More Broomes Island

The next day we were off to the Calvert Maritime Museum. Two words- Super.Cool

Our adventure began when I realized I needed gas so I pulled off the highway and got gas. To get back on the highway I had to go North first and then do a U-turn to head south. In all that I missed the sign for the turn off and we were on our way over the bridge to St Mary's county. I can't complain though. It was a cool bridge, very high and a spectacular view. I was disappointed they don't have a place to pull off so you can check out the view without risking a car accident. The good thing I guess is that we had to turn around and head back over so I got to check the view again. :)

We had to pay to get in the museum but it was so worth the price. If I had thought to pack a lunch, we could have stayed all day.

This is the Drumpoint (I think) lighthouse. It wasn't open for tours when we were there so we didn't get to go in. We'll save lighthouse tours for a time when daddy can come so I have an extra set of hands and eyes for Shane.
Hank pretending to be a sailor
Shane climbing around one of the displays. Thankfully the museum was very hands on so there was very little he could damage.
Seeing if Jake's head would fit in the mouth of a prehistoric shark
They have a pool of skates and rays. The skates just skimmed along the bottom but the rays were very playful and friendly. They would come to the surface to look at us and even splash us with their little wings. They had eggs in an incubator so you could see the little baby moving around in the egg sac. The interpretor was very excited to tell us everything about the skates and rays found in the bay. I would love to go back with more Shane-help so I could actually listen to him and not worry about my little man grabbing the rays (which he tried to do!)
They also had a hands on discovery room. Here is Ella Bella Cinderalla touching the underside of a horsehoe crab. Hank wouldn't even consider it. Shane looked at it and reached his finger out...then changed his mind.

Shane was willing to touch the top side though...much less scary looking for sure!

They had hamster balls with star fish in them so you could see how their little suckers attach to the surface. They had a little boat for the kids complete with sailor hats and life vests. I wanted to buy them some little hats but they didn't have them in the gift shop and I couldn't find them in any of the little shops we visited later. It's just as well I suppose...3 fewer toys to pick up!
The highlight for the kids (and me) was the otters, Bubbles and Squeak. So playful and fun to watch! They interacted with the kids through the glass, swimming right up to us and swimming by with their tummies on the glass. We spent a long time running back and forth between the two observation windows watching them play.

This lighthouse was inside the discovery room. It had stairs inside so they could climb up and flip the switch to turn on the light. Shane peeking...

Shane in the lightkeepers house for story time
Hank inviting me in for tea and stories
Ella and Hank peeking
They also had a fossil dig area. They could dig through the sand and find all sorts of shells and fossils and they got to keep one fossil. They could then take their fossil to a table with charts to identify what kind it was, record the info on a slip of paper and tape the fossil to the paper. The littles were a little young for that part but they definitely enjoyed digging!

We decided to walk from there down the the boardwalk area to find food. When were out with Shane it's easiest to just find a place that serves burgers or grilled chicken. We didn't find a "burger joint" type place and I didn't have the energy to handle the littles in a sit down restaurant by myself so we headed back to the truck and went to Burger King and headed home!

Another 2 thumbs up adventure!