Drinking Traditions
Annapolitans (and visiting sailors) have long been known to enjoy a good tankard of ale. But for how long? Reynolds Tavern edges out Middleton Tavern as oldest “ordinary” in A-Town by a scant three years or so. Reynolds first started serving drinks in 1747 when William Reynolds, a hatter and dry goods salesman, opened The Beaver and Lac’d Hat in the circa-1737 building. In 1750, Horatio Middleton bought the building by City Dock and operated it as an “Inn for Seafaring Men.” Middleton can claim most notable patrons, however, as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin all enjoyed a belt of whiskey—or two—at the bar.

Lucky Duck
Lothrope Holmes, of Kingston, Mass., was a cemetery superintendent and avid duck hunter. If he had been alive in 2006, the amateur carver would have been shocked to have seen his red-breasted merganser hen— carved circa 1870—fetch $856,000 at a Christie’s auction co-organized by notable decoy auction house Guyette and Schmidt of St. Michaels. The merganser, one of six likely carved by Holmes in his lifetime, set the record for most expensive decoy ever sold at an auction. “I’d have been happier if it made a million because that would have been a milestone,” Gary Guyette noted after the sale. If it comes up for sale again, it may. The last time the merganser changed hands was in 1976, when it went for just $6,000.

Lower Than Low
There have been some real “lowlights” in Chesapeake history (the decline of crabs and oysters and Spiro T. Agnew to name a few), but the absolute lowest point in the Chesapeake itself can be found about 1 mile west-southwest of the southern tip of Kent Island in Queen Anne’s County. At 174 feet below sea level, the natural depression is known as Bloody Point Hole. The area is also known in angling circles for harboring some very big fish. (See “What a Catch!” below.)

High Rent
Looking to upsize your house? Then check out Queenstown’s 29-room Penderyn estate along the banks of the Wye River. The 32-acre property, which features a pool, a conservatory, and oodles of antique fixtures and chandeliers, is the highest-priced house for sale in the Chesapeake region at an asking price of $14.95 million. The house was built in the late 1980s by Maureen and Mario Boiardi, son of Hector Boiardi, creator of the Chef Boyardee line of canned pastas. In this economy, mansions over $10 million don’t move so quickly, but Talbot County’s Benson & Mangold is accepting offers.

Beer Here!
Thirty-six years is a long time to be doing anything, let alone running up and down the steps at a baseball game screaming at the top of your lungs. But that’s how long the Orioles’ longest-tenured beer vendor, “Fancy” Clancy Haskett, has been offering up the suds. What’s kept Haskett going are his crazy antics (he was the subject of the 2008 documentary film, “The Story of Fancy Clancy, the Beer Man”) and his rapport with fans. “I have a large clientele of customers and fans that I have accumulated over the years. It keeps me excited about going to work,” he says. “I’ve got to keep my customers satisfied.”

The Jurors
Turns out John Briant just had some tough luck. The Maryland settler was found dead one day and a jury was called on Jan. 31, 1637 in St. Mary’s County to deliberate what happened. His trial marked the earliest court jury of 12, whose members soon determined that foul play was not involved; poor John was felled by a falling tree.

Sunday Never Ends
Its cemetery is final resting place to a Maryland governor, President Lincoln’s “silent cabinet member,” Anna Ella Carroll, and veterans from every American war (including three from the Revolution). Old Trinity Church, in Church Creek, Md., is the country’s oldest operating Episcopalian church still in its original form. Though membership has ebbed and flowed over the years, church services are still held every Sunday as they were at its founding in 1671.

What a Catch!
This fish was almost as big as the fisherman. It took 97-pound, 12-year-old Devin Nolan an hour to haul in a 67-pound 8-ounce rockfish, setting a Maryland state record for biggest rockfish caught in Chesapeake waters. The Hampstead, Md., pre-teen caught the fish in waters above Bloody Point (see above) in Queen Anne’s County on May 13, 1995. The Nolan family later stuffed and mounted the fish and donated it to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, where it hangs in perpetuity ready to strike.

