Smith Island

Ever since we first moved here and noticed there was a Smith Island located in the Chesapeake Bay, we've been wanting to check it out. Last week, when we were down in Point Lookout, Steve picked up a brochure detailing the cruise information to get to the island. Since Charmaine, Kelly and Cameron were interested in visiting the island with us, we made it our last big adventure together during their visit with us. Early Saturday morning we drove down to Point Lookout where we hopped on the boat, 'Chelsea Lane Tyler' to go to the only inhabited island in Maryland. The island was named after the first land owner, Henry Smith, in 1686. The cruise took approximately a hour and a half to get there. However before arriving to the island, the captain said he had a surprise for us. The surprise was a 442 foot U.S. Navy WWII Liberty ship named the American Mariner. Although the ship was never used in the war, instead it served as a training ship for the Merchant Marine. Today it is still being used, but as a target ship. Upon arriving on the island, the first stop we made was at the restaurant located at the wharf. All of us ordered crab. Steve tried soft crab for the very first time. For those not familiar with soft crab, you eat the entire thing including the shell. Steve gave me a piece to try and we both liked it very much. Then for the most important part of the meal, we order dessert! Smith Island is known for their 10 layer cake called "Smith Island Cake". There was no way we were leaving the island without me trying a piece. Steve ordered banana and I ordered the original island flavour, chocolate. After finishing up our meal and purchasing some souvenirs, we went for a little walk around the main part of the island. We walked through the cemetery and noticed a lot of "Tylers", "Smiths", and "Marshalls" (Charmaine's maiden name). The mosquitoes were quite bad, so we didn't stay too long before venturing back to the main road and then back to the boat. In conclusion, we were very happy to have finally visit Smith Island and mark it off our list of places we wanted to see. Everyone had a great time and it was the perfect ending to our fun week with Charmaine, Kelly, & Cameron.