Fun Eastern Shore Web Sites It's not genealogy, just more to explore for Shore adorers!

The historic Whitehaven Hotel is a gem in the crown of the lower shore. It stands in the charming Wicomico County village of Whitehaven next to the Whitehaven Ferry, which is the oldest continually operating ferry in the nation, having been running since 1685. The hotel originally opened in 1810 as a roadhouse serving the then-bustling village of Whitehaven on the Wicomico River, serving steamship passengers and others travelers arriving by horse on their way to other farming communities or coming to visit the nearby shipyards. The hotel closed shortly after WWII and was destined for the wrecking ball, until a dramatic campaign to save it resulted in its loving restoration starting in 1997. Today, the Whitehaven Hotel is beautifully restored and maintained, and operates as a bed and breakfast. It is a beautiful property and the hospitality of the hosts and the neighbors is a joy. I have had the happy privilege of staying there during a mother-daughter trip, and it was wonderful. Highly recommended!

The Hotel Atlantic, built in 1895, stands at the heart of historic downtown Berlin, Maryland, with its red-brick exterior, broad veranda, and carefully restored Victorian character. Long a gathering place for residents and travelers, the hotel offers a glimpse of the gracious hospitality and leisurely pace of an earlier era. Surrounding it is Berlin’s charming town center, known for its tree-lined streets, preserved nineteenth-century buildings, independent shops, restaurants, and welcoming small-town atmosphere. Located only a short drive from Ocean City and Assateague Island, Berlin provides a quieter, history-rich contrast to the nearby beach resorts.

Assateague Island National Seashore is a windswept barrier island stretching along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia, where broad Atlantic beaches meet rolling dunes, quiet salt marshes, maritime forests, and sheltered coastal bays. Best known for its free-roaming wild ponies, the island offers a beautiful and ever-changing landscape filled with shorebirds, deer, ocean breezes, and the untamed rhythms of the sea. Visitors can explore the island through swimming, hiking, kayaking, camping, fishing, and wildlife watching while experiencing one of the most naturally preserved stretches of coastline in the region. Please stay at least 40 feet away from the ponies and do not feed them - they bite! Also, PLEASE drive slowly through both the national and state parks. More than 35 ponies have been struck and killed by careless drivers since 1982. Don't be one of those.

Assateague State Park, Maryland’s only oceanfront state park, occupies a scenic stretch of barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Sinepuxent Bay. Its two miles of sandy beach, rolling dunes, salt marshes, maritime vegetation, and quiet bayside coves provide a beautiful setting for swimming, camping, fishing, kayaking, beachcombing, and wildlife watching—including glimpses of Assateague’s famous free-roaming horses. Largely protected from commercial development, the park preserves the natural character of Maryland’s coast and offers visitors a sense of how this landscape may have appeared before nearby Ocean City developed into a busy resort community filled with hotels, shops, boardwalk attractions, and vacation homes..

Ocean City, Maryland - Visit (virtually) my favorite vacation destination! Ocean City is a lively Atlantic resort town known for its wide sandy beach, bustling Boardwalk, oceanfront hotels, family attractions, seafood restaurants, and colorful summer nightlife. Stretching along a narrow barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal bays, the town offers swimming, boating, fishing, amusement rides, shopping, and countless places to enjoy views of the water. Its historic Boardwalk preserves the atmosphere of a classic American seaside resort, with arcades, rides, saltwater taffy, famous Thrasher's french fries, and other longtime vacation traditions. Although busiest during the summer months, Ocean City also attracts visitors throughout the year for festivals, dining, birdwatching, and the quieter beauty of the off-season shore.

Kiteloft BeachCam - Real time, live web cam at 5th and Boards.
Boardwalk Cam 2 - Outside of Ripley's Believe It or Not
Malibu's Surf Shop Cam - Live streaming video from the Ocean at 8th Street
Dolle's Boardwalk Web Cams - Two boardwalk views down on the boards at Wicomico Street. An area of massive humanity in peak season.
OC Boardwalk Shark Eye Cam - If you can see the boards, it must be off-season
Thrasher's French Fries Cam - A view of the loooong line
Boardwalk/Dorchester Street Cam - Watch the hubub and the crowds
Plim Plaza Cam - Between 1st and 2nd Street near the sand sculptures
Fisher's Popcorn Cam - Can you just smell that delicious caramel corn?
Wedge Cams - Two cameras looking over the Inlet towards Assateague Island
OC Skyline Cam - Looking up the beach and boards from the OC Fishing Pier
25th Street Cam - Georgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean
Hammerheads Cam - Between 9th and 10th Streets
Sunset Cam - 48th Street and the Bay.
Today's Live Catch - The OC Fishing Center Fish Cams. Yes, Fish Cams.

