The Food Issue

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Volume 49

Number 10

PUBLISHER

John Stefancik

EDITOR IN CHIEF Joe Evans

SPECIAL EDITIONS EDITOR Susan Moynihan

Managing Editor: Chris Landers Cruising Editor: Jody Argo Schroath News Director: Meg Walburn Viviano Multimedia Journalist: Cheryl Costello Editors at Large: Wendy Mitman Clarke, Chris D. Dollar, Ann Levelle, John Page Williams Contributing Writers: Rafael Alvarez, Laura Boycourt, Dick Cooper, Ann Eichenmuller, Henry Hong, Marty LeGrand, Emmy Nicklin, Tom Price, Nancy Taylor Robson, Karen Soule

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jill BeVier Allen

Contributing Photographers: Andy Anderson, Mark L. Atwater, Skip Brown, André Chung, Dan Duffy, Jay Fleming, Austin Green, Jameson Harrington, Mark Hergan, Jill Jasuta, Vince Lupo, K.B. Moore, Will Parson, Tamzin B. Smith, Chris Witzgall

PRODUCTION MANAGER Patrick Loughrey

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mike Ogar

CIRCULATION & ADMINISTRATION

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contents

42

On the Cover:

CBM

The Food Issue 2020—Volume 49 Number 10

Illustration by Shaw Nielsen

12

The Art of the Draft The world of

beer has never been more colorful—

by Jess Mayhugh.

18 State Dinners

A Baltimore blogger explores Maryland’s culinary heritage—by Brennen Jensen.

22

22

The Secret History of Smith Island Cake Peeling back the layers of this distinctive dessert—by Kristina Gaddy.

26 Quintessential Crab Houses

18

Five spots to enjoy the Bay’s iconic crustacean—by Tim Ebner.

34

53

Eggs Over Early

Where anglers, hunters, and other early risers go to powerup—by Marty LeGrand.

26

42 Tasting the Bay An unscientific, perfectly opinionated guide to dishes around the Bay—by Susan Moynihan.

53 Foodie Weekends

Our menu of food-centric experiences worth traveling for.

12

Departments

08 10

From the Editor Contriubutors

Advertising Sections

60 62

34

Brokerage Real Estate The Food Issue 2020

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Let’s Eat

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othing connects us like food.

What we eat and how we celebrate our bounty showcases our common roots and spans all lifestyles.

Which got us thinking: What are the hallmarks of Chesapeake cuisine?

First, the obvious: seafood. The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md. has oyster middens on property that date back 3,000 years—that’s a longtime love of bivalves! And the Chesapeake’s blue crabs are ubiquitous in these parts, from picnic tables to T-shirts to car decals.

Then, there’s flavor. South Louisiana’s traditional Cajun base for gumbo, jambalaya, étouffée and what-have-you is the Holy Trinity— onion, green bell pepper and celery. In France it’s a mirepoix of onion, carrot, and celery. Here in Chesapeake Country, our standby Old Bay seasoning consists of celery salt, bay leaf, dry mustard and other spices, and it’s used on and in everything from crab cakes to ice cream. (Thank the Charmery in Baltimore for the latter; Old Bay Caramel is one of its regular flavors.)

But the essence of Chesapeake cuisine is much more than the obvious.

It’s heirloom produce, grown in the rich loam surrounding our waterways.

It’s smoked Virginia ham refined through more than two centuries of family gatherings. It’s the wild game that roams the land (yes, even muskrat).

It’s cooking traditions passed down

The Food Issue 2020

from pre-Revolution English gentry; dishes created by enslaved Africans on tobacco plantations; and seasonings brought by immigrants and travelers to our shores. It’s Rye whiskey made with 18th century distilling methods at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and sassafras-finished gin à la Grey Wolf Craft Distillery in St. Michaels.

In short, our culinary heritage is rich, diverse and complicated. Hence this issue, delving into some of the tastiest aspects of Chesapeake Bay food and drink.

Here’s the menu: Tasting the Bay (p.42) showcases key elements in regional cuisine; all things particular to, or at their best (we think) in the Bay region. Elsewhere, we profile a fantastic Baltimore blogger who showcases her passion for history by researching and recreating old recipes (p.18). For explorers, we have food experiences that can centerpiece a weekend away (p.53), along with a platter of iconic Maryland crab houses worth road tripping (p.26). And because every meal needs something to wash it down, we spotlight how local breweries approach the art of craft beer, inside and out (p.12).

This issue is a way to whet your appetite for the bounty that the Bay provides. Whatever your port of call and preferences, we hope this entices you to dig in. Happy eating!

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contributors

Susan Moynihan Susan Moynihan is a longtime travel editor whose stories have taken her to 50+countries and counting. An avid lover of food, ukuleles and roadtrips, she has written for outlets including USA Today and Architectural Digest, and is the author of 100 Things to Do in Annapolis and the Eastern Shore Before You Die.

10

Tim Ebner

Kristina Gaddy

Tim Ebner is a food writer from Silver Spring, Maryland.

He writes for The Washington Post, Eater, and Thrillist.

Kristina Gaddy writes about history and culture. Her nonfiction book Flowers in the Gutter came out in January.

Corey McLaughlin

Karen Newton

Jess Mayhugh

Patrick Loughrey

Brennen Jensen

Corey McLaughlin is a writer and editor in Baltimore. He’s written about food, sports and features for The New York Times, Newsday, and Baltimore magazine, among other publications.

Karen Newton lives in Richmond, where she writes about restaurants, arts and culture for Style Weekly and covers life on the Northern Neck for The Local Scoop. When it comes to oysters, she’s of the opinion that the brinier the better.

Jess Mayhugh is a cities editor at Thrillist and has covered food and drink in Maryland and beyond for more than a decade. Her work has also appeared in Smithsonian, Baltimore, and All About Beer magazines.

Originally from Ohio, Patrick Loughrey lives in Maryland as a chef, graphic designer, and advocate for sustainable culinary practices. He’s also Production Manager for Chesapeake Bay Magazine.

Freelancer Brennen Jensen is coauthor of Charmed Life, a compendium of Baltimore City Paper columns by that name, and has written for Garden & Gun, NPR, AARP The Magazine, and The Local Palate.

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A lot goes into Oozlefinch’s beer before it comes out of the tap.

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COURTESY PHOTOS

The Joy of Brewing

12

Creative recipes, ingredients, and techniques behind Chesapeake Bay breweries

by Jess Mayhugh ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2020

ussel Tinsley and his team have this crazy idea. As the owner of Oozlefinch Brewery in Hampton, Virginia, Tinsley wants to take advantage of the waterfront by installing a coolship—a massive vessel that cools wort, invites wild yeast, and creates spontaneous fermentation—on the roof of his brewery. It’s a traditional, pre-refrigeration brewing technique that’s having a renaissance, giving beer the ultimate individuality and sense of place.

“Our goal is to catch the breeze off the Bay, see what living organisms we get, and see what that does to the beer,” Tinsley says. “Rather than add our own yeast or cultures, we want to see what happens naturally. We’re the only brewery that can do exactly that.”

This outside-of-the-box approach is exactly the kind of passion that goes into today’s exceptional craft beer.

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“When we make our minds up on flavors, we release a stout, a sour, and an IPA every month.

We know those are the styles the market wants, and we insert what fruit matches the season and what hops are in stock.”

JAMESON HARRINGTON

—RaR co-owner J.T. Merryweather

14

RAR Brewing in Cambridge, Md. releases new brews monthly.

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Breweries up and down the Chesapeake are devising strategies, sourcing ingredients, tinkering with recipes, and perfecting timing of releases—long before their six-packs hit the shelves.

At RaR Brewing, located off the Choptank River in Cambridge, Maryland, lines of eager fans wrap around the brewery for practically every release. The beer’s off-the-wall styles, paired with bold graphics by artist B.J. Wheatley, have proven to be a big draw, but there is strategy behind creating the buzz.

“When we make our minds up on flavors, we release a stout, a sour, and an IPA every month,” says RaR coowner J.T. Merryweather. “We know those are the styles the market wants, and we insert what fruit matches the season and what hops are in stock.”

Oozlefinch, which opened near decommissioned Fort Monroe in 2016,

ng Wa t e r f r o n t D i n i Award Winning

started with a one-off approach to releases, but is moving toward something a bit more rhythmic, too.

The brewery is taking its popular beer releases—like smoothie-style Party Dinosaur and pie-inspired Das Yummy—and turning them into series with variations.

“Let’s give people the familiarity of that brand and build a good reputation around it,” Tinsley explains, “but do different variants and ingredients within those series to keep people excited.”

Ingredients, of course, play a huge role in the final product, and the best breweries aren’t willing to cut corners, instead trying to source local whenever possible (as RaR has done with Maryland strawberries and butternut squash) and meticulously testing out flavors.

When Oozlefinch brewer Rachel Edwards wanted an imperial Berliner weisse to taste exactly like her favorite dessert, Key lime pie, “we literally bought Wegman’s out of its Key lime pie,” Tinsley remembers with a laugh. “And we sat there and ate it side-by-side as the beer was coming out of the tank.”

They’ve peeled bananas, skinned cucumbers, even ordered vats of olive juice for a surprisingly delicious dirty martini gose. That experimental mentality, as well as a healthy dose of elbow grease and brainstorming, is what keeps new releases fresh.

“A lot of our best ideas come when we’re all sitting around, reminiscing about our childhood or things we’ve been missing,” Merryweather says, citing RaR’s popular Out of Order series that pays homage to Slush Puppies from convenience stores of his past. “We like to make fun of ourselves, bring back styles we know our fans love, pull on people’s heartstrings. When we approach it that way, the beers just fall into place.”

