SPRING is in the AIR ...

The very best season in Chesapeake Habour is the spring. The landscaping is spectacular, bikers can bike, joggers are out at all hours of the day and night, and it's my favorite time of year to walk the beach with my granddaughters. They love to collect beach glass, and last weekend, for the very first time, we found a perfect piece of red beach glass...something you rarely find. There is plenty of brown, green and white, but red and cobalt blue are hard to find. But we did.
There is just nothing to equal walking the beach on a gorgeous afternoon at a time of year that is still quiet....so quiet that we still have deer roaming the property; they have had a very quiet winter and now will go into hiding. I watched their mother deliver these two, and they live right behind me on the beach where I watch them romp, eat vegetation and run to the water's edge. They hide out someplace during the day, but every evening at dusk they appear. This is just an amazing place.

U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD

When the founders of the United States Naval Academy were looking for a suitable location, it was reported that then Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft decided to move the naval school to "the healthy and secluded" location of Annapolis in order to rescue midshipmen from "the temptations and distractions that necessarily connect with a large and populous city." The Philadelphia Naval Asylum School was its predecessor. Four of the original seven faculty members came from Philadelphia. Other small naval schools in New York City, Norfolk, Va., and Boston, Mass. also existed in the early days of the United States.
The United States Navy was born during the American Revolution when the need for a naval force to match the Royal Navy became clear. But during the period immediately following the Revolution, the Continental Navy was demobilized in 1785 by an economy-minded Congress.
The dormancy of American seapower lasted barely a decade when, in 1794, George Washington persuaded the Congress to authorize a new naval force to combat the growing menace of piracy on the high seas.
The first vessels of the new U.S. Navy were launched in 1797; among them were the United States, the Constellation, and the Constitution. In 1825, President John Quincy Adams urged Congress to establish a Naval Academy "for the formation of scientific and accomplished officers." His proposal, however, was not acted upon until 20 years later.
On September 13, 1842, the American Brig Somers set sail from the Brooklyn Navy Yard on one of the most significant cruises in American naval history. It was a school ship for the training of teenage naval apprentice volunteers who would hopefully be inspired to make the Navy a career.
However, discipline deteriorated on the Somers and it was determined by a court of inquiry aboard ship that Midshipman Philip Spencer and his two chief confederates, Boatswains Mate Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Small, were guilty of a "determined attempt to commit a mutiny."
The three were hanged at the yardarm and the incident cast doubt over the wisdom of sending midshipmen directly aboard ship to learn by doing. News of the Somers mutiny shocked the country.
Through the efforts of the Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, the Naval School was established without Congressional funding, at a 10-acre Army post named Fort Severn in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 10, 1845, with a class of 50 midshipmen and seven professors. The curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French.
In 1850 the Naval School became the United States Naval Academy. A new curriculum went into effect requiring midshipmen to study at the Academy for four years and to train aboard ships each summer. That format is the basis of a far more advanced and sophisticated curriculum at the Naval Academy today. As the U.S. Navy grew over the years, the Academy expanded. The campus of 10 acres increased to 338. The original student body of 50 midshipmen grew to a brigade size of 4,000. Modern granite buildings replaced the old wooden structures of Fort Severn.
Congress authorized the Naval Academy to begin awarding bachelor of science degrees in 1933. The Academy later replaced a fixed curriculum taken by all midshipmen with the present core curriculum plus 18 major fields of study, a wide variety of elective courses and advanced study and research opportunities.
Since then, the development of the United States Naval Academy has reflected the history of the country. As America has changed culturally and technologically so has the Naval Academy. In just a few decades, the Navy moved from a fleet of sail and steam-powered ships to a high-tech fleet with nuclear-powered submarines and surface ships and supersonic aircraft. The academy has changed, too, giving midshipmen state-of- the-art academic and professional training to be effective naval officers in their future careers.
The Naval Academy first accepted women as midshipmen in 1976, when Congress authorized the admission of women to all of the service academies. Women comprise about 13 to 14 percent of entering plebes--or freshmen--and they pursue the same academic and professional training as do their male classmates.