What a Catch, Part II
We’re always amazed at the prize money awarded for catching fish. Ocean City’s White Marlin Open, the world’s largest billfish tour-nament, regularly doles out millions in prize money every year. In 2005, angler Ken Coffer suddenly found him-self a millionaire when he caught a 78.5-pound white marlin, netting him $1,538,915 —the biggest prize ever awarded by the tournament.

Bet He Didn’t Pay a Toll
Maryland Gov. Theodore McKeldin made the first trip over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge when it was dedicated on July 30, 1952. He and former Gov. William Preston Lane led a procession of 24 chartered buses across the bridge. With all the sightseeing stops, backslapping, and handshaking along the way, their journey took more than 2 ½ hours—seemingly about the same time it takes to cross the bridge on a busy holiday weekend today. 

Some Like It Hot
For hot sauce aficionados, mecca is located in a Rehoboth Beach strip mall. That’s where you’ll find Peppers and the world’s largest collection of hot sauces. At 8,000 to 9,000 strong (“We gave up worrying about the exact number years ago,” says owner Chip Hearn), the collection ranges from one-of-kind Trinidadian tongue-burners to trial-size bottles of Tabasco. Hearn says he didn’t set out to establish the world record until attending a hot sauce show in the early 1990s. “We found out we had the third largest in the world and didn’t even know it,” he says. “So we made a concerted effort over that winter to be No. 1.” Thousands of bottles are for sale at his Rehoboth shop. 

You Again?
U.S. Census officials may still be sorting through the 2010 tallies, but according to 2000’s records, the smallest incorporated town in Maryland is Port Tobacco in Charles County. All 15 of its residents could fit around a generously sized dining room table.

Crab Caked
Jim Cupp, regional sales manager for Salisbury seafood processor Handy International, holds the record for cooking the world’s biggest crab cake—both officially and unofficially. He set the official Guinness World Record in 2008 when he and a team created a 235-pound behemoth, cooked over nine hours in a custom-built, $10,000 cooker with a three-foot diameter, at Dover Downs. The following year at Baltimore’s HonFest, he concocted a 253-pounder, made of 150 pounds of crab meat, plus breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, onions, pasteurized eggs, and spices. “You have to be careful because too much crabmeat and it won’t hold together,” advises Cupp, who says the cakes are about 55-60 percent backfin and lump. At press time, Cupp was attempting to break his own record at a benefit for a seafood processor in the Gulf. “It’s a big show but it’s also a great way to raise funds for charities,” says Cupp, who notes sales of sandwiches from his previous two colossal cakes helped raise funds for the United Way and Maryland Special Olympics. 

Crab Caked, Part II
They’re not quite the size of Cupp’s creations, but the area’s biggest crab cake sandwiches are created by G&M Restaurant in Linthicum. The softball-sized cakes weigh in at a hefty 8 ounces each.

Crab Caked, Part III
The record for eating the most crab cakes is held by 105-pound Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas of Alexandria, Va., who crammed 46 Phillips crab cakes down her gullet in 10 minutes at 2006’s Baltimore Waterfront Festival. (We’d like to see how she’d handle one of Jim Cupp’s crab cakes.)

Writer’s Best Friend
When Sophie Kerr bequeathed $500,000 to Washington College upon her death in 1965, it stunned college officials, and the literary prize that was established in her name is still stunning students who win it. In 2010 Hailey Reissman won the award—this year $64,243—the largest undergraduate literature prize in the country.

Among Friends
William Penn himself reportedly worshipped in Easton’s Third Haven Meeting House, the oldest Quaker meeting house in the United States. Construction of the building began in 1682 and its first meeting was held two years later. Among its builders was William Southeby, said to be the first native American to write against slavery.

A Real Naval Hero
At the 2006 groundbreaking for the Naval Academy field house which would bear his name, Wesley Brown, the Naval Academy’s first African-American graduate, told the crowd: “Somebody asked me once, did I ever think of quitting? I said, ‘Yes. Every day.’” Good thing he didn’t. Brown, who was subjected to relentless barbs from bigoted midshipmen throughout his time in Annapolis, paved the way for future minorities when he graduated in 1949. More than 1,600 African Americans have graduated since Brown, who retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander. Barriers take time to fall, however; it wasn’t until 1980 that the academy graduated its first female officer, Elizabeth Anne Belzer.

