Month: November 2015

Tug of warriors

Week 10

I’ve alway considered the Maritime Republic of Eastport vs. Annapolis Tug of War — also known as the Slaughter Across the Water — to be one of the community’s defining events.  (This year, it was a slaughter, with the MRE crushing downtown Annapolis (DTA) 5-2.)  What other city stretches a rope across its harbor — shutting it down to navigation — to accommodate a tug of war?  The 1,700 foot rope that crosses Spa Creek was made specifically for this event and has been valued at $23,488.50. And the event features the delightfully goofy “Maritime Republic of Eastport,” a brilliant marketing effort to promote Eastport businesses in 1998 when the Maryland State Highway Administration temporarily closed the bridge connecting downtown Annapolis with Eastport for repairs.  Eastportericans responded by declaring their independence from Annapolis, even adopting their own flag featuring a severed scroll with the motto, “We Like It This Way.”  The MRE’s yellow-and-black flags were once common on the east side of Spa Creek — or the “Gulf of Eastport,” as the MRE calls it.  The flags, however, are seen less frequently as the years have passed.

This tow boat, used to facilitate stretching the 1,700-foot rope acrosss Spa Creek, was a tug boat on Saturday.
This tow boat, used to facilitate stretching the 1,700-foot rope across Spa Creek, was a tug boat for the Slaughter Across the Water.

But for one of the community’s defining events, Saturday’s 18th Tug of War was sparsely attended.  It was probably due to the rainy weather, which may have also provided an advantage to the Eastport side, where the tuggers were on asphalt rather than brick.  For whatever reason, though, the Eastport side dominated the event.

First up were DTA bars versus Eastport’s 4th Street bars.  WRNR radio personalities hosted the event on both sides of Spa Creek.  The MC on the DTA side spotted Mike Pantelides — Annapolis’s 32-year-old mayor – in the crowd, and he was promptly drafted as the anchorman for the DTA bar tuggers.  As anchors go, the thin mayor was on the light side and the Eastport bars pulled to an easy victory.

Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides (far left) was recruited from the crowd to join the downtown Annapolis bars' unsuccessful tuggers.
Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides (far left) was drafted from the crowd to join the downtown Annapolis bars’ unsuccessful tuggers.

Next up were Naval Academy midshipman against the Eastport Yacht Club.  The midshipmen put on a synchronized tugging clinic and easily prevailed.

Tug 5
The Naval Academy easily defeated the Eastport Yacht Club

But then the MRE took over, with a stunning come-from-behind victory by the Eastport Fire Station over the Prince George’s County Firefighters, who were — for reasons I didn’t really understand — competing on the downtown Annapolis side.

My wife was a weather wimp and bailed out, leaving me there with my daughter and a friend of hers.  Unfortunately there was an 18-year-old minimum age, so they didn’t get to compete even though some of the tugs were open to the public.

As an Arnold resident, I have no inherent allegiance to either DTA or Eastport.  Next year, I plan to check out the Eastport side — which, at the very least, included more food options, including (oddly enough) Mason’s Lobster Roll, which is on Main Street on the DTA side of Spa Creek.  I think I’ll also sign up to join one of the tugs, with the promise of boots gripping asphalt rather than brick.  If the weather isn’t as liquid, perhaps this uniquely Annapolitan event will draw more of the Annapolis community in 2016.