To celebrate our fifth anniversary in July 2007, we decided to spend a long weekend on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We stayed in a lovely B&B in Cambridge called the Lodgecliffe Inn. It was beautifully located right on the Choptank River, and Scott and Jen treated us wonderfully.

On Saturday we mostly toured Dorchester County, beginning with the city of Cambridge itself. It's a quiet little town with lots of interesting colonial architecture, shops, and restaurants. After lunch, we headed down to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which allowed for a very cool car tour where we saw all kinds of birds, insects, and wildlife. We headed as far south as Hoopers Island, where we visited the Star of the Sea Chapel.

We then headed back north through Talbot County, through Easton and St. Michaels, to Tilghman Island, where we boarded the skipjack Rebecca T. Ruark for a sunset sail. Captain Wade Murphy is a third-generation oysterman, and the Rebecca T. Ruark is one of the last operating skipjacks on the Chesapeake Bay. Captain Wade entertained and taught us a lot on the trip. The weather couldn't have been better, making for an amazing experience.

On the way home, we visited the Spocott Windmill west of Cambridge, quite an interesting site. We stopped in St. Michaels for lunch before heading back over the Bay Bridge. St. Michaels was also a nice town but seemed a bit too touristy for us. Several Cambridge locals told us, "I guess it's OK if you want to stop for an ice cream or somethin'." A sudden thunderstorm compelled us to leave before we had a chance to explore further and dispel that notion, so I guess we need to go back...