To all of the visitors to our fair city of Annapolis who are here to enjoy Commencement Week, we welcome you with open arms. And open registers. Thank you for enjoying one of the true gems of the East Coast. We love it here and we are confident that you will, as well. The locals are fantastic people. They really are. But sometimes they can treat tourists like rubes and fill their heads with nonsense. They don’t do it to be mean. They do it because they think it’s funny. So we just thought we’d correct some erroneous information that a few of the residents may be passing along. 1. The Blue Angels are not here every day at two. They do not do this “all the time.” This is a special, annual event. Furthermore, you do NOT need to purchase tickets to “look up at the planes.” So if you have shelled out for Blue Angel tickets, you are owed a refund. 2. It is NOT a tradition for visitors to jump into Ego Alley on their first visit to the city. Please do not do that. 3. Annapolis does NOT own an NBA franchise. And if we did, we would have a better name than the Annapolis Oysters. Also, we would have them play somewhere larger than our Rec Center. Let’s use our heads, folks. 4. You are required to pay for a meal immediately after consuming it. Restaurants will NOT tally up your total for the week and send you a bill at your hotel upon your departure. What some of you folks have been doing is generally called “dine and dash.” You don’t know it, but you have. 5. Properly licensed cabs will be marked as such, with a medallion on the side and a lighted sign on the top. Cars with cardboard duct-taped to the door with the word “Real Taxi” written with a Sharpie are NOT real cabs. And, when in doubt, real cabbies will point to the meter to indicate how much that trip has cost. They will NOT say, “How much you got?” 6. Likewise, please ensure that you are staying at a legitimate hotel, inn, or bed and breakfast. If, upon check-in, you are assigned to a room with several other people you don’t know or if Lion King bedsheets are being used as curtains, you may want to leave. In fact, if the front desk is located at a kitchen table, don’t bother checking in at all. 7. We have said it before and we will say it again: the city does not now, nor has it ever, employed “Boob Inspectors.” That is just Chris and Donnie. We don’t know where they got the badges, but they have been told several times to stop. They are essentially harmless, but please don’t encourage them, ladies. 8. If a local offers to teach you our “secret handshake,” politely decline. And giving that handshake to local business owners does NOT entitle you to any kind of discount. 9. We do NOT have “shopping bag valets.” So if you give any of the items that you have just purchased downtown to someone claiming to be one, odds are they will not be taking those items back to your hotel room. 10. You do not need to get your hand stamped to “get back in to town in the morning.” This is not a nightclub. 11. And finally, have a great time while you’re here! We love having you. And if you could do us a favor and give us a good review on Yelp! and Angie’s List, we’d really appreciate it!
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 20:00:20 +0000