Our visit to Annapolis coincided with 'Commissioning Week'. This annual event is hosted by the US Naval Academy, with celebrations and ceremonies to honour their graduating class, and culminating with Graduation Day on May 26. The downtown area was alive with white uniformed graduates, and their families and friends who had come to town to attend the celebrations.

But the highlight of the Commissioning Week was the arial performance of the US Navy Flight Demonstration Squad, the Blue Angels. We knew the crowds would be huge for the Wednesday afternoon performance over the Severn River, so decided to go out in the dinghy to view the show. It was quite chilly, but we bundled up and headed out to the front of the line, to bob around with a few other dinghies and kayaks. There was a huge number of boats anchored in the Bay, estimated at well over a thousand, with patrol boats running the line to keep everyone in order. Well, when the Blue Angels did their first fly by, we realized how close and personal we were to the action! We were astounded at how low the planes flew when they did some of their passes in front of the Naval Academy, and then came zooming very low right over us...we could actually see the pilot's heads! And the noise of the six fighter jets was deafening, especially when they turned and we could see into their fiery engines! Unfortunately the heavy overcast sky limited much of the high altitude performance, and it was cut short by two hours. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience from our vantage point, to be that close to jets in action, especially when one jet screamed down the river at a very low altitude right in front of us...scared us for sure!