The Chesapeake Bay- Virginia and Maryland...

May 10, 2023


Our travel to Deltaville was good with the wind and waves minimal.  We passed New Point Comfort Lighthouse and it certainly looked like it was further into the Bay than I ever remember before.  The entrance into Horn Harbor off the Bay was not long after the Lighthouse where we used to own land now owned by Danny's brother and wife- Tim and Donna.

               

                        

The historical significance of Stingray Point is in 1608, Captain John Smith was exploring the body of water  named the Chesapeake Bay.  The boat he was in ran a ground at the southern tip of the mouth of the Rappahanock.  He and his crew while waiting for high tide, caught fish with their swords.  Smith also caught a cow-nose ray(which you still see here in the waters).  The ray put its tail spine into Smith's wrist. This caused Smith to have a severe reaction on his arm, shoulder, and chest.  Luckily, he had a physician who treated him and by evening was well enough to eat that ray for dinner.  I would love to know what the treatment was.  Smith would name this area Stingray Point.  I know many from Virginia know this story well.  The story I was not aware of was of the Stingray Point Lighthouse.  In 1861, 6 black slaves boarded a small boat at night in Deltaville bound for this Lighthouse.  The Commander of the USS Mount Vernon saw the boat while surveying the coast.  The boat was empty and near the Lighthouse.  When approaching the lighthouse, the men were found.  Slaves were labeled as Contraband earlier in Fort Monroe by General Benjamin Butler.  The Fugitive Slave Law stated runaway slaves were to be returned to their owners BUT given these slaves came from Virginia, who had seceded from the Union, Butler believed there was no constitutional reason to return the men.  Ultimately in 1861, Lincoln would sign the Confiscation Act.  All 6 men would enlist in the US Army.  Only one, David Harris, would ever return to Deltaville.

We had some trouble finding our marina as there are many just inside the entrance to the Rappahanock.  The woman on the radio was giving us directions and once we finally found where we were going, she profusely apologized.  Tammy said I tell these guys they need to take me out on a boat so I can see what the boaters see.  We were looking for a sign nailed to a tree of DYC.  Problem was it could not be seen from the main creek and the tree it was nailed to had branches covering the D and was down lower than some sailboat masts, if you were in the creek.  Our arrival on Wednesday meant I could not go to the Maritime Museum as they were closed.  Originally, we planned to stay 2 days so I could go to the museum but Danny started looking at the weather and thought it would be smarter to move north as there was rain on Saturday and a storm on Sunday.  So we changed plans.  We did have a great meal in Deltaville at a place called The Table.  So all my friends and family in Virginia if you chose to drive around in Northern Neck, give it a try- closed Monday and Tuesday; serves lunch and dinner.  I would not go without a reservation for sure! Note the Smith Point Lighthouse just off the Virginia coast as we approached the Potomac River.


So we left to cross the Potomac and OMG it was like a lake so Danny definitely made the right call.  In our past travels across the Potomac, we have never seen the Potomac be this calm!  We planned to go to Historic St Mary's City but stopped at Point Lookout Marina to get diesel first.  On the way there, I looked to what was there to see and to eat.  When we arrived, we decided to stay at Point Lookout.  One reason, we would have to anchor and getting bikes on the dinghy to go into town in St Mary's City would be difficult.  So we decided to stay and it all worked out well.  We had a great dinner at a place called Pier 450.  It had cream of crab soup and crab cakes and both were full of crabmeat.  It was so good.  Like my friend Claire says, no restaurant knows how to make a good crab cake but in Maryland.  After my experience working our way up the east coast, I believe she is correct! But I can only stay in Maryland so long, so sad..

The Point Lookout Marina is just up the Potomac on Smith Creek.  We rode bikes 6 miles down to the end of the Peninsula to a Confederate Cemetery.  It sparked my curiosity since we were in Maryland.  I think Danny was less than happy about the bike ride but he did it!  Point Lookout in the Civil War became Camp Hoffman in 1863.  Initially, it started as a Union hospital but Confederate prisoners captured in the Battle of Gettysburg were brought here in July 1863.  By the end of that year there were 9,000 men and by the end of the war there were 22,000 men located at Point Lookout.  During its operation, the camp was documented to have housed a total of 52,264 men and 3,000 who died.  This camp held the largest number of imprisoned military and civilians in the Civil War.  On the 40 acres of the camp ground, there were 3 cemeteries.  After the end of the Civil War, some men were removed by family and friends.  Unfortunately, no list was ever made of those removed.  In 1867, the US Government purchased the land with the cemeteries.  Union soldiers who died there while serving were moved to Arlington National Cemetery.  Confederate soldiers were marked with new headboards.  The state of Maryland asked to take over the property in 1870.   In 1910, Maryland asked the federal government to take over the maintenance and upkeep of the property which it did.  The government built an obelisk and put the soldiers names as well as 44 civilians on brass plaques at the base of the structure. Maryland did build a granite monument to the Confederate dead near the obelisk.  This is the federal monument.  Another monument reported the number of dead from each state.  Relatives of prisoners who were at Point Lookout maintain an area next to the federal monument with pictures of their relatives and information with many Confederate flags.


                 

   
                     


What I found interesting was the following:

  •     One of the Confederate flags on display was the Cherokee Confederation flag.  This was a combination of Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek Nation tribes.  They formed an alliance with the Confederacy and fought with them.        
  • The state of Maryland was occupied by the US government and the state legislature was imprisoned before they could vote to secede from the Union.  Lincoln did not want Maryland to join Virginia given the federal government was in Washington DC.
  • There were only 2 Admirals in the Confederate Navy and both were from Maryland.  Franklin Buchanan was Commander of the 1st ironclad CSS Virginia (fought in Hampton Roads) and CSS Tennessee(fought in Battle of Mobile Bay).  Raphael Semmes was commander of the CSS Alabama.

I don't usually take pictures of my food, but let me enjoy my pictures of my dinner tonight of cream of crab soup and crab cakes at Pier 450 in Ridge, Maryland which I mentioned earlier.  I will be back and if you go, get reservations.  The place was packed although, I don't know from where the people came!




                       

TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED   2697.50 miles
TOTAL DAYS   181










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