Goodbye Commissioning Week, Hello Annapolis Memorial Day Weekend

Well it’s Friday, and on my early morning walk downtown I spied a large family, gathered outside the home they had rented in the Murray Hill neighborhood, based on their attire and the excited look on their faces, it was a good guess that they were about to set out for the U.S. Naval Academy graduation. They saw me look their way and one of them called out, “Don’t worry. We’ll soon be gone and you’ll have your town back.”
I laughed and retorted, “Congratulations and hope you have a great time today.”
They thanked me and told my husband when he asked, that they were all visiting from Boston.
Yes, it is a funny thing that the days leading up to Memorial day are crowded and hectic downtown with all the out-of-town visitors, but once the real holiday hits, the city is cleared out. Many of the “natives” have used the opportunity to score on the high rents collected when you lease your house for the week to a visiting family during Commissioning Week. For those of us, here and maintaining our “work as usual” routine we see and hear the large parties held at the homes of neighbors and if our routine takes us over to the Academy, as it does for my husband who takes a Masters Swim Class there a few evenings a week, we observe and soak up some of the anticipation and excitement of the families of the graduating class as they proudly walk around the campus watching the parades and attending parties and dances.
The traffic jams are frustrating and sometimes I catch myself swearing under my breath with annoyance at having to make some scheduling adjustments. But that’s all it is…adjustments that require forethought and planning, like a lot of what life is all about. It’s easy to criticize just about anything. (And many of my so-called journalism colleagues do just that) but it’s a lot harder to make something better by your actions.
While the Memorial Day Parade at 10 a.m. to noon is the only public scheduled activity downtown for Monday,, check out the festivals on Sunday afternoon downtown. A lot of folks have worked very hard to put together West Fest which puts the emphasis on Music and Sundays at City Dock, which has entertainment and activities geared to families. You could go to both!
Memorial Day is a time to reflect and honor those who have served our country in the military. It was originally called Decoration Day because it is a time many people visit cemeteries to decorate graves with wreaths and flowers, it honors the men and women who died while serving in the American military, but it can also be a time to remember everyone in your life of significance who has died during your lifetime. I’m not a fan of graves and cemeteries (I’m donating my body to science), but I love trees, shrubs, and flowers. The unofficial start of summer, is a good time to plant something to make our earth a little greener.