Eastern Shore Magazine - Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, East Coast Beaches

Heavy Facebook Users Less Happy - Study Says

2012-02-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

Did you know research over the past several years shows that heavy users of social media tend to be less happy than non-users?

A new study now suggests that social media tools like Facebook can also affect how we perceive the happiness of others. Watch this ad free video by VOA about Facebooks impact on university students.

"They found the students who were more involved with Facebook were more likely to think other people’s lives were happier and better. This was especially true among students who included more strangers on their Facebook accounts."

"Psychologists say Facebook and other social media can be valuable tools to connect with people and the world. But that assurance does come with a warning. “Don’t spend a lot of time just looking at other people’s positive events. Share your own and see who are your true friends, who really cares for the things that happen to you,” Kashdan stated."

Follow the EasternShoreMag.com link for more articles on:

How Facebook Effects Happiness

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Help Blood Pressure - Study Shows for Dark Chocolate

2012-02-12T04:04:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Day will soon be here on February 14th. Research shows the popular Valentine's Day gift of Chocolate covered strawberries can help blood pressure. Watch this ad free video from VOA about the health benefits of dark chocolate covered strawberries.

"Researchers find that dark chocolate and aspirin have similar effects on the blood. They thin out the blood so it flows more easily, even through partially-blocked arteries, and that could reduce the possibility of a heart attack."

"Flavinoids are nutrients found in many different kinds of plants. They help protect plants against disease and insects. When we eat food with high levels of flavinoids, these nutrients trigger our immune systems to produce enzymes - proteins - that reduce the risk of some kinds of cancer, heart disease and some other diseases that come with age."

Follow the EasternShoreMag.com link for
Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipes

Enjoy this heart healthy dark chocolate snack or dessert over Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day Dinner Specials - Starting this Weekend

2012-02-10T04:48:00.000-05:00

Eastern Shore Restaurant Update - Valentine's Day in 2012 is on Tuesday, the 14th of February. Be sure to make your restaurant reservations soon for a romantic Eastern Shore dinner. Chef Mark Salter at the Robert Morris Inn will be featuring some of his most seductive dinner specials from Feb 10th to Feb 15th.

Robert Morris Inn

314 N. Morris St.

Oxford, MD 21654

410-226-5111

Valentines Day Dinner Specials restaurant information came from the Robert Morris Inn Specials Email.

Click here for more information about Oxford, MD

Valentines Deals - Eastern Shore Bed and Breakfast

2012-02-09T04:34:00.000-05:00

BedandBreakfast.com Hot Deal Sandaway Waterfront Lodging
Oxford, Maryland

Valentines Weekend & Day Waterfront Specials - Save 20% Each Night from Feb 10th to Feb 14th, 2012. Book Sandaway's bed and breakfast rates from Sandaway.com homepage. Each morning Sandaway's lite fare breakfast is delivered to your door in a basket. Have a Chesapeake Bay romantic getaway. Walk to fireside dining in Oxford.

*This savings offer is only valid for reservations made after Feb 7th, 2012. Expires Feb 15th, 2012. Use code Save20%BB when booking online from Sandaway's website. Not valid with other offers. http://sandaway.com - book here to get the hot deal.

Search For More Bed and Breakfast Deals

Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure

2012-02-07T04:06:00.001-05:00

Ocean City, MD will host the Inaugural Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure on Sunday, April 22, 2012!
Susan G Komen Race for the Cure
April 22, 2012
Inlet Parking Lot
Ocean City, MD

Ocean City, Maryland Race Route:
The 5k run/walk:
Start: On the Boardwalk, just north of Wicomico Street (all events start at this point 1 mile and 5k run/walk)
Left on 15th Street
Left on Baltimore Avenue
Left on South 1st Street
Finish: Where South 1st Street meets the Boardwalk

The 1 mile walk:
Start: On the Boardwalk, just north of Wicomico Street (all events start at this point 1 mile and 5k run/walk)
Right at the Firefighter Memorial
Left at the pier, follows the path around to the Inlet
Finish: In the Inlet

Deadlines:
Mail in: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
On-line: 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 21, 2012
Team Challenge: Monday, April 16, 2012
Team Tailgate: Monday, April 16, 2012
Team Participant Award: Monday, April 16, 2012
Team Pledge Award: Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Click here for more information on the
Inaugural Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure on Sunday, April 22, 2012,
including links for registration.
Help Support Breast Cancer Awareness. Help Support the Cause for a Breast Cancer Cure!

