When I started planning my very first trip to St. Michaels, there was one attraction that made the…read moreitinerary before almost anything else: the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. I'd heard so many people rave about it that I figured it deserved a few hours of my vacation. Turns out...a few hours wasn't nearly enough! Admission was $22 for adults, and one of my favorite surprises was learning that your ticket is good for two consecutive days. A volunteer at the front desk gave me a wonderful overview of the property, explained how everything worked and made sure I knew I was welcome to come back the following day as long as I didn't lose my admission sticker. That's tremendous value for everything there is to see! The first thing I realized after walking through the doors? This isn't just a museum. It's an entire waterfront campus! The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum sits right on the Miles River and includes historic buildings, floating vessels, exhibitions, gardens, a working shipyard where traditional wooden boats are still restored and built, and enough history to keep you wandering for hours. Whether you're interested in Chesapeake Bay history, boats, lighthouses, watermen or simply beautiful places to explore, there's something here for just about everyone. Now...in true to me fashion...I headed straight for the gift shop before I looked at anything else. My philosophy is simple: shop first, think about it while I explore, and if I still love it by the time I leave, I already own it. Except...that didn't exactly happen this time. I found something I loved immediately, bought it right away and happily carried my purchase around the museum for the rest of my visit. RELATED SIDEQUEST & PRO TIP: While I was wandering through the gift shop, I overheard another visitor asking an employee if they sold U.S. Lighthouse Society Lighthouse Passport books. Wait...what passport?! Excuse me while I casually eavesdrop. A very quick Google search later, I had fallen headfirst into yet another travel rabbit hole. Apparently there's an entire Lighthouse Passport Program where visitors collect official lighthouse stamps from locations all over the country. Well...that sounds dangerously like something I would absolutely obsess over! The museum has an official lighthouse stamp available at the front desk, so even though I don't own the passport yet, I stamped a blank piece of paper to tuck safely away until I order one. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be back to stamp the real thing someday! PRO TIP: Get your lighthouse passport before you go! I spent the next several hours wandering the campus completely at my own pace. One thing I really appreciated was that the museum lets you create your own experience. Some exhibits fascinated me, others I breezed through, and there was never any pressure to see things in a particular order. It felt more like exploring than touring. The museum itself was fantastic and easily worth the $22 admission. More than anything, I came away impressed by how much pride everyone there takes in preserving and sharing the history of the Chesapeake Bay. It's clear this isn't simply a collection of artifacts. It's a place that's actively keeping an important part of Maryland's history alive. Whether you're visiting St. Michaels for a weekend or just passing , I'd absolutely recommend making time for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. And while you're there...don't forget to get your lighthouse passport stamp!

The Maritime Museum is such an interesting place to visit! We visited for a number of years at the…read moreold location, and we love all the updates at the new. The visitor center entrance building has great bathrooms and the new gift shop? Chef's kiss! We picked up a number of things for my toddler that she was interested in, including the cute Chadwick the Crab books. You can really tell the care that has gone into the exhibits, and the staff is incredibly knowledgeable. Hopefully we can do one of the fun day long experiences working on a project there in the future! Definitely worth a stop if you're in St Michael's!

If you're heading to St. Michael's and want to get a full experience you gotta hit up the winery…read more Some of the best local wine the eastern shore has to offer. A great spot to wine taste and buy bottles of their stuff. They sell their more popular ones in liquor stores across the state but the full portfolio is here for you to buy if you are so inclined!

The wine was very sweet and the only dry wine they had was not very good. They charge per pour.read more

Great stories and entertaining tour guide! We enjoyed the walk and details, I would do another one!read more

We are from Baltimore and went to St. Michael's for Labor Day Weekend. We signed up for the ghost…read moretour on Friday evening and it was great! We talked about the stuff we had learned all weekend! Keep up the tours - they really add a fun twist to all that St. Michael's has to offer! Tina Marie

This place is awesome. If you blink you could miss it. St. Michaels looks like it is a movie set…read more There are cute coffee shops, stores and the Inn at St. Michael's. The fire department has community activities. If you golf or like water activities, you will especially like it here. There are also nature trails. St. Michaels has a lot of wealthy residents. The population is just over 1,000.

They are pet friendly and easy to book. They pick up the phone which is great. You can book River…read morecruise tickets on their website up to 2 hours before departure, or call them on the phone. They take cash at the pier or you can scan a QR code there to pay using your phone. Clean boat and not crowded, which is a plus. The best part is they allow dogs. We had a 1.5 hour cruise. Our captain was great, smooth ride and he shared lots of factoids about Saint Michael. He's a local and loves the town.