Fit to Print
Who says newspapers are dead? The Maryland Gazette’s presses have been running since 1727 (albeit, with several lengthy stop pages along the way), making it one of the nation’s oldest newspapers. The paper, based in Glen Burnie and owned by Capital Gazette Communications, publishes semiweekly.

Shoulda Thrown in the Towel
There have been many close Army-Navy football games in the series’ 110-year tradition, dating to 1890—and also a few blowouts. The most lopsided game was Navy’s 51-0 shellacking of Army in 1973. The most points ever scored by one team occurred in 2002 when the mids took the cadets to school, 58-12. Makes us think the tradition should be renamed the Navy-Army game.

Army-Navy, Part II
One of our favorite tidbits of Army-Navy game trivia occurred in 1893 when Navy midshipman Joseph Mason Reeves purportedly wore the first football helmet during a game. He had been advised by a naval doctor that another blow to his head could cause death or “instant insanity,” so the football standout commissioned a local shoemaker to fashion a leather helmet. Reeves, who went on to become a decorated admiral, had a warship and two airfields named in his memory, but, as yet, no athletic equipment.

Wooly Pets
If you’ve ever wondered where you can find the area’s largest alpaca farm (really, who hasn’t?), just look up Angel Forbes Simmons, owner of Villa de Alpacas Farm in Southern Maryland. Simmons cares for 90 animals on 46 acres in St. Mary’s County, breeding and selling them for anywhere between $2,000 and $25,000 for top females. “Alpacas don’t eat much; you can have five to seven of them on just one acre of good pasture, and they’re great around kids,” she says. And in these uncertain economic times, alpacas also qualify for favorable tax breaks. Yet another reason to raise a herd.

In the Swim
The thought of swimming 4.4 miles across the Chesapeake from Sandy Point State Park to Hemingway’s on the Eastern Shore makes us gasp for breath. But not James Kegley, who holds the record for best time during the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. In 1990, Kegley, who was 32 at the time, completed the swim in a smooth 1 hour 24 minutes and 28 seconds. “No one has beat that record yet,” race coordinator Vicki Saxon informs us. “Several have come close, but no one has ever beat that time.” Kegley also holds the record for most wins with six, the last one coming in 2003.

Poisoned Waters
Although the degradation of the Chesapeake’s waters can be considered an ongoing environmental disaster, the single worst incident in Bay history was discovered in 1975 when a Hopewell, Va., chemical plant was found to have been dumping waste from Kepone production, an insecticide, into the James River. More than 70 workers at the plant were poisoned and the James River was closed to commercial fishing for half-a-dozen years. Even today, Kepone is still detected in the majority of white perch and striped bass samples taken from the James.

Tall Tales
More than eight years after its demise in 2002, we’re still mourning the loss of the majestic Wye Oak, the largest white oak in the nation. So which Maryland tree is today’s champ? The state is home to approximately 23 national champion trees, including a recently crowned 136-foot-tall, 310-year-old Eastern hemlock along Broad Creek in Harford County that has been found to be the largest example of its species in the country. What’s more, according to scientists, it’s still growing.
 
Ferrying Along
Two superlatives for Maryland ferries: In November of 1683 Talbot County authorized the establishment of a ferry service for “horses and men” over the Tred Avon River, thus creating the Oxford-Bellevue ferry. The line is known as the oldest privately operated ferry service in the country. A few dozen miles south, the Whitehaven ferry has been plying the short hop over the Wicomico River between Wicomico and Somerset counties since 1685, and lays claim as the oldest publically operated ferry in the nation. 

Making Rounds
Built in 1902 and installed on the Ocean City Boardwalk in 1912, Trimper’s carousel is the country’s oldest continuously operating carousel—meaning riders get to participate in history with every spin.

Record Collection
There’s a reason folks researching their genealogy head to Eastville, Va.’s courthouse. That building holds the oldest continuous court records in the nation, dating back to 1632. Every few years, members of GHOTES (Genealogy and History on the Eastern Shore of Virginia) convene in the area to talk about the area’s history, family lineage, and ancestry on the Bay. 

