Fun Fact: Michelle and I lived and worked in Annapolis in the mid-80’s. We didn’t have much money in those days, but we managed to find ways to enjoy our surroundings. We hung out in a tiny basement bar called The Ram’s Head (they’ve grown!!), we rode the Metro in to DC on weekends, visited museums, and wandered around the mall. Occasionally, I’d commandeer one of the used or demo boats from Backyard Boats and we’d explore the bay. We LOVED our life on the Chesapeake, but when our first son, Patrick, was born we both got homesick for family, so we packed up and headed home to Texas.

Through the years, we’ve occasionally returned to Annapolis for the fall boat show and every time we flew in, I would dream of the day that we could come back to Annapolis by boat. The first time we cruised in to town was in 2017 on the first Roam (Nordhavn 47). We stayed a week for the Powerboat Show and wished we could have stayed longer. In 2020, we returned on the new/present Roam and we stayed three weeks. Even though most of the town was either closed or severely restricted by Covid and the Boat Shows were cancelled, we found plenty to entertain ourselves with.

This year we booked a marina stay well in advance at the fantastic South Annapolis Marine Center. It’s a small marina just past the Spa Creek Bridge. They aren’t cheap, but honestly, NO MARINA in the area is reasonably priced. We did get a better deal, however, by booking a month, so I don’t feel so bad… The good news is they’re a short 10 minute walk from downtown Annapolis — far enough away not to be in the middle of the weekend craziness, but close enough to go for a morning coffee. There are new, floating docks and the marina is small enough that you feel appreciated by the staff. If you are planning to visit Annapolis by water, I would definitely recommend South Annapolis.

Our excuse for going to Annapolis was to attend the US Power and Sailboat shows and so we did that. Meh. There weren’t as many exhibiters as there usually are and we couldn’t get excited about any of the boats on display, so we wandered around for about a half day of each show and felt like we saw everything that interested us — but we didn’t see anywhere near what we were hoping for. Will we go back? Oh, heck yea! What other excuse do we have for visiting one of our favorite east coast towns!

I can’t believe how few pictures I took this year. I did capture a couple of shots from the Maryland Renaissance Festival which we attended with our friends on the N55, Mermaid Monster. Just for fun, I’ve added a few other pictures from past visits below…