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15

Can Design A graphic art expert’s take on beer can design

by Susan Moynihan & Nolen Strals

W

alk into the craft beer section of any liquor store and you’ll find a dizzying array of beer can designs in all sorts of colors and styles. As an ever-increasing amount of craft breweries enter the market, can design becomes even more important, allowing the smaller players to compete for attention by visually showcasing what makes them special before you’ve even cracked a tab.

For a closer look at how Chesapeake breweries meet this cultural movement, we turned to graphic designer Nolen Strals. A co-founder of acclaimed Baltimore design studio Post Typography, he has worked with a range of clients including The New York Times, rock band Future Islands, the Maryland Film Festival and yes, a couple of breweries. His writing on design has appeared in The Washington Post and TYPE Magazine, and he’s a devoted fan of craft beer in all its forms, evidenced by his refrigerator full of smoke beers, dark lagers and wild sours.

Here is his take on can design culture and standouts around the Bay.

NOLEN STRALS “As open minded as craft beer culture is, I feel brands sometimes struggle to pull people in who are wary of craft beer if their cans stray too far from what people identify as beer.

The industry trend I have the biggest issue with is that so many have overwrought illustrations and look like you’re drinking a comic book. Don’t get me wrong, I love comics, but it doesn’t look like beer. Not that cans can’t be fun, and we can’t challenge and expand the aesthetics of the form, but you can go too far with it. Brands that have the best cans are following traditional forms and ideas but pushing them—and knowing how far is too far. You need to have creativity but also restraint.”

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Union Craft Brewing, BALTIMORE, MD

“They have a standard template for core beers, like Blackwing and Duckpin, but they adapt it. The latest core beer is Divine IPA, named after the performer. It has a classic, workmanlike style of design, but this one incorporates pink because of who it’s named after. So, it’s a great reflection of Baltimore—full of weirdos but with industrial roots.”

Commonwealth Brewing Co., VIRGINIA BEACH, VA

“Their cans are part of a recent trend of using abstract artwork, expressive patterns, sometimes with an almost photographic style. They do this better than some of their peers because you can always find the name on the front, and in the center of each can is their logo, a goblet. This ties into contemporary design trends but keeps it utilitarian from a buying perspective.”

RaR Brewing,

CAMBRIDGE, MD

“I really like the Chessie mascot they use, and I think iconography-wise they could showcase it more. Chessie is featured nicely on the website but it would be nice to see it on more cans. They have a good series called Out of Order, which takes the dog from ICEE machines, but they redraw him to put their own spin on it each time, like making him look like the Grinch on a Christmas-time release.”

Peabody Heights Brewery, BALTIMORE, MD

“This brand uses a standard format for layout but utilizes interesting hand lettering and color palettes so you can always tell who it is. That’s part of the success of their branding. Their core beers are part straightforward, part invention, riffing off of what you think a classic beer can should look like. It’s a nod to history with contemporary context.”

Burley Oak Brewing, BERLIN, MD

“I like their Sorry Chicky dry-hopped sour ale. It’s very colorful and the messy art is not a style of can that I’m typically drawn to, but it works so well because the art looks exactly like the beer tastes—an explosion of tartness.”

Triple Crossing Beer, RICHMOND VA

“They seem to use a few different can design styles, but my favorite of the ones I’ve seen is Precursor. It fuses the bold abstract art found on most of their cans with a more distinctive script for the beer name that matches their logotype. Plus it’s a pilsner. What’s not to like?”

The Oozlefinch Craft Brewery, FORT MONROE VA

“I’m always a fan of brands and cans that reference local culture and history. This approach speaks to the communitybased nature of the industry that you won’t get from the big guys.

Prominently using this mythical bird they take their name from falls right in line with that, and it makes for an instantly recognizable brand on shelves.”

Flying Dog Brewery, FREDERICK MD

“Living in this region, we’ve all seen a million renditions of the Bay’s famous crabs, but leave it to the legendary Ralph Steadman to shake up the motif by making this one [on Dead Rise] look like a psychotic mutant Muppet. I think this is one of his best efforts for Flying Dog because the subversion breathes new life into a well-worn icon.”

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Kara Mae Harris explores Maryland cookery for her blog, Old Line Plate.

State Dinners Baltimore blogger feasts on centuries of Maryland cookbooks story by Brennen G. Jensen / photos by Kristina Gaddy

K

ara Mae Harris likes dirty books. No, not that kind. She likes battle-scarred old cookbooks—dog-eared tomes that have done time beside bubbling stew pots and sputtering fry pans, their pages cracked open while dripping spoons passed overhead. “Yeah, I get really excited when I find food splatters on cookbooks,” Harris says. “That’s the page you want to try, right?”

And she should know. Harris is the creator and cook behind Old Line Plate, a nine-year-old blog exploring Maryland’s foodways and cooking traditions through cookbooks from the Old Line State. Around 100 such cookbooks fill shelving at her Baltimore rowhouse, and she readily avails herself of the sizable culinary holdings at the Enoch Pratt Library, the Maryland Historical Society, and other repositories. Harris’s online index of Maryland recipes has over 32,000 listings.

The culinary volumes she’s explored run a gamut from blue-blooded Jane Gilmor Howard’s 1873 effort Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen through the back-in-print 1932 offering Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland to some more obscure titles: Charles County’s 1945 gift to the culinary world, Secrets of

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Southern Maryland Cooking (How to Keep Daddy Home) and 1970’s Grannie’s Goodies from Somerset County. When it comes to our state’s cookery, Chesapeake country—with its ready bounty from field and waters— reigns supreme over other parts of the state. “I really seek out all the regions of Maryland, but the Eastern Shore, Baltimore, and Annapolis are prominent,” Harris says. “And St. Mary’s County is the place I find most interesting. Western Maryland just wasn’t ever really known for its food.”

That said, some recipes from mountainous Maryland have trickled in, including a Garrett County one for bear steaks. If that sounds odd, remember the Bay area’s own esoteric, acquiredtaste offerings: muskrat (“I’ve eaten it at a Maryland historical event, but I really

“I get really excited when I find food splatters on cookbooks.

That’s the page you want to try, right?” need to get one at the market,” Harris says) and shad roe (“I like it—it’s good in small doses,” she allows).

The Plate project grew out of Harris’s passion for writing and her general interest in quirky history and pop culture. (An earlier blog focused on 78-rpm records.) She admits to not having had an overtly foodie childhood growing up in suburban Beltsville, outside DC. “I made a lot of cake mixes as a teenager,” Harris says. “That was really the height of my cooking at the time.”

However, if the household had a gustatory go-to it was the Southern Heritage Cookbook Library, a series from the 1980s. In 2010, she borrowed one of these books from her mother— ostensibly for a cheesecake recipe— and was struck by how often Maryland appeared in its pages. “I never considered Maryland a Southern state,” Harris recalls. Her writerly mind found fodder here, and Old Line Plate

launched that year with a post about Maryland White Potato Pie, a dish whose origins she traces back to 1774.

Harris figured she’d write her blog for two years, tops. “I wanted to try out a certain number of recipes, and a blog is a good way for an introverted person to interact with people,” she says. Most entries involve her making a dish, photographing it, and diving into its history. Nine years on, Old Line Plate’s popularity has forced Harris to channel her inner extrovert, whether being interviewed on NPR or giving culinary talks to groups.

In terms of what is cooked and how, Harris feels that Maryland is largely Southern. (North of the border, she says, a German influence can creep into food.) But she also unearthed an unpleasant undercurrent in how Maryland cuisine was often presented and celebrated back in the day. “It was part of a fetishized idea of plantation life,” she says. Some vintage cookbooks

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Harris seeks out the unusual and unheralded, but still makes time for crab cakes.

underscore this point by with the worst sort of racist imagery—illustrations of kerchief-headed mammies and all the rest.

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crab cakes. “It didn’t seem like they needed to be written about,” she says.

“But there are a lot of misconceptions that people have about them.”

And so, her 2017 post “Crab Cakes (True History of)” cut through all the “fakelore” out there, including that early Native Americans made such cakes

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using cornmeal and bear fat. (This hooey apparently comes from the pages of Michener’s novel Chesapeake). The crab cake trail leads through its once-celebrated culinary cousin, deviled crab—sort of like crab imperial broiled in a crab shell. The term “crab cakes” first appeared in print in an 1891 cookbook by New Yorker (gasp!) Thomas Murrey. And the whole jumbo-lump-or-bust thinking entrenched today? Harris just says no.

Her cakes—based on a waterman’s recipe The Sun ran in 1948—used all the meat from six crabs, along with the fat (or mustard).

Peruse her blog long enough and you’ll witness her growth as both cook and culinary scholar. Take stuffed ham, probably Southern Maryland’s signature dish. “It’s so good,” Harris gushes. But it wasn’t love at first bite. It took her a few efforts and fraught posts to tastefully turn out a ham riddled with succulent

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veins of greens. Now, the ultimate compliment: She prepares it, not for the blog, but for her family “I made it this past Easter and it was like the best ever,” she says. “I want to start the tradition of doing it every year.”

Along the way, she’s also made Maryland chowder, Maryland fried chicken (another contentious topic— for Harris, its defining characteristic is a pan-scraping cream gravy), Maryland egg nog, and host of dishes that don’t have the state in their name but in their backstories. She also branched out to include interviews with culinary luminaries including African-American foodways historian Michael W. Twitty and Baltimore restaurateur and Chesapeake cookbook scribe John Shields.

