I'm off on my first lighthouse outing since I moved to Manassas in September. I am planning on going to Winter Lights at the Calvert Marine Museum on Sunday. Is there any tricks on getting there? I mean since I still can't figure out if I am going North or South on Rt 95 or Rt 495? I just thought that maybe any of you that have been there before may have some advice. I really am very good with directions, must be I'm having a hard time getting rid of the Syracuse cobwebs in my head?

Sheryl,

You need to become very good friends with the Chesapeake Chapter's Web Page . Tons of information there, especially information about the lights in their neighborhood. Each page about a light generally has both driving directions and maps. Here is the page for Drum Point .

On the Beltway, one thing to be aware of is if you are on the inner loop or the outer loop. From where you are, I would expect you will be following signs for East/Baltimore/Annapolis when you first get to 495. I lived in the area many years, and I always made sure I had a good set of maps in the car.

Have fun at Winter Lights.

Thanks Dave for the information. I am looking forward to seeing Drum Point. The weather is going to be questionable, but we will see. Yep that map thing in the car is always a must.

As you dash into various supermarkets or convenience stores in the area, one of the first things you'll see is a rack of "ADC Map of whereever." Usually there's one for each of the surrounding counties in the DC/BAL metro area. These are great references. You'll see them lying in everybodies' car, especially real estate agents, which should tell you something about how good they are. I've kept mine just in case I'll need them 50 years from now, they're better than AAA's.

I did it I found Drum Point Light. It is the first of that kind I have seen. Very interesting. I have now figured out Rte 495. And yes I did go the wrong way, but only for a short distance.

Way to go Sheryl!!

Go, Sheryl! We got lost too when we went to Drum Point on our Easter '01 MD Lighthousing trip. We drive to the end of the island before we realized that we needed to turn at the beginning. :rolleyes:

Maybe it would have helped if my dad had asked for directions.