Rick planned the trip for several weeks. He made reservations at five different Bed and Breakfast and also a reservation at the Hyatt resort where we met Walker and his. Family for a long weekend.
We had a long day traveling to Swanendele Inn on Saint James Creek and the Chesapeake Bay.
When we arrived the greeters could not find our reservation. I sat on a large sofa in the middle of the room and told a very nice owner: “I am not leaving.” They found the reservation and showed us to a lovely room overlooking the water. Right beside our room was a large circular space with lots of art work I looked at over the stay. Our room was the captain John Smith room, famous as the first leader of Virginia. He made maps of many of the creeks in Virginia and Maryland. He was part of the Virginia Company, a surveyor who was the leader of the first English settlement of Virginia.
Our travels and destinations were all in the eastern shore of Maryland.
Our days were spent driving through very flat farmland and close to the many small rivers and creeks that make up the geography of Maryland.m
We were served breakfast but not dinner at Swanendale. The owner suggested Courtney’s which was the only restaurant open in the near by town. The first day day we explored Saint Mary’s County. The first Capitol of Maryland was Saint Mary’s City which was small. It has a small college and several historic buildings. In the. evening went to Courtney’s and shared six fried shrimp. There was one other woman there with her children. We decided she lived in a Camp site that was right across the street. The next evening Rick went by Courtney’s alone but the road was flooded so he could not get to the restaurant.
Our next Bed and Breakfast was Osprey Point Inn close to the town of Rock Hall. From the window of our room we could see a wharf with many large sail boats and two large power boats. Our room was right above the restaurant. This B and B was also not crowded.
Maryland’s eastern shore is sourrounded by water. The Chesapeake Bay separates the mainland from the lang strip of land that is the Eastern shore. There are many small rivers and creeks in this part of Maryland, filled with brackish water, a combination of salt and fresh water. Since we do not have much seafood in Charlottesville we wanted to eat lots of sea food and so shared crab cakes often. In the morning after breakfast we walked out on the wharf and looked at the sailboats
Because there is so much water in Maryland many families own boats of some kind either a sail boat or a power boat and many people learn to sail at a very young age.
Our next destination was Chesapeake City..
Chesapeake City and Inn were unique. The small town was right under a towering bridge. The tliving room had a small porch where we could view the bridge and the town. We had to climb two flights of stairs to reach our bedroom. It was traditional and homey with blankets and even a quilt as decorations. I used the blankets that night to keep me warm. . The hostess at the Osprey told us the name of her favorite restaurant so we decided to have dinner there. It was very close to our hotel and we walked ther once we got settled. We visited the other shops close by but everything was very expensive so we did not stay.
The restaurants was upscale but a ball game was on so we decided to eat at the bar and watch the game. We again share a delicious crab dinner and watched more basketball, all the games were leading to the final four championship game.
We learned all about the camel and why it was built, beginning in 1829. It was built here so large ships did not have to spend seven hour going the length of the island. The planning and building was all done by the United States Corps of Engineers. There were law suits and much controversy.
The next day We visited the canal museum and watched a movie showing how the camel was build and also describing how engineers build bridges across the rivers and canals. We were not told the exact bridge the movies described but it was an exhaustive movie.
The Chesapeake and Dleware Canel took years to build. It connects the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware river. Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware were involved in its construction. It saved large ships hundreds of miles of travel time. The ships could reach their destination of large cities like Philadelphia and New York.
Our final Bed and Breakfast was called “the Inn By the River” . We were in a small cottage right by the river. There was a dock and small crafts on the shore but the land had deep puddles of water so I did not go down to the edge of the river but enjoyed the peaceful scenery.
I picked out two sticks to make an Easter tree when we saw our grandchildren at the Hyatt.
We walked about a block to a Bar restaurant and sat at the bar and ate more seafood.
Our next destination was the Hyat Regency resort in Cambridge.
yWe were in Cambridge early so scouted out the surroundings to see what we had planned for Easter Day.
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