Located just 55 minutes from Washington DC's beltway, Solomons, Maryland, is a quiet waterfront village where boaters and city-dwellers find a welcome break. Visitors to Solomons Island Harbor can stroll the town's riverwalk or charter a boat for a luxury cruise, sailing or fishing. Sportspeople can rent a boat, hop a jet ski, or go kayaking. The village of Solomons offers fine hotels, quaint bed and breakfasts, unique gift and antique shops, and a variety of waterfront dining experiences.
Solomons Island Harbor has a humid subtropical climate with hot humid summers and relatively mild winters. Snow falls every winter and sometimes accumulates. Temperatures range from an average high of about 25.6°C (78°F) in July to an average low of about 1.6°C (35°F) in January. Solomons Island Harbor gets an average of just above three inches of precipitation in the winter to an average of up to 4.5 inches in July.
The Solomons Island Harbor's Calvert Marine Museum is Maryland's outstanding marine exhibition facility. With exhibits telling the history of the Chesapeake Bay, aquariums representing Bay ecosystems, and many historic artifacts, the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons Island Harbor is proud of its exhibit of historic boats including the traditional vessels used on the Chesapeake Bay. Children will enjoy the period costumes, dig-your-own-fossil sandbox, scale model boat to play in, and touch-and-feel animal exhibits in the Discovery Room.
Next to Solomons Island Harbor's Calvert Marine Museum grounds, and open for tours every hour, is the Drum Point screwpile lighthouse. Visitors to the Calvert Marine Museum can take a cruise on the Wm. B. Tennyson, a bugeye, at 2pm every afternoon. The Patuxent small craft guild is housed on this Solomons Island Harbor property where they work to preserve Chesapeake Bay historic boats and boatbuilding skills. Admission to the museum is reasonable at $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $2 for children.
Older than Mount Vernon and Monticello, Sotterley Plantation in Solomons Island Harbor is the only Tidewater plantation that is open to the public. Built in 1703 by James Bowles, it was completed by Maryland's sixth governor, George Plater III. In the 1800s, Maryland's biggest group of African American slaves was housed here. The Solomons Island Harbor plantation grounds contain beautiful 19th Century gardens.
Open Monday through Saturday from 10 am until 4pm and on Sunday from noon until 4pm, adult admission to the Plantation is $10 for mansion tours and $3 for self-guided tours of the grounds. Guided tours of the Solomons Island Harbor Sotterley Plantation House are available from May through October. Group tours are also available with advance reservations, and the staff will prepare lunch or tea.
Solomons Island Harbor's Annemarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center is affiliated with the Smithsonian Museum. This forested sculpture park in Solomons Island Harbor holds works by George Rickey, Kenneth Snelson, Arnaldo Pomodoro, and other established sculptors. A quarter-mile walking path wanders through woods dotted with more than 30 works loaned by the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art. The Annmarie Arts Building in Solomons Island Harbor has a rotating exhibit space, a café, a gift shop, and an outdoor patio. Its Studio School has classes conducted by professional artists and educators for all ages in areas from dance to pottery-making.
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