Spend the day at the Calvert Marine Museum learning about the Chesapeake Bay and it’s waterways through fun, hands-on activities.
Located in Solomons, near the mouth of the Patuxent River, the museum has exhibits, otters, a marsh walk and lighthouses. It also features a wood carving shop, river cruises and a vast collection of sharks’ teeth collected from nearby Calvert Cliffs.
Exhibits at Calvert Marine Museum
If your family is more the traditional museum type, you can tour Calvert Marine Museum’s 29,000-square-foot exhibition building. Inside you can explore the three permanent galleries.
- Paleontology Gallery: explore fossils from Earth’ prehistoric past including a 35 foot sketetal restoration of the extinct Miocene giant white shark
- Maritime Heritage of Southern Maryland: see how human interactions have shape the Chesapeake Bay region through historical articfacts
- Estuarine Biology Gallery: showcases the diverse marine life in the Chesapeake Bay
Kids will love the Discovery Room where they can search for real 8- to 12-million year-old fossils. They can also watch the museum’s river otters frolic in their indoor/outdoor habitat.
The Marsh Walk is located behind the museum and allows visitors to stroll over the salt marsh flats. Here they can see raccoon and opossum footprints, water snakes, fiddler crabs and maybe a great blue heron.
Then pay a visit to the Drum Point and lighthouse on the campus. This lighthouse from the beginning of the twentieth century is a beauftifully restored example of the 45 lighthouse that once dotted the Chesapeake Bay.
You can also take a river cruise aboard the Bugeye Wm B. Tennison or the Skipjack Dee of St. Mary’s. On the way out, peek into the museum’s wood carving shop and check out historic wooden boats.
The museum is also host to concerts and educational events. Be sure to check the Calvert Marine Museum website for details.
Visiting Calvert Marine Museum
Calvert Marine Museum Admission Prices:
Adults: $9
Seniors, military and AAA: $7
Children ages 5-12: $4
Children under 5: Free
CMMS members: Free
Hours: The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Address: 14200 Solomons Island Road, Solomons, Maryland 20688
For other places to explore, check out our small towns to visit.
For a daily dose of summer fun, explore our 100 Days of Summer page or search our daily calendar of events.