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial
Dedicated May 27, 1990
This lasting tribute to the men and women who fought for the principles of freedom, both abroad and at home, recognizes their contributions as well as educating present and future generations about World War II and its impact as the world's greatest military effort to date.
Maryland's World War II Memorial is unique. Visitors will walk through history when visiting the four-sided open-air amphitheater surrounded by a 100-foot diameter ring of 48 pillars, that represent the 48 states at the time of the war. Etched in granite are the names of 6,454 Marylanders who lost their lives, providing a lasting tribute to their ultimate contributions. Twenty plaques describe wartime milestones and key events, in addition to contributions made by those 288,000 Maryland military men and women and those who served in industries at home. Two 14-foot diameter globes depict the location of key battles in the eastern and western hemispheres. A seven-sided obelisk, representing Maryland's status as the country's seventh state, is accented by a star which is illuminated each night.
The World War II Memorial is located at Route 450 at Naval Academy Bridge, 1920 Ritchie Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401.

FREE FORECLOSURE Information ...

I now have a 'program' to search for all foreclosed properties in the State of Maryland. If you would like to know what is in your area, or an area in the State you would be intersted in having an investment property, let me know.
I can send or e-mail you all properties within your price range, and of course, this list is free.

Foreclosures and Short-Sales are plentiful. Perspective buyers can see the property and make an offer (just as you would with a normal purchase), however, it is a more involved process due to the Government's involvement and the final approval from the banks who now own the properties.

But I have sold many of these properties to buyers who have been able to obtain great houses for rock-bottom prices, including waterfronts, up-scale condos and homes with acreage. Take advantage of this while they exist. The banks have been able to speed up the process with extra staff and inventory will be depleting, so don't wait on this great opportunity !!!

History of Naval Academy

When the founders of the United States Naval Academy were looking for a suitable location, it was reported that then Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft decided to move the naval school to "the healthy and secluded" location of Annapolis in order to rescue midshipmen from "the temptations and distractions that necessarily connect with a large and populous city." The Philadelphia Naval Asylum School was its predecessor. Four of the original seven faculty members came from Philadelphia. Other small naval schools in New York City, Norfolk, Va., and Boston, Mass. also existed in the early days of the United States.
The United States Navy was born during the American Revolution when the need for a naval force to match the Royal Navy became clear. But during the period immediately following the Revolution, the Continental Navy was demobilized in 1785 by an economy-minded Congress.
The dormancy of American seapower lasted barely a decade when, in 1794, George Washington persuaded the Congress to authorize a new naval force to combat the growing menace of piracy on the high seas.
The first vessels of the new U.S. Navy were launched in 1797; among them were the United States, the Constellation, and the Constitution. In 1825, President John Quincy Adams urged Congress to establish a Naval Academy "for the formation of scientific and accomplished officers." His proposal, however, was not acted upon until 20 years later.
On September 13, 1842, the American Brig Somers set sail from the Brooklyn Navy Yard on one of the most significant cruises in American naval history. It was a school ship for the training of teenage naval apprentice volunteers who would hopefully be inspired to make the Navy a career.
However, discipline deteriorated on the Somers and it was determined by a court of inquiry aboard ship that Midshipman Philip Spencer and his two chief confederates, Boatswains Mate Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Small, were guilty of a "determined attempt to commit a mutiny."
The three were hanged at the yardarm and the incident cast doubt over the wisdom of sending midshipmen directly aboard ship to learn by doing. News of the Somers mutiny shocked the country.
Through the efforts of the Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, the Naval School was established without Congressional funding, at a 10-acre Army post named Fort Severn in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 10, 1845, with a class of 50 midshipmen and seven professors. The curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French.
In 1850 the Naval School became the United States Naval Academy. A new curriculum went into effect requiring midshipmen to study at the Academy for four years and to train aboard ships each summer. That format is the basis of a far more advanced and sophisticated curriculum at the Naval Academy today. As the U.S. Navy grew over the years, the Academy expanded. The campus of 10 acres increased to 338. The original student body of 50 midshipmen grew to a brigade size of 4,000. Modern granite buildings replaced the old wooden structures of Fort Severn.
Congress authorized the Naval Academy to begin awarding bachelor of science degrees in 1933. The Academy later replaced a fixed curriculum taken by all midshipmen with the present core curriculum plus 18 major fields of study, a wide variety of elective courses and advanced study and research opportunities.
Since then, the development of the United States Naval Academy has reflected the history of the country. As America has changed culturally and technologically so has the Naval Academy. In just a few decades, the Navy moved from a fleet of sail and steam-powered ships to a high-tech fleet with nuclear-powered submarines and surface ships and supersonic aircraft. The academy has changed, too, giving midshipmen state-of- the-art academic and professional training to be effective naval officers in their future careers.
The Naval Academy first accepted women as midshipmen in 1976, when Congress authorized the admission of women to all of the service academies. Women comprise about 13 to 14 percent of entering plebes--or freshmen--and they pursue the same academic and professional training as do their male classmates.