Annapolis, Maryland: The United States Naval Academy

When in Annapolis, a visit to the United States Naval Academy is well worth your time. Take a guided tour or get a map and set out on your own like we did.

One of the residence halls

Detail on residence hall

Dahlgren Hall
The Dry Dock Restaurant, open to the public, is located here.  Dahlgren Hall houses
many social activities for the cadets.

Outside detail on Dahlgren Hall

Inside Dahlgren Hall

Huge model ship at one end of Dalgren Hall

Model of the Wright B-1 Flyer hanging in Dalgren Hall

The chapel is a "must-see"

The gorgeous stained glass windows in the chapel were made
by Tiffany.

We were lucky enough to hear this gentleman playing the organ when we
visited the chapel.

Below the chapel is the crypt of John Paul Jones,
hero of the American Revolution.

The elaborate marble coffin of John Paul Jones

Preble Hall houses the U. S. Naval Museum

On the second floor of the museum is a large collection of intricate model ships.

A Tale of Two Colleges

On a hill overlooking the small town of Lexington, Virginia, sit two very different institutions of higher learning.  Washington & Lee University, with its, red brick buildings, white columns, and liberal arts curriculum dominates one side of the hill, while the austere, military stateliness of Virginia Military Institute secures the other side.  Where one campus ends, the other, quite literally, begins.  A visit to both is worth your time.

Washington & Lee University

Brick walkway in front of a classroom building

Lee Chapel
Robert E. Lee is buried here

Entrance to Lee Chapel

Window in Lee Chapel

Lee Chapel

Traveller's Grave
Robert E. Lee's beloved horse, Traveller, is buried beside Lee Chapel

Remembrances left at Traveller's gravesite

Virginia Military Institute

Cadets on the VMI campus

Detail of a window on a classroom building

Evening at VMI