Day 4 lights included Hooper Strait Light located in St. Michaels, MD. Adopted by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, the lighthouse was barged to St. Michaels where it is on display as an exhibit.



Saw this over the trees on our way to Cove Point LH. It’s a water tower in Queens Landing, a complex of condos in Chester, MD.



Cove Point Light is located in Solomons, MD and is among the oldest navigational light stations on the Chesapeake. The Calvert Marine Museum in working to preserve the old station and restore its key structures. The light, the quarters, and the grounds are very well maintained. To see this up close (our picture is from the page fencing surrounding the perimeter), you must purchase a ticket at the Drum Point location.



Drum Point Light, Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, MD. Deactivated in 1962, the lighthouse was moved in one piece to the museum. Its legs were cut off at the waterline and the lighthouse lifted by crane onto a barge for the 2-mile trip upriver to the museum.



Point Lookout Lighthouse held a 4th-order Fresnel lens and was active until 1965 when it was deactivated and replaced by an offshore buoy. Maryland is restoring the lighthouse as a historical monument. It is located in Point Lookout State Park, Scotland, MD.



Point No Point Light is in the Chesapeake Bay, 6 miles NE of Point Lookout LH. A 35' tall tower, octagonal in shape, is constructed of brick and wood and sits on an iron caisson. Originally fitted with a kerosene-burning 4th order Fresnel lens, the light was fully automated in 1962. A 375mm, solar powered lens provides the 20-second flash, alternating red and white beam that is seen today.




Last light for Day 4 was Piney Point Light located in Piney Point Lighthouse Park, MD. Called the Lighthouse of Presidents, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Monroe have stayed at this lighthouse. Its original 1836-built 30' brick tower still stands at the site. Its 4th-order Fresnel lens was deactivated in 1964.

Day 5 lights were photographed from the former U.S. Navy special operations vessel, M/V Sharps Island and The Great Circle Route trip that departed the dock at Tilghman Island at 9 AM and returned at 5:30 PM on Monday, September 19th. Eleven lighthouse were on the itinerary with a 1-hour lunch stop at Tolchester Marina. Barry “Grover” allowed us to sit at his table where the three of us had a superb lunch and thoroughly enjoyable chats about lighthouses (me) and golf (Stan).

The first light was Bloody Point, one of the many open-water lighthouses guarding the upper Chesapeake Bay. The light is operational, using the modern solar-powered optic that replaced the original 4th-order Fresnel lens. The light is a few degrees off center due to the eroding bedrock. Distant views are possible from the southern end of Kent Island which is located at the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.



Next was Sandy Point Shoal. Operational, the structure displays a flashing white light. Its original 4th order Fresnel lens has been replaced with a 300mm plastic and solar-powered optic. It can be seen from Sandy Point State Park just off Highway 50 on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.



Baltimore Light is the last true lighthouse built on the Chesapeake Bay. An active aid to navigation, its 4th-order Fresnel lens has been replaced by a modern, solar-powered optic. Baltimore Light was the first atomic powered lighthouse in the world. A small atomic reactor about the size of a 55-gallon oil drum was installed in 1964; it was designed to supply continuous electricity for 10 years without being refueled. Because it was only in the experimental stage, it was removed after only about a year.



Poole’s Island Light is near Aberdeen, MD, near the entrance to the Bush and Gunpowder Rivers. Deactivated in 1939, this 40' tall conical stone tower is located on an active military base used for many years as a bombing range. The old light station is closed to the public because of the threat of unexploded bombs. An observation tower still stands guard.



The Lee Sisters (Ug and Home) are shown here. The captain of the Sharps Island vessel said they were named “9' Range Lights” but I can’t find any information on them. Would certainly welcome anything you can provide. . . .

Next up were the Craighill Channel Range Lights.

The Craighill Lower Channel Rear Range Light:




The Craighill Lower Channel Front Range Light:




The Craighill Upper Channel Front and Rear Range Lights:



Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, near Annapolis, MD. Anchored securely to the bottom of the bay by screw piles, this cottage-style lighthouse has weathered more than 125 years of storms and ice. The heavy riprap has successfully fended off the ice that has been the demise of so many of the lighthouses built on the Chesapeake Bay. This was the last staffed lighthouse in the Bay. Located about 1.25 miles off shore, the light can be seen from Thomas Point State Park.


The last one for Day 5 and for this vacation was Sharp’s Island Light. We began with Barry’s shot and we’ll end with Stan’s.

Located west of Cambridge, MD, this conical light lists at an angle of 20 degrees. Ice floes have pushed the tower increasingly out of plumb. Despite its problems, the station remains in operation displaying an automated light produced by a modern optic. Sharps Island was a 900-acre island early on. Erosion and advancing waters of the bay (during the 1800s the land was receding at a rate of about 100' per year!) have reduced the land to the point that none is seen even at low tide. The list of the tower was the result of the ice floes in 1977; unusually severe–the ice pushed against the caisson base causing it to become tilted. Its 4th-order Fresnel lens was removed and a 250mm plastic lens installed as a result of the tilt. The light was angled so as to be vertical.

Nice pictures. My husband talks golf and I talk lighthouses. We would have made good neighbors.
Going to South Carolina, He is playing golf and I'm off in the car to see the lights.

Thanks for taking us along, Sandy! With all the Maryland stuff lately, it has me opening up S&T and planning!

Very nice and very interesting pictures and narration. Loved it!

Bert

Thanks for the good words people--appreciated.

Fran,

We just scheduled a trip to SC in November--Stan's taking his clubs, I'm in the process of lining up lighthouses to see. Were you my twin in another life??

Sandy, ... You did a marvelous job on those pics! Thanks (also) for the very informative narration!

Bob

Sandy, Thanks for sharing your photos. Those are some interesting lights! I have to get offline now, but I'll come back and read the text later...

Thanks for sharing, Sandy, it brought back a lot of great memories of our trips on the Chesapeake Bay..

Sandy, enjoyed you story and pictures. Thanks

We are leaving tom. Myrtle beach 3 days and Hilton Head till sat. Most of the lights are closer to HH. My husband will play golf And I'm off for the lights. To bad you aren't coming this week we could have done this together and left the men to hit the little ball in a hole. Sisters in a past life?
Fran

Bye the way are you doing the NJ challange.
Fran