Crisfield - Waterman's Hometown - by Mindie Burgoyne
When my brother John and his wife cruised up Intracoastal waterway last summer, I drove up and met them inWhen my brother John and his wife cruised up Intracoastal waterway last summer, I drove up and met them in St. Michaels. John heard from various sources that "there was nothing much in Crisfield." Over lunch I challenged that premise and convinced him cruise into Somers Cove Marina for a few days. Having me as his personal tour guide made it worth the trip, for there is much to see and do in and around Crisfield that tour books and advertisements don't print. Somerset County is a relatively poor jurisdiction and marketing dollars are limited, but historical treasure, entertainment venues, accommodations (including the largest state-owned marina in Maryland), and the landscape of tidal marsh, big water and historic small town feel make Crisfield worth a visit.
Crisfield is a town with deep roots in the Chesapeake Bay culture - roots that have been spreading over three centuries. As the southern- most town in Maryland, located at the end of a seventeen-mile-long peninsula, the waterman's way of life has been and still is the mainstay in Crisfield. It is woven into the lives and culture of all her inhabitants, even those that don't currently work on the water. And the town isn't without its famous natives. It has spawned founder of Maryland University, a Marine Corp Commandant, the farmer whose canning business became Del Monte Foods, and brothers that were the first to pioneer an American art form recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts. And Crisfield's most famous native son, J. Millard Tawes was the only person in Maryland's history to serve in all three offices of the Board of Public Works - Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer.
A private guide can be hired from the Crisfield Heritage Foundation that will give a personal tour of the Port of Crisfield (aka the Depot), an active seafood packing house, two museums - Maritime Museum and the Ward Brothers' Workshop - and the largest soft shell crab operation in America. Sometimes (if requested) the guide can introduce the visitor to well-known local characters like Mr. Dana Tawes - a WWII veteran present at the Normandy Invasion who hangs out in the hardware store just to talk to whomever roams in, or Whitey Schmidt, dubbed "the Blue Crab Guru" - author of five seafood cookbooks and two dining / travel guides who lives just outside of town.
The food draw is so strong in Crisfield that it has become a destination for dining throughout the three lower counties on the Shore. For foodies, there are seven year-round restaurants (remarkable in these parts considering Crisfield has less than 2500 residents). There are also two ice-cream parlors and a "sweet shop" that sells the famous Smith Island Cakes, recently named Maryland's "State Dessert." Cuisines vary and include a crab house with outdoor seating, family-style restaurants, a pub / pool hall and fine dining. Crisfield even has a Chinese café, a Mexican Restaurant and a Tiki Bar. In addition, there are five major festivals in Crisfield each celebrating a specific element of life near the Chesapeake Bay, and each featuring the seafood that made Crisfield known as the Crab and Seafood Capital of the World. The festivals include the Soft Shell Spring Fair, the Scorchy Tawes Pro / Am Fishing Tournament, the J Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake, the Hard Crab Derby and the Waterman's Festival.
For an extended tour, a car can be hired to explore outside the town limits. Historic towns such as Snow Hill, Berlin, Pocomoke and Cambridge are all within a one-hour drive, but the back roads and scenic by-ways in and around Crisfield are also worth a visitor's attention. A cruise ship leaves daily for tours of Smith and Tangier Islands where the traveler can observe off-shore island living and taste some of the most delicious food in the Bay region. For those that occasionally like to paddle in flat-water, Cedar Island Marsh and Janes Island State Park offer scores of diverse canoe and kayak trails where the paddler can observe the pristine, secret landscape uninterrupted by buildings and asphalt. One of the most spectacular natural scenes is the blazing sun at dusk dipping into the horizon over the Tangier Sound accented by no less than ten species of waterfowl prowling the shoreline, piers and bulkheads for their last meal of the day.
There is so much packed into the 10 square miles of the town and its surroundings, a visitor could stay for a week and not run out of things to do. The derelict, abandon factories and brown-fields that dotted the Crisfield waterfront have been replaced by upscale condominiums. There are plans to build a seafood park and ferry terminal, the town hired a Main Street manager to promote local venues and lead the revitalization efforts of the downtown. Crisfield is again, reinventing herself to be a destination for boaters, campers, day-trippers, come here's and from-here's ... continuing her legacy as a Waterman's hometown and cultural hub along the Chesapeake Bay.
~ Mindie Burgoyne, Marion Station, MD
