Dear Annapolis,

I know, we haven’t known each other long, but I think I’m falling in love with you.

I love your wild life. When we first met, it was in the heat of early September, and your tree-lined streets thrummed and pulsed so loudly with the din of cicadas, it left me in awe. And while you don’t have racoons or beavers or swans, I love your herons and the deer I see almost every morning.

And we both love boats. You know we have that in common. I love how you have so many nooks and crannies for keeping boats safe and close by. And we both prefer sailboats, right? I mean, yes, you have a show for power boats, but I’ve heard that you make that a much smaller show. Where I come from, the boat shows are mostly fishing and skiing boats, with few sailboats to admire. I look forward to seeing just how big the largest sailboat show can be.

But it’s not just about the boats. I also love your silly obsession with red bricks. I love how you use them not just for nearly every building, but also for the sidewalks and for the roads. I like how they move and make a noise as I ride over them on my bike. Variety is overrated. I say pick one building material and then make everything from it, just as you’ve done. Red looks good on you.

I love how you’ve put dinghy docks at the end of every street. It gives us a chance to roam over all of you. And I like the way you kind of invite – or maybe dare – the sea to wash over your roads and parks during the highest tides. I like how it makes you feel a part of the watery world around you.

And I don’t know how you did it, but it seems you’ve found a way to keep drivers on their best behaviour. They never speed through your streets, they are always kind towards people biking and walking. How did you do that? Is it the circular roads? No, don’t tell me. I like that it’s your special trick.

Sure, it’d be nice if you could offer up some Hakka, Szechuan, Indian, Korean…well really there are great foods from a lot of different places and…really, you might want to look into it. Maybe you could start by Googling “Food that isn’t crab cakes” and see where that takes you. But hey, a bus to Baltimore or DC is quick and cheap and I believe they have all the food kinds there.

Yes, it helps that it hasn’t rained or even gotten chilly in the full three weeks that we’ve been together. I try to imagine you with one of your two-inch snowfalls, and all the schools closed before the snow even starts to fly. I think I would only like you more, to see you like that.

Anyways, I’ll be leaving in a few days and there will be many miles and many stories before we meet again. I’m sure you’ve heard all this a thousand times before. I know, I’m nothing but flotsam on the wave of boaters that are pounding your shores. But I wanted to say it anyway. I’m going to miss you, and I look forward to cosying up with you again someday.