Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [145]
Continuing farther south just a couple of miles is the community known as Scotland (you’ll also find California and Hollywood in St. Mary’s County). Here there’s The Hale House Bed & Breakfast’s three rooms with private entrances and baths, panoramic river views, a pool, pier and a golf tee (open April-November, tel. 301-872-4558, $$), and St. Michael’s Manor Bed & Breakfast (1805) with four rooms furnished with antiques, water views, a vineyard, boating and swimming. Open mid-February-December. (Route 5, tel. 301-872-4025, www.stmichaels-manor.com, $$)
Pet-friendly: Wide Bay Cottage has two bedrooms, a kitchen, and Chesapeake Bay views on a 95-acre farm; weekly rentals only. (Route 5, Scotland, tel. 301-884-3254, $$)
Information
Historic St. Mary’s City, tel. 800-SMC-1634, www.stmaryscity.org.
St. Mary’s County Department of Economic & Community Development, tel. 301-475-4411, www.co.saint-marys.md.us/tourism.
TIP: If you arrive when the visitor center is closed, the grounds of Historic St. Mary’s City are open every day from dawn to dusk, so you can stroll at your leisure, no charge. Pets are allowed to walk with you on a leash, but not inside the exhibits.
Events
The Historic St. Mary’s City Farmers Market is held on Fridays from late June through mid-September, 3:30-7 pm, at Historic St. Mary’s Church.
St. Mary’s College hosts a free outdoor River Concert Series in June and July with the Chesapeake Orchestra. (tel. 240-895-4107, www.smcm.edu)
Solomons Island
As Bill and I finished our travels for this book, a longing for that perfect spot to end a long weekend took hold. Our goal was simple: To sit somewhere on the water, have a drink and toast our good fortune. There’s a little bit of history here: I had in my mind the image of a perfect afternoon we had spent 10 years ago on the very first trip we took as a couple. Back then, we had logged a long day of driving the Outer Banks, ending with a ferry to the mainland and the tiny waterfront town of Beaufort, NC. We found a long dock along the water, lined with restaurants and shops. I have a picture I took of Bill – unshaven and suntanned, wearing a neon pink Bob Marley tank top, a bottle of Corona in his hand. Looking back, it seemed so carefree (back before we started writing about the places we visited, and travel became a little like work!).
Anyway, that’s what I had in mind when I spotted Solomons Island on the map, a small fishhook-shaped piece of land, but neither of us had a clue what it would really be like until we parked the car and started walking around. Framed by the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay, the island is separated from the mainland by a scant 23 feet. Along “Main Street,” a long boardwalk along the Patuxent River, we walked slowly, letting a breeze cleanse and refresh after the stuffiness of an air-conditioned Jeep.
Around Town
It was a late Sunday afternoon in June; the sun had just started its slow summertime descent on the river. Up and down the boardwalk walked families with strollers, couples with ice cream cones, fishermen with tackle boxes. We too got cones from the stand perched right on the boardwalk and made a mental note, maybe for our next visit, that you can rent a skiff for an hour or a day. Across Solomons Island Road, surf and gift shops bustled, and seafood restaurants starting livening up with an evening dining crowd.
It was getting to be time for that perfect restaurant to appear. We had our dog with us – was it beyond hope that a restaurant with patio seating would admit animals? Timidly, I approached Solomons Pier, mostly expecting a curt “no” in reply. I walked out onto the pier that extended into the river and found an outdoor bar, umbrella tables and a pair of guitarists singing in the style of Jimmy Buffett. It was exactly what I had envisioned. The waiter’s response to the dog question was “No problem.” I couldn’t believe it!
We grabbed