Not convinced that Maryland is the Land of Pleasant Living? Then you need to experience summer on the Chesapeake Bay. If you can’t find time to leave the library, we have some recommendations to at least engage your imagination.
A good place to start is James Michener’s Chesapeake. Michener’s epic tale weaves a fascinating story of life along the Choptank River from 1583 through the Watergate scandal.
Want something more scholarly? How about Arthur Pierce Middleton’s Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Period? It’s a classic.
If charts are your thing, find out where the oyster beds were in the Bay in the early twentieth century. Alas, there are far fewer now, and the state’s efforts at aquaculture are getting off to a slow start.
It’s not all bad news, though. We’re having a bumper year for “beautiful swimmers,” Maryland’s blue crab. Stop by the George Peabody Library and have a look at Mrs. Charles Gibson’s Maryland Cookbook, a best-seller from 1894, to see ways to prepare them.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, feast your eyes on photos taken by noted Maryland photographer, Marion Warren, or simply enjoy “Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay.”
Excellent post and article. I am convinced Maryland has it all. Thanks a bunch. Dave.