Final Day at the Machen Homestead

Sea Nettle stings, broken and pierced foot, you'd think I would have wrapped us all in bubble wrap and waited for it to be time to go home, but no...

We went to one of my favorite places, the Calvert Maritime Museum. If you are ever in Solomon's, I highly recommend a visit. It is hands on fun for the whole family. Their main focus is the Chesapeake Bay- those who make a living by it, the animals and plants that live in and near it, and ongoing conservation efforts.

The first exhibit is a tank of baby skates and rays. The rays are very playful and will come up and flip their little wing at you or bob and stare at you. It's really cool and the kids love it.


There are docents all through the museum who are walking encyclopedias. You can ask the most off the wall questions about the exhibits and chances are, they'll have the answer.







Hank and Ella demonstrating their enormous shark jaws



There's a tank housing a pair of otters, Bubbles and Squeak. Talk about playful! They swim up to the glass where you're sitting and do little turn flips off in the other direction. The kids really enjoyed watching them. Shane wasn't thrilled about just sitting so he and I walked around the boardwalk they have set up through a marshy area. You can look into the water and see crabs and fish and even snakes.


Silly poses in the museum of different occupations on the Bay


Then I pulled out all the stops and put us on a 1 hour boat tour of the Bay. Did I mention that I get sea sick on the dock? Oh, and I'm the only adult caring for 5 kids, one of whom was in a wheelchair with a broken foot and he's my friend's youngest child so I needed to return him to her safely? That's alright. I prayed! A lot! And for the first time - I think in my life (mom, help my memory here) - I did not get sea sick. I was so pleasantly surprised and extremely grateful!

Here is an Osprey about to fly off as we passed by.

A gaggle of geese, a pod of whales, a herd of cows...Here's a bunch of kids

I let Shane take some pictures. 1 hour in 1 spot did not compute with him, and I was running out of tricks. I also had him call Daddy and tell him all about our adventure.

Then we toured the Cove Point Lighthouse that the Maritime museum had relocated to their grounds. Shane was seriously falling apart at this point. Thankfully I had Jake with me so he could help Hank's friend up and down the stairs and just maneuver around in general so I could deal with Shane.

The lighthouse potty. They all had to take a turn sitting on it and thought it was hilarious. This was the last smile out of Shane for a long time. He was completely spent by the time we got to the car. We drove home with the windows down and the radio up until he finally fell asleep. God made him cute for a reason...

Despite our mishaps, we really had a great time. I love going to southern Maryland and wish we could do it more often. I'm glad for the times we do make it down though. Some of Bill's fondest childhood memories are there and I can see why. Hope you enjoyed our little adventure!