Eric,
We did the MD Challenge last year- on the spur of the moment. We were supposed to go on the LI Beacons Of The Night Cruise but it got cancelled due to the Hurricane coming through.
I had thought about doing the Challenge so I had a plan of attack setup. We made reservations for motels on Friday for Sat & Sun. We left from NJ Sat morning and the weather was still very bad when we got near Turekey Point so we skipped it figuring we'd get back on Sunday- unfortunately we didn't make it. A bit of a bad decision as to where to stay on Sat and too much talking during the day on Sunday. That's life.
Go to the Chesapeake Chapter site and have a brochure sent to you. The driving directions are very good. The driving times are a bit hit or miss depending on the individual and the actual conditions that day. The directions will be online in the future.
I can send you a copy of the directions from the brochure I have to help with your planning. Send me an e-mail directly and I'll send them back to you.
http://www.cheslights.org/challenge.htm The best thing to do is to get to the area of the first lighthouse you will visit the night before so you can get to it first thing in the morning.
I'm not sure where you intend to start from but if you are coming from FL to do it I'd say for you to take 301 off of 95 and go over to the Eastern Shore to start. You can stay in Solomons and hit Drum Point & Cove Point first thing then move down to Piney Point and Point Lookout.
You then go up to Hooper Strait and finish up near Turkey Point for the day. There are plenty of motels near Turkey Point in the Elkton area.
You could then start at Turkey Point on Sunday then go on to Concord Point and the Baltimore Lights and finish up at Fort Washington and get a good distance towards FL that day.
The two biggest problems with the MD Challenge are the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Baltimore. These can be very busy traffic wise- especially if there is a baseball or football game on those days. The Bay Bridge can get backed up very easily if it's a nice weekend.
The other thing to consider for this year's Challenge is the fact that Concord Point will not be available for the challenge until 1 PM due to a scheduled wedding. There will be some accomadation made for those starting at Turkey Point but as for Concord Point itself you won't get to climb the tower or even possibly get near it for pictures on Saturday before 1 PM.
The MD Challenge is very doable in the time alloted if you plan ahead- you'll even have plenty of time to talk to the many Wackos you'll find along the way.
Any questions I haven't answered don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to answer or someone else will.
Dennis