While much of the publishing industry has been bruised in the digital age, sales of new cookbooks were up 21 percent last year. But Harris is not so

sure what to make of this stat, noting that “some people just like looking at pictures of food.” In any event, she has no immediate need to peruse the new book aisle.

There’s a muskrat to purchase. Maybe Choptank frog legs to make? (This from The Chesapeake S u bm it Y ou r O w n Collection the Re c ip e Woman’s Club of K ar a M ae ’s b lo g fe at u re s m an y Denton put out in B ay C o u n cl as si c tr y d is h es , fr o m sh ad 1983.) “I still have a ro e to sh o Yo u ca n ev of ly p ie . en su b m it yo u r o w n lot of stuff that I’d fa m il y fa vo at ol dl in ep la ri te s te .c om/s ha re like to try and a -a -r ec ip e. whole shelf full of books with sticky flags marking pages,” she says.

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21

The Secret History of Smith Island Cake Diving into the layers of Maryland’s official state dessert story by Kristina Gaddy / photos by Jay Fleming

A

long Route 50 from the Bay Bridge to the ocean, roadside stand after roadside stand proudly offers Smith Island Cake, as do restaurants from the D.C. suburbs to Annapolis to Baltimore to Cambridge. Today, it feels obvious that the dessert with eight to ten layers and equal parts cake and fudgy frosting should be the Maryland State Dessert. But before the 1990s, the cake was hardly anywhere other than Smith Island. Outside of the lower Eastern Shore, the cake most associated with Smith Island was the crab cake. With equal layers of lore and tradition, the cake’s greatness stems from the unique Smith Island community.

In 1981, Frances Kitching shone a spotlight on Smith Island cuisine with Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook, co-written with Susan Stiles Dowell. The book is full of recipes typical of Chesapeake Bay fishing communities: crab cakes, crab soup, clam chowder, crab imperial, and just about any other crab dish imaginable.

Shockingly absent from the first edition is anything resembling Smith Island Cake.

Reports of church camp meetings and other events on Smith Island mention the dessert of choice as pie, a dessert Mrs. Kitching enjoyed, too. In a profile of Mrs. Kitching in The Washington Post, she said, “Pies were my grandmother’s favorite, and I learned everything I know from her.”

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One reason she didn’t include the learned it from their grandmothers, fudge-like icing between thinner layers cake might have been because Mrs. who in turn learned it from their helps keep the cake fresh when Kitching didn’t think it was unusual. In grandmothers. Eff tried to figure out if waterman are out on their boats. But 1989, folklorist Elaine Eff traveled to the cake originated with one woman, as Kara Mae Harris of the Old Line Smith Island to interview Smith but she found it was truly ubiquitous Plate cooking blog points out, “The Islanders and help create the Smith on the island, and each matriarch had rising fame of the cake only serves to Island Visitor’s Center. Everywhere she her own variation of the recipe and further confuse the cake’s true origin or ‘purpose’—as if a cake ever needed went, she found a cake with thin layers number of layers in her cake. a purpose.” Can’t and equal parts icing the purpose of the and cake. When she cake’s design just asked, “What’s this?”

Can’t the purpose of the cake’s design be eating the she heard the answer, just be eating the highest highest cake-to“It’s cake,” as if there icing ratio possible? wasn’t anything cake-to-icing ratio possible?

The community unique about it. She, origins made it a however, knew that Equally mysterious is where the perfect candidate for a state food. In this was no ordinary cake; this was uniquely Smith Island. Although thin layers originated. Eff points out the mid 2000s, Smith Island’s economy Kitching later took credit for possibly that before the 1950s and 60s, the was already dealing with a loss of having made the first Smith Island island didn’t have electricity and population and jobs for watermen.

Cake, others on the island don’t making thin layers in a wood-fired Marylanders on the Lower Eastern substantiate that claim. Well-known oven was easier than thick layers. Shore Heritage Council and those bakers like Mary Ada Marshall say they Another theory says that the thick, involved in the tourism industry

Its community origins make Smith Island Cake the perfect state dessert.

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Cake layers await their chocolate frosting at the Smith Island Baking Company.

thought that designating the cake as the Maryland State Dessert would not only provide an economic opportunity for women to sell the cakes, but help to make Smith Island a place that people cared about. They approached thenDelegate D. Page Elmore, who drafted legislation and introduced it in the 2008 session. Eff remembers people saying a bill like this would never pass the first time around. As with almost anything that gets designated representative of the state, people always seem to find issue with it. One 2008 article in the Baltimore Sun mentions Berger cookies, Hutzler’s fudge cake, or Haussner’s strawberry pie as alternatives. When you read through those options now, Smith Island Cake seems like the natural winner. Set aside the fact that Hutzler’s department store and Haussner’s Restaurant are now gone, those three desserts were born to be commercial, while the people of Smith Island baked

theirs for weddings, picnics, funerals, church events, or just everyday consumption—it was a cake of the people. The Smith Islanders had more than argument, though; they also had cakes. Eff says they delivered a slice of cake to every member of the general assembly that session. The bill passed.

National news outlets picked up the story, and before the year was out, people knew the name Smith Island.

Brian Murphy, an entrepreneur with a commodities-trading background, immediately recognized what was special about the cake: the story.

Within a year of the legislation passing, he opened Smith Island Baking Company in Ewell, and began delivering cakes across the country.

The bakery employed local women, and the notoriety of the cake allowed women like Mary Ada Marshall to sell their cakes by mail too. Murphy moved his operation to Crisfield in 2015, after

years of dealing with the logistics of shipping cakes from an island in the middle of the Chesapeake, accessible only by boat.

Smith Island residents felt the loss of the move. Women employed by the company lost their jobs and tourism suffered. “A lot of people come [to the island] just to come to the bakery,” says islander Darren Jones. In 2018, he and his wife Kathey decided to do something about that. They opened the Smith Island Bakery in Ewell, with the goal of helping the island economy and giving visitors a taste of authentic Smith Island, baked onsite. Today, they send cakes across the country and offer classes in cake baking. Darren says that the cake and its status as state dessert has “drawn a lot more attention over here,” and he hopes that attention will keep up Smith Island’s economy and population. So far, it’s been a sweet success.

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SCOTT SUCHMAN

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5

Quintessential MARY LAND

Crab Houses

Picking crabs is a Maryland tradition, but picking a favorite crab house can be difficult as there are so many options out there. To us, the perfect crab house has an unpretentious vibe (you can’t be fussy when your hands are sticky with crab spice and butter), locally sourced crustaceans, and years of experience honing their recipes and serving their customers. These five iconic restaurants embody the history, service, and authenticity of the Bay.

Maryland is for crabs, and here are some of the best places to eat them.

BY TIM EBNER The Food Issue 2020

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SCOTT SUCHMAN

CANTLER’S RIVERSIDE INN A nnapolis cantlers.com No crab house is more famous than Cantler’s, located in a quiet residential neighborhood off of Mill Creek and Whitehall Bay just north of the Severn River and Annapolis proper. It’s so wellknown that (on weekends) you can expect a wait—first for a parking space, then for a table, especially if you’re hoping for one outside overlooking the creek. (All seating is first-come, firstserved, though they will take off-peak reservations for parties of 10 or more.) The owners and founders, Jimmy and Linda Cantler, know the water well; they both worked the Bay growing up, and their tradition is passed down by more than five generations of family members who have worked at the restaurant. To make every visit feel like you’re family, Cantler’s seats patrons at long rows of laminated tables inside, or wooden picnic tables outside. It’s an elbow-to-elbow affair where you’re encouraged to chat with neighbors while you pick.

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MIKE’S CRAB HOUSE R iva

mikescrabhouse.com This family-owned operation has been anchored on the South River for more than 60 years. It’s a favorite with recreational boaters, who can tie up at dozens of slips out front. But even if you don’t arrive by water, the outdoor patio, which sits on pilings over the river, makes it feel as if you’ve spent a day boating on the Bay. The main draw here are steamed jumbos served by the dozen, but don’t overlook the sides: Mike’s hushpuppies come with a warm honey butter, adding a sweet note to an Old Bay-spiced crab feast.

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THE RED ROOST CRABHOUSE & RESTAURANT Quantico theredroost.com The Red Roost looks like a chicken house, and rightly so; it was a chicken farm until the 1960s when a series of high-tide floods overtook the land. Now it’s known as one of the best seafood and crab houses on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. To get here, you’ll need to drive along a winding road that leads you into the Wicomico County marshlands. The trip there is half the fun, as the scenic spot backs up to the Ellis Bay Wildlife Management Area, a great spot for sighting egrets, herons and other migratory birds. Inside, you’ll be rewarded by the bounty of seafood options, including steamed crabs, peel-and-eat shrimp, and oysters served on the half shell. If you have a giant hunger, order the Red Roost crab pot, which comes with six steamed crabs plus fried chicken and steamed clams, shrimp, mussels, and corn—guaranteed to result in a food coma. But don’t worry because there are hammocks a half-mile down the road at the Bull Lips Dock Bar—Red Roost’s waterfront bar—perfect for sunsets and stargazing.

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SCHULTZ’S CRAB HOUSE & LOUNGE Essex schultzscrabhouse.com

SCOTT SUCHMAN

Need proof that Schultz’s Crab House has reached icon status? This longtime Baltimore favorite, which opened in 1969, was named an “America’s Classic” by the James Beard Foundation in 2017, making it one of only two restaurants in Maryland to receive the award. (The other is the since-closed Maison Marconi in Baltimore.) Come here for a nautical vibe with wood-paneled walls, fish mounts and crabs stacked high on cafeteria trays. The menu not only features steamed crabs, but also fried oysters, steamed shrimp, charbroiled steaks, and Chesapeake-style crab cakes, made with backfin meat and broiled to golden-brown perfection. Don’t miss the Original Crab Soup, which was named Best Soup in Maryland by The Daily Meal.