Serious Sail
It’s the oldest and longest sailing race on the Bay. The annual Governor’s Cup race from Annapolis, Maryland’s modern-day capital, to St. Mary’s City, the colonial capital, runs 70 miles and was started in 1974 after two St. Mary’s College students and a recent graduate proposed the idea. Now 150 boats participate in seven classes every August. There’s more fun after the race ends: The post-party celebration was ranked one of the top 10 post-race soirées in the sailing world.

Aw, Shucks
Talk about some fast hands. Every year at the St. Mary’s County Oyster Festival, would-be shucking champs step up to a plate of 24 oysters with a blunt knife and a glove and get busy. In 1989 it took Duke Landry of Louisiana just 2 minutes and 20 seconds to cleanly shuck the two dozen bivalves, a record for fastest shucking that still stands. Virginia’s Deborah Pratt, the women’s champ 10 times over, is just 11 seconds behind, a record she set in 1992.

Shining Light
It’s becoming standard for hotels to offer eco-friendly practices such as recycling and water conservation, but Annapolis’ Spring Hill Suites gets extra green credit for being the area’s first hotel to go solar. Last June, the hotel switched on 189 rooftop solar panels, which should reduce energy costs between 15 and 20 percent. We still wonder what happens to all those barely used little soaps and shampoo bottles… 

Old Salt
At 89 years young, Capt. Art Daniels of Deal Island is the Chesapeake’s oldest waterman. He still goes out daily for oysters in winter and crabs in summer on his skipjack, City of Crisfield, which he purchased in 1951. “I fell in love right away,” he says of her. He’s also competed in just about every Deal Island Skipjack Race since its inception in 1959. 

1. What do you enjoy about racing?
I just love to race. The boat kind of comes alive. She don’t say nothing, but she’ll talk when the wind gets in the sails. She’ll obey everything that you want her to do. Over the years, you’ll learn just how she’ll react to certain breezes

2. You two have been through a lot together.
We’ve been in a lot of storms, but I never get scared. Couldn’t afford to get scared! Not when I was captain. You just have to get [the boat and everyone on it] out of the way.

3. What do you like about being a waterman?
You’re free. You go out in the morning and you used to be able to work as long as you liked. When I was a boy, I’d go out at sunrise and come back at sunset. I was my own man. Whatever I put into it I would get out it. It’s good, clean work. 

4. How’s your health? I don’t take no medication.
I take three vitamins a day—C with rose hips, B complex, and an aspirin tablet. Since 1972 I haven’t had a cold. 

5. So you’re not slowing down at all?
Not that I know of. I think you get old when you start thinking old.
If you think you can do it, just go ahead and try it. That’s what I do and I never get tired.

Postcard Central
Mary L. Martin Postcards, in Perryville, Md., offers a peek at history to all who visit the world’s largest postcard shop. After 47 years in business, the store has accumulated several million cards.

1. Why postcards?
Postcards are so unique because they appeal to such a wide array of people. Every topic in the world is on a postcard—whether it’s your home town or your favorite dog or a sport that you play.

2. What is the most valuable postcard you’ve sold?
Most of the postcards that people purchase are relatively inexpensive. You can buy an authentic postcard of Annapolis from 100 years ago for only $10 or $15. But sometimes a specific event, such as relating to the Titanic, can be quite valuable. There are cards that have sold for thousands of dollars.

3. Do you often read the backs of the cards?
If I read all the backs of the cards, I’d be in huge trouble because they are so interesting that I would never get anything done. One of the first things I usually have to tell my employees is not to read the messages on the cards.

4. Do you have a favorite from the Chesapeake area?
Well, I have a huge Maryland collection. Some favorites from the Eastern Shore show people crabbing in Crisfield, and I have some really nice ones from Baltimore that show people bringing in the oysters. A lot of old Naval Academy cards are cool, too.

5. Do you send postcards when you vacation?
Yes, I always send cards, and I always buy them because they are better than the pictures that I take. ... Everyone knows that I don’t write e-mails. If I’m sending a message, it will be handwritten with a pretty picture on the front.—Alexis Blair