Marion Winik 2020-12-31 16:17:13
Just south of our nation’s capital, Southern Maryland welcomes visitors with fascinating historic sites, delicious seafood, and 1,000 miles of shoreline stretching over the bay and along the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. Traditional, friendly, and genuine—the people and places of Southern Maryland are as charming as its waterfront backdrop is beautiful. COASTAL PURSUITS North Beach @ceelowphotographs While in Southern Maryland, take to the bay aboard a Waterman’s Heritage Tour. A day on the Chesapeake Bay with an experienced waterman is a must for seafood lovers, history buffs, naturalists, and anyone intrigued by this historic Maryland lifestyle. The boat captains in this consortium offer everything from crabbing adventures with trotlines and crab pots, to scenic kayak tours, photography trips, sunset sails, and traditional skipjack charters. Many can be customized to your interests, whether you’d like to visit the lighthouses of the Southern Bay, battlefields of the War of 1812, oyster seeding beds, or simply relax on the water and take home some crabs. Tours range from a 2-3 hour cruise to full-day charters and weekend packages. On land (barely) are stunning bayfront beaches. North Beach, Chesapeake Beach—home to the largest charter fleet on the bay—and the surrounding communities offer inns and vacation rentals for relaxation in any season. For fair weather visitors, there’s sandy North Beach, the Chesapeake Beach water park, and the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail, frequented by both joggers and stroller pushers. The area is also home to a couple of great museums. The Bayside History Museum’s exhibits include everything from paleontological and archaeological finds to a reproduction carousel from the old Chesapeake Beach Amusement Park and the original jukebox from Uncle Billie’s, a North Beach hot spot in the 1940s and ‘50s. With a reservation, you can take your young surfer or skateboarder to see the vintage boards and other displays at Bruce “Snake” Gabrielson’s Surf Art Museum. It’s a straight shot “from the White House to the lighthouse” as Washington, D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue turns into Maryland Route 4—delivering drivers to Solomons Island in less than an hour and a half. In addition to its marinas and boardwalk, Solomons Island is the home of the Calvert Marine Museum (and its adorable otters), the Annmarie Sculpture Garden, and a number of fine waterfront seafood joints. Environmentalists young and old will enjoy the exhibits at the Chesapeake Bay Biological Lab, highlighting the health of the bay. For some travelers, it’s all about the sunset. Leonardtown Wharf Park has got those sunset seekers covered, whether on land or from a rented kayak or stand-up paddleboard. Home to Southern Maryland’s only Arts & Entertainment District, a winery, and terrific restaurants, Leonardtown hosts many a reunion and girls getaway, as well as the National Oyster Shucking Championship, which takes place along with the crowning of King or Queen Oyster at the U.S. Oyster Festival each October. A PLACE OF HISTORY & TRADITION Visit the birthplace of American religious freedom in historic St. Mary’s City—Maryland’s first settlement and capital—which was also the first place in the colonies to embrace both Catholics and Protestants. These days the whole town is an open-air museum with living history reenactments and reconstructions of the state house, a tobacco plantation, and the Dove, one of the two tall ships that brought colonists from England in 1634. Archaeologists just keep digging up more of the past, on display at the Archaeology Research Centre. It is also the campus of the public honors college, St. Mary’s College of Maryland—set within the city’s 800 acres of living history. Continue tracing history’s footsteps from here by taking the ferry from Colton’s Point to St. Clement’s Island to see the spot where the Dove and the Ark made landfall before the first Marylanders headed on to St. Mary’s City. Tour the reconstructed lighthouse and one-room schoolhouse. Colton’s Point is also home to the Potomac Seafood and Jazz Festival. See traditional living in modern Maryland at the active Amish and Mennonite communities of Loveville and Mechanicsville, which surround Leonardtown—easily accessible by bike. Community members sell quilts, traditional wooden furniture, leather goods, preserves, pies, and more. The Amish Quilt Auctions held Saturdays in November are a dream for lovers of traditional crafts. History buffs love Port Tobacco, the smallest town in Maryland, which boasts attractions including the home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Stone, as well as the “ruins” of the original village, including a 17th-century courthouse and a few residences. The view out over the waterways from the graveyard at St. Ignatius Church is considered the best in Charles County. And if you’re feeling the need for speed, lock in on the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum & Visitors Center. The base is home to the U.S. Navy’s test pilot program. Attractions include a super cool collection of fighter planes and the only F-14 simulator in the world open to civilians. Find out if you have what it takes to be a Top Gun. St. Mary’s City @sarahmyersmarketing OPEN FOR EXPLORATION History and nature merge at Point Lookout State Park—a beautiful spot that just so happens to be one of the state’s most popular parks as well as a key to Maryland’s Civil War history. First a hospital for Union soldiers, then a prison camp for captured Confederates, Point Lookout was also a stop on the Underground Railroad, where enslaved people who crossed the Potomac from Virginia reached the protection of federal authorities and joined the Union Army. The park provides ample campsites, a 710-foot fishing pier and surf fishing areas, and hunting grounds. Birders take note: Point Lookout is a migrant concentration point, especially in autumn. Look for shorebirds, raptors, songbirds—and ghosts. Point Lookout is considered one of the most haunted places in America. St Clements Island State Park @angel_beil Turn back the clock even further to prehistoric eras at Calvert Cliffs State Park. When the shallow sea that covered Southern Maryland in prehistoric times receded, these cliffs were left behind. Now they are a great place to look for fossils. Perfect for a hike and a cookout, this state park offers six trails through the woods and wetlands. The 1.8-mile Red Trail, which goes over the fossil-rich cliffs (bring a bucket for your finds) and down to the beach is feasible even for families with little ones—it’s about an hour each way. Outside of the park, Indian Head Rail Trail also offers hikers and bicyclists up-close views of deer, osprey, turtles, and other wildlife in the woods surrounding this relatively flat trail, which runs more than 10 miles from White Plains to Indian Head. More natural beauty can be found at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp as you stroll beneath massive cypress trees and through beautiful marshland on this park’s well-maintained boardwalk. Look for owls, hawks, a large albino snapping turtle, and other wildlife. In addition to the cypress trees themselves, the sanctuary protects several endangered species of songbirds, frogs, and wildflowers. Birdwatchers will also relish Nanjemoy Sanctuary, a 68-acre conservancy that’s home to the largest great blue heron rookery on the East Coast north of Florida. Enjoy the watershed along with the herons, red-winged blackbirds, egrets, and the second-largest bald eagle population in the state. The water also reveals secrets at Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, designated in 2019. This marine sanctuary just 30 miles south of Washington, D.C. is famous for its Ghost Fleet—more than 100 steamships from WWI—as well as wrecks from Revolutionary times through the 1900s. The wrecks are largely submerged during high tide, but emerge when the waters ebb. Mallows Bay @nicolereneepost Fun Facts You can stay overnight at the Cove Point Lighthouse—the keeper’s house has been renovated to house visitors. ArtsFest is an annual event held in LaPlata with more than 60 artists and vendors. Find more things to do in Southern Maryland online at: visitmaryland.org/regions-cities/southern-maryland Find more things to do in Southern Maryland online at: visitmaryland.org/regions-cities/southern-maryland
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