The Calvert Marine Museum

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On our Visit to Solomons, Maryland, in November 2020, we planned to make a return visit to see the Calvert Marine Museum. Wednesday was a beautiful sunny day with mild temperatures, just the right time to begin our 2022 adventures!

And so Susan and I set out again for Solomons Maryland. We arrived around lunchtime. After a stroll along the riverfront and a duck into a local shop, we headed for the Island Hideaway restaurant. The entrance was somewhat what hidden, made more so by the road repair work going on. I thought seafood would be the order of the day. But, then I noted their St. Patrick's Day menu and I just had to order the Bangers and Colcannon!

The Calvert Marine Museum is divided into three exhibition spaces: Estuarine Biology Gallery, Paleontology Gallery and Maritime History Gallery. The Estuarine Biology Gallery examines the marine life of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay. A highlight is the ray pool, with eagle rays, sting rays and skates. Docents are there to explain the differences between them. A trio of otters can swim inside and outside of the building, but were in their den during the day. The focus of the Paleontology Gallery is on the fossil record revealed by the nearby Calvert Deposit. The Calvert Cliffs contain Miocene era fossils of sea shelled marine life as well as of sharks, fish, turtles, crocodiles, birds, whales, and land animals from this prehistoric time. In the Miocene, megafauna and animals such has hippos roamed this area of Maryland. A diorama depicts a Pelagornis, an ancestor of modern seabirds. The Maritime History Gallery describes human use of the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River from Native Americans through the Colonial era to the fishing industry and present-day recreational boating.

Outside the museum building, the skipjack Dee of St. Mary's was tied up near Drum Point Light. The skipjack is used for excursions. Susan and I saw Drum Point Light on our previous visit. The lighthouse was open for tours, but we did not go in. Also on the museum campus is an outdoor exhibit of various boats and a model wooden boat building workshop.

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Photos

Calvert Marine Museum
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Eagle Rays
Eagle Rays fly though the water by flapping their fins. IMG_5442

Stingray
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Blue Crab
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Lionfish
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Otter Den
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Pelagornis
Pelagornis, a seabird ancestor of the miocene era. IMG_5454

Dugout Canoe
Native American dugout canoe, made in 1892 using traditional methods. IMG_5485

Log Canoe
The log canoe was used by oystermen. IMG_5448

Whirlwind Runabout
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Bugeye Volenteer
Scaled down Chesapeake bugeye Volunteer.
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Dee of St. Mary's
Drum Point Light and skipjack Dee of St. Mary's. IMG_5477

Model Workshop
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Boat Hoisting Machinery
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Island Hideaway Restaurant
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Bangers and Colcannon
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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Love the Rays
Nice Photo

[Dancing Dave]

Dee of St Mary's
Great lighthouse. Inspires me to start a 'Lighthouses of the World' thread in the Photography Forum. Any contributions appreciated.

[AndrewHL]

Lighthouses
Hi, Dave, Thank you. I see that you have started a Lighthouse thread. How does one post to it? I tried replying to the thread by posting a TravelBlog photo URL, but it does not appear to post.

[Dancing Dave]

How to post a photo on a thread
Click on the photo in a blog and to the RHS column there is a photo number and a blog number. Copy the 'photo= number' with the square brackets intact and paste in the thread. Voila. It's that easy.

[AndrewHL]

RHS Column?
Hi, Dave, Thank you. But where is the RHS column? I don't see any square brackets unless I insert them.