Salter's Tavern at Robert Morris Inn

2012-02-05T07:43:00.003-05:00

Salter's Tavern Casual Dining in Oxford, MD
At the famous Robert Morris Inn - Oxford, Maryland
Call For Reservations 410-226-5111

Breakfast Menu for Non-resident Customers available Monday through Saturday
From 7.30am with last orders 10am.

Lazy Weekend Brunch Menu available every Sunday
From 8am with last orders 2.30pm

Casual Lunch Menu
From 12noon with last orders 2.30pm

Tavern Dining Menu Dinner
From 5pm with last orders 9pm

"Winter Comfort" Prixe Fixe Menu
$19 for two courses and $25 for three
Great early dining value 5 - 7pm through the Winter
Available lunch and dinner, except Saturday
Menu changes every two weeks.

Wine and Beverages
Great wines should accompany great food and here too, quality and value shine through:
Robert Morris Inn Wine List

Please call for reservations for all meals.

Restaurant information source www.robertmorrisinn.com

Springfest - Ocean City, Maryland Events

2012-02-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

Springfest Ocean City, MD - 2012
CELEBRATING 22 YEARS!
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Ocean City Springfest 2012 celebrates spring and the upcoming summer beach season. It is four days of delicious food, live entertainment and unique arts and crafts under four huge big top tents located in the Ocean City Inlet Lot at the south end of Ocean City’s famous Boardwalk.

Ocean City Springfest serves up a continuous variety of musical performances on two stages. Springfest admission to the four day Ocean City event is free! All Springfest entertainment is free with the exception of the headline acts.

Springfest headline act tickets available through Ticket Master: 1-800-551-SEAT; Baltimore: 410-547-SEAT; D.C.: 202-397-SEAT or online at www.ticketmaster.com

All Ocean City, MD Springfest Entertainment is Subject to Change.

The Fabulous Hubcaps

Thursday, May 3, 2012 - 7 p.m. Tickets $5-$10

Loretta Lynn

Friday, May 4, 2012 - 8 p.m. Tickets $25-$55

Eddie Money and Survivor

Saturday, May 5, 2012 - 8 p.m. Tickets $20-$45 (for both shows)

Visit Ocean City, MD Events for more information.

Ocean City Convention Center - Winter & Spring Events

2012-02-01T03:21:00.000-05:00

Ocean City, MD Events

Seaside Boat Show 2012
February 17 - February 19, 2012

Reach the Beach OC Rec/School Open National Championships
February 24 - February 26, 2012

Home, Condo & Garden Show /Art & Craft Fair
March 9 - March 11, 2012

Easter Art & Craft Fair

April 6 - April 7, 2012

Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show - Spring

May 4 - May 6, 2012

Spring Arts and Crafts Show 2012

May 26 - May 27, 2012

Ocean City Convention Center

Address:

4001 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City MD 21842

Phone:

410-726-1283 or 410-213-0735

Winter & Spring Events in Ocean City, Maryland

Maryland Blue Crabs - Read about Maryland Crab Houses

2012-01-30T00:55:00.002-05:00

"The All-American crab, one of a handful of indigenous foods that has made our country great, shows up on restaurant menus year-round. But the serious eating season begins in the spring when the blue crabs start stirring in the Chesapeake Bay and kitchens throughout the state fill with the peppery perfume of steamed crabs."

THE TASTE OF TRAVEL

Maryland Crab Houses: Where Good Eating is a Shell Game

ROB KASPER | Kasper is a columnist for the Baltimore Sun.

Maryland Crab Houses - Read the full article

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel - Shortcut Across the Chesapeake Bay

2012-01-30T00:38:00.000-05:00

"Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, built with private funds from a $200-million bond sale, opened in 1962. It is a major link along the Atlantic coastal highway from Maine to Florida, saving 95 miles and 1 1/2 hours driving."