We booked a last minute sunset cruise and it was one of the highlights of our trip! This cruise is…read moreBYOB and super laid back. We saw awesome sunsets, beautiful views of the Maritime Museum, Yacht Club, and Inn at Perry Cabin, and the piece de resistance -- a pod of eight dolphins (mother and babies!) frolicking along the water. For $45 a person, it was well-priced. I think this would be great for a group of friends or family.

What a great day!! We learned so much history of the area and found tons of fossils and several…read moreshark teeth. Our group of 11 ranged in age from 5-79 and everyone enjoyed it! Paul knows his stuff and is so willing to share that knowledge. Tip: Each person should pack their own ziplock bags & drinks in a small backpack and carry it with them. We were not all together most of the time so having 1 backpack for family wasn't convenient. Also, pretty obvious, but a backpack is much more sensible than a bag with handles when you are searching for shark teeth and fossils and need to use your hands. It was a great day & it really sparked some curiosity about not only the shark teeth but also the geology and oceanography!

We have been wanting to go Fossil hunting in Calvert County for years ! So glad we decided to go…read morewith Paul instead of attempting this exploration by ourselves! Paul is a wealth of information not only about fossils but also about Calvert County history. We had such a great time and look forward to the next adventure!

Enjoyed breakfast at Carpenters Street Saloon. Waitress was great, very friendly!…read more Food came out quickly and was hot. I had 1 pancake with bananas and chocolate chips and chipped beef gravy on top. A little unusual, but oh so good! Pancake was huge. Brought it back to our room and nibbled on it all night. Leaving today, but going to stop at C's on the way out for breakfast! Summer of 2026

After spending the afternoon wandering through the shops in St. Michaels on my first-ever visit to…read moretown, I found myself craving one thing for dinner. A really good burger. Actually...a really good burger with crab dip on it. Naturally, I started searching for somewhere that could satisfy both cravings at once and landed on Carpenter Street Saloon, a laid-back local watering hole that's been serving up food, drinks and good times in the heart of St. Michaels for decades. Their menu had both burgers and crab dip, but not together. Challenge accepted! I arrived around 4:30pm on a Friday during Fourth of July weekend and somehow managed to snag the very last parking spot in their small lot. Even better, as I walked inside, a booth just inside the front door opened up. The adventure gods were clearly looking out for me! The atmosphere was exactly what I was hoping for. Folks were gathered around the bar enjoying drinks, conversations filled the room and absolutely nobody cared that I had wandered in by myself for dinner. Sometimes that's exactly the kind of place you need after a long day of adventuring. I studied the menu for approximately three seconds before asking my waitress what I assumed would be a ridiculous question. "Could I get a burger...with crab dip on it?" Without missing a beat, she smiled and said, "Absolutely! We actually used to have that on the menu, but nobody ordered it." I couldn't stop grinning! "Well," I replied, "I'm somebody...and I want it for dinner tonight!" One more vacation victory! For $16.00, my custom Bay Burger arrived piled high with rich, creamy crab dip and melted cheese dripping over the thick burger patty exactly as I'd imagined it. It was everything I'd hoped it would be! Juicy burger. Creamy crab dip. Gooey cheese. The combination just...worked! In fact...it worked so well that I briefly considered ordering another one before remembering I still had dessert plans later that evening. (Responsible Adult Alexis eventually won that internal debate.) I chose the coleslaw as my side, and while the flavor was really good, it was a little drier than I personally prefer. That's entirely a preference thing, though. If you're someone who likes a less creamy coleslaw, this one will probably be right up your alley. My Diet Pepsi was $4.00, bringing my total to just $21.20 before tip. Honestly, for a custom burger loaded with crab dip in the middle of one of Maryland's busiest holiday weekends, I thought that was an excellent value. Carpenter Street Saloon isn't trying to be fancy. It's comfortable. It's welcoming. It's the kind of neighborhood bar where locals and visitors alike can settle in, enjoy a great meal and relax for a while. If you're visiting St. Michaels and find yourself craving a burger, do yourself a favor...ask them to bring back the crab dip burger. Apparently nobody orders it. Except me. And now hopefully you!

Even though most post office locations are not fully staffed - this location is a complete gem. The…read moreemployees are genuinely kind. Thank you to Mandy for brightening my day.

NEVER use United States Postal Service PRIORITY. They will charge you $7.60 and there's absolutely…read moreNO GUARANTEE that the package will be sent. It took them 2 weeks to deliver a money order that was extremely urgent. So, why charge us extra and call it Priority Service? False Advertisement! Just always use Fed Ex. Fed Ex guarantees delivery, excellent tracking and has stellar customer service. You will never hear, "I'm sorry but even though you paid extra for expedited services, there's simply no guarantee". CASE #03353993