An Island Out of Time : A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake

Although the archipelago known as Smith Island sits in Chesapeake Bay, just off Maryland's eastern shore, it is in some ways a place lost in time and space. Lacking a police force, a high school, or a hospital, it still carries the flavor of another era. People earn a tough living from crabbing, which means 18-hour work days for six months of the year, and they still speak a heavily accented language that some scholars believe dates back to Elizabethan times. In 1987, Tom Horton, an environmental writer for the Baltimore Sun, moved with his family to this 300-year-old community. This thoughtful, well-written book is his record of the two years they spent there.

[ Last Updated: 11-Dec-2003 | Rating: based on 2 votes ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem

Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, And the Chesapeake Bay W/Intro By Joh Barth

Combines a natural history of the Atlantic blue crab with an historical and ecological study of Chesapeake Bay and a chronicle of the commercial crabber's year.

[ Last Updated: 07-Dec-2003 | Rating: based on 2 votes ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem

Chesapeake Bay Cooking

If you think Chesapeake Bay cooking is all about the hard- or soft-shelled blue crab--about crab cakes, deviled crab, crab soufflés, crab-stuffed mushroom caps, ham and crab imperial, crabmeat curry, crab fluffs, crab and artichoke dip, crab loaf, crab quiche, and soft-shell crab sandwiches--you have another think coming. This isn't to say that the first 60 or so pages of Chesapeake Bay Cooking aren't dedicated to the blue crab. They are. But then John Shields moves right into oysters, then seafood, soups and stews, chicken and game birds, meat and game, and on all the way to desserts, pickles, and preserves. Companion to a public television series, Chesapeake Bay Cooking is part travelogue, part history of a region's cooking, part call to environmentalist arms, part paean to childhood past, and part plain old cookbook devoted to the food products and cooking styles indigenous to the Chesapeake Bay.

Read 1 Review(s)
[ Last Updated: 10-Dec-2003 | Rating: based on 2 votes ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem

Cruising the Chesapeake: A Gunkholer's Guide

Acclaimed as the ultimate guide to uncrowded anchorages, Cruising the Chesapeake is the reference of choice among sailors and powerboaters seeking to avoid the beaten path. This new Third Edition has been expanded to include coverage of the Atlantic coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, including Delaware Bay. Readers get: A cruise planner for short or long itineraries; An expansive catalog of GPS coordinates; Major updates to all piloting and shoreside facilities.

[ Last Updated: 07-Dec-2003 | Rating: based on 2 votes ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem

Fishes of Chesapeake Bay

A comprehensive guide to over 260 species of fish that can be found in the Chesapeake Bay.

[ Last Updated: 07-Dec-2003 | Rating: based on 2 votes ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem

This Was Chesapeake Bay

Here is a collection of true accounts of the Chesapeake gathered from the lips and memories of the people who experienced them, from clipping files and ship registers, and from the author's own extensive collection-people and places, shipbuilding, steamboating, oyster dredging, natural history-the whole panoply of Bay lore.  [ Photo ]

[ Last Updated: 23-Nov-2004 | Rating: ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem

Working the Chesapeake: Waterman on the Bay

A description of the Chesapeake's watermen, this book details fishing for crabs, oysters, soft clams, hard clams, eels, catfish, menhaden, and other fish. Each chapter describes a day with a waterman, capturing the personality of the boat's crew as well as the techniques they use to catch their prey. Bay artist Neil Harpe has produced original lithographs for the book, and the combination of words and pictures helps to capture a slice of time in the lives of the watermen. The full-color cover reproduces an original lithograph by Neil Harpe of two skipjacks dredging the oyster beds of Tangier Sound.  [ Photo ]

[ Last Updated: 23-Nov-2004 | Rating: ]  Rate It  Review It  Report Problem