US Naval Academy

March 21: 

Today is the first day of Spring Break, but today is also the only day of the whole week that won't be taken up by "Savior of the World" practices and performances.   In typical Lara fashion, I woke up and knew we wanted to go somewhere, but hadn't planned a thing and had no clue even where to go. 

Google to the rescue!   

After a little research we decided on a day trip to Annapolis!    After almost 19-years living in the area, I still had never been.  Glen and some of the kids had been before, but somehow I had missed ever going. 

The first place we stopped was the US Naval Academy...

 and we were very excited to have serendipitously arrived just in time to watch the daily ceremonial noon meal "Formation" (skip to about 3:44 to see where it gets interesting).   

We opted not to take the paid tour and ended up just wandering around the beautiful campus instead.  

The US Naval Academy Museum in Preble Hall was full of interesting old artifacts from the US wars, including many intricate model ships.    We learned a lot about some of the traditions of USNA and were fascinated by the ceremonial "baptizing" of the class rings and the ensuing ring dance (read a little more about it here in the section entitled "Ring Dance).  

After a few hours on campus, my kids were ready to join the Navy on the spot just so they could get some food to eat.    They wouldn't accept them just yet though, so we headed to the Iron Rooster in old-town Annapolis instead.   

 They are famous for their pop-tarts, so we ordered a mixed berry and brown sugar/cinnamon one as appetizers.

The food was absolutely delicious and we highly recommend it for anyone looking for good eats in Annapolis.   

Emma got the cast-iron scramble, Ellie got the waffle burger, Adam got the chicken and waffle, and I got a parmesan crusted chicken sandwich with garlic aioli sauce!   YUM!  

After wandering around town for a couple more hours, we decided to stop at the Annapolis Ice Cream Company for  some ice cream.     It is considered to be the best ice cream store in Annapolis (and there are A LOT of them).  We only ever tried this one, so we can't speak to the rest, but we agree that it was high quality frozen deliciousness! 

We had a great time, hit zero traffic either direction,  and would gladly go back to Annapolis anytime!    

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