An afternoon stroll through the Naval Academy

We learned from some friends of ours last evening that there was a museum on the Naval Academy's grounds that was not to be missed. It happened to coincide with an afternoon with nothing to do, so we grabbed walking shoes and a thermos of water and headed that way late this morning. (Ed Note: if you're a true sailor who always carries a pocket knife with you, leave it behind on the boat when planning a tour of a military facility...) So, if you've never had the opportunity to go there, enjoy the following photo essay.

First stop was the Academy Cathedral. It holds services for all religions.

If only the non-military community could figure out how to do this...

The cathedral had two huge pipe organs. One in the front...

...and one in the back.

In the basement of the cathedral was John Paul Jones' crypt. Elaborate doesn't even begin to describe it.

I was going to try to keep track of each model and its name and history, but honestly it just got to be too difficult, so you'll just have to enjoy the images. If you happen to know the ship already then you're way ahead of me!

Then it was off to the museum, which houses one of the largest collections of old ship models in the country.

The original winch

An exhibit on the history of the sextant

I was fascinated with the figureheads. The details in these models are awe-inspiring.

There was heavy Chinese influence in the art on these ships.

This model was so small you had to look at it through a magnifying glass.

I honestly can't even remember who this was, but I was simply entranced by the luminosity of his face.

An Admiral's barge.
Admirals paid for these out of their own pockets, so their status was determined by how elaborate they were.

Hmmmm......

A steam engine model that actually worked if you pushed a button. Wonder if it would out-perform the Westerbeast??