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JILL JASUTA/DORCHESTER COUNTY TOURISM

SUICIDE BRIDGE RESTAURANT Hurlock suicide-bridge-restaurant.com While the name isn’t exactly reassuring (yes, there’s an actual bridge, and yes, it comes by its name honestly), this might be the most scenic crab house on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with sunset views overlooking the Choptank River, two historic riverboats docked nearby, and an outdoor event pavilion and tiki bar that makes for excellent people watching. But the main reason to plan a visit to Suicide Bridge Restaurant is for the daily all-you-can-eat crab deal, priced under $45 per person while Chesapeake crabs are in season. (Be sure to call ahead as the local crab supply can vary.) Or do the special crab feast cruise that takes place most weekends during the summer months; it’s a three-hour leisure tour down the Choptank River with an open buffet of steamed crabs, fried chicken, clam strips, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and Maryland crab soup.

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any moons ago, I was in Crisfield to report on a fishing tournament named for the beloved Eastern Shore photojournalist and raconteur Norris “Scorchy” Tawes. A three-day affair, it filled Somers Cove with boats vying for big prize money. The tournament-eve captains’ party was held in a wind-whipped drizzle. With plastic bunting flapping around him, the organizer advised anglers of their breakfast options for the next morning. Among them was Gordon’s Confectionary. “They open at 4 a.m.,” he said, “but if you beat on the door at 3:45 they’ll probably let you in.”

If you’re up before the sun in search of the day’s most important meal, you could do worse than ask a charter captain, or a waterman, or one of those poor souls whose workday begins at some ungodly premature hour, just where they eat.

The type of place you’re looking for won’t describe its food as “house-made” when “home-cooked” will do. They won’t try to slip Brussels sprouts in your omelet. They’ll serve you coffee in a substantial white mug or maybe one with a local insurance agent’s ad on it.

And, best of all, you probably pay only slightly less for your entire meal than you’d shell out for one grande Blonde Cocoa Cloud Macchiato.

Sadly, Scorchy is no longer with us. Neither is his namesake tournament (although I’ll forever treasure the Scorchy Tawes Pro-Am Fishing Tournament ball cap he autographed for me). Gordon’s Confectionary remains, however, still unlocking its doors at 4 a.m.— possibly earlier, if they recognize you and the coffee’s ready.

Most Chesapeake breakfast restaurants begin serving at a civilized 7, 8, or 9 in the morning. We wanted to find joints whose griddles are already sizzling by then. Consulting locals in and around favorite waterways and ports, we asked about predawn gathering spots.

We uncovered centuries-old general stores, neon-lit diners and convenience store/eateries masquerading as gas stations.

Their ambience elicited favorable online reviews like “nothing to look at,” “hole in the wall,” “basic,” “folksy” and my favorite— “the décor is peeling paint, rust and Little Debbies,” the front counter’s top-selling snack.

More to the point, customers praised the food for its quantity and approximation to grandma-made quality. We’re talking flaky buttermilk biscuits drenched in creamy sausage gravy, eggs Benedict made Chesapeake-style with local crabmeat, and brawny three-egg-and-hash-browns platters with at least two meats that will leave you, in the words of one restaurant manager I spoke to, “tick full.”

We awarded extra points for restaurants with sassy waitresses, cooks bearing nicknames (like “Cheeseburger”) and owners who thoughtfully alert customers via Facebook that today’s opening will be delayed due to a tide-flooded parking lot. At such places, customers come for the food, but return for the personalities—regulars like ribald watermen, practiced taletellers, and chitchatting seniors.

In tiny Saxis Island, Virginia, Martha Jane Linton rises between 3:30 and 4 a.m. in order to open Martha’s Kitchen by 5 o’clock for watermen who fish nearby Pocomoke Sound.

In the winter months, she sleeps in and opens at 6. The crab-potters order coffee and snacks—eat breakfast sandwiches if there’s time—and buy work gloves from her. The second shift rolls in about 7 o’clock, taking over the biggest table for coffee, Martha’s famous scrapple sandwiches, and some no-holdsbarred banter.

“They’ll talk for at least two hours,” she says. “They say exactly what’s on their mind.”

They’re great guys, if occasionally off-color or

overly blunt. “Sometimes if I see strangers coming in, I’ll tell them to cool it.” On Saturdays, her regulars include “Bozo,” an inveterate flea market shopper and joketeller. (I’m told you should ask him the one about Samantha, his dog.)

In the shadow of the Maryland State House, Chick and Ruth’s Delly opens daily at 6:30 a.m. to an influx of government workers, early-rising retirees and eager-beaver tourists. By 8:30 (9:30 on weekends), everyone’s on their feet reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, one of the more unusual traditions in all of delicatessendom.

Politicians and power brokers sit at the “Governor’s Office,” a booth whose opposing benches are reserved for Democrats and Republicans, respectively. But the real give-and-take goes on among Skip, Joe, Thelma and the rest of the Morning Crew, retirees who occupy a table near the political seat of power. “They’ll solve every problem you could possibly think of,” one employee told me.

The deli used to be open 24 hours.

The practice ceased about 20 years ago, I understand, for reasons now hazy but probably involving tipsy patrons whose wee-hours inebriation was acquired elsewhere.

We’ve gathered here a dozen earlyopening eateries where the java and gossip are hot and the grill sergeants accommodating.

Prefer your omelet smothered in creamed chipped beef? Just ask. If you happen into Sting-Ray’s near Cape Charles, you may even sweet-talk the cook into a side of fried toadfish with your scrambled eggs. (Yes, the Bay’s excessively homely oyster toadfish is edible. It’s a Northampton County thing.)

“We get all kinds of strange requests,” says Sting-Ray’s longtime manager Mary Scott. “If we can do it, we will.”

Pasta Plus Rock Hall, Md If you’re imagining creamed chipped beef on linguine, rest assured that this popular heart-of-town hangout serves the breakfast staple on traditional substrates: toast, English muffins, biscuits or home fries. A fixture in this hard-working community since 1986, Pasta Plus offers morning fuel for a day on the water, including three-egg omelets, pancakes and Big Breakfasts that feature two eggs, two pancakes, a meat and the usual trimmings. As many as a dozen retiree knights of the round table in the back still hold forth daily. “They’re guys who have always worked this time of day so they can’t stop,” explains management.

Chick and Ruth’s Delly

Chick and Ruth’s Delly ANNAPOLIS, Md Huge portions and a clientele that includes political bigwigs make this beloved Main Street delicatessen the place for a power breakfast in the state capital. The menu features 150-plus items—egg platters, omelets, Belgian waffles, French toast, breakfast sandwiches lox, bagels and their famous Eggs Benedict—many named for local lawmakers. Besides the Pledge of Allegiance, the “Delly” is famous for its Man versus Food Challenge, a heavyweight bout pitting the diner against seven pounds of burger and milkshake in a one-hour contest. There’s no breakfast challenge per se (“we don’t have a six-pound omelet”), but you can wage this food fight at any hour.

Opens: 6:30 a.m.

Don’t miss: Eggs Benedict with hollandaise-drenched jumbo lump crabmeat or tender, homemade corned beef hash

Prices: $5.60 - $9.50 Cuppa joe: $2.50 Morning crowd: government types, retirees, boaters, tourists, midshipmen Décor: power broker portraiture 36

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Opens: 6 a.m. Monday – Friday, 6:30 Saturday & 7 Sunday Don’t miss: the house favorite KK sandwich—a fried egg on an English muffin with melted cheese and bacon, ham, scrapple or sausage Prices: $3.25 - $10.95 Cuppa joe: $1.50 with a meal, $2.50 if you’re just coffee-klatsching Morning crowd: watermen, ex-watermen, retired truckers Décor: local and Bay iconography

Gordon’s Confectionary

Gordon’s Confectionary Crisfield, Md Another Main Street establishment, this spartan eatery is the early-morning nexus of Crisfield’s commercial fishing community. Coffee and talk flow freely among old-timers at the back tables while still-working watermen occupy the counter to order breakfast sandwiches before heading to their deadrises. The morning menu is limited: sandwiches with a choice of proteins (bacon, ham, sausage,

scrapple, fried bologna), eggs and sides, maybe an omelet or a novelty item like Holly and Jenna’s Double Bacon Glazed Donut Burger. (Gordon’s doesn’t do waffles or pancakes.)

Owner Kevin Evans, whose family has run the place for 95 years, takes pride in its continuity. As one visitor said: “Just go. Revel in the local purposeness [sic] of the place.”

Opens: 4 a.m.

