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Solomons for Summertime
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By Pete Nelson
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Maryland.com
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Where's the Apostrophe?
"The present-day Solomons covers an area that includes the earlier Solomons Island, a late-nineteenth century 'development' given the name of Avondale, and additional land to the north that was originally farms. The island itself was variously known as Bourne's Island (about 1680), Somervell's Island (1740-1814), and Sandy Island (1827-1865).
... in 1865 ... a tract of eighty acres called 'Sandy Island' [was sold] to Isaac Solomon.
... Official recognition was given the community in 1870 when the United States Postal Service opened a post office."
"Solomons Island & Vicinity, An Illustrated History and Walking Tour," (Calvert Marine Museum, 1995)
The area is referred to as Solomons; the apostrophe has vanished; the island is extant.
For information on Solomons area accommodations -- there are several B&Bs and Inns as well as chain motels -- boatyards, marinas and their charter services; antique and book shops and art galleries; and real estate firms and restaurants:
Calvert County Department of Economic Development, cced@chesapeake.net,
1-800-331-9771 or www.co.cal.md.us
Annmarie Garden on St. John, 410-326-4640.
Calvert Marine Museum, 410-326-2042.
Solomons Victorian Inn, 410-326-4811
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 | | Solomons Bandstand |
Arriving at an unfamiliar destination at night can offer a rather pleasant perspective, revealing a charm often overlooked in the bright light of daytime. This is particularly true of driving onto Solomons Island after sunset. Once down off the highway onto the two-lane main road, occasional street lights splash dull yellow on the pavement. To the left, shops and restaurants shine cheerfully from within, small roadside homes glow cozily behind their drawn curtains, but most memorable is the stained glass image of a sailboat set in a small, round window above the entrance to a steepled church. The surface of the Patuxent River to the right reflects whatever remaining rays it can capture from the lights along other side of the road.
Almost to the southernmost tip of the island, the road jogs gently to the left and the welcoming lights on the porch and through the windows of Solomons Victorian Inn beckon from its knoll on the right. Also known as the Davis House, the Inn was originally the home of Clarence Davis, renowned builder of early 20th century sailing yachts. It sits prominently on the highest point of the island -- several feet above water's edge! -- and boasts soul-quietening views in several directions from most of its eleven rooms. Innkeepers Helen and Richard Bauer welcome us personally, hot drinks and chocolate chip cookies at the ready, before we wend our way to our second-floor room -- with its anachronistic, but very enticing jacuzzi.
Driving the mostly rural length of Calvert County is easy, taking under an hour from the Annapolis area. A few at-grade intersections and garish strip malls mar the otherwise bucolic countryside of gently rolling fields and woodlands. Steep-roofed tobacco barns, most weathered gray, crown low hilltops and nestle in shallow valleys, reminding resident and visitor alike of the region's deep-rooted agricultural heritage.
 | | Drumpoint |
Solomons Island it almost isn't. On any map, it looks like a peninsula, the Patuxent River to the west, an inlet called "The Narrows" to the east. Nevertheless, there is separation, albeit insignificant; the gap between the mainland and the island is just wide enough to accommodate a family of ducks swimming abreast. Mischievously, we stop our car for a moment, front wheels resting on the island, rear wheels on the mainland. 'Twasn't always thus, however.
Before 1915, the island needed a substantial bridge to cross some 550 feet of shallow water from Avondale, the tiny community southernmost on the Calvert County peninsula. The road was subsequently widened and the gap narrowed. Today, the Patuxent River and Back Creek are barely linked under the roadway, but Solomons' status as a true island is genuine.
Our reservations for dinner reconfirmed, we put our feet up and read for a bit before we had to leave. Avondale and its neighboring island did not become prominent until after the Civil War when the oyster industry surged and Maryland became the world's premier supplier of the enigmatic creature. Baltimore businessman Isaac Solomon recognized and responded to the economic opportunities represented by oyster processing as well as the construction and repair of oystering vessels.
