they’re not deadly, but
their stings hurt.
During the Civil
War, the Union Army
imprisoned thousands of
Confederate POWs here,
overseen by black soldiers.
Swampy conditions
and harsh treatment by
guards led to the death of
some 4000 Confederates.
A controversial shrine to
their memory has been
built, and legends persist
of Confederate ghosts
haunting local swamps
at night.54 p225
The Drive » Take MD-5 north
for 6 miles and bear right ontoMD-235 when it splits. (For a
little detour, turn left just after
MD-5 splits instead; you’ll get
to Ridge, an unincorporated
community with popular
seafood restaurants, p225)
Take MD-235 north through
the town of Lexington Park;
after 16.5 miles, turn right onto
MD-4. Follow for 4 miles over
the dramatic Thomas Johnson
Bridge and immediately bear
right as the bridge terminates
to reach Solomons Island.a^ Solomons Island
Solomons is a seaside
(but not a beachy) town
of antique shops, cafes,
diners and one of themost famous bars in
the state: the Tiki Bar
(%410-326-4075; 85 Charles
St; hnoon-2am). We’re not
entirely sure why the bar
is so famous; it’s got a
sandy beach, some Easter
Island heads and Tiki
torches (and very strong
drinks), and that’s about
it. Nonetheless people
come from as far away as
DC and Baltimore to drink
here on weekends, and
the bar’s grand opening
for the summer season
literally attracts thousands
of tourists to Solomons
Island.54 p225
TRIP HIGHLIGHTTHE AMISH OF ST MARY’S
St Mary’s County has always had a rural feel to it, but horse and buggy carriages?
Straw hats? One-room schoolhouses? In the 21st century? Yes, thanks to a sizable
presence of Amish settlers, who have been in the county since 1940.
The Amish are a Christian sect that embraces simplicity, humility, manual labor
and the countryside; conversely, they are reluctant to adopt modern technology,
although they do not, as stereotypes would have it, reject it wholesale. Men usually
wear their beards long and women wear head coverings, and internally, Amish
communities speak a dialect of German known as Pennsylvania German.
The local Amish live in northern St Mary’s County, near the town of
Mechanicsville. Their farms are sprinkled along Rte 236 South and Rte 247, and
their homes can be found on quiet country lanes like Parsons Mill Rd, Friendship
School Rd and the perhaps ironically dubbed Busy Corner Rd. You’ll know you’re in
Amish country when you see horse-drawn buggies clop-clop by on the roadside,
or when you see German surnames like Kurtz, Hertzler and Zimmerman on
mailboxes.
It is important to remember the Amish aren’t frozen in amber. Farmers
sometimes carry cell phones for emergencies. And local markets now often
feature bilingual signage, a testament to the growing Latino population of the area,
particularly within the agricultural sector.
If you’d like to interact with the Mechanicsville Amish, the easiest way is at the
North St Mary’s County Farmers Market (%301-475-3200; 37600 New Market Turner
Road, Charlotte Hall; h7am-sunset Mon-Sat), where local Amish farming families sell
produce and crafts. To really see the Pennsylvania Dutch in their element, check
out the produce auction held during spring and summer harvest seasons on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 40454 Bishop Road, in the town of Loveville.WASHINGTON.DC,.MARYLAND.&.DELAWARE.TRIPS18
(^) SOUTHERN MARYLAND TRIANGLE