789. Annapolis, Anne Arundel County (MD09)

It’s always nice to see a county courthouse get some love, especially considering how old they can often be. In hindsight, it also reminds me of how little I actually know about architecture in general and courthouses specifically. The Anne Arundel County Courthouse is the third oldest courthouse in Maryland, built in a Georgian Revival style. This is both of interest and a bit of a chastisement in that I was so completely and utterly wrong about Charles and Calvert Counties’ courthouses. The courthouse in Prince Frederick is Colonial Revival, finished in 1916. The courthouse in La Plata is Modern Colonial Revival, finished in 1954. These are hardly buildings of long and storied service as I made them out to be (at least not on the East Coast, they’re not). This should remind you all that, ultimately, I am a madman, usually in a high-speed moving box, and can certainly not be considered an authority on much of anything from a construction and design standpoint. My only claim to authority is regarding whether I think a building is pretty. Otherwise, assume that I, like Jon Snow, know nothing. But I do know this: as lovely as the Anne Arundel County Courthouse is, it would never be the true center of political gravity in the county. Not when it’s basically across the street from …

… the Maryland State House (which was also in the throes of renovation and spruce up–ification). All the construction, both here and on surrounding buildings, made for a bit of difficulty in getting around. It also meant that I didn’t get an up-close look at an unexpected find …

… the statue of Thurgood Marshall along the capitol mall. I rarely research the histories or notables of the areas I visit, but had I known of his connection to Maryland, I might have been better prepared for the subject. Of course, I had a clue back in Baltimore …

… landing at an airport named after him. Ironically, my cache for the county had already been taken care of. You see, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is in Anne Arundel County. I had my cache for here about an hour after we touched down!

About fifteen hundred feet from the car rental lots was a trackable hotel off the side of the road. We stalked into the wooded land, avoiding thorny vines to find what I believe was our first physical cache of the trip (of course, the Adventure Labs in the airport came before). That didn’t stop us from finding more caches.

We ended up finding one in the ivy surrounding a local museum and then wandered around for a while, taking photos, claiming more Adventure Labs, and engaging in a few shenanigans until we started thinking about lunch. Several members of our fellowship are foodies, so it seemed proper to them to have something crab-based for lunch.

From a perch above the madding crowd, we ate crab cakes and talked. Ironically, we ended up seated next to a family from San Antonio, so laughs and conversation resulted therefrom. We discussed the smell of the water and the caches planned for the rest of the day. We recommitted ourselves to the long day still to come and then made ready to resume our travels.

I navigated us to the Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bay Bridge and looked out at the Chesapeake, the rhythmic beating of tires and grooves accompanying the drive until we crossed over to the other side and came to…