September 18 - 23, 2019: Snow Hill, Maryland
We have been hanging around Maryland because on September 20-22, there is a National Fiddler Convention and Ocean City Sunfest (OCSunfest) that we wanted to see.
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When we came back down the Delmarva Peninsula, we went a little further South and stayed at Pocomoke River State Park. This is about 20 miles from Berlin and Ocean City where we will be hanging out most of the time. We got Site 12 in Shad Landing. Wow, what a great State Park! I love all of the Maryland State Park's because they have nice Shower Houses and most of the sites are pretty secluded. We had an awesome site and this Shower House had recently been remodeled. NICE!
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In a lot of the camp areas we stay, the pathway to the Shower House has spider webs. So we 'swirl' sticks (we call them Harry Potter wands) in front of us as we walk to remove them before we walk into them.
Once we got setup in camp, we met our friends Tom and Carol (they are camphosting at Assateague Island State Park and are the ones who introduced us to this area and the camphost gig we did) in Ocean City for Sunfest. Sunfest is the big end of the season party for Ocean City. There were vendors of all kinds, live music, and other entertainment. We had so much fun...I forgot to take any pictures - doh....
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The next afternoon we met Tom and Carol in Berlin for the 27th Annual Berlin Fiddlers Convention. Friday night was Robert Mabe’s Irish Banjo and then The Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers playing. The same weekend in Berlin there was the annual Paint Berlin, plein air competition. So various artists were set up around town painting different scenes. The artwork was to be judged on Saturday and then you could purchase any of the pieces. During the friday evening concerts, two artists were painting the groups on stage. Very...Cool!
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Oh I almost forgot the mention...our favorite Maryland ice cream shop is in Berlin, Island Creamery. Of course, before the concerts we HAD...to partake in ice cream! : )
The next day Tom and Carol had scheduled to go on a Ranger led Kayak Tour of the Bay. This sounded like fun and we had wanted to get on the Bay when we were camphosting, but did make the time. So...we all skipped the Fiddlers Convention that day and kayaked instead!
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There were a ton of mussels and crabs along the banks! We stopped along the way on a small island for a snack and this is where Craig and Tom learned how to use a fishing skein and caught a blue crab and a baby flounder. Of course, it was a catch and release. And...we saw the ponies! I really have missed them since we have been away from this area : )
After kayaking, the four of us decided to play miniature golf. Wow, Craig and I had not played that in years! We had a great time. Everyone got a hole in one, except...me. However, I did get an assist on a hole in one with Carol ; )
The next day, Craig and I attended the Fiddlers Convention again and listened to Gospel on the lawn. We then wandered around the town of Berlin, had lunch at the Atlantic Hotel, ice cream at Island Creamery, and chatted with a really cool dude (Matt3 - they have three Matts that work there) at Viking Tree Trading Company. The same owner owns Burley Oak Brewery so Matt gave me a beer (perks of owning both companies) - YUM. Very tastey!!!
It was a nice relaxing day and a great way to say goodbye to Berlin and the Assateague area. We are going to miss this area!
THANK YOU TOM AND CAROL for introducing us to such a neat part of Maryland and hanging out with us. We had a great time and cannot wait to come here!