In the spotlight

Friday, May 9, 2008

Celebrate Southern Maryland traditions at the Calvert Marine Museum’s third annual Solomons Maritime Festival.

There will be antique boats and motors, master maritime carvers, home crafts and cooking demonstrations, traditional music and storytelling, children’s games and boat rides from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 10 in Solomons.

Visitors can learn how to make the famed Southern Maryland stuffed ham, shuck an oyster, mix up a crab cake and sauté a soft shelled crab from local experts. The music stage will feature gospel, traditional maritime music with Tom Lewis, folk and traditional, a barbershop quartet and old-time bluegrass.

Chesapeake Bay retriever demonstrations can be seen both in the water and on land. Model radio-controlled boats will run a mock race course. Nearby, children can build toy boats. Free rides on the historic bugeye, the Wm. B. Tennison, will be offered. For those who like going under their own power, there will be rowboats and canoes available.

In front of the museum, the Antique Boat and Marine Engine Show, now in its eighth year, will take place. More than 60 different boat owners from across the country set up camp to display their preserved craft.

For information, call 410-326-2042, Ext. 41 or go to www.calvertmarinemuseum.com. Admission to the festival and museum is free.