Virginia's Shortcut Across the Chesapeake Bay :
Bridge-Tunnel Has Its Own Pier, Islands, Police Force -
Charles Hillinger's America
CHARLES HILLINGER | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel - Read the full article

Black History - Maryland's Eastern Shore

2012-01-29T23:17:00.000-05:00

"On Matthewstown Road outside of Easton, near Tuckahoe, is a marker for the farm that was the 1818 birthplace of slave-turned-abolitionist statesman Frederick Douglass. Harriet Tubman, one of the leaders of the pre-Civil War "Underground Railroad," was a slave on a plantation near Oxford, 10 miles southwest of Easton on Maryland Highway 333."

The Eastern Shore

On The Peaceful Side Of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, History Is More Than Just A Memory

Michael Kilian, Chicago Tribune Staff Writer.

Read the full article about the Eastern Shore

Talbot County - Eastern Shore Getaway

2012-01-29T22:58:00.000-05:00

NAVIGATING THE EASTERN SHORE
"Talbot County, Maryland, is packed with great places to stay, play, and eat. The area boasts a fleet of wonderful lodging options, from cozy bed-and-breakfasts and chain hotels to classy inns and full-service resorts. With so many great restaurants, there's absolutely no excuse for going home from this trip with an empty belly. Best of all, there's no shortage of things to do, from sailboat cruises to scenic bike rides."

Charms of the Chesapeake - The change of seasons brings a special beauty to this little slice of Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Southern Living - Cassandra M. Vanhooser
Read the full article on the Eastern Shore

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum - Premier Maritime Museums on the East Coast

2012-01-29T22:25:00.000-05:00

Chesapeake Bay Maritime MuseumSt. Michaels, Maryland
www.cbmm.org

"Opened in 1965, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has become one of the premier maritime museums on the East Coast. Well-presented exhibits, many of them interactive, bring aspects of the Chesapeake Bay's unique history and economy to life: crabbing and oystering, boat-building and boat design, the impact of steam engines and mechanical power on bay life, and the arts and sports associated with the Chesapeake's enormous migratory waterfowl populations. Just as important, this is a museum that knows how to have fun. Special events staged during the May to November high season include art shows, family concerts, and oyster, crab and boat festivals..."

-- Tim Zimmermann
Washington Post - Read the full article about Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Chesapeake Film Festival - Oscar Benefit Gala

2012-01-29T21:45:00.000-05:00

Chesapeake Bay Film Festival - Oscar Benefit Gala
February 26, 2012

Easton, Maryland
6-10 p.m.
Avalon Theatre, 40 East Dover Street, Easton, MD 21601

Chesapeake Film Festival will be holding its first Oscar Benefit Gala with charitable partner Talbot Hospice Foundation. This Eastern Shore event will stream the 84th Academy Awards pre-show and awards. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, and dessert will be served, and an emcee will auction off items to benefit the Chesapeake Film Festival and Talbot Hospice. Gala guests are invited to dress in red carpet attire.

Tickets are $100. Visit www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com to purchase.

For more information, email info@chesapeakefilmfestival.com,
Call 410.822.3500, or visit http://www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com

Saint Michaels, MD Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Free Admission Special

2012-01-29T21:31:00.001-05:00

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum - FREE ADMISSION PRESIDENT`S DAY

February 20, 2012

President’s Day on February 20, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels, Maryland is offering free admission to its 18-acre waterfront campus and 12 exhibit buildings. The Eastern Shore museum features an authentic working boat yard, a floating fleet of historic vessels, the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, and many hands-on exhibits that share the stories of the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Saint Michaels is open 10am to 4pm seven days a week, with admission regularly at $13 adults, $10 seniors, $6 kids 6-17 and free admission for kids five and under.

For more information, visit the museum in St. Michaels, MD
Online at www.cbmm.org, or call 410-745-2916.

Ocean City Boardwalk

2012-01-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

Ocean City Boardwalk was named on of the top 10 boardwalks by National Geographic.

"Ocean City Boardwalk, Maryland
The three-mile (five-kilometer) promenade at the southern tip of Ocean City, Maryland, is typically thronged with beachgoers on summer evenings, munching Thrashers French fries (a dousing of vinegar is a must) and queuing up for a spin aboard antique rides, like the Herschel-Spellman carousel built in 1902. Don’t miss the Life-Saving Station Museum for a look at the history of shipwrecks and the rescue teams that came to their aid."

