A day in Annapolis

V and I arrived in Annapolis last night and had a late dinner in a local restaurant.  This morning, we set out to explore.

It was a lovely day. This is the view down Main Street outside the hotel:

 We are staying at the historic Maryland Inn.  It was built in the late 1700s and many delegates of the Continental Congress stayed there when Annapolis was the national capitol- when the Treaty of Paris was ratified at the end of the Revolutionary War.
The hotel is built on a triangle between streets and is an interesting shape:

It is said that Ben Franklin and many other notables had drinks in the restaurant/tavern in the basement of the inn.  How cool is that!!
From the hotel, we walked the few blocks down the the city harbor:

And back inland to the State House:

Sadly, the State House is under renovation and we couldn't go in.  We wanted to see the room where George Washington resigned his commission prior to accepting the presidency.  We are such geeks!!
Right after lunch time we headed just a few miles East to V's friend's home.  Here is the birthday girl cutting her cake!

We had a wonderful time and met lots of great, interesting people.
V even got to do his very first book signing!

Tomorrow, we will go back to his friend's house for brunch and then will meet my sister here in Annapolis. 

So far, we're having a wonderful time and have managed to unwind.  There is a bit of tension though, being this close to DC on the anniversary of 9/11.  The terror alert is high and it was so odd to see signs along the highway urging people to report suspicious activity.  A bit of culture shock for those of us who have been out of the East Coast mentality for the past 17 years.

Now off to bed.  Tomorrow is another busy, hopefully relaxing day.