Annapolis Royal Folly

One block from the governor’s mansion, within walking distance of the Naval Academy, the harbor and lots of local restaurants — a gorgeously historic B&B with friendly and fascinating owners — the Royal Folly lives up to its clever name, wholeheartedly delivering in royal treatment.
I’m not much for mingling with innkeepers when we’ve paid hundreds of dollars to hole ourselves up in a B&B for some R&R, and we definitely had our privacy and solitude during our stay, but I have to say the owners — Pat and Ed — are largely what makes this place so special.
Pat, a woman whose Bostonian roots are exceedingly apparent, is genuinely hysterical without trying — sassy and frank, high society but down to earth, I imagine her being cast as Fran Drescher’s big sister. Replacing the «er» at the end of words with «a,» and not just when saying «chowda,» she talks to her toy poodle in a baby voice, in first person, referring to herself as the pooch’s mommy.
Ed, a man with a much more mellow temperament than his wife, but who can run up with her on the friendliness front, is an amazing cook who whipped up an alcoholic strawberry appetizer for the breakfast, and served a Mexican quiche-​like dish with black beans and mimosas to wash it down.
We stayed in the Lady Jennifer room, which is large with its own bathroom and shares a hot tub with another room. In December, it was just us and one other couple in the whole place, so we had the hot tub all to ourselves. After returning in the rain from the sailboat lights parade, we jumped in the hot tub with a bottle of sparkling wine, turned on the bubbles and popped open the bubbly. It was one of the most luxuriously cliché things I’ve ever done.