Top 10 Boardwalk Article

See Lego Man in Space - Amazing Video

2012-01-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

Lego Man in Space Video

Lego man video causes a lot of interest on the web! Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, 17-year-old classmates at Agincourt Collegiate Institute in Toronto launched a Lego man figure into near space. The Lego man was launched with just $400 to carry a Lego man figurine, GPS locator, and four cameras miles above the earth. At one point the Lego man reaches 78,000 feet of the ground before the weather balloon pops.

Chesapeake Bay History - War of 1812 Bicentennial

2012-01-26T21:18:00.003-05:00

Mount Calvert allows visitors to re-imagine War of 1812
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network / By Lara Lutz - Bay Jouranl

When the first gunboats exploded on the Patuxent River, everyone at Mount Calvert heard the blast. It was an ominous sound.

The year was 1814, and the United States was once again at war with Britain. Thousands of British troops were marching through southern Maryland to attack Washington.

At the same time, British ships sailed up the Patuxent River, moving more troops inland while chasing a troublesome collection of U.S. gunboats. Led by the bold U.S. Commodore Joshua Barney, these gunboats had been the only naval force to challenge British invaders on the Chesapeake Bay.

"The British wanted to keep Barney bottled up," said Ralph Eshelman, author of "The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake." "He kept going upriver and the British kept following."

Eventually, Barney's Flotilla reached the upper Patuxent River in Prince George's County. They anchored above the Mount Calvert plantation, just north of the modern-day nature preserves at Jug Bay.

On Aug. 22, a stifling summer day, British ships rounded the bend near the foot of Mount Calvert. Barney's boats came into view. "One by one, they blew up," Eshelman said.

Barney's Flotilla was destroyed by its own men rather than falling to enemy hands.

The people of Mount Calvert witnessed the firestorm of 16 exploding boats before the British called at their doorstep. With Barney's Flotilla out of the way, the British shipboard troops could now join the attack on Washington, DC.

The Brown family who owned the plantation, along with enslaved people who labored there, saw hundreds of marines and seamen disembark at the wharf at Mount Calvert and begin on a dusty march north.

In two days, Washington, DC, would burn.

Nearly 200 years later, Mount Calvert and its spectacular view of the Patuxent River have remained much the same. "Mount Calvert has one of the most attractive views of the Patuxent River," Eshelman said. "In many ways, it evokes what the scene may have looked like in 1814."

Despite its proximity to the city, the plantation house stands in regal isolation on a commanding crest above the river. Below, the Patuxent is joined by its western branch and forms dramatic curves and patterns through dense and textured wetlands.

Thanks to conservation efforts, the shores on all sides are thick with trees. The most visible structure on the opposite shore is the Billingsley House. But even this house, built in about 1740, was part of the 1814 viewshed.

Mount Calvert itself is now the Mount Calvert Historical and Archaeological Park, operated by The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. It is also a member of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network.

As the War of 1812 approaches its bicentennial, Mount Calvert is drawing renewed attention for its part in the conflict and for the preservation of a setting that so strongly evokes the past. Adventurers will find Mount Calvert on the Star-Spangled Banner Geotrail, and the National Park Service is incorporating the park in its Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail.

But the archaeologists who study Mount Calvert say the heightened drama of that distant August day is just one small part of its appeal. Mount Calvert marks one of the most significant historical and archaeological places in Prince George's County for reasons that stretch far beyond the War of 1812.
"We have 10,000 years of human history here, on just one site," said Don Creveling of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Creveling's team has recovered thousands of artifacts at Mount Calvert since excavations began in 1996. Each year, volunteers aid the effort on specially scheduled public archaeology days.

Most of the artifacts discovered at Mount Calvert originated with American Indians, a reminder that human history along the Patuxent belongs largely to them. The American Indian presence began with seasonal hunting camps and grew to include permanent settlements and farms along the river's edge. The artifacts - including spear points, pottery, smoking pipes and remains of stone hearths - date from as recently as the early 1600s to the oldest reach of the Archaic Period more than 9,000 years ago.