Trimper's Rides and Amusements, located at the southern end of the Ocean City Boardwalk near the inlet, is a beloved seaside amusement park whose history reaches back to 1893, when Daniel and Margaret Trimper developed the property as part of their Windsor Resort. Its greatest treasure is the magnificent 50-foot Herschell-Spillman carousel, purchased in 1912 and still operating beneath its pavilion. Trimper’s also preserves antique ticket booths and vintage children’s rides, giving parts of the park the atmosphere of a living amusement museum. Other longtime favorites include the wonderfully spooky Haunted House, opened in 1964, and Pirate’s Cove, a twisting walk-through funhouse dating from the early 1970s. Together with newer attractions, these historic rides preserve generations of classic Ocean City Boardwalk memories..

The 1912 Herschell-Spillman Carousel at Trimper’s Rides is one of Ocean City’s most treasured historic attractions. Purchased by Daniel Trimper in 1912, the magnificent 50-foot carousel has entertained generations of families beneath its enclosed pavilion near the southern end of the Boardwalk. Its elaborately hand-carved menagerie includes traditional horses as well as lions, dragons, ostriches, deer, frogs, roosters, and other fanciful creatures, along with ornate chariots for riders. Sparkling lights, painted decorations, mirrored panels, and the cheerful music of its band organ create the atmosphere of an old-fashioned seaside amusement park. More than a century after its arrival, the carousel remains in operation, preserving a vivid and much-loved connection to the early days of Ocean City tourism.

Smith Island Cake - Mrs. Kitching's recipe for this celebrated Eastern Shore dessert named for Smith Island, a remote Chesapeake Bay community in Somerset County, Maryland. Traditionally made with eight to ten thin layers of yellow cake, each spread with rich chocolate fudge frosting, the finished cake is strikingly tall yet surprisingly delicate. The recipe is closely associated with the island’s watermen and their families; according to local tradition, the many layers and cooked frosting helped the cakes remain moist during long days harvesting oysters on the bay. In 2008, Smith Island cake was officially designated Maryland’s state dessert, honoring both its distinctive appearance and its place in the cultural traditions of the Chesapeake Bay..

Night Sky Tours at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge - The Friends of Blackwater offer Night Sky Tours at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge using a permanent astronomical telescope installed beside the Visitor Center. Acting as a highly sensitive digital camera, the telescope displays real-time views of planets and their moons, colorful double stars, star clusters, glowing nebulae, and distant galaxies. The tours are led by retired astrophysicist Harry Heckathorn, with astrophotographer Bob Quinn operating the equipment, and are generally scheduled once a month near the new moon, when dark skies provide the best views of deep-space objects. Because the program requires clear skies, light winds, and little dew, the exact date is chosen only a few days beforehand, and weather-related cancellations are possible. Attendance is limited to 50 people, and those interested may request invitations and additional information by emailing BlackwaterSkyTour@gmail.com with “Tour Inquiry” in the subject line.

The Delmarva Shorebirds, the peninsula’s own minor-league baseball team, play at a beautiful little ballpark in Salisbury, Maryland, where summer evenings are filled with the crack of the bat, the smell of hot dogs and popcorn, and families cheering from the stands. As the Single-A farm team of the Baltimore Orioles, the Shorebirds give local fans a chance to watch promising young players begin their journey toward the major leagues—and perhaps see a future Oriole before the rest of the baseball world knows his name. Children lean over the rail hoping for an autograph or a foul ball, neighbors gather under the lights, and between-inning contests, mascots, promotions, and fireworks add to the fun. Doesn’t it just warm your heart to see baseball played the way it was meant to be—for the love of the game, the thrill of one more inning, and the shared traditions of a summer night at the ballpark? With the national anthem before the first pitch and “God Bless America” echoing through the stadium, a Shorebirds game offers a wonderfully old-fashioned slice of Americana on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Blue Crabs: Catch 'em, Cook 'em, Eat 'em - OK, when you think about the Shore, and about food, the first thing that pops into your mind is steamed blue crabs. Right? Well, it OUGHTTA be. This online book will tell you everything about the species, how to catch it, steaming, picking, storing, recipes. Log in to your archive.org account to "borrow" the book for free.