Naval Academy Map

It took me a while to get this map scanned. Thanks to my friend Arthur for getting me a file that actually works.

The map has some really good information about what to see when you visit. Click on the image to make it larger.

A Trip to Annapolis

Stu and I went on a trip to Annapolis on Friday. We had nice weather for most of the day. It was little cloudy for the first half of the day. Slowly it cleared and slowly the temperature warmed up. Just about as perfect a day as you could have. We visited the state capitol, went for a boar ride, had a great lunch, walked around the Naval Academy, had some ice cream and then just wandered around for little while.

Walking up the street to the state capitol

The view from the front steps of the capitol

Stu talking things over with General Washington

For a brief period Annapolis served as the Capital of the United States from 1783-1784. Washington officially resigned his commission here and the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was signed in the same room.

On the Severn River

We had a leisurely walk down to the dock in the Annapolis Harbor and got our tickets for our boat ride on the Harbor Queen. This is 45 minute tour in and around Annapolis. It takes you by the Naval Academy. It had gotten a little sunnier by now. Not too hot and there was a very refreshing breeze.

All sorts of boats in all shapes and sizes in the harbor.

View of the state capitol from the boat.

The Wheel House of the Harbor Queen

Stu on the deck of the Harbor Queen

More Views from the Harbor Queen

Some additional views of Annapolis from the deck of the Harbor Queen.

The grounds of the Naval Academy

The grounds of the Naval Academy with the dome of the Naval Chapel

All sorts of boats out enjoying the great weather.

On the Grounds of the Naval Academy

We had lunch after the boat trip. I had a salmon BLT. It was great. Then we walked over to the ground of the Naval Academy.

Running Into Some Midshipman

Ran into some of the first year midshipman drilling on the grounds. The Plebs arrive early before the rest of the classes to get some basic training and learn they way around the Academy.

This is Bancroft Hall where the Midshipman live.

Around the Naval Academy Campus

This is the Herdon Monument that the Freshman Class to retrieve a hat from the top at the end of their first year.

The Navy Chapel

This really is a spectacular chapel.

John Paul Jones Crypt

Underneath the Chapel is the crypt of America's first naval hero John Paul Jones.

Jones had a storied career. He died in France. It took many years to find his body and bring him back to the United States:

In 1905, Jones's remains were identified by U.S. Ambassador to France Gen. Horace Porter, who had searched for six years to track down the body using faulty copies of Jones's burial record. Thanks to the kind donation of a French admirer, Pierrot Francois Simmoneau, who had donated over 460 francs, Jones's body was preserved in alcohol and interred in a lead coffin "in the event that should the United States decide to claim his remains, they might more easily be identified." Porter knew what to look for in his search. With the aid of an old map of Paris, Porter's team, which included anthropologist Louis Capitan, identified the site of the former St. Louis Cemetery for Alien Protestants. Sounding probes were used to search for lead coffins and five coffins were ultimately exhumed. The third, unearthed on April 7, 1905, was later identified by a meticulous post-mortem examination by Doctors Capitan and Georges Papillault as being that of Jones. The autopsy confirmed the original listing of cause of death. The face was later compared to a bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon.

Jones's body was ceremonially removed from interment in a Parisian charnel house and brought to the United States aboard the USS Brooklyn, escorted by three other cruisers. On approaching the American coastline, seven U.S. Navy battleships joined the procession escorting Jones's body back to America. On April 24, 1906, Jones's coffin was installed in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, following a ceremony in Dahlgren Hall, presided over by President Theodore Roosevelt who gave a lengthy tributary speech. On January 26, 1913, the Captain's remains were finally re-interred in a magnificent bronze and marble sarcophagus at the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis.