MD: Cambridge

Day 354
NM Today: 38
NM To Date: 5801

The weather blessed us with a low-humidity day today for our trip from Solomons to Cambridge, Maryland. Due to the long distance on the river in to Cambridge from the Chesapeake the voyage took a bit longer than anticipated.

Clark grabbed a few pictures of the Solomons as we made our departure.

Zahniser's Marina had a few sailboats docked there

View of CBL (Chesapeake Biological Labs) from the water

The Cliffs
(we learned about fossils found here during our museum tour yesterday)

On the way to Cambridge, we passed a lighthouse and a security zone.

Cove Point Light

LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) Security Zone
-- terminal to load ships

 Finally after almost five hours of travel, we got our first glimpse of Cambridge.

Cambridge, MD

Cambridge Municipal Yacht Basin

Having arrived at nearly 4:00 p.m., we did not have much time to explore the town. As soon as we got checked in with the dock master, we grabbed our bicycles to get our tour going. The downtown area of Cambridge is yet another sad story of the effects of a bad economy. I saw many more permanently closed stores and vacant buildings than I did operational ones.

Memorial in Park at Municipal Marina

"The Patient Fisher" Statue of a Blue Heron
Est. 1932

Cobblestone High Street Leading Into Downtown

Dorchester County
Circuit Courthouse

Bell from Mexico

The above bell moved from Mexico to Maryland during the Mexican War in 1846. When in Mexico, it hung in a monastery there. After moving to Cambridge the bell served as the town's fire alarm until 1885.

Fountain / Statue at Courthouse 

Despite suffering obvious hard times, the townspeople came together and did a community work of art on the side of one of the buildings in town. As we admired the artwork, a man came over to give us some background. He said that two artists laid out the mural, and locals worked together to create the final, amazing result.

Community Project - Mural in Cambridge, MD

Enlarged section of mural - guitar players

Enlarged section of mural - Sailing and Fishing in
Cambridge, MD

While biking through town, we found a market and I bought a quart of milk. We decided that before doing any more exploration outside of town, we needed to swing by the boat and stow the milk in the fridge. Afterwards we headed out again on our bikes to go explore the lighthouse located at the marina.

Replica of the Choptank River Lighthouse

The Choptank River Lighthouse replaced the wooden schooner that served as a lightship in 1870. The lighthouse operated from 1921 to 1964 when it was retired from service and dismantled. The above replica was completed in 2012.

Details of the working lighthouse included the pulley system
used to hold the light keeper's boat out of the water when not in use

Painting "Jewel of the Chesapeake"
on display in the lighthouse 

Miniature Lighthouse inside donation box for the lighthouse

View from Lighthouse
looking towards the marina

After leaving the lighthouse, we decided to explore a local route identified as the "Scenic Drive". As we left the marina to start our outing, we came across a beautiful fountain hiding in the midst of a lot of on-going construction.

Fountain at Cambridge Municipal Marina

Our bike tour along the scenic route showed us a totally different and affluent view of Cambridge with beautifully kept houses along the waterfront. I found a house for sale on Riverside Drive with a brochure that listed the house at $695,000. The sailboat owner we talked to at the marina told us we could buy a house in town for $75,000 to $100,000.

Home on the "Scenic Drive" 

Natural Archway

Hambrooks Estate

Sharp Contrast in View on Opposite side of River Road from the houses
(note the crane standing watch at the water's edge)

We biked back to the boat, and when we got there, we met a man with a sailboat docked at the marina who asked us if we had seen Annie Oakley's house on our bike ride. Since our answer was basically no, Clark rode his bike back to get a picture while I worked on cooking dinner.

Annie Oakley Lived Here

Annie Oakley lived in this house in Cambridge, Maryland with her husband from 1913 to 1917. When she lived here, the house did not have a closed-in porch. As the story goes, she and her husband stood on the porch and shot birds which they then consumed for dinner. After three years, she moved to North Carolina, returned to public life, and continued setting records with her shooting prowess. In 1996 this home in Cambridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in her memory.

Even though we arrived "late to the show", we saw everything in Cambridge that we felt we needed to see. Tomorrow we move on to visit Oxford.