Wine and Fossils in Calvert County

For our first whole nice weekend here in Maryland, Josh and I decided to spend some time out by the water of the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland.  We started out Saturday before lunch and headed out to go to a few wineries.  The last two weekends in February were the Maryland Wine Passport Experience.  We bought our tickets online which included free tastings at all wineries we went to (there are almost 60 in Maryland) as well as something special at each winery and two free wine glasses.  Had we taken better advantage of the two weekends it would have been even more worth the $25.  We have about eight wineries within 45 minutes of us and we managed to make it to four which is plenty for one day haha.

We started at the Running Hare Vineyard.  Naturally, I got the got pictures here, the first stop is always the most coherent.  The facility is beautiful, there were people there planning their weddings for the summer.  The wine was also quite good, although I wasn't overly impressed with the woman that did our tasting, but that happens!

There was also a vendor there from down the road that sold cheeses and dips.  This crab dip is one of the best dips I have ever eaten.

There  was also a band playing but they didn't really start until just as we were about  to leave.

On the way to the next winery we saw this bald eagle eating something in a field.  Pretty cool.

The next winery was Perigeaux Vineyards and Winery.  this was a cute small winery nestled in the countryside.  Again the  wine was really good (my favorite one of the day was here) and the girl that did our tasting was sweet and super helpful.

From here the pictures get fewer, but it doesn't mean the wine wasn't good, actually it was all great!  Our third stop was Cove point Winery.  Again we weren't thrilled with the service but the wine was good and there were some 60ish year old drunk women in there that were hilarious.

Out last stop was Solomon's Island Winery.  I only got one picture here.  Partly because I was in such deep conversation with the woman working there who happens to be a fellow crazy cat lady.  This winery had several fruity style wines that were so light and refreshing, think Arbor Mist but a little more wineish.  

We ended up getting six bottles in total over the day.  The wine was all really well priced which will be great for when we run out haha.  We also came home with 6 new wine glasses!  

We stopped for a late lunch on Solomon's Island at Stoney's Kingfisher Seafood House.  There are four different Stoney's restaurant in the area and we had an awesome meal.  I got a soft-shell crab sandwich and Josh got some crab cakes.  I have been addicted to the soft-shell crab lately and the crab and crab cakes here are what Maryland is famous for and so delicious!

 This was the view from the restaurant, not so bad!

 On Sunday, we decided to take a trip out to Calvert Cliffs State Park, about a 45 minute drive from the apartment.  We really didn't know what to expect, but we knew there was some hiking and I was especially excited for the large amount of fossils that are there.

The hike was 1.8 miles to the beach and was more of an easy walk.  Along the way we found this tree stump chair.

They weren't kidding online when it said there are tons of fossils.  Literally the whole beach and cliffs are fossils of mostly shells but apparently you can find teeth and other things.  It was quite chilly right  on the water so we didn't spend as much time as I would have liked, because if you don't know I am obsessed with fossils.  Some of the beach is also pretty nice sand and is apparently really nice  to hang out on in the summer.

For the hike back, we decided to take a different path.  this one was quite a bit longer and more difficult but it was such a nice day I didn't really care.  I cannot wait to go back here and explore some more!

After our eight mile hike, we again stopped for lunch, this time at Vera's Beach Club Restaurant and Marina.  This is a really cool place right on the water that was obvious it would be an awesome time in the summer, a tiki sort of theme with palm trees and a huge outdoor area and dance floor, not to mention awesome food and drinks.

We got hush puppies, and josh got a massive crab cake sandwich.  I again got a soft-shell crab sandwich, this time it came with bacon!

 We had a great weekend with some lovely weather.  Every place that we go to makes me more and more excited to get out and explore this area that we live in more!