Best town for family to experience Chesapeake Bay?

My 3 kids (15, 13, 10) and I will be doing a long driving vacation. On one leg we%26#39;ll be driving south from NYC and would love to stop in the Chesapeake Bay area. I read the ';Chesapeake Bay'; book but everything sounds so wonderful I%26#39;m having a hard time choosing where to stop. After NYC we%26#39;ll be ready for a small town. We love the outdoors. Can anyone help?

Thanks!

PS I%26#39;m going to post this question on the Virginia forum, too. Sure wish there was a Chesapeake Bay forum!

Best town for family to experience Chesapeake Bay?

Maybe Solomons Island, MD? It%26#39;s about 60 miles from Washington, DC. There is an interesting maritime museum there and a few hotels. You could probably take the kids fishing, biking or kayaking. Do a web search on Calvert County, MD. One side of the county boarders the Chesapeake Bay. Solomon%26#39;s Island is at the tip. On the way to Solomons there are also a few bayside parks that you can hike to and search for fossils and sharks teeth on the beach.

Another option would be to cross the Chesapeake Bay bridge at Annapolis and head south. There are some nice towns along the Cheseapeake Bay this way too. St. Michaels is one of them. From this side of the Bay you could take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel to Virginia. I think it%26#39;s 20 miles long. Parts are bridge and parts are tunnel. It%26#39;s a very beautiful drive.

You could keep going south through the outer banks of North Carolina. You would end up needing to take a few ferrys. Sounds like you have a fun trip planned.

Best town for family to experience Chesapeake Bay?

I don%26#39;t know where you%26#39;re really heading but the previous poster had a good idea.

On the eastern side of the bay, go to Easton. Follow the signs to St. Michaels. Nice town on the bay. Has a selection of shops and restaurants. Also has a museum relevant to the bay. We enjoyed it.

You can also go down and take a look a Tilghman. Another nice small town. There%26#39;s at least two nice restaurants. We sat in one few years ago and watch the fishing boats go in and out.

From there, you can go back to Easton and head to Salisbury, MD. From there, head south on Rt. 13. After you hit Virginia, watch for the signs to Chincoteague. You can stop there to see the town and see the ponies on Assategue Island. Chincoteague was a fishing village and still is a pleasant small town. Its only about 10 miles off of the main road.

From there, head south towards the Virginia Beach / Norfolk area.

Don%26#39;t know if you wanted to stay this far east but it would be a nice trip.

Driving south from New York, you shouldn%26#39;t have to cross the Bay Bridge unless your plan is to see Baltimore or Annapolis. Simply taking the first exit in Maryland (Exit 109, Rt. 279 south) to Rt. 213 will keep you along the less-hectic Eastern Shore and expose you to a number of bay towns (Chesapeake City, Chestertown, Queenstown to name a few) and tributary rivers along a scenic route before it meets up with Rt. 50 and some of the other bay towns mentioned in the above posts.

CRISFIELD!!!!!!!

My husband has been going to Crisfield since he was a young boy, (he is 32) and now we take our girls (age 8 and 5) there. The crabbing is fantastic.....just drop a line with a peice of chicken on the end into the water off of any one of the 3 fishing/crabbing piers.....and then you can take your kids on a boat ride over to Smith Island....Crisfield has boat rides to the island.

Go to www.crisfield.com and you will see a little home town like place that is still realitively small........

Kristie

I would recomend in the following order

1) If you are taking Rt 95

Annapolis: Annapolis has history, restaurants, shopping, music and great guided tours. All within walking distance of several hotels. It offesr many things for a family to do. And you can walk down to city dock for ice cream and watch the boats sail in and out of Annapolis.

2) If you plan to drive across the Delmarva Pennisula

St. Michaels: Smaller touristy town. Has bike rentals, a maritime museum and seafood/steamed crab restaurants. There are several hotels on the water where you can sit and do nothing but watch the boats go by. Another place close by is Tilghman Island, about 20 minutes down the road. Very little going on there, but they have some water-front hotels, fishing charters and a sunset skipjack cruise.

3) If you take the Rt 301 option

St Mary%26#39;s City: It%26#39;s a small college town on the southernmost part of Maryland%26#39;s western shore. Lots of historic preservation and museums. Point Lookout State Park, which is on the site of a Civil War POW camp, is also nearby. You can catch a boat to Smith Island from Point Lookout SP.

We have been to Crisfield several times and our family enjoys the area, but I wouldn%26#39;t call it a small town in the ';Mayberry'; sense. Its more of a fishing/crabbing destination. There isn%26#39;t a town center for walking around or many activities for kids. There are very few options for dining. If you%26#39;re looking for a nature/fishing stop over, there is a nearby state park (Jane%26#39;s Island) where you can rent kayaks to explore the marsh island. You can also catch the Smith Island boat from Crisfield, which would actually be a shorter trip (half-day vs full day) than taking it from the other side of the bay at Point Lookout.

Thank you for all the great ideas. We plan to skip Baltimore/Annapolis. Will take the route 213 and route 50 in favor or smaller towns. We may try to head as far as Chincoteague.

Can anyone recommend a favorite seafood restaurant along this route?

Again, thanks for helping me plan our trip through Chesapeake.

Have a great vacation, Legiope. I hope you%26#39;ll write a trip report when you get back.

AJ%26#39;s in Chincoteague has good seafood in my opinion. I can%26#39;t help you along the way though. Also in Chincoteague, you can buy steamed shrimp from the people along the road and enjoy them and the view in Memorial Park.

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