"There are about one hundred houses upon the island, including some stores which do an active business in the oyster season, and three shipyards ... It is chiefly occupied by oystermen and fishermen." (The Calvert Gazette, November 12, 1892)
By the late 1920s, oyster and fish harvests were declining and Solomons boatyards suffered. M.M. Davis and Son, the boatbuilder in whose family home we were guests, adapted by turning to recreational boatbuilding. By this time, the island had recognized its potential as a recreational destination for "outsiders;" summertime boarding houses and charter fishing boats became readily available. The Great Depression took its toll, of course, as did the devastating storm of August 23, 1933. It was WWII that stimulated the new boom. Three Navy bases suddenly emerged, one a Naval Amphibious Training Base, another a Naval Mine WarfareTest Station; the third, Patuxent Naval Air Station across the river in St. Mary's county, is extant today.
 | | Annmarie Sculpture Garden |
Morning at the mouth of the Patuxent River is marvelous. Hot coffee gets us awake and cold juice gets us conversational enough for our innkeepers' breakfast launch of French toast folded and stuffed with whipped cream and fruit preserves. We are reluctant to leave the table, but it is too glorious a day to linger inside, as bright and pleasant as is the inn's porch where we sit.
A few minutes drive north from Solomons, Annmarie Garden on St. John, alive and vibrant, is one of the most unsung, under-appreciated locales in the mid-Atlantic. The wooded 30-acre tract sloping down to the edge of St. John Creek is actually a Sculpture Garden, its works carefully, naturally integrated with the landscape. Since its inception five years ago, the Garden has attracted extraordinary artistic creativity and imagination from throughout the region and, indeed, from around the world. Among them: "Tribute to the Oyster Tonger," the focal piece located in the Garden's entry drive; "Council Ring," an oasis for rest and reflection; "Memory Walk," lifting the visitor to treetop height. Smooth, user-friendly pathways curve through the grounds, inviting strollers and roller-bladers alike to visit at their own pace. Over a dozen "Talking Benches" along the way were created by Maggie Smith, each depicting a plant specific to southern Maryland -- Dogwood, Loblolly, Pawpaw, Tobacco, ... -- by the incorporation of one-of-a-kind ceramic tiles created by the children of Mutual Elementary School in St. Leonard, Maryland. Nothing in the Garden is off-limits. Picnickers are welcome to settle in virtually anywhere.
The administration building includes a gallery available for local artists to display their work, a different one each week. And over one weekend each September, Annmarie Garden becomes the focal point of southern Maryland with ArtFest, a gathering of some of the finest artists in the region; a handicraft fair this isn't. While attending ArtFest, each participant must be either active at his/her work or demonstrate his/her particular talent. Participants are carefully selected from among the several thousand who apply.
Back in the Solomons area, we duck into "Fine Things" in the Avondale Center where Manager Rhea W. Clagett shows us some of the most tasteful collection of gifts and decorative accessories assembled anywhere. This is one shop well worth a visit.
Across the Center's arcade, lunch at the bright, cheerful "CD Café" is a delight. Menu selections are diverse and imaginative. Portions are perfect for an afternoon of activity or one that might include a nap. Our choice for early afternoon is the Calvert Marine Museum located at the northern end of Solomons near where Route 2/4 sweeps westward over the Patuxent River across the Thomas Johnson Bridge into St. Mary's county.
This facility is actually a complex of several sites -- one of them, the J.C. Lore Oyster House, located a half-mile back toward the island -- all clearly places to visit and view, on which to climb and cruise. Its location directly on Back Creek allows its buildings and outdoor exhibits to encompass its own Boat Basin and to tie up its own historical vessel for cruises, the William B. Tennison, an 1899 "bugeye" oyster buyboat. In addition to the world-class Exhibition Hall, the complex includes Small Craft Sheds and a Maritime Woodworking Shop, a Marsh Walk and an Otter Pool, and the museum's signature Drum Point Lighthouse. A finer repository of Chesapeake Bay region history and memorabilia would be hard to find anywhere, the St. Michaels Maritime Museum notwithstanding.
As the shadows lengthen, we drive back onto the island and stroll the Boardwalk, crossing the street from time to time to duck into one of the many intriguing little antique, gift and specialty shops and galleries along the way. We seek out the "Lazy Moon Bookshop" -- sharing limited space in a converted home with Island Trader Antiques -- which has an enviable "When-you're-in-Solomons,-you-must-visit" reputation. It is a bibliophile's delight; books, nautical and regional historical, used and out-of-print; books new, Chesapeake Bay-related; mysteries, science fiction, military, children's, all shelved and stacked on every available surface. A finer place to end a memorable day would be hard to identify.
The true traveler always leaves a place without having seen everything, departing with a lingering longing to return, like being well satisfied with a meal but leaving the table with a little left on the plate. We shall return, perhaps by boat next time. We leave a number of pubs and eateries, galleries and shops, and a variety of nameless nooks and crannies unexplored. And we shall return soon; Solomons has been discovered.
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