Certainly, the site was a good one for settlement. In colonial times, Maryland had hoped to make it a major town.

"The General Assembly created towns to encourage settlement," said archaeologist Michael Lucas, also with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. "It picked Mount Calvert for a town site in 1684."

The name was drawn from its original owner, Philip Calvert. When Prince George's County was established 12 years later, Mount Calvert was renamed "Charles Town" and became the county seat.
Charles Town evolved into a busy community of legal business and maritime trade, including a courthouse, jail, church, taverns and wharves.

"Most towns at the time were temporary spaces," Lucas said. "But in this case they had the court, so that was the glue holding the town together."

Ships as large as 350 tons called at Charles Town, and major London merchants used it as a base. But the town's future dimmed in 1721 when Upper Marlboro replaced it as the county seat. Like Charles Town, Upper Marlboro had access to the river, but it also had a better network of roads for distributing goods.

"The theory was that this place died out," Lucas said. "Was that really true? It seems to pan out."
None of the Charles Town buildings stand today, but Lucas has been exploring five building sites along the waterfront, quite close to the plantation house. So far, none of the artifacts dates past the 1720s.

Mount Calvert re-emerged as a plantation and ferry landing. Ironically, the War of 1812 played a direct role in its new enterprise.

"Capt. John Brooks, one of the people who were here for the war, liked it so much that he ended up buying the property," Lucas said.

Brooks' plantation depended on slave labor. Cowrie shells found at Mount Calvert - tied to the slave trade in Africa - date to the early 18th century. By the time Brooks died in the mid-1800s, 51 enslaved people lived and worked there.

The plantation's next owner, Samuel Berry, was an outspoken defender of slavery. "After emancipation, he basically rented out parts of his property and sold other parts," Lucas said. Berry's family wanted to sell the remaining property when he died, but the area was so depressed that they had difficulty finding buyers.

Today, an interpretive trail and exhibits in the plantation house tell the story of three cultures â€” American Indian, African American and English colonists - that have shaped Mount Calvert's past.
The War of 1812 is noted, too, and the exhibits describing those events will be expanded for the war's bicentennial.

Creveling said that approximately 3,000 people visit the park each year, and half of them arrive by water. Most paddle in from a downstream launch site at the Jug Bay Natural Area. But these guests are more likely to picnic than to march on Washington, DC.

They land at the Mount Calvert dock in the same spot once visited by trade ships, ferries and the invading British army, with the plantation house on a peaceful rise above them. The stillness is a marked contrast to the many footsteps that have traveled this same route, but it offers an unparalleled opportunity to imagine them.

Mount Calvert Historical & Archaeological Park
Mount Calvert Historical & Archaeological Park is open from April through October. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday and weekdays by appointment.
Admission is free. Relic or artifact collecting is strictly prohibited.
To arrive by land: Take Route 301 in Upper Marlboro, MD, turn onto Route 382/Croom Road. Go 3 miles, turn left onto Mount Calvert Road, then go 3 miles to entrance.
To arrive by water: Launch canoes or kayaks at the Jug Bay Natural Area, 16000 Croom Airport Road, Upper Marlboro, MD, and paddle to the landing at Mount Calvert. Rentals are available. Call 301-627-6074 or visit www.pgparks.com.
For information about Mount Calvert Historical & Archaeological Park, visit www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Nature/Mount_Calvert_Historical_and_Archaeological_Park.htm or call 301-627-1286; 301-699-2544 (TTY).
Details about the Star-Spangled Banner Geotrail, including the Mount Calvert cache, can be found at http://friendsofchesapeakegateways.org, under "Projects."

Lara Lutz is a writer and editor who lives on the South River in Mayo, MD.

Chesapeake Bay History War of 1812

Article from Bay Journal April 2011

Chesapeake Bay - Forests are critical to improving the water quality of the Bay

2012-01-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

Streamside forests critical to wildlife, water quality
Bay Naturalist / By Kathy Reshetiloff - Bay Journal

When European colonists first arrived in the Chesapeake Bay region, an estimated 90-95 percent of the watershed was forested. Or put another way, forests lined both sides of almost every stream, creek and river draining into the Chesapeake Bay.

