The right way, to me, to experience a town like Annapolis, MD, is from the water’s edge, on inland.  That was not exactly how I actually carried out my visit, because there was a rather important matter that attended my arrival there:

I was glad to spend an hour or so visiting with Christina Fullmer and her daughter.  I have known the family, online, for about 3 1/2 years now.  Real time just underscores my joy at feeling close to them.  Christina has a very good sense of things, and is an excellent parent.

Returning to the traveler’s Annapolis, my maritime roots were well-nourished here.  Some of these scenes were taken from the Town Dock, and some from the United States Naval Academy- more on that great institution, later.

Annapolis’ maritime history is part nefarious (It was a center of the slave trade), and part honorable (The American naval effort in the War of 1812 was, in good part, waged from here.)  It is all worthy of study.
There are two major African-American figures associated with Annapolis:  Alex Haley and Thurgood Marshall.  Mr. Haley’s ties to this city stem, as is well-known, from the documented arrival here, in 1767, of one Kunta Kinte (see Harold Courlander’s, The African), whom Alex Haley claimed as an ancestor, in his book, Roots.  Alex Haley, and his ancestors, are honoured at a dockside park.

Following, are some tablets, recapping some timeless quotes from “Roots”.

The full story of Annapolis is contained herein.

This edifice is, for me, something to be savoured another time.

In Part 2, I will focus on the center of historic Annapolis, from the Visitor Center, to the Capitol and on to Dock Street, gateway to the Naval Academy, which will itself be the focus of Part 3.