Still celebrating my birthday this weekend, although Hubby told me, “That’s it. You’ve had two weeks of fun and presents. This is the last day.” I guess I milked it for all I could. So, birthday girl’s choice was a day trip to St. Michaels, Maryland, a place we’d been to years ago. A friend reminded me about it last week, and since it’s been years–and I wanted to spend some time near the water (Chesapeake Bay)–we headed across the Bay Bridge early this morning. Spent a couple hours walking up and down the main drag, snooping around a few shops and stopping for lunch. before driving down the road to the tip of land called Tilghman Island. 

Some interesting town “residents.”
Near the Chesapeake By Maritime Museum: the old drawbridge that once connected Tilghman Island to the mainland. The Crab Claw Restaurant parking lot under water from the storm a few days ago. A replica of a boat that Captain John Smith used to explore the Chesapeake area in the 1600s. The Oyster Festival was cancelled today because of the flooding, and the museum was closed for the same reason. They were still sweeping up the streets when we wandered down to the waterfront.
Stopped for lunch at Awful Arthur’s: fish stew with linguini, fried oysters (it’s oyster season here!), mini crab cakes, and Maryland crab soup (eaten before a photo could be taken).
A few purchases from a local rum distillery and a merchant of flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils. Can’t wait to consume!
Stopped to buy a raffle ticket for this 1967 Mustang and the guy let me sit in the car. Fingers crossed for the drawing, which won’t be for another year!
The waters were choppy today. We walked along the breakwater at the end of Tilghman Island near Black Walnut Inn. The boulders were stunning; beautiful colors in the sedimentary layers formed millions of years ago. Hubby remarked how people in the DC area would pay thousands to have large, art-like rocks like that in their landscapes. (We took a few little ones home for the garden, plus some drift wood)
The current drawbridge at Tilghman Island crossing, which happen to be going up when we arrived.
Sadly, the 450-year-old white oak came down in a storm in 2002. I remember seeing that event in the news when we first moved to the region. The tree that grows here now is her offspring. The original was 32 feet in circumference, a Champion Tree, at 96 feet tall with a crown spread of 119 feet and occupying 1/3 acre (that’s the size of our property). They estimated the main trunk to weigh 61,000 pounds. A nearby grist mill built in 1682, still grinds flour.