Don’t miss: sandwiches with freshground, locally made sausage or crispy scrapple Prices: $3 - $6 (cash only) Cuppa joe: $1.20 - $1.80 Morning crowd: watermen, locals, retired watermen Décor: timeless short-order grill

Sip & Bite baltimore, Md

Sip & Bite

Open 24 hours, this classic diner near the Canton waterfront has been a shiny aluminum-and-neon beacon for the very hungry and the slightly hung-over since 1948. Besides platter-sized plates of whipped cream-dolloped pancakes, Benedicts flanked by a mountain of home fries and teetering breakfast sandwiches, Sip & Bite incorporates Chesapeake crabmeat in some of its most popular dishes. The 1948 Crab Cake Omelet features a four-ounce grilled crabcake, chopped and blended into scrambled eggs with cheese. You can view its preparation through the

open kitchen. And don’t miss the Guy Fieri-autographed poster commemorating Sip & Dine’s star turn on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

Open: 24 hours (closed tuesdays) Don’t miss: The Eastern Shore, a stuff-your-face sammie featuring a jumbo lump crabcake, scrambled eggs and bacon on brioche Prices: $10 - $15 Cuppa joe: $2 Morning crowd: business people, restaurant workers, Fells Point barflys Décor: deco-inspired diner

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Achilles Shopping Center Hayes, VA

JILL JASUTA

Woolford General Store

Woolford General Store Woolford, Md Sit at one of the well-worn booths in this community hub and you’ve got lots of company; Pocket Frogs, Pad Crashers, Toad Buzz and other necessities of Dorchester County’s snakehead-fishing capital surround you. When anglers urged storeowner Ed Bramble to stock topwater lures for the toothy-mouthed invaders, he obliged. Now, snakehead fishermen stop by to pick up buzzbaits with their breakfast sandwiches. Nearly 150 years old, this is a place where you help yourself to coffee, stop next door for mail (one wing houses Woolford’s post

office) and catch up on gossip. “They love the small-town feel,” Bramble says of his customers. “It reminds them of how it used to be.”

Opens: 6 a.m. Monday – Saturday, 7 a.m Sunday Don’t miss: cheesesteaks when they’re ready Prices: $2.50 - $9.25 Cuppa joe: $1.25 - $1.50 Morning crowd: watermen, locals, anglers and hunters Décor: general store meets Cabela’s

Hoopers Island General Church Creek, Md To be a general store in Chesapeake territory is to be a one-stop purveyor of life’s necessities: gas and groceries, hardware and work wear, good food, and great company. Locals get all of these at this Upper Hoopers Island store in Dorchester County. Order a sausage or scrapple sandwich at the counter and sit in the small café. The store stocks an abundance of rubber boots and gloves, pocketknives and other watermen’s gear. You’ll find no power booths here, just communal

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tables where “Everyone knows where they’re supposed to sit.”

Opens: 4 a.m.

Don’t miss: the hungry waterman’s special, a Western omelet loaded with bacon, sausage and ham Prices: $3.99 - $8.99 Cuppa joe: $1.29 - $1.75 Morning crowd: watermen, locals, retired watermen Décor: deer heads and Dorchester souvenirs

The Food Issue 2020

Achilles Shopping Center is a general store, gas station and takeout restaurant in a Royal Farms-sized package. Its street address is Hayes, although the Achilles Post Office sits next door. Some call it Marvin’s after its previous owner. And if you’re a very longtime resident of the rural Gloucester County area known as Guinea, you originally knew it as Otis Hogge’s. It’s open 24 hours for watermen (Guineamen) in need of coffee, a quick breakfast, a pair of oilskins or a fill-up for their truck.

Anglers buy bloodworms and squid here, boaters barbecue sandwiches. A few chairs constitute the seating, but at 3 a.m., before the boats head out, like as not they’re filled with Guineamen and Guineawomen.

Open: 24 hours Don’t miss: home-baked cinnamon rolls Prices: $2.59 - $6 Cuppa joe: $1.30 - $1.50 Morning crowd: watermen, recreational anglers Décor: “We’re just a gas station, darling.”

Hoopers Island General Store

Little River Market & Deli Reedville, VA

Martha’s Kitchen Saxis, VA

The hot food bar at this neighborly Northern Neck market is always filled with a spread worthy of grandma’s table. For breakfast, you’ll find creamed chipped beef on toast, hash browns, sausage links, bacon and a pair of specialties—crispy fried potatoes and fluffy biscuits. On Sundays, don’t miss the market’s pancakes. For dining on the go, the ladies make up bacon, egg and cheese biscuits and sandwiches with your choice of country ham, bacon, scrapple or pork chops. In lieu of the standard joe, fill your mug with cold-brew coffee instead. The market enjoys a loyal local following, especially for its fried chicken—a favorite of boaters cruising the Great Wicomico River.

Martha’s is essentially a one-woman operation, which is hard to imagine after reading the extensive breakfast menu Martha Jane Linton writes on the chalkboard each morning: a half dozen different sandwiches, three or four omelets (including one with shrimp and crabmeat), a couple egg platter options, biscuits with creamed chipped beef or sausage gravy, tater tots and home fries, oatmeal, waffles, French toast and her butterscotch-chocolate chip or blueberry-cinnamon pancakes. Plus there’s the bacon, sausage, scrapple, ham and bologna she fries up to accompany them. If she’s not too busy, she’ll serve breakfast all day or deliver takeout to watermen at her dock. And she sells merchandise, too, including woodcarvings by her husband, Kefford.

Opens: 6:30 a.m.

Don’t miss: pork chop sandwiches Prices: $2.19 - $5.99 Cuppa joe: $1.39 Morning crowd: watermen, menhaden

Opens: 5 a.m. (6 a.m. in winter) Don’t miss: Martha’s crisped-to-

Martha of Martha’s Kitchen

Cuppa joe: $1 (plus unlimited refills of which watermen take full advantage) Morning crowd: watermen, summer tourists Décor: Eastern Shore nautical

perfection scrapple (her secret is deep-frying) Prices: $2.50 - $9.50

plant workers, teachers Décor: a gallery of waterscapes

Mary’s Kitchen Virginia Beach, VA In the heyday of Virginia Beach’s nightclub scene 50 years ago, when the Top Hat, the Peppermint Beach Club and Rogue’s were hosting the Rhondels and Chubby Checker, Mary’s served the bleary-eyed at daybreak. Those clubs are gone, but Mary’s continues to sling diner fare and Southern comfort food in its 170-seat restaurant. The Hungry Man, a favorite of locals, features three eggs with Edwards smoked sausage links or country ham, plus one side and a biscuit.

The menu skews Southern (Virginia ham, chicken and waffles, chicken fried steak, fried green tomatoes, grits), but offers less artery-menacing options, too,

like avocado toast and scrambled egg whites. Mary’s closes Thanksgiving and Christmas, and defies hurricanes. “As long as we have electricity, we’re open.”

Opens: 6 a.m.

Don’t miss: Mary’s signature buttermilk biscuits Prices: $4.79 to $15.99 Cuppa joe: $1.99 Morning crowd: office workers, first responders, military personnel Décor: surfboards and beach nostalgia

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Sting-Ray’s

Sting-Ray’s Cape Charles, VA Outwardly an Exxon station, Sting-Ray’s dispenses far more than Regular, Extra and Supreme. The local landmark, owned by Joanne and John Hwang, has served fresh seafood and high-octane breakfasts to locals and U.S. 13 travelers for nearly 70 years. Scrapple, egg and cheese sandwiches, and biscuits with sausage gravy are the most popular items at the order-at-the-counter restaurant. Hearty eaters, like watermen who stop by after setting their nets, dive into three-egg platters with hash browns, grits, and up to two meats. But StingRay’s signature dish is a sweet potato biscuit topped with shaved country ham,

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a sweet-salty delicacy that earned a shout-out in the foodie highway bible Roadfood.

Opens: 6:30 a.m.

Don’t miss: sweet potato biscuits with country ham Prices: $1.50 - $7.50 Cuppa joe: 99 cents (“with a gazillion refills”) Morning crowd: locals, travelers, and watermen; campers and golfers in summer Décor: fish taxidermy, including an enormous ray

I M AG I N E OPEN WATER. CLEAR SKIES. UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES.

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M A RY L A N D

Smith sland cake

VIRGINIA

Hayman sw t potatoes

oysters

clams N W

E

peanuts

S

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biscuits

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE’S GUIDE TO

Tasting the Bay In a region that’s synonymous with great cuisine, it’s hard to narrow down our favorite Chesapeake Bay bites. But we tried. Here are 20 iconic ingredients and dishes with a history and flavor that speaks of home.

WRIT TEN BY SUSAN MOYNIHAN / ILLUSTRATIONS BY SHAW NIELSEN

clams

1.

Soft clams thrive in the salty waters of the lower Chesapeake

Bay, while the beds near Tangier and Chincoteague islands are a perfect breeding ground for hard clams. Try them packed into clear-broth chowder at Great Machipongo Clam Shack in Nassawadox, Va., or steamed in saké at Dredge in Irvington, Va.

2. peanuts

Thank scientist George Washington Carver for

transforming the humble peanut from West African import to one of the largest crops in eastern Virginia. Get them salted, butter-toasted, honeyroasted or Old Bay-coated at Virginia Diner in Wakefield, Va., which has been selling since 1929.

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43

Hayman

3.

sweet potato

This smallish, syrupy-

sweet tuber is a cult favorite, grown on Virginia’s Eastern Shore since the 1800s.

Pick them up during fall harvest season (if you can; they sell out quickly!) at Red Horse Farm in Keller, Va., or Pickett’s Harbor Farms in Cape Charles, Va..

4. sweet corn

This creamy, white-kernelled treat is a summer

staple, best served steamed and touched with butter and salt. You’ll find it at farm stands all over Maryland’s Eastern Shore, including chef-favorite Taylor’s Produce, which vends from multiple stands including St. Michaels, Oxford, and the family farm in Preston.

lopes

5.

The rich soil of the Eastern Shore is ideal for all sorts of produce,

especially cantaloupe—or as we call them, “lopes.” This rough-skinned fruit is actually a muskmelon, which is sweeter and juicier than a true cantaloupe.

And it’s a great source of vitamins A and C. Order them via a CSA (communitysupported agriculture) group like Chesapeake Harvest, which vends organic and heirloom produce direct from Eastern Shore farmers.

