If the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum were to be described in one word, it would be "immersive." The first thing you need to know is this museum isn't confined to buildings, like a museum of art might be. We're talking about an 18 acre campus featuring Chesapeake Bay past and present. The fact they have their own library is a telling sign that this is not just a tourist attraction, but a place of historic preservation. The Host Our Coast team more than readily dove into the vast exhibits available at the CBMM.

When I talk about "immersive," I'd tell you about the fully-functional boat house on campus. Since 1977, craftsmen here have been building classic small-boats, such as "Delaware Duckers," "Rushton Row-boats" (a design stemming from the 1880s), and "Melonseeds," to name a few. The Boat Shop provides workshops for high school students, giving them hands-on experience building skiffs. Recently, they completed reconstruction on the skipjack "Caleb Jones," a lovely ship nearing 60 years old. She's now resting in the bay and "taking-up," a term referring to the wood soaking water and expanding, sealing the seams. Chief Curator Pete Lesher calls the boat house not an exhibit but a "living museum." Craftsmen do real work for the public to see. The workshop is not even roped off, so visitors can converse with the workers if they wish. It's all part of the experience.

Next we saw the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, which was originally built in 1879 upon pilings in the open water. It was moved to the campus and reformatted into a more experimental sort of exhibit. The goal was to fully recreate what living in the lighthouse would've been like. Typical museum design schemes such as roped "do not enter" sections and information panels that jump out at the viewers were contrary to this goal and were omitted. Instead, visitors can go through the lighthouse freely, touch almost anything, and if they want to read fact-filled information they have to find it. That's right, the information panels were hidden in clever areas, and so if you decided to toy with the woodstove and open it, you would discover a quote from a former lighthouse keeper. We were able to soak up the history and facts in smaller, digestible chunks as we made our way around the lighthouse. A very palatable exhibit.

Then we rolled onto Mr. Jim, a yacht modeled after a buy-boat, for a cruise around the harbor. Following our ride were an exhibit on oyster-dredging history, a photo gallery featuring David Harp, and of course, the display of the famous Log Canoes. That's barely scratching the surface of the wealth of possibilities here at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum. Visit www.cbmm.org to see more on how people live, work, and play on the Bay!

Written by Erik Yount. Photography by Errol Webber.