• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 976 0

a table close to the water’s edge, ordered Margaritas and the house specialty, a “Beach Bucket” of fried clams, crab balls and shrimp. Out on the water, sailboats, personal watercraft and motorboats cruised the Patuxent River. A middle-aged customer, obviously enjoying the band and a few Coronas with his wife, blurted out spontaneously, “Are we in paradise yet?” This bearded fellow in sunglasses, a Jimmy Buffett T-shirt and flip-flops voiced my own feelings of the moment.

Billy Breslin and his brother Tommy called out for requests, and delivered on every one that came back. Someone wanted “something” by Gordon Lightfoot, so they sang If You Could Read My Mind, Love. Someone else asked for Buffett and they crooned Come Monday. Then there was Pure Prairie League’s Amy; Wild Night by Van Morrison, followed by an unusual surprise rendition of the Rolling Stones’ Dead Flowers. They also threw in some originals, humorous tunes on growing up in rural Maryland.

I like to think we could never have found a place or planned an experience any closer to that one 10 years ago. Solomons Island turned out to be the perfect ending to a hard day’s work touring Maryland small towns. And it turns out, the last chapter in this book of travels. We hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we have.

Attractions

The Calvert Marine Museum does a fabulous job preserving and portraying the history of maritime life of the Chesapeake Bay in general and the history of the circa 1870 fishing village of Solomons in particular. There’s a restored lighthouse, a re-created salt marsh, river otter habitat, woodcarving shop, extensive museum exhibits and touch tanks, and you can even take a one-hour cruise aboard an historic oyster workboat.

The Drum Point Lighthouse, one of only three of the original 45 screwpile lights left on the Chesapeake Bay, was built in 1883 at Drum Point to mark the entrance to the river. Climb through the hatch and explore the restored interior. The museum is open daily 10 am-5 pm. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors and children five-12. The Wm. B. Tennison, originally built as a sail-powered, log-hulled vessel in 1899, was converted to power and served as an oyster buyboat until 1978. One-hour cruises around Solomons Harbor and the Patuxent River depart from the museum dock at 2 pm, Wednesday-Sunday, May-October, with additional weekend cruises in July and August. The cost is $6 adults, $3 children five-12. (14200 Solomons Island Road, tel. 410-326-6691, www.calvertmarinemuseum.com)

From the Calvert Marine Museum, you can take a shuttle to the Cove Point Lighthouse, which they claim to be the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in Maryland. The 40-foot brick lighthouse was built in 1828 by John Donahoo, and has its original lantern, made in Paris in 1897. Open daily, June-August with several tours daily; weekends and holiday only in May and September. Admission is $3 and is obtained through the museum. (tel. 410-326-6691, www.cal­vertmarine­mu­se­um.com)

A half-mile from the museum you can see an actual seafood packing house. At Joseph C. Lore & Sons Oyster House, opened in 1934, learn about the boom and bust of the area’s commercial seafood industry through exhibits of the tools of the trade and a wooden boat building demonstrations. Open daily, June-August, 10 am-5 pm; weekends and holidays only in May and September. Admission is free. (14430 Solomons Island Road, tel. 410-326-2878, tel. 410-326-2042, www.calvertmarinemuseum.com)

Annmarie Garden on St. John is a public sculpture garden on St. Johns Creek. Museum-quality artwork combines with nature’s own for a quiet spot to reflect. Special events are held throughout the year. Pets are allowed, but not during special events. Open daily, 10 am-4 pm. Free admission. (Dowell Road, tel. 410-326-4640, www.annmarie­garden.org)

Dining

For its small size, Solomons Island has a remarkable number of places to eat – about 20. Solomons Pier Restaurant can easily claim the best view around – you’re surrounded by water on three sides on a pier extending into the Patuxent River.