6. turtle soup

Our diamondback terrapin was the featured

ingredient in terrapin soup, found on swanky menus all over the Northeast during the Gilded Age—which eventually put them on the endangered list.

Today, the terrapin is making a comeback on land, and it’s snapping turtle that you’ll find in the traditional soup served at Hunter’s Tavern in Easton, Md.

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The Food Issue 2020

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biscuits

7.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this perfect

carb. Maryland’s traditional beaten biscuits have a firm, cracker-like texture, while Virginia’s delicate ham biscuits are the ideal delivery device for slices of Smithfield. The Everything-But-The-Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits at Miss Shirley’s Café in Baltimore or Annapolis are a brunch must, while the traditional buttermilk version at The Bee & The Biscuit in Virginia Beach, VA, makes the perfect sandwich base.

8. coddies

Sometimes called the poor man’s crab cake,

this homestyle patty is made of mashed potato, egg, and salt cod—deep fried and served between two saltine crackers. Their popularity waned in the 1970s but never went away, and the humble dish is now making a comeback in its home turf. Try them at the longstanding J.W. Faidley’s Seafood outpost at Baltimore’s Lexington Market.

pit beef

9.

Maryland’s take on barbecue is grilled top round,

sliced thin and topped with horseradish or a tomato-based BBQ sauce, served on a soft roll. Get the flavor at Pioneer Pit Beef in Catonsville, which sells them to go from a humble stand (cash only) and was singled out as top sandwich in Maryland by the Food Network.

10. scrapple

This love-it-or-hate-it loaf of pork offal, cornmeal,

and spices originated in Pennsylvania Dutch country, and is a breakfast staple throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Founded in 1863, Habbersett Scrapple in Bridgeville, Del., is the classic for store-bought, while Wilson’s General Store in nearby Georgetown is the standard bearer for scrapple sandwiches.

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The Food Issue 2020

11.

crab imperial

Legend has it this dish—a combination

of crab, mayo and spices—was invented in the late 19th century at Baltimore’s long-gone Thompson’s Sea Girt House. The 1939 New York World’s Fair cookbook called it “the most typical of quality dining in all of Maryland.” Try it close to the source at Phillips Seafood in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, or topping chicken or filet at Herrington Harbor’s Dockside Restaurant in Tracys Landing, Md.

12. pawpaw

This humble fruit—a relative of the custard apple—

is the largest native fruit in North America, and George Washington is said to have been a fan. Pick some up at Deep Run Paw Paw Orchard in Westminster, Md., or sample it in a delectable pie by James Beard-nominated chef Tarver King at The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville, Va.

shoofly pie

13.

No, there’s no such thing as a shoofly; the

name for this molasses-based dessert is said to come from bakers who had to shoo flies away from their cooling pies, or from Shoofly the Boxing Mule, a traveling circus act in Pennsylvania’s Amish country. (Really!) You’ll find it at Pennsylvania Dutch markets throughout the region, or Dutch Haven Shoo-Fly Pie Bakery in Ronks, Penn. is a good road trip go-to.

14. Maryland fried chicken

Move over,

Kentucky. Maryland fried chicken is our unique take on the Southern classic, with chicken pieces fried in a covered pan and then topped with a white gravy. You’ll be hard-pressed to find it on a menu these days, but there are recipes online (PreservationMaryland.org), or head to Gertrude’s in Baltimore,

where celebrated chef John Shields serves it on Tuesday nights.

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The Food Issue 2020

15.

stuffed ham

St. Mary’s County, Md. puts its own twist

on ham, stuffing it with cabbage, kale and spices. This tradition dates to postCivil War days, when sharecroppers used the moisture from the veggies to soften up dried-out pieces of pork. It remains a holiday staple on local tables, but you’ll find them year-round near the source. WJ Dent & Sons in Tall Timbers sells them in person or by mail, or visit Murphy’s Town & Country in Avenue for a tasty stuffed ham sandwich.

16. shad roe

Every spring, Atlantic shad make their run up

from the ocean to spawn in Bay-area rivers. The lobe-shaped roe sacks have a diehard culinary following, and appear in season on local menus, often paired with bacon or capers. It’s an acquired taste you can sample at Old Ebbitt Grill in D.C. and The Narrows on Maryland’s Kent Island, among other spots.

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19.

blue crab

What would we be without our blue crabs? These

colorful crustaceans are synonymous with the Chesapeake, and prepared in every possible form: soup, cakes, balls, deviled, soft-shelled, topping chicken or pretzels, soft shelled, and more. Taste the diversity at Stoney Creek Inn in Pasadena, Md. or dig into all-you-can-eat steamed crabs at the Chesapeake Crab, Wine and Beer Fest, held in Baltimore, Richmond, and DC’s National Harbor.

20. Smith Island cake

Whether you’re a purist

who goes for the classic yellow-cake-and-chocolate-fudge combo, or a fan of the red velvet, lemon, or myriad other varieties, we can all agree one thing: Multiple layers gives this homegrown dessert an ideal icing-to-cake ratio.

Learn more about in “The Secret History of Smith Island Cake” on page 22.

rockfish

17.

The rest of the world calls them Atlantic striped bass

or stripers, but we call them rockfish, due to their penchant for hiding in rocky nooks. Rockfish season follows their migration patterns, from the ocean back to the rivers of their birth. Try it paired with pesto risotto, crabmeat, and beurre blanc at Carrol’s Creek in Annapolis.

18. oysters

We’ve been eating Bay oysters for a long time—

some area middens date to 1500 BC or older—and our appetite led to the Oysters Wars between Virginia and Maryland watermen, and overfishing.

Today they are on the rebound, with the rise of oyster aquaculture. Taste our native species, crassostrea virginica, at Virginia’s annual Urbanna Oyster Festival or the U.S. Oyster Festival in Maryland’s St. Mary’s County.

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The Food Issue 2020

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FOODIE

WEEKENDS All around the Bay, unique food-centric experiences invite you to get hands on with the area’s bounty.

Our picks will have you pairing wine and oysters in Virginia’s Northern Neck, catching crabs on the Magothy River, tasting your way through historic Baltimore, or getting hands-on at two very different types of cooking classes. Go for the day, or

ALLISON LUZIER

make a weekend out of it.

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Learn to Cook in Solomon’s Island

by Susan Moynihan

S

leepy Solomons Island, Maryland, isn’t where you’d expect to find a state-of-the-art cooking school, but that’s exactly what chef-owner Gwyn Novak created with No Thyme to Cook. The purpose-built studio spans three stories and fronts the Patuxent River, with two open demo kitchens done in cottage-chic style that feels as much home as classroom. That’s intentional; Novack’s great-grandfather founded the legendary Bowen’s Inn here in 1918, and she built her studio in the footprint of her grandmother’s house, making her the 4th generation to run a family business on this spot.

I signed up to learn about stuffed ham, a uniquely Maryland dish, which is a specialty of neighboring St. Mary’s County. Her guest instructor Darren Dahlstrom has been making it for decades with his family. It was a demonstration class, but we were invited to get hands-on by chopping

54 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

kale and stuffing and wrapping the ham while noshing on potato soup and piping-hot stuffed ham eggrolls served as a snack. The small, onsite bar offered beer, wine, and soft drinks.

Some attendees stuck to iced tea while others were happily drinking wine by the 11 a.m. kickoff.

The whole vibe is very communal, and Novak makes you feel like family, walking you through the tasks at hand while offering her take on all things culinary—be it who makes the best kitchen knives or tips on using infused olive oils. A classically trained chef with 25 years of cooking experience, she’s a font of knowledge, but presents everything in a relaxed, unpretentious way. That’s probably why almost half of the attendees are repeat students, drawn back by her easy approach to teaching. (The fact that there’s someone there to clear and wash all of the dirty dishes helps too.)

The Food Issue 2020

In the hands-on classes, participants work from multiple, two-person stations set up with everything needed to make the dish, so there’s no jostling for counter space.

Gwyn and her team of chefs offer 10 to 12 public and private classes per week, covering everything from handmade pastas to cocktail mixology to couples classes that make for an ideal date night. If you don’t want to cook, sign up for an evening cruise on Half Shell, the 1928 oyster buy boat captained by her husband Donald. There’s a full bar onboard, and they offer special cruises in partnership with local vendors such as Tobacco Barn Distillery. And most weekend afternoons, they offer a drop-in open house, welcoming guests to sip wine on the deck and soak up the river views without lifting a finger.

Make a weekend out of it: Situated just next door, Blue Heron Bed and Breakfast offers a modern take on the B&B experience, with four en suite rooms boasting water views in a contemporary Colonial. There’s a private pier with water and electricity for guests coming by boat.

Eat Your Way Through Baltimore

by Corey McLaughlin

I

n Baltimore, if you want to experience a taste of the town, there are a lot of options, from crabhouses to corner bars, and restaurants of every ethnicity. But if you have just a few hours and want to get in as much as you can—and really feel the culinary essence of one of America’s most historic cities—a food tour might be your best bet.

Charm City Food Tours offers guided group tours of top edible spots in a variety of centuries-old neighborhoods, including Mt. Vernon, Federal Hill, and Little Italy. One recent Sunday afternoon, I joined them for a food-centric stroll around Fells Point, the picturesque, nearly 300-year-old former sailing mecca that should be at the top of the must-see list for any visitor to the city.

A local, affable resident, Mary Margaret, led our group of 10 around the neighborhood’s main attractions.

