Annmarie Garden
Text and photos by Diane Dorsey
You know you’re someplace special when you reach the gates of Annmarie Garden on St. John Creek. They’re a ceramic wonder of over 650 pieces. Just inside and creating a centerpiece to the garden is Tribute to the Oyster Tonger, a history lesson in the form of a fountain.
Leave your car and follow a wooded path to discover more marvels. The forest’s evolution unfolds in four circular mini-rooms, told symbolically in life-sized human figures carved from limestone. Don’t get caught under a big fishing pole; there are already fish aplenty in these woods.
As you meander, you become part of the environment of the garden. Rest and feel the transformation at 13, ‘talking benches’ with ceramic tiles depicting plants native to Southern Maryland. Enter the sacred space of the Council Ring, a classic circle of 10 granite benches which is as eloquent when you’re there alone as when it’s in use as a forum.
The 30 acres of Annmarie Garden are enchanted every day, but they’re also full of fun of festival days: Artfest in September, the Haunted Trail at Halloween, the Garden in Lights Christmas and Gardenfest in May.
Find more art indoors each weekend at Annmarie Garden Gallery. Artists are on site to talk with you, and their works are for sale. For another artful experience, be sure to use the restrooms.
The Gallery is open 10am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The garden is open daylight hours every day, and free. Follow Rt. 2/4 to the outskirts of Solomons, then turn east on Dowell Rd.: 410/326-4640.
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ May 30 -June 5 2002, Issue #22
Flag Ponds Nature Park
Ten miles south of Prince Frederick, Flag Ponds Nature Park is one of Calvert County’s best kept secrets. Most folks think of Calvert Cliffs State Park when they think about sharks’ teeth, but the nature preserve a few miles north and named for the abundant blue flag iris found there is a lesser known destination with a broad beach where Miocene age fossils wash up on shore. The rare stretch of public beach and Bay fishing pier is reached by a half-mile wooded trail.
Longer wooded trails lead to freshwater ponds, good for watching wildlife. There’s also an old fisherman’s shanty, with an exhibit that harkens back to Chesapeake Bay’s old-time fishing industry.
There’s another reason to visit Flag Ponds this week. Now begins the short blooming season of the blue flag iris that gives the park its name. Follow the trail to Duncan’s pond to see these flags wave.
From Annapolis: Route 2 south to Route 4. Ten miles south of Prince Frederick, turn left at the sign for Flag Ponds Nature Park. Open daily thru Labor Day 9am-6pm; weekends year round. $6/car or $20 season ($4/car, $15/season for Calvert County residents). Beach parking for handicapped: 410/586-1477.
— M.L. Faunce, Illustration by Gary Pendleton
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ May 23-29, 2002, Issue #21
Maryland World War II Memorial
Memorial Day heralds the coming of summer the way Labor Day signals summer’s end. Memorial Day means breaking out the camping equipment, getting the boat in the water or firing up the barbecue. Only if we happen to drive past a cemetery alive with tiny, fluttering flags do most of us remember that, more than backpacks and boats and barbecues, Memorial Day is about remembering those who died so that we could enjoy those things.
Visiting a war memorial is a great way to honor that sacrifice. There are many such memorials in Chesapeake Country to choose from, but none more spectacular — or anticipated — than the Maryland World War II Memorial.
The memorial stands on the slopes of Pendennis Mount, overlooking the Severn River and the Naval Academy beyond. The parking lot off of Route 450 is roomy enough for an afternoon full of tourists — unless there are fireworks overhead, or the Blue Angels are flying by.
An observation platform sits above the monument proper — a semicircle of granite slabs engraved with the names of the 6,500 Marylanders who lost their lives in World War II. A thumbnail history of that war stretches across 16 pedestals inside the semicircle, giving visitors a context for those lost lives. There’s a small monument outside the semicircle dedicated — just two months ago — to the five Marylanders who died in Pearl Harbor and, hidden behind a hedge, markers memorializing three female midshipmen killed at that spot by a fallen tree.
The memorial was dedicated in 1998, which means 6,500 veterans listed on those granite slabs waited 53 years to be remembered. Don’t let them be forgotten again.
— Brent Seabrook
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ May 9-15, 2002, Issue #19
Your Local Farmers’ Market
Stomachs growl at the prospect of fresh asparagus, early basil and just-picked strawberries still full of Chesapeake sugar.
Roasted in just a drop of olive oil then sprinkled with sea salt is how we’ve been eating our asparagus this spring, and oh yes those farm-fresh stalks are sweet.
We’re sitting in the catbird seat because of Anne Arundel County Farmers’ Market. There, Saturday morning early birds get the prize of fresh asparagus. Soon the baby basil plants we bought from another local grower will be leafy enough to add another flavor to our fresh salad, grown tall from farmers’ market plants. 7am–noon: 410/570-3646.
Northern appetites find their match at the Severna Park Farmers’ Market, now open Saturdays 8am–noon at Jones Station Rd: 410/841-5770.
On May 10, farmers take a stall at City Market House on Annapolis City Dock. The Southern Maryland Co-operative is set for opening day, likely with asparagus and early strawberries. By mid summer, two or three different farmers will sell seasonal produce each day at the market.