Because of their fertile soil, many riparian forests were cleared for agriculture. As more people moved into the region, more land was cleared to make room for suburban and urban developments. Today, only about 58 percent of the watershed is forested. A little more than half of all waterways in the watershed still have riparian forests of 100 feet or more bordering them on both sides.

These streamside wooded areas are critical to improving the water quality of local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. As a transition area between aquatic and terrestrial environments, riparian forests act as buffers, intercepting rainwater and runoff that can contain pollutants such as sediment, nutrients and chemicals. Rain infiltration rates are 10-15 percent higher in forests than turf grass fields and 40 percent higher than plowed fields.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are nutrients that are essential for the growth of plants. But an overabundance of these nutrients in rivers and the Chesapeake Bay causes a rapid growth of algae that blocks sunlight needed by Chesapeake Bay underwater grasses. The decomposition of this overabundance of algae also uses up large amounts of oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic organisms.

Streamside forests remove nitrogen through plant growth. Bacteria in the forest floor convert nitrate to nitrogen gas that is then released harmlessly into the atmosphere.

Water runoff often contains large amounts of sediment that clouds the water and covers critical habitat. As runoff moves through a forest, the physical structure of the vegetation filters out soil particles so that the forests act as a sediment trap. Phosphorus, which is often attached to soil particles, is also filtered out with the sediment.

Trees growing alongside streams and rivers also hold soil in place with their roots, stabilizing stream banks. They reduce flooding by slowing the erosive force of rain and floodwaters. Many riparian forests also contain wetlands, which can temporarily hold floodwater and release it slowly over time.

Fish, crayfish, aquatic insects and other aquatic organisms derive benefits from riparian forests.

Streamside vegetation helps to control water temperature. Without shading, temperatures might be too high in spring and summer. This is especially important for healthy fish populations as temperature is one of the major factors controlling fish spawning. Warmer water also retains less oxygen and elevated water temperatures can accelerate algae growth.

Riparian forests contribute to the food cycle in a waterway. Plant material that falls into the water or is washed in by rains provides a source of food for aquatic insects, crayfish and other invertebrates which, in turn, are important food for small fish. Minnows, aquatic insects and insects that fall into waterways provide food for larger game fish.

Many other types of wildlife depend on a forest for food, cover, nests and nursery habitat. Bears, deer, foxes, raccoons, beavers, snakes and turtles are just a few of the animals that can be found in riparian forests.

Temporary pools that form in these areas in late winter and spring are important breeding areas for frogs, toads and salamanders. The unbroken riparian forests also create protective pathways through which wildlife can move. Forests and forest corridors are especially critical for migrating songbirds.

People regularly use riparian forests for hunting, fishing, nature study, bird watching camping and hiking. With the loss of these forests, we also lose the functions they provide such as reducing nonpoint source pollution and erosion, protecting adjacent land and water from flood damage, providing food and habitat for fish and other wildlife and providing recreational opportunities for people.

Kathryn Reshetiloff is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis.

Chesapeake Bay Article from:
Bay Journal - March 2011

Chesapeake Bay - Interesting Places to Visit and Bay Facts

2012-01-26T01:05:00.002-05:00

"OXFORD, Md.— You see them everywhere on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the weekend sailors. They are unmistakable with their deep tans, their baggy shorts, their frayed polo shirts, their Top-Siders worn without socks. Some may not even own their own boats, much less win regattas, but they are inexorably drawn to the Chesapeake Bay.

It's all about the water here, beginning with the sprawling but shallow bay, 200 miles long and up to 20 miles wide. Forty or so rivers flow into it, yielding more places to mess around in boats and a world of soggy marshes beloved by fishermen, kayakers and birds. Then there's the convoluted shoreline, 8,000 miles of it meandering along Maryland and Virginia, where people who don't want to get wet can gaze hypnotically at the water."

SUSAN SPANO
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2002 - Peak Season on Chesapeake Bay

Crab Houses - Eastern Shore of Maryland

2012-01-26T01:05:00.000-05:00

"The Chesapeake Bay, or simply the Bay, as it’s known to Marylanders, is the nation’s largest estuary, a vast, rich incubator for sea life born from the brackish combination of fresh and saltwater. The saltwater comes in steadily from the Atlantic while the freshwater runs down from a watershed that stretches as far north as central New York."