She lives a few blocks north of Fells Point, so along with sharing history about the ground on which we walked and stories about nearby buildings (like the house where Meg Ryan’s character lived in the classic movie Sleepless in Seattle), she threw in other personal anecdotes that made for an authentic experience. I’ve lived in Baltimore for a decade, but I learned several new things and was reminded of other fun facts. (Those things you think are cobblestones along bumpy, bar-lined Thames Street are actually Belgian blocks once used as ballast in oceangoing sailing ships.)

As for the food, we ate at four stops: the Mexican-themed Barcocina; seafood stalwart Bertha’s Mussels;

modern Mediterranean restaurant Mezze; and the laid-back local hangout, Todd Conner’s. Along the way, we sampled chips, guacamole, and tacos; a choice of delicious cream of crab or Maryland crab soup (or a half-and-half mix of both, highly recommended) and fresh mussels with basil and garlic butter; inspired tapas dishes; and a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dessert, all for a $65 ticket price.

And while we walked from place to place, sat across tables, and enjoyed food and drinks (you’re on your own for the latter), we got to know similarly curious and hungry people drawn to the tour. A couple from Denver, in town

for the week and celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary, was doing everything right: the food tour, for one, plus a stay at a cool hotel and a visit to Fort McHenry, where the Battle of Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to write the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Add in dinners at upscale steakhouse The Prime Rib in Mt. Vernon, trendy Thames Street Oyster House, or a proven, casual crab house like Bo Brooks in Canton, and you have all the makings for a fun few days in the city, on and off the plate.

Make a weekend out of it: Set in a beautifully restored 1914 warehouse on Rec Pier in Fells Point, the Sagamore Pendry offers craft cocktails at The Cannon Room, reimagined Italian at the Rec Pier Chop House, and an outdoor pool overlooking the harbor when you’re ready for a post-prandial snooze.

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Go Back in Time Around a Historic Hearth

by Susan Moynihan

S

pending a cold, foggy morning over a smoky fire may not be everyone’s idea of a dream Sunday, but for those us at Rebecca Suerdiecks’ Hearth Cooking Workshop, the murky weather only added to the experience. Rebecca’s passion is going back in time. She grew up near Colonial Williamsburg where her mother worked as a historic interpreter, and Rebecca followed in her footsteps, focusing on the domestic arts.

A self-taught chef, she travels around Virginia and Maryland, leading workshops on historic cooking techniques under the name “Cooking in 17th-Century Virginia.

I met up with her at Historic London Town & Gardens in Edgewater, Maryland, which was a working-class settlement in the 1700s. Our class took place in the Lord Mayor’s Tenement, an

56 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

historically accurate lower-class house with rough-hewn walls, which allowed in drafts, and small, open windows, which provided light, along with some raindrops. Humble as it was, Rebecca was thrilled with the cabin’s main feature: an oversized brick hearth, which was wide and deep enough to allow for two cooking fires. (Think of it as the La Cornue range of its day.)

The nine students in our class shared a curiosity and love of food.

While we set to tasks like chopping onions for a circa-1774 soup recipe and prepping a pork loin with fresh herbs, she talked us through the origins of each dish, and how our modern cuisine has evolved. Take the cornbread, which hailed from Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery. The first cookbook written and published here post-Revolution, it’s

The Food Issue 2020

also the first to reference cooking techniques as “American” rather than English—a fact that made the finished dish even tastier.

Rebecca is all about authenticity, so while she has to make some concessions for the times (she brings modern oven mitts, and copious cutting boards for hygiene), she uses period-accurate cooking gear wherever possible, such as stackable, cast-iron, Dutch ovens and her prized, replica 18th-century tin kitchen—a reflective oven that goes by the fire, capturing radiant heat ideal for roasting meats.

Grocery-bought ingredients are as close to period as possible—think stone-ground flour, European-style high-fat butter, and fresh, seasonal herbs. Her husband Mike handles the fire-stoking and heavy lifting, but the rest is up to us, under her direction.

Over the course of four hours, we created a sumptuous meal that included lemon cheese, onion soup (the French style with cheese and croutons came here later, though ours used bread crumbs for thickening), roast pork, cornbread, salad (the circa-1824 homemade dressing comes from Mary

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Randolph, a relative of Thomas Jefferson; it’s always the favorite, says Rebecca), and apple pie for dessert. All of the techniques are simple enough to recreate at home, or even around a campfire if you can get the temperature high enough. (That’s the joy of a good hearth; it keeps the heat in.)

After a well-earned meal, we had enough to take home leftovers. But the biggest takeaway for me was the experience of sitting around a table with a group of people, doing prep work in dim light so we could get back to the fire, as had been done on the same site hundreds of years earlier. It’s the kind of contextual seasoning you can’t find in a store, and one that will flavor my cooking for years to come.

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Make a weekend out of it: Rebecca’s classes take place at historic sites all over Maryland and Virginia (17thcvirginiacook.wixsite.com/ workshops). Combine one of her Virginia classes (Chippokes Plantation State Park is a favorite) with a stay a period Colonial House in nearby Colonial Williamsburg for the ultimate time-travel experience.

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57

Trotlining for Crabs

by Patrick Loughrey

I

’m not from around here. My childhood was essentially land-locked in the Ohio Valley, peppered with the occasional trip to some lake or river.

Fried catfish, still a favorite of mine, was the extent of the fresh seafood on my adolescent plate. Years later, after moving to Maryland, older and perhaps wiser, I had visions of giant steamed crabs, mammoth rockfish, briny oysters and, well, more steamed crabs.

If you ask me, the best part about living on the Chesapeake is the bounty of fresh, local blue crabs we have from April to November. If you ask me another question, chances are I’ll find a way to just keep talking about my love of crabs. And at some point, if you haven’t wandered away, I’ll most definitely continue to tell you that the

best crabs are the ones you catch yourself. Like most of life’s great meals, the satisfaction of catching and preparing blue crabs yourself adds the flavor to the overall experience.

So, here’s the thing—I’ve gathered and eaten plenty of crabs from traps, and I’ve been told of the wonders of chicken-neckin’, but one thing I’d never done (or heard of, up until a few months ago) was trotlining. Here’s the idea: tie a series of baits (salted eel, chicken or turkey necks, bull lips, menhaden…) to a long 1/8- to 3/8-inch line, using slip knots or short “snood” lines; attach 3-foot lengths of chain at either end to sink the rig to the bottom; attached marker buoys at the ends of the rig; and drop the whole thing over the side as you cruise along. Then, circle

back around and start collecting your crabs. Better yet, find a local waterman to help you, and it couldn’t be easier.

This is how I came to meet Captain Frank Tuma of Down Time Charters. A Chesapeake native, Captain Frank has spent the last 50 years with his wife and family in Cape St. Claire, outside Annapolis, where he runs fishing and crabbing charters on his 29-foot C-Hawk. His knowledge of the Bay and its intricate web of tributaries, rivers, and inlets meant we didn’t have to spend much time searching before finding the right spot. As Captain Frank put it, the perfect crabbing spot is “wherever they’re biting.” And with that, we set out on the calm, early-morning waters of the Magothy River, cape-side of Gibson Island.

The key to a successful trotlining experience is patience and speed.

Patience because not every snood will carry a crab to the surface, and speed because when they do, you’ve got to act fast with your net before they let go and drop back into the abyss. Good vision helps, too. I swear Captain Frank could see them coming from the bottom.

In the middle of our dance with the trotline, I stopped for a second to breathe it all in. There’s nothing like being on a boat, working the water, to remind you how magical the Bay really is. As the crabs piled up and one bushel became two, Captain Frank and I pulled up our lines and headed back to shore anticipating the feast to follow.

I’m not from around here but after spending a couple hours on Down Time, scooping crabs off the line with this seasoned captain, I felt like a local.

Make a weekend out of it: Located a block from the Severn River in the waterman’s community of Eastport, the Inn at Horn Point puts you within easy walking distance of Restaurant Row, the Annapolis Maritime Museum and downtown Annapolis.

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The Food Issue 2020

Pair Oysters & Wine on Virginia’s Northern Neck

by Karen Newton

s ways to spend a sunny afternoon go, it’s tough to beat sitting at Jacey Vineyards sipping Albarino and slurping oysters Rockefeller. Unless it’s by relaxing on Good Luck Cellar’s expansive porch overlooking grape fields while savoring oyster tacos and a glass of Vidal Blanc.

And don’t get me started on the charm of an oyster po’boy and a glass of Chardonel on the Dog and Oyster’s cozy screened porch.

Twice a year, the Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail offers a weekend dedicated to partaking of Virginia’s best wine and oyster pairings at its eight wineries. The spring and fall Oyster Crawls are self-guided and require no tickets, which was all the invitation I needed to grab a friend and take off for a weekend on the scenic Northern Neck, passing eagles, church steeples and water views as we drove from vineyard to vineyard. The payoff was meeting fellow wine lovers, listening to local

musicians and stuffing ourselves silly with wine and oysters. What’s not to love?

During the Crawl, each winery has at least one seafood vendor onsite, and several also have a food truck for non-seafood fans. And while this oyster lover can’t speak to the latter, I can offer a pro tip for first-timers: Dress for the weather, since many of the tables

Make a weekend of it: The Tides Inn on Carter’s Creek puts you within an easy drive of Northern Neck wineries, and offers a riverfront pool, kayak and paddleboard rentals, and spa treatments for when you’re not out exploring.

ALLISON LUZIER

A

are outside and, trust me, you’ll want to linger once you’ve got bivalves and a bottle of wine at hand.

Early afternoon is prime time, but don’t let lines at the food trucks or tasting room discourage you from joining the queue and mingling with soon-to-be new friends. Our patience was rewarded with hospitable service everywhere we went, not to mention the ultimate reward: being served the best of the bay’s merroir and terroir.

