The Wildlife Refuge That Almost Became a Housing Development: Exploring Eastern Neck NWR

We visited Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) twice last month: once in the beginning of the month and then in the later half of the month because I’d read that the tundra swans had arrived. Both times we saw different birds: hawks, seagulls or terns, vultures, Cardinals, tundra swans from a very far distance, […]

The Waterfowl Festival Continues 50-Year Tradition of Celebrating Maryland’s Eastern Shore Heritage

The quintessential festival of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Waterfowl Festival just celebrated its 50th year November 12 – 14 in Easton, a town that still retains its old-timey charm and is known for its vibrant culinary and arts communities, as well as its historic downtown. The town’s charm translates to the festival itself — the Waterfowl […]

13 Great Ghost Tours: A Spooky Tour Through the Mid-Atlantic States

August, September and October are the season most folks check out ghost walks and ghost tours — one of my favorite activities! Ghost tours are always intriguing — they’re a little bit of sight-seeing, a little bit of ghost story, and usually a lot of history. Ghost tours are a good way to get to […]

Sailing on the Shardana

The Chesapeake Bay is a world-famous sailing destination, and there’s good reason why. With its rich maritime history, picture-postcard towns, quaint islands, and endless coves, creeks and anchorages, there are plenty of places to explore and to enjoy. The largest estuary in the US, and the second largest in North America, the Bay’s 200 miles […]

Turkey Point Lighthouse Hike at Elk Neck State Park

Cliff-side views of the Chesapeake Bay, lighthouses, and a walk through the woods, the hike to Turkey Point Lighthouse has it all. As have several other state parks in Maryland, Elk Neck State Park was the result of the generosity of a major landholder. In 1936, naturalist Dr. William Abbott bequeathed his holdings along the […]

Eagles at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to visit. Recently I unintentionally visited while exploring the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, retracing some of the important places to the African American community in the 1800s in Dorchester and a few of the stops along the Underground Railroad. The driving tour led […]

Exploring Kent Island’s Cross Island Trail

Just over the Bay Bridge in Maryland, the Cross Island Trail is a rail trail in Queen Anne’s County occupying a section of the abandoned Queen Anne’s Railroad corridor that travels the width of Kent Island. The trail begins in Terrapin Park, near the foot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and brings you through both Terrapin Park […]

Six Mid-Atlantic Lighthouses You Need to See!

These are six of my favorite lighthouses in the Mid-Atlantic region — from a variety of locations, including the Atlantic Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay. During the summer months you can find boat tours of both the Chesapeake and Delaware bays that will take you to the various lighthouses; many lighthouses you can drive […]

Two Days and Eleven Lights: Day Two

This is part two of Chesapeake Lighthouses, Southern Expedition, a two-day excursion to 11 lighthouses around the Chesapeake Bay. From Tangier Island, we headed straight over to Onancock, VA, arriving around 5:30 p.m. We unloaded our bags, and headed up the street to our respective inns (Captain Jack arranged rides for those in the group […]

Two Days and Eleven Lights: Day One

My sister and I had been on the shorter “Passage to Five” excursion offered by Chesapeake Lights in May; before we’d even gotten off the boat that day, we’d signed up for the once annual 2-day trip that takes place every August. Update May 2021: Unfortunately, Chesapeake Lights no longer offers lighthouse tours. The lighthouses […]