USNA - United States Naval Academy

One of the reasons I was excited about moving to Annapolis was the Naval Academy. To a lot of people outside of Maryland, if you say the word "Annapolis" they think you are talking about the academy. It only occurs to some that the city is also the state capital - one of those smaller cities that are capital cities in states which have much larger cities in them.


I liked the idea of living near the naval academy. It didn't hurt that I had grown up with navy and marines in the family - all enlisted though. I even had some friends who went to the academy, but had fallen out of touch with them once they went. (As a youth I had even thought of going myself when I was 14 - with dreams of flying F-4's off of carrier decks and so forth - but life took me in other directions).

So the first time I walked out on the campus a few days after I got here it was an amazing feeling. History. Honor. Tradition. Water. More water. It really seemed like the Annapolis I had imagined.

It still does.

I think more than any other part of the city - the USNA still carries a huge mystique with me. But there are some personal experiences becoming entwined as well, which makes it much more human without taking away the sense of awe.

Two stories.

The first humorous, and warm; the second also warm and inspiring.

One day last spring my family and I were walking on the grounds with our families who were in from out-of-town. Our little 2 year old was walking there with us (the one in the picture on my shoulders) and he spied some ducks on the lawn of the Marine commandant's house. Not thinking too much about protocol, he ran up on the lawn chasing the ducks. The commandant's wife was on the screened-in porch and saw him. Very quickly the door opened and she came out, all smiles, with some bread in her hands. Bending down, she offered the little adventurer bread to to give to the ducks.

My son took one look at the bread, then at the ducks, and proceeded to eat the bread! We thanked the commandant's wife profusely and she seemed to really enjoy it - but as we walked away my wife was worried that she might have thought we never fed the little guy. I told my wife that I figured she just thought he would make a good Marine!

The second story is one that also warms me when I think of it.

I had had a particularly bad day at work one day and just needed to do a lot of walking and thinking. I headed to the city dock area and sat there, looking at the harbor and not getting much relief.

The new gate and visitor center had just been opened and I decided to go in and see how much walking I could do. I think better when I walk.

As I walked out along the water by the side of the city dock and then headed towards the main channel of the river, I stopped at various memorials along the waterline on spa creek (see a great map). At each one I thought about the fact that people gave their lives and fought hard to give me the ability to be as free with my life and opinions as I am. I thought a lot about the culture of honor and sacrifice being taught to young people there.

Sometimes in regular work-a-day America we forget how our very existence has at times been preserved by the steel strands of such a culture. That reminder tends to put things into perspective.

As I walked across the campus on the way back to my car, I was greeted by probably 20 midshipmen crossing paths with me. To a person, they smiled at me and most greeted me verbally. They were all very young. Most all seemed very optimistic and full of life.

I returned to my car and to my job feeling better than I had in some time.

This too is Annapolis.