Field Trip to Annapolis

Ever since we moved to Maryland I have wanted to tour the Naval Academy and I finally got my chance - as a chaperone for Noah's 6th grade class! On the bus with my history buddy!

Woo hoo! Finally made it and so excited to see everything!

The mascot - Navy Bill, or Bill the Goat.

I loved all the artistic touches on the buildings.

Dahlgren Hall, named for Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren who was a Civil War leader and inventor of naval guns. We loved all the flags and the cool exhibits.

A Japanese aerial torpedo from Okinawa.

This memorial was dedicated in honor of the Centennial of the US Navy Submarine Force at the Naval Academy.

My favorite picture of the day.

Bancroft Hall, the US Naval Academy dormitory, which houses the more than 4,400 midshipmen.

Memorial Hall.

I was sending mental instructions to this guy to move but he never did, dang it! At least I got some of this famous dedication to "those alumni who have been killed in action defending the ideals of their country": "Don't give up the ship". This phrase originates from Commander James Lawrence in the War of 1812; they were his dying words to his men while under attack from the Royal Navy of Great Britain.

There were a ton of cool exhibits to check out...

and we got to see an example of a dorm room. Definitely not a lot of space!

Outside of Bancroft Hall we came across the Tecumseh Statue. "Tecumseh has become not only the 'God of 2.0' - the passing grade point average at the academy - but also the idol to whom loyal midshipmen give prayers and sacrificial offerings of pennies."

It is such a beautiful campus.

The Herndon Monument, erected in memory of Captain William Lewis Herndon who courageously decided to go down with his ship, and site of the famous "plebes-no-more" ceremony, where the plebes all work together to climb the greased monument and replace a plebe dixie cup hat on top with a combination cover.

The crypt of John Paul Jones, the Father of the US Navy.

After our tour we met up with the other groups on the dock for a boat ride out on the bay. The forecast had called for rain but we ended up with absolutely gorgeous weather. What a beautiful afternoon!

We ate lunch on the boat and once we were back on land, we had some time to walk around. All the kids wanted to do was get ice cream, hang out in the gift shops, and sit around doing nothing. Noah and I were totally bummed with his group's lack of enthusiasm and vowed that we would come back again and see more of the sites.

Yep, that's about the size of it!

We did get to see a few little things that were right by where we were supposed to meet the buses.

What a fabulous day with my little history buddy! Until next time, Annapolis!