Visit The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

The Cheseapeake Bay Maritime Museum Experience

The next field trip experience for our series “A tourist in my backyard” is the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. This museum is located in St. Michaels, MD. It’s a place where families can walk along the Bay or take a ride on a day cruise

The Chesapeake Bay Museum

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Tour Map

There are 15 different places on the Chesapeake Bay Museum Tour Map so the entire museum is a full day of learning and adventures. 

As you walk from building, to boat, to lighthouse, and along the docks, you learn the history of the boating, oyster, and blue crab fishing industry as it grew and evolved in Maryland.

Key Takeaways from The Visit to The Chesapeake Bay Museum

  1. Visitors receive a first-hand look at remodeled and restored boats in the working Shipyard.
  2. There is a beautiful view of the Bay from the lighthouse. Maryland’s unique lighthouse is shaped like a hexagon. The one at this maritime museum is known as the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse and is only 1 of 4 still available in MD for viewing purposes.
  3. Boating along the shore is told through photographs, building, and boats from the past, visitors can catch a glimpse of how oyster, blue crabs, crayfish stayed fresh for later consumption.
  4. One of the buildings I anticipated seeing the most, was the home of Fredrick Douglass’ sister, Eliza Bailey Mitchell. The house was moved from Lee St. and is now apart of the museum tour. However only half of the house is original (the left side) and the other half is partly reconstructed.
  5. One of the areas of the Museum my kids enjoyed the most was oystering on the dock. Also, there is an area at the museum where you can read about oystering and use tools to try to catch oysters in the Bay. 
  6. Another area they loved was going indoors to the Steamboat building where there was a digital map where they could find various Maryland Cities.

If you live in Maryland this museum helps give your children a sense of pride for their state. It also helps them grasp the history in a hands-on way so they can better understand the landscape and scope of life along the Maryland Eastern Shore.

The Chesapeake Bay Museum Address:

The Chesapeake Bay Museum Website

410-745-2916 • 213 North Talbot Street • St. Michaels, Maryland, 21663
Dockmaster: VF Channel 16 or 410-745-4946

38° 47′ N
76° 13′ W

 

 

***One tip that I have to share***

I recommend that you choose a moderate weather day because many of the buildings are outdoors. We were very hot on the day we went, so plan to visit on a day that’s not too hot. My daughters told me that their experience would have been even more fun if it weren’t in the 90 degree range during our visit.

Reader Question

What’s your favorite Museums to visit?

 

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