Expect regular surprises as summer ripens new crops each week.
Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ May 2-8, 2002, Issue #18
Louis Goldstein
All the dignitaries, his political bedfellows in life, turned out to welcome Louis Goldstein back to Annapolis last month. But since then, he’s been pretty lonely. We’re sure he appreciates being back in the parade of capital life, but — let’s face it — the ultimate insider is now an outsider. He can’t even flit inside the Treasury, which bears his name, to see how our holdings are getting on without him. As in life, Louis L. Goldstein needs you. Visit him outside the Goldstein Treasury Building, at 80 Calvert Street, where he stands larger than life, encased in a creased bronze suit, waiting for you.
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ April 11-17, 2002, Issue #15
Quiet Waters Park
Have you seen what spring is doing in the woods? Throughout the forest, maples and oaks are doing their green best to keep up with their splashy flowering cousins, waving tiny hands in the warming air. Down below, May apples are rising from the forest floor.
Looking for woods to catch up with spring’s doings? Get thee to Quiet Waters Park. Right at the edge of Annapolis — where development stops at the South River — this retreat unites woods, wetlands and water in 336 accessible acres. To get the best look at spring, follow six miles of paved trail into the woodlands. Be on the lookout for odd woodland creatures: you’re likely to come upon a dragon as well as other encounters of art with nature.
More art — this month’s show is the best work of Anne Arundel high school students — plus a good lunch may lure you inside the visitors center.
Walk, skate, bike or paddle in, and all this is free for the taking. Come by car and pay $4 to park.
You can bring your own kayak or canoe, or rent one at the park. What’s more, your dog (on leash) can come with you to find spring in Quiet Waters.
Daily (except Tu) 7am to dusk on Quiet Waters Drive off Bay Ridge Road; Annapolis: 410/222-1777.
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ March 21-27, 2002, Issue #12
Clements Island-Potomac River Museum
Celebrate Maryland’s 368th birthday where our history began. Travel country roads to reunite with the English folk who sailed the Arc and Dove across the uncharted ocean to establish Maryland’s first colony. Their journey brought them to land March 25, when they stepped ashore on the Potomac island now named St. Clements. The Catholic members of Lord Baltimore’s expedition offered a mass in thanksgiving for their safe journey before locals asked them to move on. They put down roots at what is now Historic St. Mary’s City.
Follow the story at the small St. Clements Island-Potomac River Museum. As well as artifacts and story boards, a special treat is a 1999 mural of the colonists, with the characters copied from the features of their descendants and notable locals. The party begins Monday, March 25 at 11am with a vignette of the play “Tide of Tolerance,” followed by lunch: rsvp. Otherwise W-Su noon-4 (winter hours). Follow St. Mary’s County Rt. 242 to the end of Colton’s Point Rd. $1: 301/769-2222.
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ March 14-20, 2002, Issue #11
It must be spring: The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry is back again, crossing the Tred Avon River to unite two peninsulas of Talbot County. Proving its vitality, the three-and-a-quarter-century-old ferry returns to the water this year with new owners, St. Lawrence University graduate-captains and former New Yorkers Tom and Judy Bixler.
Prove the burgeoning season to yourself on a drive to the Eastern Shore, where, whichever leg of the crossing you start with, you’ll escape the fast lane of I 50 at Easton for back-country rambling and discoveries. Make the 3/4-mile, 10-minute crossing by car, bike or on foot 7am weekdays, 9am SSu till sunset. Last trip from Oxford 5:30pm; Bellevue 5:45. $5.50 w/discounts: 410/745-9023.
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ March 7-13, 2002, Issue #10
March brings two good reasons to visit Maryland Science Center: 1. You get in free. 2. You get to be part of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Mr. McFeely, who you know as Mr. Speedy Delivery, asks all Maryland children to donate a warm sweater or other gently used clothing to his drive for the six homeless shelters and poverty-help centers in the Science Center’s South Baltimore neighborhood.
W/each gift, one child and adult enjoys at no cost all the center has to offer (except IMAX shows). That’s lots of hands-on, fun-to-discover science from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the skies, from as far back as when dinosaurs lived to as close to home as Inside Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
10am-5pm M-F, 10- 6 Sa, noon-6 Su @ 601 Light St., Baltimore: 410/685-2370 • www.mdsci.org
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Destination: Chesapeake Country ~ February 28 - March 6, 2002, Issue #9
On the winter Bay, the water is so clear you can trace the movement of tides along the furrowed bottom. And the air, on a clear day, is so light you can see the Eastern Shore dancing on the horizon. Best of all, you can often have all this to yourself while everybody else is staying home under the mistaken impression that Chesapeake Bay has a single season.
At Calvert Cliffs State Park, you’ll find yet another pleasure of the winter Bay: sharks’ teeth. Lost by toothy predators millions of years ago, these fossils — from as small as a rose thorn to as large as your hand — erode from the cliffs that give the park its name.
Wear your walking shoes: You’ll follow a 1.8 miles of woodland trail to the beach. Leave time to play on the recycled tires turned into a kingdom of fun the by volunteers who run the park.
Open daylight hours off Maryland Route 2/4, 14 miles south of Prince Frederick at Lusby in Calvert County: 301/872-5688.
