Women Proprietors and African

 

Up at three, as usual on a Friday morning.  Unlike my usual routines however, I have a very long drive ahead of me later today.  I see repeated triple espressos in my immediate future.  I’m done with my calls around 6:00AM and I don’t really need to be at the funeral ceremony till 10:30AM.  My cousin had suggested that I might consider walking from my hotel over to the service.  But the Annapolis downtown was a different direction and with some precious Friday morning time on my hands I headed out to do what I haven’t done in some time now; and explored a new city. 

 

No one was around Annapolis before 7:00AM.  West Street leads down from the Westin, past Church Circle to the Maryland State House.  All along the way are historical signs that looked a bit worse for wear and tear but they were informative.  The history of brewers in the seventeenth century, and of women proprietors and African American sections of town and art that had evolved over the intervening centuries.  Curious and unclear I was momentarily puzzled considering which ancient Greek city Annapolis was named after, only to realize that it was a coined name, combining the first name of then Princess Anne with the Greek word for City. There is no old-world Annapolis. 

Well it was good to be down in the port, with no one around.  There was an old clipper ship in the harbor I was admiring.  The man on board told me it was a replica of a ship from 1810 but it still looked grand and intimidating.  How could you trust your life to those timbers.  There was another plaque, this one to Admiral John Barry from Ireland who fought a decisive battle in the War for Independence.  They had an old black and white photo of JFK placing a wreath on a complementary memorial at the admiral’s home back in Wexford.  I couldn’t help but notice how stiff the former president looked, bending over, with is infamous back pain. 

 

The Naval Academy was walled off.  I suppose that’s how it goes with military facilities.  I had forgotten my iPhone back in the room and fiddled around with the seek app on my Pixel.  A willow oak, was a fine tree they had down here, standing astride the Annapolis backstreets, which I’d never seen before.  We’ve heard a lot about this dread spawning of cicadas that are to all arrive this year, but there aren’t any up where I live.  Cicadas fell from the trees all around me down here in Maryland.

I asked a young fella standing as a concierge outside a B&B of sorts where a café might be and I was glad I did for he directed me over to the Brown Moustache, which was a lovely book store where I got myself a latte and went on out to what the barista-gal who was a Covid refugee from Dumbo called “chill-worthy” and tried to read some of my Aristophanes.  On the way back towards my hotel I unexpectedly came upon the campus for St. John’s College which I’ve long admired and strolled about considering the old trees and a few of the young people who seemed to be getting ready to graduate. 

 

 

 

Friday, 05/21/21