St Michaels on the eastern shore

5/17/22

Selecting an eastern shore destination was a difficult choice…they all sounded so interesting. St Michaels had come up in several conversations and was located between Solomons and Annapolis so we headed across the bay to see explore the area. This was a 55 mile trip and we figured it would take 5 to 6 hours. Having spent an extra night in Solomons, and only planning a 1 night stay in St Michaels, we planned an early departure. The next transit (to Annapolis) is just 30 miles so this would give us an afternoon and morning to see the sights. However, the weather had different plans and we woke up to a very foggy morning, which delayed our departure to 9:30…when we could at least see across the harbor.

We spent the morning in heavy fog and traffic with eyeballs swiveling between the radar, gps, ipad, engine instruments and (most importantly) looking out the window. We travelled slowly (at times, the visibility closed to about 100 feet) and picked our way through the obstacles for 4 hours before the fog lifted and then travelled another 3 hours before reaching St Michaels at 3:30, just enough time to take in the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. A quick swim in the chilly pool for Kathy, who had to reply to boat owners sitting on their boat, “it was….refreshing!”. Cocktails in the cockpit chatting with folks next to us, then followed their recommendation to Ava’s for delicious pizza and salad.

The St Michaels Maritime Museum is one of the best of its type. The format used boats & gear to tell the story of how the inhabitants at the time, used the bay and conversely, how the bay contributed to the lives of those who lived and worked on it. The exhibits included boats used for oystering & crabbing as well as early exploration, duck hunting, sailing and recreational power boating. Woven throughout each of these themes was a timeline development of how the purpose built craft evolved along with the construction and propulsion methods. They are also restoring, rebuilding and replicating boats that played a significant part in the history of the bay. The exhibits ranged from a replica of the 24 foot, 2 piece boat that John Smith used to explore the area in the early 1600s to hydroplanes raced in the 1960s to racing sailboats to duck hunting boats to…you get the idea, all the different boats that were used for different purposes in different centuries. Well worth another visit.

We hope to get back to St Michaels for more exploration but will avoid weekends….sounds like the place gets nuts!