The New York Times
By JORDAN HRUSKA
The Crab Houses of Maryland’s Eastern Shore
Published: July 9, 2009

Oxford, Maryland - Boating, Tourism, and Seafood

2012-01-26T01:04:00.003-05:00

"Beautiful Oxford was the first port-of-entry on the Eastern Shore, designated so in 1683 by the Maryland General Assembly. Despite its beginnings as a prominent international shipping center, moving among other things the tobacco grown in the nearby plantations, the town's economy has gone up and down like a yo-yo. Following the American Revolution, Oxford lost its luster. Businesses went under, people moved away, and cattle roamed free.

It took almost a century for the hamlet to dawn again, thanks to advances in technology. The railroad boosted commerce, and advances in the food-packing industry made Oxford's oysters a nationwide product. People moved in and built houses, the trains and steamships made their rounds, and the Port of Oxford boomed into the 20th century, when things quieted down once again.

These days, Oxford is a peaceful port whose main business is tourism. Visitors arrive by land and water to recharge in an easygoing atmosphere, grateful to have such a haven for escape."

MarinaLife
From Shipping Hub to Quiet Retreat

Eastern Shore Maryland - Travel Tips

2012-01-26T01:04:00.000-05:00

"For all its polish, St. Michaels hasn’t forgotten its seafaring, oyster-shucking history. The sprawling Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (housed in ten waterfront buildings) wows with its screw-pile lighthouse on stilts and its interactive exhibits. See boats being restored, meet working watermen, and haul up a surprisingly heavy net full of crabs. Consider taking a two-hour, hands-on sail (with advance reservation) on the H.M. Krentz, berthed at the museum. The single-masted skipjack, originating on the Eastern Shore as an oysterman’s boat, had its heyday in the 1890s. America’s last commercial fleet under sail remains in the Chesapeake Bay."

By Cynthia Hacinli

From the September 2011 issue of
National Geographic Traveler
Road Trip: Maryland's Eastern Shore

Aquaponics Could Signal Future of Food - fish farming and soil-less plant cultivation in a sustainable closed system

2012-01-24T23:55:00.000-05:00

Aquaponics Could Signal Future of Food
Technique combines fish farming, soil-less plants
VOA - Faiza Elmasry

Hydroponic gardener and author Sylvia Bernstein discovered she could use the waste water from fish to grow organic vegetables and fruits.

Imagine growing vegetables and fish in the same space. That’s the idea behind aquaponics, a marriage of fish farming and soil-less plant cultivation in a single, sustainable closed system.

Supporters believe aquaponics can play a key role in alleviating food insecurity, addressing the problems of climate change, ground water pollution and overfishing.

Recirculating wetlands system

Aquaponics is really as old as nature itself.

“Aquaponics is really a recirculating wetlands system, so it’s happening right on the banks of our lakes," says Sylvia Bernstein.

Bernstein was a hydroponic gardener for years - growing plants without soil using a water-soluble chemical fertilizer - before discovering she could use the waste water from fish to grow organic vegetables and fruits.

“Honestly, I was very skeptical and just couldn’t believe that something as simple as fish waste could become a complete fertilizer," she recalls. "So I had to actually see a system that was in a friend’s basement. But when I did, it changed my life.”

That was three years ago. Bernstein built her first aquaponics system with her 15-year-old son on a concrete pad outside her home in Boulder, Colorado. In her greenhouse today, she mainly raises tilapia and trout - feeding them once a day.

There are no weeds in her aquaponics garden, and she doesn’t have to worry about watering. The plants are growing in containers at a table height for easy access.

“I, just this morning, pulled four radishes and some lettuce for lunch," Bernstein says. "In my greenhouse right now, I grow all sorts of herbs, tomatoes, peppers.”

Bernstein started her own business, The Aquaponics Source, with an online store, her own YouTube channel and a blog. She teaches aquaponics at the Denver Botanic Gardens and recently published a book about how to set up an aquaponic garden at home.

