Good advice, always

Good advice, always
Originally uploaded by eqdynamics.

After the ballgame, we drove to the nearby coastal city of Annapolis - capital of Maryland and home to the U.S. Naval Academy. David was very good about being forced away from the game before it had finished and felt only slightly better when we heard that (to nobody's great surprise) the Yankees had continued their form and won the game by what we would call a landslide.

That evening, we all had a great steak in an Outback steak house (oddly, Audstralian themed). Louise had discovered this chain on one of her previous visits to Gail and David and I had been promised an "Outback steak and flowering onion" for months. Happy to report that the wait was worth it.

We spent Monday wandering the town and taking a guided tour of the naval academy.

The city of Annapolis is American-cutesy with plenty of preserved old buildings. Very touristy - more T-shirt shops than anything else on Main Street.

The Naval Academy is enormous and extremely impressive - there's no doubt the US military is well funded and has been for a very long time. Tour guide Bob had one of the loudest voices I've heard in a while and an enthusiastic presentation style. In return for promising "five years of their lives" students at the academy get a free university education and a career as a naval officer.

And, of course, they also get brainwashed in that universal, military manner. We watched as a group of "plebes" (new recruits) were marched across the campus to a parade ground to meet 1200 of their new closest buddies in an assembly with presentation of flags and a full marching band before being marched into lunch. This ritual takes place every day at precisely the same time - even when all 4400 of the students are on campus - and everyone sits down at tables of 12 and gets served lunch and back out the door within 20 minutes.

Scariest comment? The window in the campus chapel that reminded recruits they serve on behalf of "God and country".

Not only are they protecting their backyard, they are doing it because they are RIGHT!

Sheesh - when do we learn that other people's beliefs and views count too?