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The last real trip that TripsWithKevin went on was in November of 2019.  After a year of staying hyperlocal, we decided to expand our circle a little bit and schedule a trip to the beach.  It was the first week of November and we were hoping we wouldn’t have to worry about crowds during this time of Covid-19.  We settled on an airbnb in Cove Point near the town of Lusby, Maryland (about 1 1/2 hours drive time from our house).

This was our first time in an airbnb (we had to cancel the airbnbs we had booked in Ireland this summer).  All early communication was good and left us hopeful.  Even though we left work a bit early and had the children finish their online school day in the car (thanks to wifi in the car) we still got caught in rush hour traffic around Washington, DC.  Even with the heavy traffic at the beginning, the drive to the house only took us 1:50.

On the road to our airbnb is located a small winery and I thought it would be nice to buy a bottle or two from them to have in the house with us.  I ordered online earlier in the day and chose the curbside pick up option.  When we arrived at Cove Point Winery, we followed the directions provided but the woman on the phone couldn’t find our order and asked me to come into the building.  I did and the owner sorted everything out.  In about five minutes we were on the road with our two bottles of wine, a Chardonnay and a Sangiovese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at the house just before 5 PM, unloaded the car, and went straight to the beach to catch the end of the daylight on an unseasonably warm day.  We were rewarded with a beautiful, empty beach and a stunning sunset.  We returned to the house at sunset and placed an order at a local restaurant, Atomic Seafood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to get the food as everyone else finished unpacking and settled into the house.  I also made a stop at the local Weis Market for a few grocery items that we needed for breakfast.  Weis was very easy to navigate and I was in and out in a few minutes.  Atomic Seafood was very busy both with in person customers and to go orders (it was Friday night).  It took about 20 minutes longer than expected to receive our food, but they did offer me a free beer while I waited for the food.

We ordered a lot of items so we could sample a large variety: hushpuppies, coconut fried shrimp, a chicken tender basket, a fried seafood basket, an Old Bay beer battered haddock, popcorn shrimp, and chicken fingers (everything came with either fries or onion rings).  The food was good.  I especially enjoyed the crab balls and my fish bite.  Sarah’s only complaint was that it wasn’t very hot by the time it arrived at the house.  We paired it with the Cove Point wines.  The Chardonnay was not very good at all (we ended up not drinking it), so we switched to the Sangiovese which was better.  It wasn’t particularly good either though it was okay.  We wouldn’t buy either again but it was a fun idea.

After we finished eating the children played Just Dance on the WIIU while Sarah and I cleaned up in the kitchen.  Before long we all were ready for bed.  Everyone already loved the place and the weather was beautiful.

Since we had gone to bed early, we all woke about 6 AM.  I got up, made some coffee and originally planned to enjoy the sunrise from our sunroom, but it was too stunning.  I made the brief walk to the beach and couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the spectacular sunrise faded, I returned to the house and we eased into our morning and breakfast.  We finished breakfast about 8 AM, and headed to the beach since our plan for the day was to spend the morning at historic St. Mary’s City which didn’t open until 10.  We enjoyed walking on the beach and playing in the water for about an hour.  Then it was time to prep for our outing, with high temperatures expected in the 70s again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive from our airbnb to St. Mary’s City was 35 minutes and we arrived just before 10 AM.  It was already almost 70 degrees and an absolutely gorgeous morning.  It was perfect weather to explore the first settlement of the colony of Maryland.  Though there were actually more people than I expected (the parking lot was half full) it felt like we had the place to ourselves most of the time.  Even though the season was almost over and the crowds were small due to the pandemic, the interpreters were fantastic.

I wasn’t expecting many explanations or demonstrations due to the current circumstances, but they had them!  Our first encounter came in the “center” of the old town.  We got a wonderful explanation of the settlement and frankly without it the trip would have been about half as good.

 

Armed with our new information we proceeded toward the ship (the top of mine and Liam’s list for the day) passing through the other buildings.  Since this site wasn’t a developed attraction until I was in college, I had never been before today.  I was very interested to see the Dove, one of two ships that came with the original settlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at the ship, the Dove, with five minutes to go before the beginning of a gun demonstration.  That meant that the ship would be closed in minutes.  Still, the interpreter on board gave Liam a personal tour of the ship and allowed him to ask any questions he had.  That five minutes was probably a better tour than having the normal wandering around time.  By this time Fionnuala was starving and we made our way to the exit.

In between our airbnb and St. Mary’s is the resort town of Solomans Island.  It’s full of waterfront dining and attractive shops and was our target for lunch today.  I’m not sure why, but I didn’t make a lunch reservation even though I knew it was going to be a beautiful day.  Still, we were able to get an outdoor waterfront table.

We put our name in for the Pier and were told it would be 30 minutes for an outdoor table or we could be seated by a window inside.  We opted for outdoor.  While we waited we paid a visit to Solomons Island Winery and did a tasting.  This winery is really just a wine shop.  None of the wines are local and I don’t think I even saw an American wine actually.  We each got five one ounce cups and all were lovely.  While we were doing our tasting the woman in the winery gave the children pack of Smarties and they were content to sit in the sun and eat the candy.  We ended up buying four bottles and the prices were very reasonable for nice wine.  I’m really glad we decided to stop in here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not long after we finished our tasting our table was ready at The Pier.  We order the steamed shrimp , a Monterrey Chicken Sandwich, the Pier Burger, Crab Cake Dinner, and Chicken Tenders.  The food was delicious, they also had local beers and I had a nice Orange Crush.  The views were great and the river really made for a nice setting as we enjoyed the warm, sunny day.  It would be easy to spend an afternoon wandering up and down these riverfront restaurants, museums, and shops, but we had our hearts set on the beach!

We made the 15 minute drive back to our airbnb and in moments were back on the beach.  We stayed until sunset and then ordered from Maryland institution Ledo Pizza.  Meanwhile our host sent me a message saying that we could stay until 3PM the next day since no one was going to be in the house immediately after us!  That night in the house we took advantage of the Disney+ and watched a few hours of the Mandalorian for family movie night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we again all woke up between 6 AM and 7 AM.  Somehow the sunrise was even more spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah and I finished our coffee and then went for a walk down to the beach to see the lighthouse.  It was still, quiet, and peaceful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then returned to the house for breakfast, followed by a return to the beach.  We spent the whole morning on the beach before returning to the house for lunch.  When we finished eating, we packed up the car, and then headed back to the beach.  By now it was 75 and we spent a few final hours at the beach before making the 1 1/2 hour drive home.

Our weekend was perfect.  The weather was amazing (not typical for November), the house was prefect for us, and the private beach was a minute walk from the house.  We definitely plan to return to this house, hopefully soon.  Here are our pictures of the house:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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