street, quiet on a Saturday morning but soon to get busy again:

Down at the City Dock, the Kunte Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial marks the location where the writer's ancestor was brought against his will from Africa to the New World. Like many white Americans of a certain generation, I sat glued to the TV back in the winter of 1977 watching Roots strip away my ignorance of the horrors of slavery:

While waiting for our 1100 hours sightseeing boat to let us board we strolled through the grounds of the nearby Naval Academy:

All aboard and anchors aweigh on a 40-minute excursion around Annapolis Harbor and the Severn River:

The boat passed by the Naval Academy, with the recorded commentary pointing out such landmarks as one of the masts from the U.S.S. Maine, which was sunk in Havana Harbor in a mysterious explosion, leading to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War and the confirmation of the U.S. as an imperial power:

 

The Triton Light encases seawater collected by the U.S.S. Triton nuclear submarine as it circumnavigated the globe in 1960:

The sky was cloudy all morning but the sun would emerge soon after we returned to the City Dock:

Back on dry land the family path diverged: my wife, not having slept very well the previous night, decided she wanted to get some rest back at the hotel. Amber and I, on the other hand, made the short walk from the waterfront to the Hammond Harwood House. This 1774 residence is one of the finest examples of British Colonial architecture still existent in the former colonies:

The house is chock full of furniture, paintings and everyday objects going back to the 17th century, and can only be visited on a one-hour guided tour:

Amber and I both thought the seated doll (the same one featured in the painting above) to be somewhat on the creepy side:

A glance through one of the upstairs windows at the 1794 Chase-Lloyd House located across Maryland Avenue:

Following our tour we set off in search of somewhere to have lunch, passing by the home of a local resident angry at someone about something:

We ended up at the Potato Valley Café, where I had the Chicken, Bacon & Cheddar oven-roasted baked potato. My daughter opted for a Caesar Salad:

The café is just across the road from the Maryland State House, our next destination:

Completed in 1772, the State House is the oldest state capitol still in use - the Maryland General Assembly meets in Annapolis every year from January to April, and the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Delegates and president of the Senate all have their offices there:

Johann de Kalb, a French military officer who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution:

We ventured inside to have a look around the ground floor. The Senate Chamber:

The House of Delegates Chamber:

The State House Caucus Room includes displays of official state silverware:

The Old House of Delegates Chamber has statues of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. Amber towered over the abolition heroine:

The Old Senate Chamber features a life-sized depiction of George Washington standing (at 6'2"/188 cm) on the exact spot where he announced on December 23, 1783 his resignation as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army just three weeks before the official end of the Revolutionary War, when Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris. This made Annapolis the first peacetime capital of the United States:

Looking up at the Rotunda:

Thurgood Marshall, who hailed from nearby Baltimore:

Before returning to the Hilton, the two of us walked along Main Street, taking a break at the Annapolis Ice Cream Factory:

Midshipmen in uniform are a common sight on the streets of the historic downtown district:

Back at the hotel we reunited with a now-rested Shu-E. It was up to my wife to decide where to go for dinner on Saturday evening, and she chose Cantler's Riverside Inn, located alongside Mill Creek:

The specialty of the house is crab, and while I had the Lump Crab Cake Sandwich...:

...my better half went all out on a half-dozen hard shell crabs, enjoying every moment of bashing the crustaceans with the provided mallet:

I managed to save space in my stomach for a slice of key lime pie:

Knowing the end was near, this crab in one of the outdoor holding pools struck a defiant pose:

We checked out of the Hilton on Sunday morning and stopped in Bowie on our way back home. Following lunch at a steakhouse, the three of us split up again. Shu-E elected to do some shopping at Bowie Town Center, while the girl and I drove over to the nearby Prince George's Stadium, to take in the final game of the 2021 regular season of the Bowie Baysox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles:

If I had the talent I would wax poetic a la James Earl Jones' Terry Mann character in Field of Dreams on the charms and small-town appeal of baseball in the bush leagues. Though it seats 10,000 the ballpark is small enough that every seat is close to the field:

Every fan was given a signed photograph of a Baysox player. Amber will be keeping track of Kyle Brnovich's road to the major leagues to see if his autograph will one day help to pay off her student loans:

The view from our seats:

The game itself was an exciting contest. The home team Baysox went up 3-0 over the visiting Altoona Curve on a pair of home runs before the Curve came back to move ahead 5-3. After narrowing the deficit to 5-4 on another homer, Bowie scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th to pull out a 7-5 win (box score). The victory clinched a spot in the Double-A Northeast Championship Series for the Baysox to the delight of the fans in attendance:

The combination of Colonial history, seafood and baseball made for a final summer weekend of Americana, an enjoyable but brief getaway. Back to the Mandarin for now, until the next opportunity arises for a temporary escape from the Beltway. 再见 for now...