maritime museum

Our wee state of Maryland is dripping with maritime museums. It makes sense, since we're all waterfront around here between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Aside from being nirvana for boat geeks, maritime museums are almost always super kid friendly. Very much a touch and feel and do and climb sort of atmosphere. We romped around the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael's, Maryland in the heat recently.

Zach loves anything having to do with animals and fishing and crabbing that he can get his hands on. He got to use old fashioned (and he loves anything old fashioned) oyster grabber thingies. He was so excited that he was getting some I didn't have the heart to tell him they probably put shells down there every few hours for kids to grab.

And Naia just likes anything she can climb, so the lighthouse was a hit. And so were the many old boats and replicas they allow kids to crawl all over.

I love geeking out over the retro boating swag and nautical lore. Are these ladies the bomb or what?

That's totally what I look like when I am driving the dinghy.

Ahem.

But then there are reminders about how our seaside shangri-la wasn't always so fab.

The portion of town we live in was for a very long time designated only for African Americans, while across the creek was the whites only part of town. The beach right off our marina became a blacks only concert and dance venue that was pretty happening for its time. Big name acts from across the USA would fly out here (there was a little airport where we now have a grocery store) and perform on the beach.

It's definitely worth seeking out the maritime museums in your area or when you travel to the seaside.