But you don’t have to wait until the next official oyster crawl to make the most of Virginia’s bounty. Try creating your own crawl. Check out Slurp, the onsite food stand at the Dog and Oyster Vineyard in Irvington, where raw, roasted, and fried oysters are menu mainstays. Grab bivalves from Denson’s Oyster Bar to enjoy at Ingleside Vineyards’ courtyard, or kick off your weekend at Good Luck Cellars, where Byrd’s Seafood’s truck makes regular stops for Wine Down Friday.

Most importantly, remember this is a crawl, not a race. Just keep calm, sip wine and eat oysters.

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59

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35’ 1984 Wauquiez Pretorien ........................ $49,000 35’ 1993 Tartan 3500........................................ $89,000 35’ 1978 Pearson 35 Classic Refit ............... $75,000 34’ 2006 Tartan 3400 C/B ............................ $119,000 34’ 1990 Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34......... $89,000 34’ 2020 Tartan 345 - Order / June .................. CALL 34’ 1988 Tartan 34 - 2 ...................................... $38,500 32’ 2020 Legacy 32 - Order / June .................. CALL 32’ 1995 Catalina 320 ..................................... $37,900 31’ 1997 Camano 31 Trawler ......................... $89,500 31’ 2017 Hanse 315 ....................................... $139,900 31’ 2015 Ranger Tug - Command Bridge $249,900 30’ 2015 C&C 30 ............................................. $139,500 28’ 1990 Custom - Bingham 28 ................... $65,000 28’ 1983 Shannon 28 ...................................... $68,000 28’ 2009 Mckee Craft - 28 CC ........................ $67,500 27’ 1992 Nor’Sea 27 ........................................ $49,000 24’ 1987 Pacific Seacraft - Dana 24 ............. $44,000 23’ 2019 Ranger Tug R23 ............................ $124,500 22’ 2008 McKee Craft - 22 CC ........................ $32,500

They made america great

B RO K E R AG E , L L C

31 Endearing Legacies Worth Heeding Today

“The only thing really new is the history you don’t know.”

-Harry Truman

RED

UC

Recently Restored!

Agressively Priced 1993 46’ Giorgi 46

ED

$149,900 RED

UC

ED

Priced to sell!

Over $300k invested in ‘08

$89,900 OBO!

1975/2008 36 Marine Trader JU

Get your paperback copy at rickrhodes.com rick@rickrhodes.com 727.459.5992

$1,400,000 OBO! 2013 42’ Lyman-Morse JU ST RE DU CE D

$99,500 OBO! 2006 350 Catalina

SO

Mid-Atlantic

ST

RE

DU

CE

D

$199,900 OBO! 1988 48T Hans Christian

$225,000 OBO! 1934 56’ William Hand

SO

$89,000 OBO! 2011 30’ Cobalt 302

LD

$89,900 OBO! 2002 44’ Bavaria

LD

$89,900 OBO! 1979 42’ Grand Banks

$49,900 OBO! 1985 36’ Sabre Centerboard

SO

$45,000OBO! 2007 260 Sea Ray Dancer

$49,900 OBO! 1994 30’ Contour 30 MkII

LD

$29,900 OBO! 1976 36’ Allied 36 Princess

$24,000 OBO! 2012 21’ Crownline SS

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The Food Issue 2020

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

61

homes

 Visit HorsleyRealEstate.com for more information on this home.

Heron Point Located in The Northern Neck / Chesapeake Bay PRICE: $2,450,000 An impressive property, combined with luxury & serenity just off Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. Bring your favorite boat to keep at this private Boathouse with 8’ mean low water, 15,000 pound boat lift, 30 & 50 amp service, & views out to the Great Wicomico River….fabulous fishing & cruising at your backdoor!

A private point with 1040’ of waterfront & 6.25 acres (additional acreage available). Custom designed & well-built home with 10,000+ square feet, large entertaining rooms, incredible high-end kitchen, gorgeous ensuite bedrooms, walkout finished basement, 1350 square feet of covered/invisible screen porches, & attached 3-Bay Garage. Fully equipped 2 bedroom, 2 bath Guest House overlooks the waterfront & the 40 X 20 heated pool enwrapped with a paver patio. Also an oversized, heated & cooled 2-bay detached garage/workshop.

The owner has nearly $4 million invested in the property & has priced to sell. Only 10 minutes to the quaint town of Kilmarnock with fine dining, shops, & more. Airports & city proximity are only an hour+ to Richmond/Williamsburg/ Newport News or two+ hours to Northern Virginia/Virginia Beach/Charlottesville.

Call/Text: David Dew 804.436.3106 or Katie Horsley Dew 804.436.6256

The Food Issue 2020 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2020 62 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Nothing’s Nothing’s better better than than fresh fresh fish, fish, oysters oysters and and crabs from YOUR backyard! crabs from YOUR backyard!

ULTIMATE ULTIMATE SUNSETS! SUNSETS!

RIVERSONG ON THE PIANKATANK RIVERSONG THE PIANKATANK NEARON DELTAVILLE, VA

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JUST 5’MLW w/Boat LiftLISTED - Beach - 4.9 Acres 5’MLW w/Boat - BeachWater - 4.9 Acres Open Design forLift Ultimate Views Open Design for Ultimate Water Views Turn-Key 3 BD, 2.5 BT plus Walkout Basement Turn-Key 3 BD, 2.5 BT plus Walkout Basement

5’MLW - off Rappahannock River - 886’ of Waterfront 5’MLW - off Rappahannock Riverfor - 886’ 2 + Acres w/Room Poolof Waterfront 2 + Acres w/Room for Pool 4 BD Coastal Home - 2 Fireplaces 4 BD Coastal Home - 2 Fireplaces

RAPPAHANNOCK RAPPAHANNOCK COASTAL COTTAGE COASTAL COTTAGE DELTAVILLE, VA

BRIGHTWATERS COASTAL GEM BRIGHTWATERS COASTAL GEM WHITE STONE, VA

NEARJUST DELTAVILLE, LISTED VA

DELTAVILLE, VA

Private Pier - Wrap Around Screen Porch Private Pier - Wrap Recently Upgraded 60’s Around CottageScreen + NewPorch Additions Recently Upgraded 60’s Cottage New Additions 5 BD, 3 BTH - Ultimate Views &+Room for All 5 BD, 3 BTH - Ultimate Views & Room for All CALL/TEXT: CALL/TEXT: NEENA RODGERS 804-436-2326 NEENA RODGERS 804-436-2326 NEENA@RODGERSANDBURTON.COM NEENA@RODGERSANDBURTON.COM

WHITE STONE, VA

WHITE STONE, VA

3’MLW at Pier + Deep Draft Marina Near by 3’MLW at PierHuge + Deep Draft Marina Near by Comm.

Beach & Boat Ramp Comm.

Huge Beach & Boat Ramp Custom 3 Ensuite 3 BD - Reclaimed Pine Floors Custom 3 Ensuite 3 BD - Reclaimed Pine Floors

CALL/TEXT: CALL/TEXT: DAVID DEW 804.436.3106 DAVID DEW DEW 804.436.3106 KATIE HORSLEY 804.436.6256 KATIE HORSLEY DEW 804.436.6256 DAVIDEDEW@GMAIL.COM HORSLEYRE@YAHOO.COM DAVIDEDEW@GMAIL.COM HORSLEYRE@YAHOO.COM

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2020 Reader Survey

We work hard to bring you the best of the Chesapeake Bay each month, and we need your help!

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TILGHMAN-ON-CHESAPEAKE Enjoy unrestricted water views & multiple decks from

this immaculate 3 BR homeEnjoy in premier waterfront community. suite w/lg bath TILGHMAN-ON-CHESAPEAKE unrestricted water views &Master multiple decks from& Jacuzzi. 3 Dream kitchen, FP, HDWwaterfront fls, & more. $475,000 Master suite w/lg bath & this immaculate BR home in premier community.

Jacuzzi. Dream kitchen, FP, HDW fls, & more. $475,000

DOGWOOD HARBOR Experience the essence of the Chesapeake Bay in

this 3 BR 2 BA ranch w/excellent harbor views. INC garage w/ DOGWOOD HARBOR Experience the essence of detached the Chesapeake Bay in 2BR3apartment this BR 2 BA$289,000 ranch w/excellent harbor views. INC detached garage w/ 2BR apartment $289,000

TILGHMAN-ON-CHESAPEAKE HOMESITES 1 Acre building site w/180° wide water views. $262,000 AND two prime ¾ Acre Inland lots. $70,000 each Enjoy Club House, Marina w/floating docks & Pool. Public Sewer!

CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERFRONT BUILDING SITE Watch the ships ply waterway & gorgeous from TILGHMAN-ON-CHESAPEAKE HOMESITES 1 Acre building site w/180° wide water views. $262,000 AND two theCHESAPEAKE BAY sunsets WATERFRONT this ¾ Ac site with 100’ of riprapped prime ¾ Acre Inland lots. $70,000 each Enjoy Club House, Marina w/floating docks & Pool. Public Sewer!

BUILDING SITE Watch the ships ply shoreline & pub. sewer. $200,000

410-886-2400 • www.tilghmanislandrealty.com 6094 Tilghman Island Rd. • Tilghman Island, MD 21671

the waterway & gorgeous sunsets from this ¾ Ac site with 100’ of riprapped shoreline & pub. sewer. $200,000

410-886-2400 • www.tilghmanislandrealty.com 6094 Tilghman Island Rd. • Tilghman Island, MD 21671

BUILT FOR THE BAY AND BEYOND...

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