ST. MICHAELS, THE NEXT TOWN

The town of St. Michaels is West of Easton along Route 33.

We turned right on Watkins Lane to the Inn at Perry Cabin to have breakfast with a view of the Miles River.  I had a omelet with lump crab meat, spinach and shiitaki mushrooms along with yukon potatoes.  Rather than a fruit juice I opted for a bowl of fresh berries.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is located "just around the corner", situated on 18 waterfront acres. We did a guided tour. www.cbmm.org

The skipjack Rosie Parks is being restored.  There is a great family story that surrounds this skipjack.

There is an opportunity to engage in ship building.

Check out the Hooper Strait Lighthouse moved from the treacherous waters of Hooper Strait.  Great view, too.

Point Lookout Tower is not open to the public. It was once used to guide vessels into the Potomac River.

Over at the Waterman's Wharf, we were able to catch oysters using the oyster nippers or tongs.  There were eel pots and the opportunity to catch some blue crabs.  None were for the eating...just to see how it's done.

Many other buildings to explore including a small boat shed recreating a carb picking plant and another that gave a history of how the Bay has changed over the last 100 years.

The museum, Crab Claw restaurant and tour boat called The Patriot are all in the same area.  Before boarding the Patriot we had lunch at Crab Claw.  We both indulged in a half dozen of raw oysters as the season was just ending.  That was followed by a cup of the Maryland Crab Soup.  My main course was the Maryland Crab Cake on a bun with freshly made cole slaw.

Back to route 33, better known as Talbot Street, for a wine tasting at St. Michaels Winery.  The building houses a wine tasting room where you can either side up to one of two copper wine bars or one of about a half dozen barrels.  A server will present a list of wine flights with dry whites, dry reds and sweet wines. One interesting one was a Chocolate Zinfandel.  I noticed some rubber chickens checking out the wine bottles.

We then checked into the Old Brick Inn.  There is the main Jones House, and Carriage House in one location.  A few blocks away is the Kemp House, where we stayed.  My room was called the Bay Hundred, located on the second floor.  It had a queen sized bed and a day bed.  The oddity was that there was no chair or table but I managed to hang out on the day bed to do my writing.  Having a shower rather than a tub was best for my arthritic hip.  We stayed here for two nights.

Dinner was at Ava's Pizzeria and Wine Bar, also on Talbot Street.  Busy place.  Although they are known for having great pizza I scanned the menu for other options.  I had a fennel and arugula salad followed by a special of sauteed sea scallops.  For an entree it was the Boneless Short Ribs with glazed carrots and a puree of parsnips and potatoes.  Laurie went for the Chicken Marsala with baby bella mushrooms, spaghetti and green beans.  Laurie hates mushrooms but rather than pass on having it on the plate, I got it passed to my plate.  They went perfect with the ribs. Too full for dessert.