On the Table
From left: Chef and restaurateur Jasmine Norton grills oysters at her Baltimore Farmers’ Market pop-up, Chesapeake blue crabs at Point Crab House & Grill, and the Inn at Perry Cabin’s lawn and marina.
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Get Cracking It’s crab season on the Chesapeake – the most delicious bay in the States. BY ADAM ERACE PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SUCHMAN
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V I RT U O S O L I F E
HE WESTBOUND BAY BRIDGE BEGINS FLAT
and unintimidating, skimming so close to the quicksilver surface of Chesapeake Bay you could throw out a fishing line and hit water. The ascent, it’s sneaky. Conscientious drivers might not notice until they happen to glance over and find themselves soaring nearly 200 feet above the water. If you’re not afraid of heights, the four-mile ride is an engineering marvel and a thrill. If you are afraid of heights, then you’re probably contributing to the bridge’s most commonly googled question: “Why is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge the scariest bridge in America?” That dubious distinction overshadows the key link the bridge provides between Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore and the cities and suburbs of Annapolis, Baltimore, and beyond. More to the point, you can’t experience the full bounty of Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary at 4,479 square miles, without it. Despite threats (changing climate, overfishing, habitat degradation), the bay and its lacework of waterways still produce 500 million pounds of seafood annually. “Seafood is our culture,” says Severna Park-based Virtuoso travel advisor Stephanie Petros. “It’s not summer in Maryland if you haven’t been able to sit down at a table covered with newspaper, mallets, and Chesapeake crabs steamed and ready to pick.” From the blueblooded dining rooms of Saint Michaels’ nautical inns