According to Berstein, a growing number of people in the U.S. and around the world are doing it, and enjoying the results: a year-round supply of healthful, safe and delicious food.

Earth-friendly food production

The Internet is helping many aquaponic gardeners get connected and learn from one another.

“Aquaponics is a perfect thing to invest one’s mind and heart and elbow grease into," says James Godsil, co-founder of Sweet Water Organics, a commercial aquaponics farm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 2010, Godsil helped set up a foundation to promote the approach.

“The Sweet Water Foundation was dedicated to democratizing and globalizing the information and the methodologies required to advance this very Earth-friendly food production system, which, by the way, only uses about 10 percent of the water normal farming does, and uses no pesticides. It’s all natural.”

According to Godsil, those advantages have been a powerful incentive for people from all walks of life who are considering a career in aquaponics.

“The Sweet Water Foundation probably has had 500 supporters, including school students, and a community of retired engineers, professionals, social enterprisers, teachers and artists," Godsil says. "There are so many young elders who are retiring and looking for another career for the next 20 years.”

Beyond borders

Through collaboration and joint projects, Godsil is carrying the inspiration beyond U.S. borders.

“I was asked to go to Venezuela this March," he says. "And I’m working with people who have a project in Ecuador, I'm working with people in the Congo, in Uganda and Tanzania.”

A private group called the Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for Sustainability, is partnering with Sweet Water Foundation on an initiative in India.

“We’ve formed this Indo-American Aquaponics Initiative, and we aim to make aquaponics one of the fastest growing economic activities in India within a decade," says Subra Mukherjee, secretary of the group, based in Kolkata, India.

Advocates say, with fuel and fertilizer prices climbing and irrigation water supplies dwindling, aquaponics offers a sustainable alternative that can help feed the world’s growing population.

Well Done Helps Combat Global Water Crisis

2012-01-23T19:20:00.002-05:00

January 23, 2012

Using Ingenuity to Combat Global Water Crisis

Monaliza Noormohammadi | San Francisco, CA

VOA

The United Nations says there is enough fresh water for everyone on earth. Yet nearly 1.6 billion people still face water shortages, due to inadequate infrastructure, uneven distribution and wasteful practices. There’s an organization in California, called Well Done, that is working to lessen this global water crisis, by implementing new approaches to an old problem.

Much of the work goes on in Well Done’s headquarters building south of San Francisco. Designers work to create compelling logos and user-friendly web layouts to spread the word on global water shortages. The goal: to help thousands of families gain access to clean water. Josh To is co-founder and head of development at Well Done, ”A lot of times people say you need education, you need sanitation infrastructure, roads schools, but without access to clean water like how can you do any of the other things?” To questioned.

Experts say having clean water can lead to greater economic and educational opportunities particularly for women who take on most of the burden of fetching water from distant sources.   Well Done promotes well-building in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The non-profit organization serves as a conduit -- raising awareness and money, then channeling the proceeds to water development organizations that do the actual work.

”We're addressing sort of two facets of the water crisis Gross overuse here at home and then non-availability in the developing world,” Jim Yoon said. Yoon is head of projects.

To spotlight high water consumption in the United States, the group created a program called Water for Water, in which intense water consumers agree to reduce their water usage and send their water bill savings to Well Done's clean-water projects.

Using interactive technology, Well Done also plans to implement a new web platform called Future Building. It will allow donors to purchase and donate specific hardware
for well-building. To reduce overall costs, Well Done and its partner organizations require villagers who benefit to do most of the manual labor.

”We don’t want to be that Western organization that shows up, saves the day takes the credit and then heads back and shares a wonderful story," To said. "We’re just sharing what we have with them.”

To and Yoon first met in college. After graduating, they served in a church mission to Ghana, where they saw children swallowing malaria pills with filthy water.

”Here we were trying to in some way alleviate their suffering," Yoon explained. "Yet the very water they’re using to take down this medicine is probably making them sick in the first place.”

Inspired by their experience in Africa, the pair drew on support from friends and family to create Well Done in 2010. So far, Well Done has completed more than 75 clean water projects that have benefited more than 10,000 people. And To and Yoon have set their goals even higher, hoping to complete 300 water projects in the year ahead.