Wine Bar and Cafe in Leonardtown, MD

Not far from St. Mary's City is a little place called Leonardtown. We stopped there for lunch at the Wine Bar & Cafe.

As expected, the restaurant had plenty of wine. The decor was a little cheesy. The waitress was not old enough to serve the wine (maybe the owner's daughter?).

The wine was a bit disappointing and had cork in it, but the lobster bisque was tasty. My crabcake was the highlight for sure. It had the perfect amount of breading (not to much).

Chris had some sort of panini that wasn't very good, so unmemorable that I don't even know what was in it. We ended the meal with a chocolate scone pudding that was very rich. It put me over the top.

Not the worst meal I ever ate, but (aside from that crabcake) nothing to write home about.

Point Lookout Prison Memorial

Just outside of Point Lookout State Park in Southern Maryland, Chris and I spotted a monument covered in confederate flags. We were completely creeped out and so had to stop.

The monument is actually a memorial for confederate soldiers. Not just any confederate soldiers though. Turns out there was a prison located at Point Lookout and, according to the monument, prison conditions were so bad that thousands of the prisoners died.

I don't have much sympathy for the confederate "cause" or for confederate flag flying, but I do believe in prisoner rights and the Geneva Conventions (which were, ironically, being incubated during this time). So I found the monument interesting. I suppose if my great grandfather died in a union prison I'd have a slightly different impression of the union soldiers.

St. Mary's City, Maryland

St. Mary's City was Maryland's first capital. It turned 375 years old this year.

For a long time, the remnants of the city lay buried under farm fields and a more modern house (the Brome Howard Inn). In the 1970s they decided to excavate the site.

Today, the site contains "faithfully" rebuilt structures and a lot of old timey people who show you how things were done in the 1600s. I believe many of the people are associated with the university and actually know what they are talking about.

There is a print shop (my personal favorite), an ordinary (like an inn), a church, a store, an old house, and even a recreated Indian hamlet. One of the most impressive sites is an old sailing ship. It isn't a reproduction of the actual ships that landed on St. Mary's shore, but it is from the time period. There's just something about old sailboats.

There's also a museum on site where you can watch a film about St. Mary's history and (of course) a gift shop. There are demonstrations throughout the day. It's complete nerd entertainment.

Brome Howard Inn in St. Mary's City, Maryland

This is the Brome Howard Inn in St. Mary's City Maryland. It is an old plantation house that now serves as a bed and breakfast.

The inn was built by Dr. Brome in 1840 and served as a tobacco and wheat plantation. There are a few outbuildings still, including a slave cabin (although you can't go inside).

The house used to sit on top of historic St. Mary's City, but they moved it in order to do an archaeological dig. They moved the entire house at one time.

Apparently, they built a huge pallet (like the kind you see in warehouses). They slipped the house on to the pallet and then used a tank to bring it to its new spot. They had to take out several trees and the electric lines on the road in order to do it. It was, we were told, quite a site. The whole town came out to take pictures. That was back in 1994.

The bed and breakfast only has four rooms. The one we stayed in was adorable. It was also huge and filled with books and magazines to keep you occupied.

The breakfasts were very good. The mushroom omelet was so flavorful that I had it twice. The blueberry pancakes were fluffy (although short on blueberries). The french toast was disappointing.

The house also has a restaurant that serves dinner nightly and brunch on Sundays. The atmosphere is understated elegance. The food is very good. I ate a perfectly cooked duck. Chris has an enormous steak. We finished things off with some refreshing sorbet.

Service in the hotel and restaurant were spotty. You have to be dedicated to run a bed and breakfast. They don't normally have a whole lot of staff. I got the impression that this couple is no longer dedicated. The in-room explanation misinforms guests about the proper time for breakfast on Saturdays (thus causing confusion on Sunday). There was no housekeeping. There was, in fact, often nobody around.

Still, it was a lovely house. It is very close to DC. The food is good. I don't think I would ever go back, but I wouldn't advise others away.