It was unfortunate, but my final full day of vacation wasn't so great. I woke up with a woozy, tired feeling that really never left me all day. Add to that the excessive heat and a minor depression. So I was in a hot, bad-temper most of the day. It really wasn't until I got to Annapolis, in the morning, after the short drive from DC, and had coffee spilled on me at a local cafe, that I realized how bad a mood I was in. Oh well. C'est la vie. Maybe it's time to go home after all!

After a rather unpleasant lunch and coffee in Annapolis, I walked the few blocks to the Naval Academy. Annapolis seemed, on first site, the smallest, quaintest and quietest state capital I've ever seen. There was hardly anybody in the streets - even tourists, and the state buildings were a hive of ... inactivity.

Despite my bad mood, I was excited to be on the grounds of the Naval Academy. This is a fairly large campus, and really, had something of the feeling of a large, wealthy University campus such as Stanford. I guess this is part of where our tax dollars go! Surprisingly, they let tourists go free to roam around the entire campus, although most choose to be escorted by a tour guide.

For the first hour, I wandered freely around, just looking at the buildings, and sheltering from the sun, which seemed hotter than ever.

One of the massive buildings - the main dorm

Cadets moving from one class to another

Near the Academy's yacht dock

I finally stumbled upon Preble Hall, home of the museum of the Naval Academy. The main collection included a lot of famous artifacts - swords of famed commanders, medals, some paintings and ship models; but it didn't seem like it had been updated in recent years. Downstairs there was an amazing collection of 17th and 18th century British shipwright models. These were exact, scale models of ships to be ordered and built for the British Admiralty. I'm not sure why they're all here instead of in England, but I enjoyed them enormously anyway.

British shipwright model collection in the museum

I wonder. If I'd been as interested in the navy as I am now when I'd been twenty three, and if I'd been an American citizen that early, would I have applied to the Academy? Quite possibly, I think. Yeah - I know - a lot of ifs.

After more coffee, I walked back through the town, stopping to take a look at the lovely Capitol, which doubled as the US Capitol for one short year in the 1700s.

The drive back to DC, although relatively short, was tough - and I found it hard to stay alert. But I soon found my way to the Dupont Circle area to get some coffee and buy a gift for Dennis, my host. After my long, hot, bad-tempered day, it was great to just sit down with a coffee at Starbucks in the gentrified, yuppie, urban milieu of Dupont Circle.

View from my table at Starbucks in Dupont Circle, DC

I got home later than I expected to, but had the chance to finally have a good chat with Dennis, and get to know him a little better. I really enjoyed our chat - he seems like a very sensitive, intelligent, charming man.

After a shower, I headed out for the final event of my trip. Michael (remember - the actor who performs as Ester Bergman, from a day or two ago? :) had invited me to his place for a stir-fry. Like all gay men except me, or so it seems, he's a great cook!

Michael cooking up a stir-fry

After dinner, we went to Chaos for a quick drink at Latin night. It was a fun place, with good music and dancing. Not too many cute boys (except one Brazilian - woohoo!)

But by this time, I was pretty shattered, and the smoke was making my eyes sting, so it was time to close the final day of my trip, give Michael a hug goodbye, and head back to Dennis' to collapse on my futon for a final night in the East Coast.